Just Being a DJ

To: Kaseem Dean a /k /a Swizz Beats FROM: Your people at Padell Nadell Fine Weinberger We just want to thank you for being you. To have the God given talent - a ..r that you have is unbelievable. a.. .. a - f. To stop, look & listen at your - a a,. music is a dream. After 10 years behind the console as The music industry salutes you the producer of some of this era's top R &B and hip -hop hits, SWIZZ BEATZ is for your success and making finally coming out front as an artist. music - music. from »p39 then try to clean up the sec- to see his stuff on the wall in the '80s talking Love, ond time around. There's some new energy about "Crack Is Wack." He was a part of that on this album; have some people check out whole movement, and I can relate to that move- some new producers. There's a lot of produc- ment, because it was the beginning of the b- Bert, Toni, Elizabeth, Jake, ers out there who do their thing, but the pro- boy era. And Basquiat was in the middle of all ducers who hold the name like I do, they're that; he was running with Fab Five Freddy. Shelia, Paz & Duffy taking their credits and posing, and people That's crazy to me. never even know who the real producers are. If you produce a track for me, that's what your How have things changed from 1998 for you? credit's going to say. I'm a different person. I'm a man, I was a boy \ then. I developed a lot of skills within the indus- You grew up in the South Bronx. What was try, as far as I've been assigned hits, I've been your youth like? assigned talent, understanding the business. I I started out as a local DJ, playing parties, the know how to create longevity. I've grown as a clubs, in the park. I was young, young, young, performer, as an artist, grown as a producer, in- like 11. Then I moved to stead of just being a DJ. Atlanta and I started DJ'ing all the high school `I've You've already had a and college parties. In full career at the age New York I was playing grown as a of 28. What is it like to reggae and hip -hop, and look back? in Atlanta I was playing performer. I look back and see that reggae, East Coast hip - I've rown I came in the industry at hop, West Coast hip -hop. g an early age, and I I was the first DJ out there as producer, changed immediately to play all those different what was going on in sets in one party. instead of the industry. When I R A TRAVEL came out everyone was Was there music in your just being doing Puff Daddy, shiny house? a DJ.' suits, sampling James My father, he was a DJ, so Brown. Then this kid BEATZ it was in the blood. My -SWIZZ who just got out of mid- A 7/ mother, she would sing dle school comes out It- <ti( 6<2<<l Xk,í.ft£r?;?-ilLa t E!/ìP r old songs in the house all the time. And in the with this synthesized sound that sounds kind 1 South Bronx it was so musical, I would go out- of weird, but it was making people move, on side and there was all the hip -hop you wanted a ton of records. SWIZZ BEATZ to hear. I came from a balance, and I respect all And I got the chance to go on some great =ULL SURFACE RECCRCS levels because I've been on every one of them. tours; Cash Money, Ruff Ryders, Hard Knock Life, that was mint. Being a part of those tours, Tell me about your art collection. to be able to look back and see, like, wow, I love the art world, I think it's the next biggest pretty much I partied like a rock star, but I thing as far as investing. My collection goes wrote and produced [2000 track "Rollin' "] for from Peter Max to Salvador Dali to Basquiat to Limp Bizkit when I was like 18. I wrote the Andy Warhol to Keith Haring. drums for Marilyn Manson [1998 track "The Le U4TaAe lou AV here Your naiion Leads Omen" with DMX]. There are so many mo- What do you like about pop art? ments, so many memorable moments. I re- t:,,ntactDonrèinink -ïiello. V.P. at 2'12-f"'S-F-1C0 ra-r rn It just blends with my lifestyle. Andy Warhol member producing [2000's "Ruff Ryders' is taking stuff that we see every day and mak- Anthem "]. It's 2007, I just performed the song ing it iconic; that's what's special about that. last night, and they were singing it like it just Keith Haring, he's a part of the b -boy era: I used came out. -Kern i Mason 40 BILLBOARD I SEPTEMBER 29, 2007 www.americanradiohistory.com.

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