Drumma Boy
Encyclopedia
Christopher James Gholson, better known by his stage name Drumma Boy, is a multi-platinum award winning record producer and rapper from Memphis
, Tennessee
.
singer and his father, a professional clarinetist and music professor at the University of Memphis
, was the first African-American male to hold the 1st chair position in the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, where he is still an active member. The rest of his extended family including grandmothers and aunts were also musicians and taught music in the schools. Drumma Boy says he had a recorder in his hand at age 3 and a clarinet at age 5. His father was instrumental in teaching him about traditional music but it was his mother that introduced him to Curtis Mayfield and 70’s oldies. Gholson is the younger brother of producer Ensayne Wayne.
Drumma Boy attended the University of Memphis as a Music Business Major. In between attending classes, he would shop his homemade beats to Memphis rappers such as Gangsta Boo and Tela, as well as travel to Texas to work on projects for Scarface and Bun B of UGK.
Citing Quincy Jones, Raphael Saadiq and The Funk Brothers as production inspirations his musical influences range from German composers Ludwig van Beethoven and Johann Sebastian Bach to Jazz icons Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis all the way to Academy Award winning Three 6 Mafia and Scarface. He is known to combine classical chords with urban street sounds. He has worked with a host of hip hop acts that include Young Jeezy, T.I., Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Nelly, T-Pain, Usher, Ciara, Wiz Khalifa, Wale, Waka Flocka Flame, Gorilla Zoe, Tinie Tempah, Drake, Gucci Mane, Ludacris, Plies, Young Joc, Fabolous, Roscoe Dash, Rick Ross, E-40, Monica, Goapele, Stephen & Damien Marley, Rocko, Paul Wall, Lil Jon & Travis Porter.
In January 2009 he starred alongside Jazze Pha and Def Jam Recording Artist Vawn in BET's reality series "Welcome to Dreamland". He appeared on a segment of Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" while making beats for cast member Kandi Burruss as well as appearing in the studio during an episode of Monica’s BET reality series “Still Standing.” In November 2009 Drumma Boy released his music video “Dis Girl” shot by Mr. Boomtown, the first single off his mixtape Welcome II My City, which went on to receive millions of hits on Worldstarhiphop. He has appeared on FOX Good Day Atlanta, Good Morning Memphis, CBS News Channel 9, BET and MTV.
In 2008 Vibe Magazine named him one of the Top 5 Producers "making noise" in the music industry and in December 2009 he was named by The New York Times as one of the 4 hottest producers “driving the city” in Atlanta, describing his sound as “a busy bee swarm of synths overlaid with brash bass injections that’s equal parts Memphis and Atlanta." He was quoted in the January 2010 issue of Rolling Stone surrounding his production work for controversial recording artist Gucci Mane’s #1 Rap Album The State vs. Radric Davis.
Drumma Boy's signature drop on his beats is a voice saying "listen to this track, bitch". He is also known for the origination of extending sounds at the end of a verse."Yea Girl" or "Yea Boy" is another signature.
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
.
Early life
Born in Memphis, TN and bred in Cordova, Tennessee, Drumma Boy was exposed to musicianship at a young age. His mother was a professional operaOpera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singer and his father, a professional clarinetist and music professor at the University of Memphis
University of Memphis
The University of Memphis is an American public research university located in the Normal Station neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee and is the flagship public research university of the Tennessee Board of Regents system....
, was the first African-American male to hold the 1st chair position in the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, where he is still an active member. The rest of his extended family including grandmothers and aunts were also musicians and taught music in the schools. Drumma Boy says he had a recorder in his hand at age 3 and a clarinet at age 5. His father was instrumental in teaching him about traditional music but it was his mother that introduced him to Curtis Mayfield and 70’s oldies. Gholson is the younger brother of producer Ensayne Wayne.
Drumma Boy attended the University of Memphis as a Music Business Major. In between attending classes, he would shop his homemade beats to Memphis rappers such as Gangsta Boo and Tela, as well as travel to Texas to work on projects for Scarface and Bun B of UGK.
Career
Drumma Boy relocated to Atlanta in 2004 and founded Drum Squad, an umbrella company that encompasses Drum Squad Productions which represents producers and songwriters, as well as Drum Squad Records.Citing Quincy Jones, Raphael Saadiq and The Funk Brothers as production inspirations his musical influences range from German composers Ludwig van Beethoven and Johann Sebastian Bach to Jazz icons Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis all the way to Academy Award winning Three 6 Mafia and Scarface. He is known to combine classical chords with urban street sounds. He has worked with a host of hip hop acts that include Young Jeezy, T.I., Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Nelly, T-Pain, Usher, Ciara, Wiz Khalifa, Wale, Waka Flocka Flame, Gorilla Zoe, Tinie Tempah, Drake, Gucci Mane, Ludacris, Plies, Young Joc, Fabolous, Roscoe Dash, Rick Ross, E-40, Monica, Goapele, Stephen & Damien Marley, Rocko, Paul Wall, Lil Jon & Travis Porter.
In January 2009 he starred alongside Jazze Pha and Def Jam Recording Artist Vawn in BET's reality series "Welcome to Dreamland". He appeared on a segment of Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" while making beats for cast member Kandi Burruss as well as appearing in the studio during an episode of Monica’s BET reality series “Still Standing.” In November 2009 Drumma Boy released his music video “Dis Girl” shot by Mr. Boomtown, the first single off his mixtape Welcome II My City, which went on to receive millions of hits on Worldstarhiphop. He has appeared on FOX Good Day Atlanta, Good Morning Memphis, CBS News Channel 9, BET and MTV.
In 2008 Vibe Magazine named him one of the Top 5 Producers "making noise" in the music industry and in December 2009 he was named by The New York Times as one of the 4 hottest producers “driving the city” in Atlanta, describing his sound as “a busy bee swarm of synths overlaid with brash bass injections that’s equal parts Memphis and Atlanta." He was quoted in the January 2010 issue of Rolling Stone surrounding his production work for controversial recording artist Gucci Mane’s #1 Rap Album The State vs. Radric Davis.
Drumma Boy's signature drop on his beats is a voice saying "listen to this track, bitch". He is also known for the origination of extending sounds at the end of a verse."Yea Girl" or "Yea Boy" is another signature.
Awards
Drumma Boy won “Best Indie Producer of the Year” consecutively at the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Southern Entertainment Awards. He received a nomination for “Producer of the Year” at the 2008 Ozone Awards and at the 2010 BET Hip Hop Awards. His beats assisted with two nominations during the 2009 Grammy Awards including his work on T.I’s Paper trail (Best Rap Album) and “Put On” by Young Jeezy & Kanye West (Best Performance by a Rap Duo.). In 2011 his hit single “No Hands” wrote by welch for Waka Flocka, Roscoe Dash and Wale received a nomination for “Best Collaboration” at the 2011 BET Awards and picked up the accolade for “Best Club Banger” at the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards.Discography
- Welcome II My City - Mixtape (Drum Squad Records 2009)
- The Birth Of D-Boy Fresh - Mixtape (Drum Squad Records 2011)