Producer Spotlight: Divided Souls Ent.
by Justin on Apr 26, 2011 · 2 Comments and 14 Reactions
After releasing their compilation Audio Resume earlier today, here’s you chance to learn more about the production duo known as Divided Souls Ent. I got the chance to chop it up with Chris & Brent on a wide variety of topics in the days leading up to their compilation’s release date. The duo shared some interesting stories including how Divided Souls started, working with the likes of Grand Daddy I.U. & Chuck D, how a second Crooked Lettaz album was in the works at one time, DJ Pain 1′s role in the Divided Souls team, how producers can get work with TV shows and much more. Hit the jump for the full interview.
Introduce yourselves:
Chris “Spanky” Moss and Brent Dixon from Divided Souls Entertainment.
Now how did Divided Souls Ent. start?
Chris: The company started from an earlier production company called Groove Quest. Brent started it shortly after I left school in 2000. The genesis for all of this stems from my days as a DJ at KLSU’s hip hop show, Underground Sounds, and from Brent making moves in Baton Rouge with his group Methods of Science. He was the producer for that group. We linked up with David Banner, the Ill Relatives, Fiend, C-Loc, Max Minelli, Young Bleed, Happy Perez and many others.
Brent: The name came about after reading Marvin Gaye’s autobiography titled Divided Soul. I was always a huge fan and took from it the extremes of him as an artist and the dark side of his faults. It’s the contradiction of man. Sonically, it’s the gumbo mixture of musical influences from all spectrums of music being pulled towards East Coast drums, West Coast melody and my Down South soul hip hop.
Now you’ve worked with a lot of big names in the past few years. How did the collaborations with Chuck D for example happen?
Brent: I was developing a relationship with Scarface at the time. I told Face who we wanted to work with — Face, of course, Chuck D, KRS, LL [Cool J] & Rakim. Face and I called KRS, and left a message for him. The next day, Face got Chuck on a three way call with me and we exchanged info. So, off that wish list, we had a chance to work with two of those artists right now. We gave Face three tracks and Chuck crafted “Tear Down That Wall.”
I know y’all also have been working with Grand Daddy I.U. What’s that experience been like?
Chris: It’s been a rewarding experience working with I.U. He doesn’t sound dated. Some rappers from that Golden Age era have lost a little of their edge, he still has it! You don’t have to worry about him ever coming wack on a beat. We are supposed to be working on an EP with him, DJ Pain 1 and us are providing the beats. It’s not coming out next month or anything, but it’s coming.
That’s good, always felt I.U. was an underappreciated emcee from that era. You mentioned DJ Pain 1, who we’ve featured on the site many times before. I know y’all have worked together a lot, would you consider him an “unofficial” member of the Divided Souls team?
Brent: He is our fifth Beatle, so yes, he is in the family! We look at it as a strength in numbers approach and making music with friends makes the grind a little less taxing.
Definitely makes sense. You’ve had a roster of artists in the past such as Decky, Rudye and Thicker Den Water. Are there still plans for the label side of things with these guys or have you just decided to focus on producing?
Brent: As times have changed, we’ve had to adapt as well. Trying to be an indie and basically self-funded label was financially draining. You need to have the money to make the music and get it out there; it’s the nature of things. So, we have focused our attention now to producing and doing more television work too. It’s all love with those guys too, and there are some really good songs that need to see the light of day that we have in the can.
That’s understandable. Now let’s shift focus to the new project Audio Resume. I know it’s been in the works for a long time, tell us a little about what our readers should expect to hear.
Chris: Expect to hear a diverse lineup of artists for starters. The common thread is the quality in the production and the attention to detail that we all put into this project. I mean, we really try to make the drums hit hard and showcase a diverse offering to the masses via sample based and live musicianship, too.
We derive a lot of our inspiration for our sound from what Organized Noize did with their production work. They used all elements of Hip Hop — hard drums, samples, live instruments and scratches to make it sound dope. We have our own lane, but they are big influence on how we approach music production not just hip hop.
Rico, Ray & Sleepy are without a doubt are all time greats and a perfect model to follow. As you stated, you’ve got a very diverse lineup on this project. Can you tell us a few of the notable names on there and if we’ll see any collaborations we might not have expected?
Chris: The nature of this project is to let the listeners out there see what we’ve done over the years. Much like a resume shows off your skills and talents, this is just an audio version of that. We’ve got Stat Quo, C.L. Smooth, Crooked Lettaz, Chuck D, I.U, Juicy J and this artist Native. He’s dropping an insightful narrative about a soldier fighting in Iraq and coming back stateside.
The C.L. Smooth song will definitely catch people by surprise, too. It has a definite reggae feel to it. We were not trying to recapture the glory days of Pete and C.L. C.L. is still dropping hot bars on this song, just with a new twist.
Sounds like a must hear track. Now as a huge Crooked Lettaz fan, I can’t go without asking this: did you get Kamikaze & Banner on the same track?
Brent: Yes sir! The entire track was done on the SP 1200 and Banner and Kamikaze are killing their verses. We were sipping on some Hennessy that evening in the session in Jackson, MS [Laughs]. They were in the same studio, same time, same everything. It was supposed to go on the follow up to the Grey Skies album.
Wow, so they were working on a reunion album?
Brent: No, it was supposed to be a true second album and not a reunion album. As schedules, lives and times go, it just never transpired.
I see. Speaking of another artist we haven’t heard from in a while, are y’all still working with Young Bleed? Are we any closer to hearing a new solo LP from Bleed any time soon as far as you know?
Chris: We tried to get a collaborative album together with him on the vocals and us, DJ Pain 1 and Steve Below [UGK producer] on the production. However, we just couldn’t come to a mutual understanding on what direction to take that album. We had recorded one song and it was pretty hot! [Laughs] Maybe it’ll go on the Thinking Man’s Game project as well. Who knows?
Bleed seems like an enigma, never know what to expect from him. How is Thinking Man’s Game coming along?
Chris: It is coming along nicely. It’s a labor of love. We’ve been working on it for a little while now and we’ve added and deleted songs as we’ve gone along. We’re also trying to cash in on a couple of favors to really round out the project. It was put on hold though since we got busy doing these cable shows with DuBose Communications and MC Lyte. That has been a fruitful relationship which has allowed us to showcase some more of our diversity in a completely different arena: television.
As you know, we’ve got a lot of producers in the KN community. What advice can you give them on entering the television production market? How difficult was it for you to get into that area and how does it differ from just typical beat making?
Chris: I would suggest not limiting your creativity to the confined space of hip hop. It allows you to explore other ways of doing a song versus 16 bars, 8 bar hook, 16 bars, 8 bar hook, etc. Also, establish the relationship with the music supervisor or decision maker on the project. Try to find someone who knows someone and get in through that relationship. Approach the beat making free of structure absent of a typical “song mode.” Brent had to leave a movie early because Lyte needed something immediately because they were wrapping up the project. So, have your equipment ready because you’ll have to do beats, revise beats, whatever on the fly for real. Establishing the relationship by respectable means is key.
As we can see, there’s a lot on the table for Divided Souls. What can we expect to see in the future? Any artists in particular fans should keep an eye on that you’ve been producing for?
Chris: Lil Chuckee [Young Money]. We just did the song “We Gon Make It” which is a refreshing joint from an artist who has a lot of growth still in him. Also Dee-1 out of New Orleans, we’ve sent him about 15 beats and he recorded about 4 or 5 so far. Brent is mixing one as we speak. MC Lyte is coming out with a dope record called “Everlasting.” That’s some rough, boom bap Hip Hop there with a vicious scratched chorus via Pain 1. Let’s see, also Scarface is sitting on three of our joints for his upcoming project.
I’ve talked to Chuck D and we’re looking at getting back to work on a new song. Also, Backbone from Dungeon Family is getting down with us on some songs as well. We just teamed up with Killer Mike for a joint that we are doing with the Konsole Kingz and Rockband video game. It’s some “ghetto metal” type hip hop and Mike is annihilating the song over hard drums and rock guitars. We may also be working on a project with N.O. Joe.
Brent: We also got the title track on Memphis Bleek’s album called The Process.
Chris: Oh, by the way, we are looking for an artist that has an internet presence and following out there. If they are on the grind, we’ll grind with them. Hit us up: Brent: dividedsouls1@gmail.com or Spanky: dividedsouls2@gmail.com
Nice, sounds like we’ll be hearing a lot from Divided Souls in the near future. Any shout outs or last words?
Brent: To the artists - as with any craft, please do the knowledge and study the history. Know who did what, google your favorite artist, producer, etc. Associate yourself with like-minded artists and go hard. Don’t take No for an answer, just hustle around that. We do in the information age now so, really, to not know something shouldn’t be your excuse. Study the business side.
Chris: Be on the lookout for Thinking Man’s Game and some more television work from us via ESPN, BET and more in 2011. Shout out to the musicians (Esco, DJ Dirty D, Ian & Jeremy), Brenda Platt (Brent’s mom), my wife Serita, Al Lindstrom, MC Lyte, Will of SMC Recordings, N.O. Joe and of course God. Also Martha Platt, Brent’s grandmother, who helped him put together his first studio. And we’re out!
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