So, you’re the Memphis mack, but how did you end up in Atlanta?
My dad used to bring me to Atlanta back in the days for the Jack the Rapper conventions. He was a big wig, so I got the best of it. My dad was a musician, and my mom was a background singer for a lot of big names like Barbara Streisland. I started off singing and then rapping. I been rapping since like ’89.
When did you start getting into production?
I actually learned how to produce when people were late for sessions. I was sitting there with all this equipment waiting for them to come, and really I was just telling them what to play.
What project are you working on now?
I’m working on my album, The Big Love album. It’s slated for a release sometime next year.
Didn’t you sign a deal with Cash Money?
I did a fifty song production deal with them, which is still going on. But as an artist I’m actually signed to Atlantic Records. As far as my other artists, I’ve got Jody Breeze at Warner, Young Jeezy is a joint venture with his label and my label Sho-Nuff through Def Jam, and Ciara is on Jive. L.A. [Reid] actually gets the praise for discovering Ciara on a major level. He was like, “She’s the one,” but then the labels merged and he went to Def Jam so we had to hand her project over to Jive. But it turned out to be a good thing because Jive was able to take her through the same channels as Britney and Christina and all them. They got [Ciara’s record “Goodies”] up to like 10,000 spins a week.
Are you sick of hearing it?
Never. I’ll never get sick of hearing it. You always think you’re gonna get sick of hearing your own stuff, but you never do. You might get tired of it, but not sick. There’s a difference.
When did you sign Ciara?
About three years ago. She was in a group, and a friend told me about her. When we met, I hadn’t even heard her voice and I didn’t even know she was the one in the group he had been talking about. I was like, “She’s the one,” and they were like, “Yeah, she is the one.” So we just hit it off from there. We’ve been talking every day since then.
What about Young Jeezy and Jody Breeze?
Jeezy already had records out in Atlanta and I had kinda caught wind of him and met him in the streets. I ain’t know who he was at first. I was talking to him and he told me he rapped, and I was like, Yeah, right. You know, he’s a hustler type. He knows how to get money. So we just got together and recorded, and I told him if he wanted to take it major to let me know. One stop and we got a deal. With Jody, my manager was at a car show and Jody was in a battle. He’s live on the mic, takin’ dudes out left and right. [My manager] brought him out to a concert and that’s how we met.
People say Jody kinda sounds like T.I.
Yeah, I’ve heard that. I think they talk about some of the same things cause they’re from the same lifestyle. And with Jody and T.I. it’s just the tone of their voices. But, T.I. is a little more mature with his lyrics. Jody’s young and he’s still talkin’ about headbussin’ and that kinda stuff.
Jazze, Jeezy, Jody? Is that just a coincidence?
(laughing) Yeah, we thought about that too. It just happened that way.
So you’re finding artists that just have raw potential and developing them. What’s the most challenging part of that process?
Making them understand that everybody’s deal is not gonna flow perfectly like, for example, Ciara’s did. Ciara is a special situation, it’s probably not going to happen like that even for me and I’ve been around for years. Sometimes the gates just open for you. When it’s your turn, it’s your turn. Sometimes you might have a record done and the world just ain’t ready for you. At first the only buzz [Ciara] had was inside the industry, because everybody wanted to sign her. I really didn’t give a lot of people the chance to hear the record in advance, because I already knew L.A. Reid’s competence for music with females. You’ve gotta look at Toni Braxton and all the other females he’s helped develop.
Why do you think Atlanta has developed into such a huge force in the music world?
I think Atlanta has always been a huge force. Right now it’s just swelled up, because just like everything else it retracts and it blows again. I think some of the best producers are based here in Atlanta, and that has a lot to do with it: Organized Noize, Dallas Austin, Jermaine Dupri, DJ Toomp, Lil Jon, Outkast, and myself, for example. For a record label, the ideal place to create something massive is here. There’s no place on earth that you could really go and top Atlanta when it comes to production.
Since the game is so production-driven, with a hot track like “Goodies,” do you think anybody could have made that song a hit?
No. There’s a few people coulda done it, but I don’t think nobody else coulda pulled it off, the whole picture, the way [Ciara] did. That was a crunk & B single, of course, that’s Jon signature. But her style is definitely not crunk & B, it’s just fly and sexy. She’s got a smooth side to her. Her record is very smooth, melodic, and captivating. People love her project.
Since Ciara blew up so quick, have you seen her go through a lot of stress and changes?
I think stress and changes just come with the game. It’s new to her, of course, but the best thing is that I’ve seen her go through less stress with great success than a lot of people go through with minor success. Some people can’t handle even minor success. So I think she’s a special, special person. It’s not an act. If she walks in this room, she’s gonna hug him, him, me, and you, and she ain’t never met y’all. That’s just how she is. She’ll make you warm up to her, and I think that’s the ingredients of a superstar. She’s not a star, she’s a superstar.
Besides Ciara, what other artists have you been working with lately?
Murphy Lee, Ruben Studdard. I just mixed Fantasia today, and I’m doing Mary J Blige soon. Like, ever since the Ciara thing, every female artist under the sun has called me. She’s the hottest female in the game right now. It’s crazy.
And you’re on the radio too, right?
Yeah, [Atlanta’s WHTA] 107.9 every Saturday 6-10 PM. It’s The Penthouse, with Mami Chula and DJ Hershey. We’ve been doing that for two and a half years now. I’ve also got a syndicated show that’s in forty different stations. That starts next month.
How did you get the radio gig?
Just doing radio interviews and putting my personality in there and taking over. When I put the headphones on, it’s just like I’m in the studio. You’ve got your own separate volume, and I turn mine all the way up. The louder it is, the crazier I might get. I take off like I’m in another world.
So you’ve got a split personality?
I’ve got, literally, a bunch of personalities. I can’t name ‘em all, though, I’m gonna save them for my album. I wanna surprise everyone.
Is it gonna be like Cassidy’s album, where each personality gets half of the CD? (laughing)
Nah, it’s gonna be everybody involved. It just depends on what the song calls for.
- Interview and photo by Julia Beverly
