L.E.P. - Ozone Magazine

9 MILLION
Words // Charlamagne tha God
Originating from Dalzell, South Carolina,
9 Million is proof that you don’t have to be
from a major music mecca to create hit
records. He’s lent his production expertise
to nearly all of the hot artists in South
Carolina, along with artists like Gorilla Zoe,
B.o.B., and Sean Paul of the YoungBloodz.
A lot people don’t know that you’re responsible
for so many South Carolina classics.
Give them a quick list of some joints you’ve
produced.
I did “Hey You Shawty” and “I’m Clean” for
CollardGreens and his new single “Heart-
Breaker.” I did “Don’t I Look Good” For Lil
Ru, “I’m a Legend” for Mr. Flip, and “Everybody
Lookin” by CollardGreens, which
Atlantic Records’ VP Kevin Liles purchased
for one of his artists. I did “Ya Know” by Mr.
Flip. I also produced Lil Ru’s second single
under Capitol Records, “I’m Spinnin It.” I
did Mr. Flip’s new single “Geek Music” and I
produced the hottest song in the south right
now, “Nasty Song” by Lil Ru.
What exactly is your title with Headhunter
Records
I’m co-CEO along with my partner Lil Bo.
I’m also the official in-house producer. I do
a little of everything, from marketing and
structuring our company, to the little things
that make our label and artists successful.
Some people think that as long as you have
a hot song you’re gonna automatically be
successful, and that’s not reality. It takes
a team of individuals with a common goal
to make that record successful, and I think
my partner did a great job putting this team
together.
How is everything with Lil Ru’s situation Is
it true he got dropped from Capitol
Everything is cool. Lil Ru is not with Capitol
Records any longer, but it was a decision
made by Head Hunter Management not to
continue with the terms of the contract.
Why hasn’t Headhunter released any full
length albums You always have a smash
single but it’s rarely anything at retail. I
know the streets are dying to know why
they can’t cop the albums in the stores.
Actually we just released Lil Ru’s album/mix
CD called Microwave Music. It has all original
tracks produced by me and my label
mate Freddie L. But before this, we just
didn’t feel like the time was right to release
any projects. We wanted to keep the streets
wanting more. I didn’t want to over-flood
the market before we had total control. Now
that we have control of the market, you’re
gonna see a lot of projects in retail stores
everywhere.
So what’s on deck for Nine Mill and Headhunter
in 2008
I’m working with my labelmates CollardGreens
and Mr. Flip right now. Their
projects will be dropping this fall so we’re
in the studio every day and night. I’ve also
been working with a lot of major and independent
artists. I got a lot of people coming
at me for tracks right now. I guess you can
say I’m hot right now, feel me
Website: Myspace.com/headhunterlabel
How do you deal with artists feeling like
they’re not getting the attention they deserve,
especially when the focus is on one
man out of the crew
That’s what’s so good about the team. The
artists on the roster are real humble. Everyone
understands business. We all know
that everybody can’t be in the spotlight at
the same time. We all made a conscious
decision to push Lil Project, and it’s been
working. Now that we’ve started getting
attention from the majors, we’ve been working
with all of our artists a lot more. I want
everybody on the label to have hit records.
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