One to Watch in 2007: Amadeus

A day after the deadline for our “4 Elements of Hip-Hop” Issue, I was roaming through the Time Square vicinity trying to get my hands on a Nintendo Wii, when I ran into an old colleague of mine, urban producer: Amadeus.

My dude was locked in the studio over the past few months clocking in time with a some of the most anticipated artists to release albums in 2007. So with a schedule such as his at the time, I had to place my Nintendo Wii hunt on hold to snatch 15 minutes off of his leisure time. We took a walk through the video game section of the Virgin Mega Store and got caught up on what he has been up to…

Off of name value, I’m not sure if many of our readers are immediately familiar with your production catalog. So fIf you can name 3 songs that you’d like for our readers to know you by, what are those 3 contributions?

Amadeus: That’s a good question… the first one I would have to say is Cam’ron’s ‘Take Em to Church’, which was the diss record towards Ma$e. I believe that it was a big record in Hip-Hop being that they grew up together, same hood, same basket ball team, etc. I would have to say the second song is ‘Grandma’ which was on the first Mike Jones album. ‘Grandma’ was the song that meant to most to Mike on that album. If you know his story, you know how important is grandmother was to his life and his career. She was the one who pushed him to use his real name and to make sure that people remembered it. And finally, the third song would have to be ‘Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’ by Lil’ Mo. That was the first single off of her third album on Cash Money/Universal. The song was really a good look. But at the time, she was giving birth, so the song didn’t receive the push that it deserved.

You’ve been busy as all hell, my dude. Who have you been in the studio with as of late?

Amadeus: I’ve recently worked with Fabolous, Talib Kweli, 50 Cent, Joe Budden, Young Chris, Ceelo, Red Café, Jae Millz, Remy Ma… I just found out that I made it on the new Freeway album. I did about 5 records for Papoose. I did about 4 records for the Smiles & Southstar album. I’m out there right now…

Name a producer who influenced you on your come up… then take the opportunity to talk about how you feel that you’re influencing producers, behind you.

Amadeus: People may think that I’m bugging, but I will take time to explain this answer. I would have to say Sean “Diddy” Combs was a major influence on me; but he was Puff Daddy at that time. During his rise with Craig Mack, Biggie, Ma$e, 112, Faith Evans, etc. - that was the most influential era for me from the sampling to how good the music felt. Tracks like ‘All About the Benjamins’, ‘Hypnotized’, ‘Flavor In Your Ear’ was the joints that motivated me to push harder to get into the game.

As for how I may inspire others, I feel like I’m in my own category because I create totally off of a feeling. I just turn on my equipment and go hard. If you ever have the chance to check out my creative process, you’ll see that once I press play, I don’t stop. I continuously add sounds to my work until the track is completed. I incorporate all kinds of music into my sound from Rock to Gospel and you’ll always hear live instrumentation in my work.

Talk about a few of your personal hardships being a producer in today’s industry?

Amadeus: I can name 100 things on that subject. First of all, there is a lot of competition out there. This profession is very challenging. A lot of times, you’ll come across situations where it is cliqued up. What I mean by that is most labels have in-house producers, which makes it hard for new producers to get on. The brick wall definitely exists in this industry whether you’re a producer, a dancer, a writer, an artist – it doesn’t matter who you are. As a producer, we also struggle with receiving payment. It just all depends on who you deal with. Sometimes it’s hard to receive a decent payment for your work, when in all honesty; the track plays such an important part in the success of any song.

The last time that you and I caught up was during the listening session for Mike Jones sophomore album, “The American Dream.” How do you feel that his album was received by the media?

Amadeus: I felt that the overall review of the album was positive. I know that we’ve shocked a few people this time around with his product. Yes, he still mentions his name a lot on this record, but that’s Mike’s signature – a gift from his grandmother. The media gave us amazing feedback, saying that there were a lot of heavy bangers on the album.

Talk about your chemistry with Mike. And at the time of the session, I remember you saying that you had 9 songs on the album. Does that number still stand?

Amadeus: I felt that Mike and I really clicked on this album. I originally started off with 9 songs on his album, but due to some sample clearance issues and some of the features that he wanted on the album weren’t able to be a part of the songs in time for completion, I only have 4 now. I’d still be happy if I only had one song on his album, because it’s not about quantity to me, it’s about quality. I feel that the songs that I’ve completed with Mike are some of the best songs on his album, due to the fact that we’ve built universal music that can relate to both the males and the females.

What can our readers be looking for to from you in 2007?

Amadeus: I feel like this will be a set-up year for me. Papoose, Fabolous, Mike Jones, Smiles & Southstar, Lil’ Mo, Freeway and hopefully Joe Budden are all albums that will be dropping this year with my production stamp on it. And I just signed a deal with ESPN to produce tracks to be played during SportsCenter and ESPN News, so that is a good look. I’ve been in this game for 10 years, since I was 16 years old and now the world is starting to recognize my god given talent. If you like what’s going on right now in music, I am going to make you love what is going on in music.

And I still don’t have a Nintendo Wii…

MIMS: Welcome to Washington Heights

Any emcee, dead or alive, is only as strong as his/her stomping grounds…

Where are you from? Who do you represent? How do you get down? These are just a few questions that an upstart emcee must handle with aggression and efficiency.

Some hometowns speak for themselves: Compton, Brooklyn, Miami, Atlanta…

And others have finally gained their shine: St. Louis, Houston, The Bay Area

And now, Mr. “This Is Why I’m Hot”, MIMS took this opportunity to tell you about his Concrete Kingdom of Washington Heights. The Hood Is Back!

Can we start off with your basic stats (birthday, dream car, at what age would you like to retire from the game, etc.)

MIMS: I was born on March 22nd. My dream car at the age of 13 was the Range Rover, but now it is the Lamborghini Murcielago. The perfect age of retirement is when I feel like I’ve exhausted myself in the music industry. At this point, I don’t believe that I will be rapping at the age of 40.

For those who aren’t familiar with Washington Heights, give out the coordinates.

MIMS: The best way that I could describe it is if you know the location of Harlem, all you have to do is go a few blocks Uptown from Harlem to find Washington Heights. You’ll know when you’ve reached Washington Heights when you see the African-American faces disappear, and more Dominican faces appear.

If you could only shop in one place in the Heights, which spot would you choose?

MIMS: It really depends, because as a kid growing up, my choice was 181st. 181st Street is to Washington Heights, what 125th Street is to Harlem.

Describe the culture of Washington Heights and what do you believe it is known for.

MIMS: Washington Heights to most people’s knowledge is best known for drug sales and what you can get out of there on the drug side. But if you live or spend a lot of time there, you’ll realize that there is a lot of culture – you’ll get to see how the Dominicans operate. I love their culture because my family is from Jamaica. When you get that Jamaican culture mixed in with that Dominican culture, you’ll begin to see that there are many similarities. So you can say that growing up in Washington Heights has allowed for me to stay in touch with my Caribbean roots.

Now I must say that I am very familiar with the curvaceous frames on the women in your area. What can outsiders look forward to if they are trying to find them a female from your stomping grounds?

MIMS: If there is one thing that I can say about any Latina in the area is that they are loyal. That’s the god honest truth. They will maintain their loyalty to you through it all. So if you’re looking for a female who would hold you down (stand by you), you can find them here.

Have you always lived in the Heights?

I’m proud that I’m representing Washington Heights. I lived in the Heights for a very long time. But I’m not going to lie; I also lived in the Suburban areas of Long Island. The course between the two, and the knowledge that I’ve gained from the two were very beneficial to my life. I wouldn’t trade how I grew up for the world. Growing up in Washington Heights really allowed for me to learn the hustler’s mentality. And when I finished my high school years in Long Island, it allowed for me to see a different part of life. Now I didn’t live in a $5,000,000 home, but I lived around the corner from one. So I was able to see what a $5,000,000 home looked like; and I was able to envision what I wanted out of life.

Many would say that you have come out of nowhere with your first single. When did you know that you've arrived?

MIMS: Most people would say that my success was overnight, or that I’m a one-hit wonder. But to know me, you’ll know that I’ve been into music since I was 13 years old. This ain’t something that I just picked up and said, ‘I’m going to be a rapper, and I just happened to make good song.’ I’ve been putting together records for nearly half of my life. People want to know what makes me so different from the next man, or how can they do what I’m doing. Well I put my life into this; I put a lot of grind work into this. I’ve been Dj’ing since 13, got into production and engineering at the age of 16, and had a Pro-tools equipped studio at the age of 19. So I can go into any studio in the country right now and handle myself behind the mic and the boards.

You’ve recently released your official second single. Put us up on it…

MIMS: The official second single off the album is called ‘Like This’. It’s a club record that is very competitive. It’s not competitive as in dancing, but more along the lines of male and female. I think that people are going to have a lot of fun with it, especially since it’s about to get warm very soon.

In closing, why will 2007 be a big year for Mims?

MIMS: I think that just like everybody in this industry, I have overcome a lot of obstacles. I’ve taken a record that a lot of people didn’t believe in, and I’m sure that people still don’t believe in it now, but I took that song to a #1 position on the charts. I have a great company behind me. This year is going to be mine. You’re going to hear a lot from MIMS…