Mr. Porter Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records

Mr. Porter talks about producing for Eminem, 50 Cent, Jay Electronica, Busta Rhymes, and many more.

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Let’s cut the shit. Hip-hop producer Denaun Porter a.k.a. Mr. Porter is way too underrated. He got his start making beats that helped Eminem secure a major label record deal, then went platinum laying down songs (and rapping under the alias Kon Artis) with his Detroit homies D12, transitioned into becoming one of Dr. Dre’s most successful proteges producing bangers for in-house artists like 50 Cent and Busta Rhymes, and then broke away and did tracks (and sang some mean hooks at times too) for everyone from Lil’ Kim to Little Brother. He even gave some fire to a young and hungry Jay Electronica.

And now, he can boast about contributing four songs and co-executive producing one of the most anticipated releases of the summer, Bad Meets Evil’s Hell: The Sequel. Still, his name is often glossed over in barbershop debates and lunch table arguments over who’s putting in the most potent work behind the boards.

We’ve known for a while here at Complex that Mr. Porter is a motherfuckin’ monster. So for Bad Meets Evil Week, we got him on the horn in the midst of his Bonnaroo rehearsals with Eminem (yeah, he’s Em’s hype man too) to get the stories behind all the songs you may or may not know he produced. So don’t worry if you overlooked his accomplishments or think Dr. Dre produced “P.I.M.P” or Xzibit’s “Multiply.” He takes that as a compliment.

As told to Daniel Isenberg (@stanipcus)

Infinite

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Eminem "Infinite" (1996)

Album: Infinite

Label: Web

Mr. Porter: “I met Em through a mutual friend we had at The Hip-Hop Shop who was another rapper. He told me Em was looking for a new producer because him and his producer had fell out or something. I was like, ‘Alright cool, just tell him to come through.’ One day he came by the house, and my mother thought I was selling weed or something. [Laughs.] So we kicked it, and [from there] we got real close. And I was going through that point in my life where my father, he always told us we had to have jobs to live in his house. But I wanted to do music. And I felt like [working with Eminem] was my opportunity to do something.

“So we started doing some songs together, and eventually I moved into his place because me and my parents kind of fell out or whatever. He was like, ‘I’ll give you my room, you get better at making beats, and I’ll sleep on the couch.’ I was like, ‘What?!’ That was about the best thing to ever happen to me. That time was just a bonding period. That album is so significant to me because that was the beginning of a big friendship between me and him.

“We were recording at Mark and Jeff Bass’ studio. We were listening to a lot of J Dilla music at that time, that was one of my main influences. Em was like, ‘We gotta get the drums to pop more.’ Proof and DJ Head came in and did a lot of the drums over Infinite. That was the first experience I had producing and then having people come in and make the song better. It was a dope experience.

“We were just trying to get songs on the radio, and make something that was relevant. When I first met Em I was like, ‘Yo, you rap too fast, you gotta slow down.’ He rapped really fast. Once he slowed down, we were really just trying to make a solid album. And for that time, man, it was a solid album.

“People couldn’t believe he was white. When I first went to the hood with the songs, I said, ‘This my man Em, and I produced all these beats.’ And it was banging to everybody. And then after they listened to it, I would tell them that he was white. They were like, ‘Get the fuck outta here.’ Then he would come around the block, and he became family over there too.

“From there, the reaction I got was dope. People would be walking up to me like, ‘You got one of those tapes? Can I get one?’”

Low Down Dirty

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Eminem "Low Down, Dirty" (1997)

Album: The Slim Shady EP

Label: Web

Mr. Porter: “I started changing my production. When you do a project, I feel like you should keep your ear to the streets and be able to take creative criticism. People [thought Infinite] was jazz-driven and New York-driven. And I didn’t want to be like anybody else.

“I didn’t want people to think I was trying to be like Dilla, because he was an inspiration to me. So I started changing the bit rate on my keyboard down to 8 bit, and it was a grungy, gritty sound that I didn’t hear anyone else doing. The drums were real dirty. It was like RZA-driven. It was weird. But that’s what ‘Low Down, Dirty’ was. It was a new thing. And that was the sound for Slim Shady.

“The Redman sample, well I was a huge Redman fan, Em was a huge Redman fan, and I don’t remember if it was his idea to put that in there or I just put that in there because sometimes I put hooks to beats before people got them. When I made new beats, I would be so anxious for him to hear them. And when he first heard ‘Low Down, Dirty’ he was like, ‘Yo man, you’re getting better, you’re becoming your own person.’ And that fueled me even more.

“That was the whole idea of that character. They started D12 at the time, and that’s what they were going to do, just say the most outrageous shit. It was shock rap like what Odd Future’s doing today.

“Back then was the only time I could sit in the studio and hear his verses while he was recording them. He would spit the verse to the beat a little before [he recorded it] for us. Now he doesn’t want you to hear it until he does it. I was privileged to just be in that process then, because I was learning.

“I was the producer and he was the rapper and it was comfortable. You gotta understand, being around him, it’s natural for him to say the crazy and clever things he would say because he’s like that as a person. Everyone else would flip when they heard it, but I was like, ‘Yo, this is what this nigga do.’”

Just Dont Give A Fuck

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Eminem "Just Don't Give A Fuck" (1997)

Album: The Slim Shady EP

Label: Web

Mr. Porter: “That started a formula for making songs to me. Once I heard the sample, before I even finished the beat, I would store it in my head. It was a Bob James record, and it was the most unique sounding record I had because it was all medieval sounding with harpsichords and shit. And we needed something that would say, ‘I’m Slim Shady.’ That shit just made me feel like that.

“I would tell him, ‘Yo I’m making this beat, it’s gonna be crazy.’ I tried to tackle that beat three or four times. Then when he got that shit, it fucked him up, because at that time people weren’t making beats like that. I think he was really impressed. And it turned into what I thought was the best song on the EP.

“I went to this garage sale this old lady had, and her husband had died. I would always walk by her house. And she had this crate outside, and it had about 150 records in it. It was huge. She stopped me and said, ‘Where do you go when you walk from here?’ And I said, ‘I walk to 7 Mile and catch the bus to the west side because I go to the studio. I’m a music producer.’

“She said, ‘My husband was into music. He always used to say, ‘That kid has something on his mind.’’ I never knew that they watched me that closely. And she said, ‘I want you to have these records. They were his records.’ And in that crate was the ‘Just Don’t Give A Fuck’ sample. I had to drag the crate down the street in a red wagon. That crate of records rocked me for like a year. [Laughs.] That’s all I had. I was broke as fuck.

State to State

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Outsidaz "State to State" (2001)

Album: The Bricks

Label: Rufflife

Mr. Porter: “That was the first time I sold a beat to people that were signed to a major label. And I hated that song so bad. I went to the studio [to get up with the Outsidaz], and I met Nottz. Well, I didn’t actually meet him, he was just in there. And they were working with Nottz, and I’m listening to his beats, and I just basically walked out the door and was like, ‘Fuck me! I’m so wack.’ I had some bangers on my CD, but I couldn’t compete with that. I was like, ‘Who the fuck is this dude?’ He had some incredible shit. I liked my beats before, but after I heard Nottz, I hated my shit.

“I played my beats for Young Zee [of The Outsidaz], who years later I ended up signing, and they wound up picking like three beats out of the seven on there. I hated that song so much that I didn’t want them to pick that one, but I read somewhere in Rap Pages or The Source or something that when producers make songs, they put the one that they like the least last, and that’s the one that artists’ pick. So I gave that a shot. And they ended up picking that beat, and I wish they didn’t.

“If it hadn’t been for Nottz that day, I would’ve never gone home and stepped my shit up. We’re good friends now, and I’ve never told him that.”

Shit Can Happen

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D12 "Shit Can Happen" (2001)

Album: Devil’s Night

Label: Shady/Interscope

Mr. Porter: “That was a Brigade song originally, a group I was in with Kuniva [of D12]. I played it for Em, and I think he was just like, ‘Yo, we should save this for the [D12] album. This shit is dope.’ And it became the first song on the album. I was really big on that song, because it was the first song on the album, and I produced it. I was like, ‘Oh wow. That’s huge.’

“It had this guitar sound, and I built the beat around that sound. That was the first time I noticed I had a talent for hearing a melody in a sound effect. I didn’t know anything about notes or keys or anything, I would just play sounds into the MPC and chop them up and make a beat out of it. It was a crazy process. I was still listening to Dilla, but Dr. Dre was influencing me around that time too, and this was before I met him. Dre was using all live sounds then.

“That was Proof and Em. They masterminded that whole D12 project. They said, ‘We might as well just do an album.’ I didn’t even start off in the group, I was just doing beats. It was Bizarre, Em, and Proof, and a couple other people. Actually, the guy that introduced me to Eminem didn’t show up to the studio, and I was like, ‘Yo, I can rap. I’ll do a verse.’

“Proof was like, ‘Yeah okay, whatever.’ And then I did my verse and he was like, ‘What?!’ So that was my doorway in. I knew I wanted to stand out and be like Erick Sermon, Dr. Dre, and Pete Rock. They produced and rapped. They didn’t even tell me I was [officially a member of D12], they were just like, ‘Alright, cool.’ Then I pulled Kuniva in.”

Thats How

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D12 "That's How" (2001)

Album: Devil’s Night

Label: Shady/Interscope




Mr. Porter: “That was another song I created and brought to the table. It was already made. When I met the Outsidaz, I played that for their A&Rs at Warner Brothers, and they wanted to do a single deal for it. It was hella catchy, and it was ghetto as hell, but their minds were open to doing something like that. The beat was different, but it was still a head-nodder. I wanted it to be an anthem song.

“The beat was not as good until Em touched it up. I started learning how to produce in the studio from that. If he feels the need to touch it up, then I need to see what he does to make it sound better, so that next time I bring a beat to him, it’s already like that. He made it ten times better than it was, because he learned shit from watching Dre. He had a real guitar playing on it, and I was like, ‘Okay, I gotta do that shit?’ When I got it back, it was this huge song, and I was just amazed.”

Multiply

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Xzibit f/ Nate Dogg "Multiply" (2002)

Album: Man vs. Machine

Label: Loud/Columbia/Open Bar Entertainment

Mr. Porter: “That was a part of the first batch of songs that I gave to Dr. Dre. He heard a couple snippets [of my beats] and was like, ‘What the fuck, you got some more of this shit?’ I was like, ‘Yeah.’ But I didn’t have any more, so I had to go home and make shit. I didn’t know I was making it for Xzibit. I wasn’t selling beats at this time. Everything I had done before the D12 album, I didn’t make a dime off of.

“From making money off shows and shit, I went and built a studio in my basement. And I gave Dre 10 beats on a CD. ‘Multiply’ was one of them, ‘P.I.M.P.’ was another one on there too. I never sold a beat to him before. So we went to Australia, and Dre’s general manager calls and says, ‘I got Dre on the phone, he wants to talk to you.’ And I was like, ‘Sure, whatever Proof’, and I hung up, thinking Proof is playing a joke.




“Then Dre calls back, and I’m like, ‘Oh shit, what’s up man, I’m sorry!’ He’s like, ‘It’s all good. But yo, I want to buy seven of those joints.’ I’m like, ‘Seven?’ I was thinking he maybe was gonna want one. I was like, ‘Alright, cool.’

“Then he asked me what I was charging. I never made money really off the Outsidaz shit, so I didn’t know what to say. I was like, ‘I guess like a couple thousand.’ And I’m thinking a couple thousand dollars is asking too much. And he’s like, ‘I’ll give you 15 grand.’ And I thought he was talking about 15 grand as a whole, but he was saying 15 grand a beat! Then we ended up doing a song deal. He said, ‘Don’t sell anymore beats for that price. When you get off tour, I want you to come to L.A.’ And that began me and Dre’s relationship.

“Dre was really busy at the time working on 50’s album or something. Xzibit came in the studio, and he was with Nate, and he needed a single, and we were like, ‘Fuck it, let’s go through the computer.’ And he heard the beat and was like, ‘Oh shit.’ When you see the video, Dre’s in it, so most people thought Dre did that beat.

“Even Xzibit thought Dre did that beat. Busta was in the video, and it was like this big thing. It was huge to me that people thought Dre did that beat. I wasn’t even offended by that, it was a compliment. And that was the first time I had a song with Nate Dogg on the hook, and I was so proud of that. It was my first big single.”

Rap Game

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D12 f/ Eminem, 50 Cent, & Obie Trice "Rap Game" (2002)

Album: Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture 8 Mile

Label: Shady/Interscope

Mr. Porter: “I started that song on the tour bus. We were on tour, and I never worked in a studio on a bus. It was an experience. When you’re doing something new, you have an energy that you can’t really explain. I was motivated to just try shit. I did three joints on that soundtrack. I was really in work mode. I was learning so much, and getting all these opportunities.

“Em came up with the concept after he heard the beat. He came up with the verses and the idea to make it a D12 song. Em had this hook, and he knew 50 could hold a note, so he was like, ‘I’m gonna put 50 on the hook.’ I wasn’t there when 50 recorded it though.”

RAKIM

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Rakim "R.A.K.I.M." (2002)

Album: Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture 8 Mile

Label: Shady/Interscope

Mr. Porter: “That was the most incredible experience of my life. I was a Rakim fan, but I was more a fan of him being on Dre’s label. I was like, ‘Holy shit, what is this gonna sound like?’ This song was one of the songs that turned out from [him being on Aftermath]. No other songs really surfaced. I mean, he did ‘The Watcher.’




“My man Vito wrote the hook for the song. I had this crazy ass beat, it was just stomps and claps, and I had to stack those motherfuckers like twenty times a piece. And I re-created this weird sound effect from Dr. Who, that old show that used to come on PBS, and came up with a melody out of that sound, and it was evil as hell. Then Vito came in with the hook, so when Rakim came in we were like, ‘Yo, we already got it. All you gotta do is rap Ra.’ I wanted to make it easy as hell for him. He took the beat home and came back. And when I heard him rap over it, I was blown the fuck away.

“When we recorded it, It was a moment. Watching him on TV all those years, and then he was in there, following me as far as the direction of the song, I thought I was moving to space after that. I thought I was going to Mars.

“We did another song called ‘After You Die,’ and he was on the way man. Before 50, he had that song ‘Heat’, and it was amazing. But the relationship kinda fizzled out. But it was a good experience. I met my manager through him, Zach Katz.”

Riot

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Busta Rhymes "Riot" (2002)

Album: It Ain’t Safe No More

Label: Flipmode/J Records

Mr. Porter: “I’m a huge Busta fan. Huge! I mean, he’s one of the reasons I wanted to rap. Since Leaders of the New School. And when he did his solo albums, one thing I always saw is that people would look for the Dilla songs. One of my goals was to produce a song for him that people were like, ‘Oh shit, a Mr. Porter song?!’ I wanted to have that effect, like no matter what album, when they see my name, they want to know what the fuck happened. They wanted to hear what I did.




“I was in the studio, and at this time I’m one of Dre’s young proteges. We were in Detroit, and I had this CD, and I just came by to play some shit, I didn’t even know Busta was there. This was at the beginning of me and Dre’s relationship. And this was a new batch [of beats], after the first batch I gave him. This batch was electronic with synths.

"People are doing it now, but at the time it wasn’t popular. It was one of the best beat CDs I ever made. Dre was like, ‘How can you make a beat on, when it’s off? It sounds on, but [the timing is] off.’ At this point I was trying to do something new, and I didn’t want to use timing any more. The kicks were always behind.

“So Busta was listening to these beats, and I guess he thought Dre made them. And Busta went crazy for every beat. He was like, ‘Dre, you on some shit.’ And Dre was like, ‘That ain’t me, that’s this little nigga.’ Busta was like, ‘Oh my God, you did that shit?!!?’ I was so happy, my heart was in my stomach. He was one of my heroes. And ‘Riot’ was one of the joints that was in there.

“He invited me to his show. I had never been to a concert. I performed, but never had seen a concert before. We built a good relationship. That song was the birth of other people knowing about me. He was so hyped about the song. I actually gave him two songs, and I thought the other was going to be a single, but it didn’t turn into that. ‘Riot’ was the one.”

When The Music Stops

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Eminem f/ D12 "When The Music Stops" (2002)

Album: The Eminem Show

Label: Shady/Interscope

Mr. Porter: “It became routine that we would do a D12 song for his major albums. I started that beat when we were in L.A. There were three rooms working. Dre was in one room, Em was in another room, and I was working with Dre at the time so I was already out in L.A.




So I said to one of Dre’s guys that was in the room with me, ‘You know, I gotta do a D12 song [for Em’s new album]. And I went back to the harpsichord because I wanted to touch on that feeling and that Bob James moment [from ‘Just Don’t Give A Fuck’]. I was with this guy who was classically trained, and I said I need some like Les Miserable or something. And the drums were huge.

“I remember writing that verse. The concept was something we were all experiencing, though it was new to D12. We were losing a lot of friends, and people we grew up around with, because things change. I was constantly in L.A., moving around. I couldn’t just hang out. I’m from Detroit. You can’t just hang out there with a chain. I wasn’t trying to shoot someone over a piece of material. I was losing friends.

“I thought about that a lot. When the music stops, what’s going to be left? It hit home at the time, and I think that’s why it was the song we came out on during Em’s set all the time for couple years. It was a critical time, at the height of everything with Shady and D12.”

PIMP

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50 Cent "P.I.M.P." (2003)

Album: Get Rich Or Die Tryin’

Label: Shady/Aftermath/Interscope

Mr. Porter: “That beat was on the same CD [as ‘Multiply’]. I made that beat in a Detroit with a guy named Brandon, who was an engineer that could produce too. I was trying to get producers around me and build an empire, because I was learning from Dre [and that’s how he worked]. I think 50 ended up picking the beat thinking it was a Dre beat too.




“I called Brandon, and I was like, ‘We sold this joint, I didn’t know they were using it, let’s take care of the business.’ Dude co-produced the record, and I wanted to make sure he got the credit. But sometimes systems move differently, and by the time they sent it out, it didn’t have his name on it. He was credited publishing wise though, I tried to handle the business perfectly. He was cool, he understood, and was excited we sold it and wanted to keep working.

“Then the [label] manager stepped in and said, ‘We want this, and this.’ This guy totally destroyed our relationship. And that was the first time I experienced how a major label can cause friction between you and your own people when you’re not trying to do something heinous.

“That beat had a ‘Big Pimpin’’ feel. And 50 caught wind to that. It was some pimp shit. It was a big record. The opportunity to be there, and for people to think it was a Dre beat, not because it sounded like Dre, but because of the quality, and people thinking that my music was that good, it just made me better. And it helped me establish relationships with other artists. Longevity [is most] the important to me.”

Stunt 101

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G-Unit "Stunt 101" (2003)

Album: Beg For Mercy

Label: G-Unit/Interscope

Mr. Porter: “After ‘P.I.M.P.’ I thought I was going to be the dude doing the singles for people. I wasn’t completely happy with the thought of that. I felt that when you’re out there like that, people are quicker to dislike you. They get tired of you quicker, and I didn’t want to be a name that just came and went. It’s a business, and you want to have huge songs, but I didn’t want that to be my drive. A lot of people were probably like, ‘Let’s see if he can do it again.’




“Then right after that, I did ‘Stunt 101.’ There’s only five beats that I did in that batch. Out of that five, [that] was the one. Those beats were so different. No batch is the same as the last, and I pride myself on that. I don’t care if a dude makes thirty or forty beats in a day, I been past that stage.

“Those beats all had this futuristic sound to them. This guy that worked for Dre said, ‘I don’t know about this batch. Stick to what you do.’ I always take constructive criticism, but I said, ‘You’re wrong.’ Artists will see that. We were overseas, and I gave that joint to 50 and he was like, ‘Yo, we got our single.’

“I wasn’t with them when they recorded it, but they played it for me the next day because we were all together pretty much. I told 50 [before they recorded it], ‘Y’all are like the fly, futuristic kinda dudes.’ And they flipped it.”

Spread Yo Shit

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Obie Trice f/ Mr. Porter "Spread Yo Shit" (2003)

Album: Cheers

Label: Shady/Interscope

Mr. Porter: “That beat started with just the guitar riff, and I made the chorus to that. If I give you a beat with a hook, nine times out of ten I’m going through something. And the way that I express that is making a song out of it and singing [the chorus]. People draw towards that, because you can hear the pain [and emotions] in my voice. It’s really raw. I’m not gonna be nice about it. ‘When I was down, you had a lot to say, you should mind your business and walk away, talkin’ about me tryin’ to find a way, to spread yo shit around town.’ I was really going through that!




“I was an Obie fan before he got signed to Shady. That song, I love the way he rapped to it. I was happy with it. A lot of times, it’s hard to be happy with the outcome because I’m a rapper myself, so when I hear beats I hear certain flows. And if I’m in the studio with someone, I’ll [suggest how to flow to the beat]. But with Obie, he came up with a flow that I didn’t think about. And I was like, ‘Oh, that’s dope.’ I was excited about it.

“He was connected to Em the most. Bizarre brought Obie to Em. But in a weird kind of way, he was Proof’s cousin too. They found out years later they were cousins.”

U R The One

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D12 "U R The One" (2004)

Album: D12 World

Label: Shady/Interscope

Mr. Porter: “I was in this relationship, and I hadn’t been in one in a long time. I spent a lot of time talking to this person, and she was in the industry herself. If it was three in the morning, we could have a conversation, and she was that person who could totally help me with whatever I was going through, because she understood the business.




“It was at that point where you kind of have to justify [that she is your girlfriend]. I never say that though, it kind of just happens. But [this song] was kind of my way of saying that, but she had no idea. [Laughs.] That relationship totally inspired ‘U R The One.’

“I wanted to make a song like that, because I felt that our last album was so horror-core and shock value, and there were no up-tempo fun records. And I wanted to have that. I wanted to impress Em and Proof [with the production] because I respected them so much. I was still trying to win them over after all those years.

“We had to fight to make that video. I knew it wasn’t gonna be a huge song, but just to be able to lead the song off with the hook and have [the group] say we should make a video for it felt great.”

Look At Me Now

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Young Buck f/ Mr. Porter "Look At Me Now" (2004)

Album: Straight Outta Cashville

Label: G-Unit/Interscope




Mr. Porter: “With Buck, I didn’t know much about him at the time, so I had to go do homework on him. If I have a conversation with somebody, I can make an album for them, literally. We were in Sony Studios [in New York] and Buck was in another room in the same building. So before I made the beat, I did a little research on him. I had a conversation with him on the phone, asked a couple people about him, and then read a bio, and in the bio he said ‘look at me now’ a couple times. I told him, ‘Give me an hour.’ I made the beat in 20 minutes and had it to him within an hour. He was like, ‘What the fuck you just made this?’ [Laughs.]”

Shes A Pro

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Black Rob f/ Mr. Porter "She's A Pro" (2005)

Album: The Black Rob Report

Label: Bad Boy

Mr. Porter: “It was originally ‘She’s a Ho.’ In the beat I had a sample that said ‘Ho,’ and I built the melody around that sound effect. My mind works real crazy like that. If there’s a bird tapping outside, I can build a melody around it.




“I met with Puff in the studio, and I played him like two or three joints, and he was like, ‘Black Rob is doing his album.’ Sometimes, if I’m not working with three or four people at a time, someone gets lucky and I damn near make a whole album worth of beats for them, just for them to pick one song. I gave Rob an EP worth of beats. I think Rob picked that beat. I just had a conversation with Puff about what he was looking for and the direction [of the project].

“Rob was a really cool dude. He called me after and said, ‘Yo, I love this record, I appreciate it, thank you.’ And I thought that was really cool, because no one had ever really done that. Well, besides Busta, but I talk to that nigga all the time. But he was somebody that I really didn’t know, and ‘Whoa’ was a big song and I [was a fan of his], so I appreciated that.”

We Some Dogs

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Method Man f/ Redman & Snoop Dogg "We Some Dogs" (2004)

Album: Tical 0: The Prequel

Label: Def Jam

Mr. Porter: “In working with Puff, I met Harve Pierre, who was the executive producer on the Meth album. I already had a relationship with Meth, Redman, and Snoop though. That was another one that was originally a Mr. Porter song, and the verse I had on it, I ended up using for the D12 album on ‘I’ll Be Damned.’




“I gave Meth the beat, and it had the synths with these hard ass drums, which was a formula I had used before. I was really getting into singing the hooks. I was doing a lot of singing at the time, so a lot of the beats I was giving to people had hooks. And people really liked that. They didn’t take me off it, they kept me on.

“[Harve and I talked about who else to put on the song] because it had that feeling. I thought it would be a dope song to do with Snoop. And Harve put it together. Red and Meth already had that relationship, so Snoop was really the only person that [got involved with the song] because of our conversation.”

Porno Bitches

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Bizarre f/ Devin The Dude & Big Boi "Porno Bitches" (2005)

Album: Hannicap Circus

Label: Sanctuary/Sony BMG




Mr. Porter: “That was actually a song for my solo effort that I was working on a long time ago, and I abandoned it and gave it to Bizarre. We both were Devin the Dude fans, and Bizarre was living in Atlanta at the time, so I think that’s how the Big Boi thing happened. But we discussed putting Devin on it to get on there and kill it. It fit with the content as well [to have him on the song].

“I was in this world where a lot of ladies that were lawyers were really freaky, and a couple of executive-type women were learning that they had these different sides to them. And I wanted to touch on that. Anything I do, there’s got to be some sort of truth to it. The women I was dealing with were totally way more stable than me, but they all had these freaky ass sides to them. They were the real porn stars.”

Slippin

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Lil’ Kim f/ Mr. Porter "Slippin’" (2005)

Album: The Naked Truth

Label: Atlantic

Mr. Porter: “She was a real good friend. I mean, come on, I grew up a Lil’ Kim fan, for more reasons than music. So I approached [producing the song] like I had that kind of relationship with her. Like, if that was my girl, what would I tell her? At the time, people were in to that snitching and not snitching stuff, and I’m not into all that. If somebody robbed me, I’m gonna tell the police, ‘You better catch them before me, because if not you’re gonna have to throw me in jail.’ And I wanted to touch on that subject with her. I didn’t want to come at her like, ‘Let’s talk about your pussy.’




“I was into a lot of Marvin Gaye at the time, and I was discovering stuff of his I had never heard before. That’s not a Marvin Gaye sample, it’s just driven from that time. That batch of beats I did at Dre’s, and I was on a ‘70s kick. They had a really smooth gangster vibe about them, but they were hard.

“I felt really bad for what she was going through at the time. We kicked it for a minute, and she was really sweet. And that was a great thing for me, especially with someone that I had watched like that. She was the first female MC I ever worked with.

“They ended up using that song at some university as a study about that whole era of snitching. I had to sign off on it a couple times.”

Around the World

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The Game f/ Jamie Foxx "Around the World" (2006)

Album: Doctor’s Advocate

Label: Geffen

Mr. Porter: “One of my favorite joints ever. I worked with Game before, on his first album. I was around a lot. They were talking about dropping him, and I was like, ‘Yo man, let’s go in the studio.’ Dre was like, ‘Go in there and work with him.’ I was having him singing hooks. Game can actually hold a note. But nobody ever heard those songs.

“I went to New York, and I brought my little brother with me. I started doing that so I could keep him out of trouble. So we fly into New York real late. And [Game and G-Unit] are beefing at this point. But being that I worked for Dre, and Game’s album was coming out on Aftermath, I had a song deal and I had to fulfill that obligation. I didn’t get in between all of that [beef] anyway. I love 50, I love Game, I worked with both of them, and I was hoping that it was gonna blow over.




“This is the funniest shit ever. I walk in the studio [to meet The Game], and I got on a white G-Unit hat. I didn’t even [realize it] because I’m sleepy as hell, and I went out the night before with my brother and my friends and got hammered, and in the morning [my manager] was like, ‘You gotta get on a plane.’ So I fly in at like ten or eleven o’clock in the morning, and I walk in the studio with all these bloods in this motherfucker, and I got on a G-Unit hat. [Laughs.]

“I’m like, ‘Yo man, let’s do this shit.’ Rockwilder was there, Swizz Beatz was there, and I love when the room is like that. Game is like, ‘What up, this my session.’ I’m like, ‘I know this your session nigga, I’m here to make some music. Let’s do it.’ And he’s looking at me like, ‘But this my session though.’ And I’m like, ‘What the fuck are you talking about?’ You know, that’s my homie.

“Then I realize I have the G-Unit hat on, and I’m like, ‘Oh man, leave me alone! I’m sleepy as hell!’ We’re laughing it up, because I didn’t even realize I had the fucking hat on. He knew my position, and we were cool, so it really didn’t matter. But it was a funny ass moment. My little brother thought we were gonna have to fight in there, but I was like, ‘Nah man, Game is my homie.’

“So I played him this beat that I made for him. And [before I played it] I said, ‘I know it’s a little different, but I think we should use this, and we should put Jamie Foxx on the hook, not me.’ He was like, ‘Nah, but when you do hooks it’s dope.’ I said, ‘Nah, let’s fight to get Jamie on this record. He’s the only person that can nail it.’ When I played that beat, the room went fucking crazy. Rockwilder was like, ‘Oh my God.’”

Theyre Out To Get Me

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Busta Rhymes f/ Mr. Porter "They're Out To Get Me" (2006)

Album: The Big Bang

Label: Flipmode/Aftermath/Interscope

Mr. Porter: “That was another example of me taking my emotions out on a record. I literally was [going through the same things I’m singing about]. I screamed that [hook]. Me and my group were going through a lot. I was stepping out, and when you do some other things, people feel like you don’t care about them. That wasn’t the case. I had these talents. Why have all that power and not use it?




“I slept and I dreamed about the song. I already had the song put together from the dream. In the dream, I was arguing with the guys in my group, and this song was playing. And this dream stuck in my head for two weeks, and [when I finally sat down to make the beat] it only took me ten minutes to put together.

“It already had the hook, and I gave it to [Young] Buck. Him and Banks, and somebody else, they were all fighting over the beat. Busta called me and was like, ‘Yo, everybody had their motherfuckin’ chance. This album for me is huge! I need this motherfuckin’ song!’ I was like, ‘Busta, I can make some more shit.’ He was like, ‘Nigga, give me your accountant’s information. I’m sending you the money myself, out my pocket.’ Money doesn’t change [my principles], but Busta’s a good friend, and Banks and Buck [didn’t use the record yet], so I was like, ‘Aiight nigga, you win.’ [Laughs.] Plus, I had an obligation to Aftermath. Those [projects] were the priorities.”

Hard to Get

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Jay Electronica f/ Mr. Porter "Hard to Get" (2007)

Album: N/A

Label: N/A

Mr. Porter: “I met him through a mutual friend named Johnny, who is actually one of his managers right now. He was in Detroit, and he knew Proof and everyone from beforehand, and they were like, ‘I’m telling you, this dude is dope.’ My thing is, when I hear rappers, I’m always comparing them to what I’m around, and I’m around Elvis.

“When [Jay] first started, he did not put his character into what he was doing. And the only way for me to get him to do that was to ignore when he would say certain stuff, even though I thought it was dope. And that’s very hard to do, because you don’t want a person to think you don’t see what they have. I’m really good at getting artists to do what they don’t normally do. I had done this for so many people, so all I had to do was figure out how to trick him into doing it.




“The way he rapped was so raw. He would say dope lines, but I would talk about others. I’d be like, ‘Dog, people want to know who you are as a person. We already know that you’re smart and that you can take something that happened in history and say something witty about it. You have to use that charisma that you have. Your character has to come through.’ And [he did that finally] on a couple songs, and I was like, ‘That’s the dude. You gotta be that dude all the time.’

“He’s a really good friend of mine, a brother. We both have our crazy ways, but that [friendship] comes first. He came to the house to make music. He heard ‘Hard To Get’ and was like, ‘I need that record.’ He told me Erykah [Badu] heard it, and she loved it. But I was behind on work, and I had so much shit to turn in. Swizz Beatz actually wanted that song.

“What Jay would do is when I would leave, he would cut records to all the shit that he liked. [Laughs.] He had that opportunity because he was so close to me, and [him and the engineer] and all of us were really tight. I heard it, and I was like, ‘You know what, go ahead.’”

Get Em

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Jay Electronica f/ Guilty Simpson & Mr. Porter "Get 'Em" (2007)

Album: N/A

Label: N/A




Mr. Porter: “That was another song that was for my project. I wanted to take all of the people I was working with, like Jay, Guilty, and this group New World Hustle, and put them all on a song. Jay wasn’t even on that song at the beginning, it was just those guys. But I had a falling out [with New World Hustle] because after Proof died I just went dormant. They were like, ‘Well, what about what we’re doing?’ But I really just gave up on music. Then Guilty was putting out a mixtape, and Jay jumped on it. I wanted him to do a verse to it [originally], but he’ll take time on some shit and do it when he feels like he’s got it.

That was a dark phase I was in. It was on some killer shit. I was in that zone, just feeling that way. I haven’t gone back to listen to all the beats from that batch, but I can hear the confusion in the stuff I have listened to. It was a really tough time.

ExtraHard

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Little Brother "ExtraHard" (2007)

Album: Get Back

Label: ABB

Mr. Porter: “That was me bouncing back from depression. I did a CD called Computer Blue, where I re-did [A Tribe Called Quest’s] The Low End Theory. [That album] was one of the reasons I really started taking hip-hop seriously. It changed my life. Computer Blue is really, really sick. It’s my The Low End Theory.




“I was trying to get my thoughts together, and I had to re-define why I was in love with music, because I was so hurt after [Proof was murdered]. I was really bouncing back, so I was chopping up again, and I started the CD off with [the beat for ‘ExtraHard’]. That was the first beat on the CD.

“I wasn’t an instant Little Brother fan. I always liked the way 9th Wonder produced, and stuff Phonte and his partner would do, but I wasn’t into the group like that. I didn’t know much about them. Then I heard [Phonte and Nicolay’s group] Foreign Exchange, and I was like, ‘This shit is amazing.’ I became a fan at that point. They came to the crib in Detroit [to work on music], but we didn’t do that song until after that. We kept the relationship, and [that led to me giving them the beat for ‘ExtraHard’].”

Beneath The Diamonds

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DJ Drama f/ Devin The Dude, Twista, & La the Darkman "Beneath The Diamonds" (2007)

Album: Gangsta Grillz: The Album

Label: Grand Hustle/Atlantic

Mr. Porter: “I never really get into a style, but I wanted to do my version of South music. I fell in love with South music first off because I’m a huge Ludacris fan. But what I would [pay attention] to most was Organized Noize, who I was a huge fan of too, and I was stealing pages from them for that beat. It was that smooth feeling.

“That was on a beat CD I made called I’m Just Playin’ With Y’all, which I’m going to release on Twitter. That was in all honesty me saying, ‘I know I’m better than a lot of people, but I’m never going to say that. You’ll say it before I’m gonna say it.’ That was the last beat CD I did [before Proof was murdered].

“I gave [DJ Drama] the CD as a whole, but most of them were sold by then. But when I gave it to him, I knew he would like that beat. I know what people like. I got to meet Drama, and see Swizz again, and DJ Toomp. Those are awesome guys. I needed that at the time, because I was ready to kill myself. I was literally that depressed. I was out of it.

“I stepped away from the record [after I gave it to Drama]. I had nothing to do with it, but I knew he’d pull out all the stops. I don’t normally step away from a record unless I trust the artist.”

The Greatest Trick

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Bishop Lamont "The Greatest Trick" (2008)

Album: The Confessional (Mixtape)

Label: N/A

Mr. Porter: “I had known Bishop for a while, but we had just never really connected. I wanted to work with him, and I would see him all the time, and the next thing I know, he was signed to Dr. Dre and on Aftermath. So I was really proud of that. I met him and Clyde Carson [a couple years before], and they were a whole new breed. It was totally different than what you would expect from the West Coast.

“A lot of times, I would do a beat, and people would use it years later. And that’s what happened with ‘The Greatest Trick.’ Dre was like, ‘You heard of Bishop Lamont?’ And he played it for me, and I heard him rap [to my beat], and I was like, ‘Oh, I do know this kid! What’s up with him?’ And Dre was like, ‘I signed him.’”

Smoking Gun

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Jadakiss f/ Jazmine Sullivan "Smoking Gun" (2009)

Album: The Last Kiss

Label: Def Jam

Mr. Porter: “That was my completely out of depression time, where I changed my style up and tried to make sure I stayed relevant. I knew that a lot of things were changing as far as music. If you don’t keep up with what people are doing, you don’t know. I met Jada a couple times before. He got his own batch of beats from me a while ago. I think Dre had them. But I never got to do a song with him.

“That song ‘Smoking Gun’ was a beat I made for Nas, on a CD called Nigger I.M.O., like in my opinion. I had a conversation with Nas, and he told me how he never aligned himself with one producer, and what he was working on, and I got excited. After that, I was supposed to go to some wild party in Vegas, but I skipped it and decided to stay home and work on beats for him. I went back to just using the MPC, and I was chopping, I wasn’t doing any of the other stuff.




“But that CD totally went under Nas’ radar. I don’t know if he ever got it or what happened, but it was put together really crazy. I know if Nas rapped on one of those joints at the time time, it would’ve been [dope]. And ‘Smoking Gun’ was one of those joints.

“I held that CD [that I made for Nas]. The only person that got a joint off that was Jada. And the version I gave to him had me singing the hook. I wanted John Legend or Jamie Foxx to re-do it, but they ended up putting Jazmine on it, and she did an awesome job.

“The content of that hook, ‘Just tell me the day and time, and I’ll be there with a Smoking Gun, by your side ready to kill for you,’ I wrote that about Proof, and what I would say to him. I was having that reoccurring dream where something is about to happen and you can’t do anything about it. I wrote the hook from that feeling.

“I changed the whole beat for Jada. It was the same beat, but when Jada got it back, he was like, ‘Man, this song is huge!’ This song was the turning point, where I had to change some things, because I couldn’t get stuck in a box. Or else nothing would’ve changed, and I would’ve went away. I know now, I’m not going anywhere.”

Decision

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Busta Rhymes f/ Jamie Foxx, Mary J. Blige, John Legend, & Common "Decision" (2009)

Album: Back On My B.S.

Label: Universal/Motown

Mr. Porter: “Busta did the political work. He really pushed for everyone to get on that. The idea was to have the hook be the same but for everyone to sing it in their own way. The weird thing is that beat was for Detox. It was one of my first ideas from when Dre first started talking about doing it. Busta came in [and heard the beat] and lost his mind. He was like, ‘Give me that beat.’ And I was like, ‘Nah, it’s for Dre, I can’t give it to you.’ I held on to it for a minute, but then he called me and had Q-Tip on three-way and I had to play it for them. They loved it.




“Then, Andre Smith, who was a guitar and bass player that I was working with a lot at the time, died. This is after Proof [was murdered] and Dilla died and all that. I was actually the person who introduced Dilla to Dre. That was one of the greatest moments of my life. And this [beat] was from the last batch of joints I was able to make, then I went right back [into my depression again].

“We gave the song to Busta, and I was like, ‘Just do it justice, because I love this beat, and I really don’t want to sell it.’ I really just wanted it for myself. [Busta] introduced me to Jamie Foxx, and he knew how I felt about all of the people on that song. So I appreciate him doing justice to the song like that. I’m just mad that [the record label] didn’t see the vision for it, because if they had put that out [as a single], that would’ve been a huge song.”

Salute

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Slaughterhouse f/ Pharoahe Monch "Salute" (2009)

Album: Slaughterhouse

Label: E1/Shady/Interscope




Mr. Porter: “That beat was also on my batch of beats called Computer Blue. I really wanted to give Slaughterhouse something, but I didn’t have a hook idea. I was working with a battle rapper at the time named Marv Won, and I gave the beat to him, and he ended up singing this crazy hook on it.

“Pharoahe was in Detroit working on his album that just came out, and I asked him to sing the hook so he could spread himself out and do some features and stuff like that. Marv Won wrote it, and Pharoahe sang it, and it turned into [‘Salute’].

“I hadn’t met the guys yet [other than Royce Da 5’9”]. I was a Joe Budden fan from the ‘Pump It Up’ days. I never really heard Joell Ortiz, but Crooked I and I had a lot of mutual friends. I was in Hawaii when they recorded it. That was when I first got pulled into being Em’s new hype man.”

Cut You Loose

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Slaughterhouse "Cut You Loose" (2009)

Album: Slaughterhouse

Label: E1/Shady/Interscope

Mr. Porter: “I had a hook on that at first, then I took it off because I really just liked the sample. The amazing thing about that beat is that I have these little five-minute beat battles with myself sometimes, because I never want to lose my mojo. I was timing myself, and I gave myself five minutes to make the beat. I used to do that with Proof. I chopped it up real quick, and of course I spruced it up eventually.”

My Own Planet

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Royce Da 5'9'' f/ Big Sean "My Own Planet" (2010)

Album: Street Hop (Deluxe Edition)

Label: M.I.C./One

Mr. Porter: That was part of an instrumental album I made called The Anchorman. I am a Ron Burgandy fan and this CD was a collection of things that I thought were good that I made while I was going through my depression. I put it together when I started feeling better, and me and Em were working together again. Royce got a hold of this CD and destroyed. He rapped on damn near all of it. He tore it the fuck apart.




“‘My Own Planet’ is the name of the production company I started. I was going to do a song to that beat, rap a couple verses and make a video you know, just to get the production company rolling. Then Royce did the song to it, and just kept the name [the way I had it]. And we were like, ‘Yo, let’s leak it.’

“I’m really proud of Big Sean. I’m proud of what he did. It didn’t look good for him at Def Jam. That kid, having the single that he has now, man, he did such a good job. I’m glad he did [the song with Royce]. I definitely want to do more shit for him. You know, he’s from the D, and he stood the test of time, so he a Jedi now. [Laughs.]”

On Fire

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Eminem "On Fire" (2010)

Album: Recovery

Label: Shady/Aftermath/Interscope

Mr. Porter: “I had already done the hype man shit for the Relapse album, and we were getting our chemistry together on stage, which is a job. This song was the first song I ever did for an Eminem album [by myself], without anyone having to touch it up or anything.




“We were in Hawaii, and I noticed on the last album he was doing a lot of the accents. I told him, ‘I want to do this song, and I want it to be like The Hip-Hop Shop, and I want you to just spaz the fuck out.’ This was one of the first songs he did without the accents. Oh my god, he went in. I don’t think he even knows what that meant to me. He would do a song, and then we would ride around the car in Hawaii and listen to it.

“He did the ‘On Fire’ joint before the album took the turn that it took. Before that, he had songs he was working on with the accents that were going to be on Relapse 2, before it became Recovery. Everything around him was new because he had a clear mind, and he was so open to [everyone’s input]. And Em, you gotta give him credit. He was just able to step up.”

My Own Way

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Snoop Dogg f/ Mr. Porter "My Own Way" (2011)

Album: Doggumentary

Label: Priority/Capital/EMI

Mr. Porter: “Me and Snoop have a really good relationship. I know that if I give him things, they’ll work. I’ve worked with him long enough to know, and I’ve been a fan of his for so long. Just to be able to work with Snoop [is awesome]. I used to watch Dre and Snoop, and now I’m the guy he’s coming to when he wants a record. I mean, come on, [that’s crazy].

“I wanted the classic Snoop that everybody fell in love with. We got it with that ‘My Own Way.’ I gave it to him with the hook. When he called me, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m about to send you one right now. I know this will work.’ Soon as he did it, it was nailed.”

Sun Doobie

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Slaughterhouse "Sun Doobie" (2011)

Album: Slaughterhouse EP

Label: E1

Mr. Porter: “They came into town, and I was like, ‘Yo, come to the studio.’ I had to go [by the time they got there] because they were running late, so I told them I was gonna leave them something special. When they got there, they murdered it. I want to help put together movements and albums. The new tag line is, ‘You get more for your money when you fuck with Mr. Porter.’ I stand by those words.”

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