24: When did you start producing?
Amadeus: Right now I’m 26 years old I
started at the age of 16, I actually started off as a musician playing drums and
from there went on the making beats which wasn’t a hard transition.

24: When you first started were you concerned
with the up front money or more so your production credit and building up your
resume?
Amadeus: Being new to the game and new to the
business it’s not really a money thing when you first start out your just
getting use to how things work so its really more of just making the best tracks
possible being heard as well as being seen and recognized. The whole money situation
came into play as I got more educated to how the business part of it works.

24: Go through your resume on some of
the artist you have worked with to date?
Amadeus: Mike Jones, 50 Cent, Fabolous, Slim
Thug, Lil Mo, Camron, Paul Wall, Jim Jones, Red Café, Trey Songz, Pimp
C, Hell Rell, JR Writer, and the whole DipSet as a group, Foxy Brown, Remy Ma,
Papoose, and Ja Millz to name a couple I have been very blessed.

24: Which artist did you enjoy working
with the most?
Amadeus: If I could name 2, I would say Lil
Mo because she is one of the first believers in me, and Mike Jones. The reasons
are because of their excitement, passion, and love for the music just takes
it to another level. They are every humble and have great attitudes plus most
of all just real talented people that love creating new things, new sounds.

24: What’s your relationship with
Mike Jones because it seems to be mush more then just music?
Amadeus: It started off as a music industry
relationship but like I said before the dude is so talented and humble, very
family orientated overall a good dude. We had worked together on the first album
I did “Grandma” and after that he reached out to me like I’m
working on the second album let’s work. We built on the phone or email
at least 3 or 4 times a week just brain storming and shooting different ideas
for the project and it definitely grew into a friend relationship also because
we kick it with things that don’t have anything to do with music. For
example, the last time I took a trip to Houston to mix down the songs I actually
stayed at his crib so that right there just goes to show you what type of dude
he is again.

24: What are some of the projects you
have been working on lately that we can look out for in the near future?
Amadeus: The most recent would be the Fabolous
album. It’s a song that features Lil Mo, which is a crazy record and a
reunion at the same time because the fans have not heard them on a track together
in a while. I also did some work on Marcus Houston new album Veteran, Red Café,
Papoose and of course Mike Jones new album, which will be out April.3 so go
get that.

24: To show up and coming producers reading
this interview how hard work pays off, what price did you at selling beats to
now?
Amadeus: Believe it or not I actually sold
my first beat for 7,500, but there are ups and downs to that for the fact that
that’s so rare and never happens with a new producer especially a young
dude like me at the time being 16, 17 years old. At the same time it kind of
messed me up with every thing that came after that because I was like yo I got
paid 7,500 for my first joint, so in reality I should not be getting no less
then that, but the rules of the game change every day. Today, labels are a lot
smarter and do not want to spend a whole lot especially when dealing with a
new producer so I would say feel out the situation and the normal rate going
is any where from 2,500-5,000 for a new producer the normal rate use to be 5,000
but like I said, the labels are not trying to spend that kind of money any longer
so it kind of went down.

24: Tell me about some of the producers
that motivate you to go in the studio and come out with some fire?
Amadeus: Dr. Dre, Puff and The Hitmen when
they had there time to me they were unstoppable. Rodney Jerkins, Neptunes, Scott
Storch, Just Blaze, Kanye West, and a lot of the up and coming dudes to me,
it’s not just about the one’s that made it and fellow producers
like myself that are cooking up some heat that inspire me.

24: How did you hook up with Damon Dash
and eventually getting your own shoe by Pro-Ked?
Amadeus: It was weird because I actually signed
a deal with his partner who likes his name not to be mentioned so I won’t
mentioned his name but it’s a publishing company that signs song writers
and I was actually the first producer to sign with them so that’s how
it all got started. After that I kind of earned Dame Dash’s respect as
a individual and as a producer and him owning Pro-Keds, I remember when I first
met him he was like why don’t you go in and design your own sneaker and
it happened kind of like that. I went in with the designer and I already had
a logo from my production company and that’s how it came about.

24: Tell me about your company Platinum
Boy Music?
Amadeus: It was started by myself about 6,
7 years ago, I have a few producers and two artist signed to the production
company. Tiffany Mynon who does R&B and Ravenus a male rapper so look out
for them in the near future.

24: A lot of new producers don’t
have great managers or managers at all and submitting a beat CD is a key factor
so please if you could give them some sound advice?
Amadeus: The first thing to do is put your
heat first. Two, make sure it’s not a lot of tracks on the CD, remember
less is good. Three, make sure the CD is presentable. Make sure your contact
info is on there, no chicken scratch and it’s looking good.

24: I want to thank you for this interview
do you have any last words or anything you want to promote?
Amadeus: Shout outs to you and 24HourHipHop
and making me apart of it, plus also to the producers out there, allow this
to be your passion and if it’s not your passion leave it alone. It’s definitely
hard and your going to run into road bumps along the way, but if you feel like
this is your destiny go for it and let no man stop you.

Interview by: Jay Carter