Orlando Watson is the man behind Tyra
By Chris King
Of the St. Louis American
Everybody holding a ticket for Destiny’s Child on Saturday is advised to go early to get an eye and earful of Tyra. This is a smooth, hip-hop, R&B diva in the making. And, standing behind her in every way – including backstage at the Savvis Center on Saturday – is one of the fathers of the STL hip-hop scene, Orlando “Pretty Boy” Watson.
Every serious creative person or industry grinder on the scene knows Pretty Boy. Clubgoers know his work without knowing his name or face, because Pretty Boy is like that, a quiet and private dude far more concerned with the art of production and the hustle of making it than being seen or name-checked.
His work with Tyra is a step back into the majors after a period of indie grinding with his Pretty Boy Records, which itself followed a period of national success when he was much younger and more reckless.
“I had the Fabu thing, and I blew it. I let the opportunity pass,” Pretty Boy said.
Fabu was a group out of Detroit that went gold with a record on Atlantic that Pretty Boy produced back in 1994 when he was a puppy of 20, fresh out of Normandy High School and the early STL basement studio scene – well before Nelly and the St. Lunatics, who worked with Pretty Boy when they were first finding their sound.
When Pretty Boy blew the Fabu opportunity (and the money that had come with it), he ended up back home, producing locals and working a straight job, until in 1998 he took some savings and built Pretty Boy Studios in U. City, which he remembers as “a magical place” where he formed some important relationships and made some great records.
Remember “Groupie,” the hilarious 1 Dime club hit? He made that and the rest of the 1 Dime full-length there. He also produced Payback there, which became his bridge back to the majors when Louis Burrell got involved in breaking it on national radio for Pretty Boy Records at the end of 2002.
Burrell is MC Hammer’s brother and manager, who was behind the scenes with Death Row Records and is a master at the dirty art of commercial radio play-making.
Burrell was impressed by the pristine and powerful sounds Pretty Boy gets
on his records. Last September, he called Pretty Boy to work with a girl out of Petersburg, Virginia, “wherever the hell that is,” Pretty Boy laughed.
“She had a real confident sound and a real cute look. She wrote her own lyrics and arranged her own vocals,” Pretty Boy said.
“She is R&B, and I had been doing hip-hop for so long. It was a chance to do something a little different.”
And, of course, a chance to maker her sound a little different, because you know with Pretty Boy’s hand in the mix Tyra’s R&B records have a hypnotic, hip-hop drive and edge. This is not soft stuff – especially with our own Penelope lending some hard verses to the single “Get No Ooh Wee.”
Pretty Boy flew down to Virginia and produced Tyra’s first single, “Country Boy,” with Danger Mawf. With Burrell working it, it went to straight to radio, and then to video, and by early January 2005 the video was getting heavy play on BET.
The majors took immediate notice. Burrell and Pretty Boy, already well on their way toward forming a partnership of their own, wanted to partner with a major label, not sell their masters in a classic label deal. They worked out a P&D (production and distribution) deal with Universal Music Group for Burrell’s label, GG&L Music, which Pretty Boy joined as vice president.
“It’s not true that you get one shot,” Pretty Boy said. “You get more than one shot as long as you stick around and keep moving ahead.”
This indie grinder is on a payroll now. He recently signed employee contracts with GG&L and Universal.
“Pretty Boy Records is still its own entity, but Pretty Boy Productions is tied at the hip with GG&L,” he said. “I’m A&R and production supervisor.”
The shame, for fans of his meticulous production work, is that Pretty Boy is going executive, moving further from the keyboard and console and deeper into the tangles of the game.
“The hardest thing right now,” he admitted, “is being creative. I used to just be a producer. Now, I’m producer/businessman/troubleshooter.”
The good news is that, for hands-on work, he can rely on other local aces, like Ben Monroe Jr., Fanon and Ro of XP Music – and just about anybody else at any level.
“I’m at the top of the game,” he said, and listed (without an iota of showy name-dropping) Scott Storch (producer for 50 Cent), Jazze Pha, Teddy Riley, Ashanti, Eve, and Cool and Dre among artists and producers he has worked with directly, often as the man in charge of the session.
All the hard work is about to hit the streets and stores. Introducing Tyra should be ready when the tour starts here in STL on Saturday. (It may be Introducing Tyra B, if Tyra Banks’ lawsuit trying to claim “Tyra” as her brand has teeth.)
“This is rejuvenating,” Pretty Boy said, of his return to the majors after being down on the farm. “The indie scene is rough.”
