Sha Money XL Talks About His Early Days With 50

Finally got around to transcribing my talk with Sha Money XL the other day. Between his work with G-Unit, his One Stop Shop Producers Conference and his Money Management Group, dude doesn’t eff around. I can’t drop the whole thing right now, but there were a few quotes that were worth putting up in light of the new Curtis material due next week.

Robbie: You obviously had a big part in putting together the early 50 Cent mixtapes, right?

Sha Money XL: We recorded every mixtape in my crib – my studio basement in the house. I was the engineer, I self-taught myself. The first record we recorded on ADAT’s and that’s when the digital one came out, and I was able top afford that – somehow, miraculously was able to get that. Bam! I went to work, and we recorded everything, and it was my idea that before we put out the actual mixtape we sprinkled every main DJ with it. We sprinkled Doo-Wop, we sprinkled DJ Clue, DJ Envy. We made sure we covered every DJ that was out there at the time that was poppin’ – Kayslay, Flex, Enuff. We sprinkled it all out and then we collectively put it together with a photo shoot that I had my man Don Morris – who’s one of the top guys at The Source right now – he did the photo shoot for me. I sat in his house and did the lay-out for the graphics and came-up with the whole shit – with the guns and all that – that shit was crazy. Before that, what I did was I took the songs we did together that I produced like ‘Bad News’ and ‘Dead Man Talking’ and ’50 Bars’…

For the Guess Who’s Back album?

Yeah, that was me. I knew this dickhead named Bob Perry, at first he didn’t like it, then he was like, ‘Aight’. He let it go and we put it out, and it was all [50’s] records that was the greatest ones – before he got shot – and after he got shot, as soon as he started coming in the studio with me. Man, those were classic records, yo. That shit sold a million copies. That shit was the CD that ended-up in Eminem’s hands. 50’s story was real, we was army’d-up! Niggas was strapped, everything. There was no moving crazy, they was first out the car, scope the area, check the house – they was military, baby! It was gangsters, man. For real. Not this shit these dudes is talkin’ about.

You’re also helping get underground producers like Jake One and Marco Polo work on some big projects, right?

I pulled Jake One all the way out the underground and got him on 50 Cent’s records, Mary J. Blige records, Freeway – all these records that he’s been on. Marco Polo, the same thing. He’s dope – he hasn’t got a placement yet, but his music is dope. Underground is what becomes above-ground. Common and Kanye West, they came from the underground, so now they above-ground. It’s a way you step-up. I come from what they would call a backpack situation.

You used to do indy vinyl?

Yup. Me and my boy Matt Fingaz put out a few 12”s – indies – and I worked on a lot of independent albums that came out. All the Guesswyld -you see me on Mike Zoot, Lace Da Booms, El Da Sensai – all of those guys. I’m getting back into production fully, this year you’re gonna see me on a lot of new records. I’m still heavily involved with 50, I’m executive producing his album. That guy’s an amazing artist, I couldn’t see nobody else to work with who would be more funner to work with. He was a great ear for music and he knows how to really make good records, so it’s always a great thing to work with him.

50 Cent – ’50 Bars’