Steve Sola
Encyclopedia
Steve Sola is an American
award winning record producer
, sound engineer
, songwriter
and musician
, based in Manhattan
, New York
. With a career spanning over two decades, he has worked with many major artists, including Mobb Deep
and Nas
, and he co-wrote the leading track on the Tyler Perry
film
, Daddy's Little Girls. Over 20 million albums sold contain either production, engineering, writing or performing work undertaken by Sola. Currently, he is also the CEO of Plain Truth Entertainment, his recording studio
and label
, which started in 1990.
.
During the mid 1990s, he worked on Mobb Deep's Murda Muzik
, Nas' It Was Written
, and Jodeci
's The Show, the After Party, the Hotel
. Sola also produced both of Prodigy
's solo albums, H.N.I.C. and H.N.I.C. Pt. 2
, as well as the DVD
for H.N.I.C. Pt. 2. Sola was also credited on the 1996 Billboard
#1 album
, Nas' Street Dreams
.
Currently, Sola is still engineering and producing other musicians work.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
award winning record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, sound engineer
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, based in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. With a career spanning over two decades, he has worked with many major artists, including Mobb Deep
Mobb Deep
Mobb Deep is an American hip hop duo from Queensbridge, Queens, New York, U.S., that consists of Havoc and Prodigy. The duo is "one of the most critically acclaimed hardcore East Coast hip-hop groups." The group is best known for its dark, hardcore delivery, as exemplified by the single "Shook Ones...
and Nas
Nas
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
, and he co-wrote the leading track on the Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry is an American actor, director, playwright, entrepreneur, screenwriter, producer, author, and songwriter. Perry wrote and produced many stage plays during the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2005, he released his first film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, Daddy's Little Girls. Over 20 million albums sold contain either production, engineering, writing or performing work undertaken by Sola. Currently, he is also the CEO of Plain Truth Entertainment, his recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
and label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, which started in 1990.
Career
Sola started his musical career as a guitarist. He stated "That's my first strong musical passion. I was in bands and my music was played on the radio and in the clubs. I was doing shows at places like Studio 54. I was writing songs for the bands that I was in and really that's a big part of producing, you know writing songs, ideas and things like that." Around 1993, he started to record his band, and it soon turned into an avid hobby. In 1993, he started interning at Soundtrack Studios in New YorkNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
During the mid 1990s, he worked on Mobb Deep's Murda Muzik
Murda Muzik
Murda Muzik is Mobb Deep's fourth album, which was released in 1999. It features one of the group's best-known and most acclaimed songs, "Quiet Storm." It is also the duo's most commercially successful album to date, for shipping over 1 million copies and was certified Platinum by the RIAA,...
, Nas' It Was Written
It Was Written
It Was Written is the second studio album by American rapper Nas, released July 2, 1996 on Columbia Records in the United States. Following the moderate sales success of his acclaimed debut album, Illmatic , Nas chose to focus his efforts in a more mainstream direction...
, and Jodeci
Jodeci
Jodeci is an American band, whose repertoire includes R&B, soul music, and new jack swing. The group consists of two pairs of brothers from Hampton, Virginia and Charlotte, North Carolina: Cedric & Joel Hailey and Donald & Dalvin DeGrate, all respectively known by their stage names: K-Ci & Jojo,...
's The Show, the After Party, the Hotel
The Show, the After Party, the Hotel
-Album:-Singles:"—" denotes releases that did not chart.-Personnel:Information taken from Allmusic.*Arranging: Dalvin DeGrate, Missy Elliott*Art Direction: Robert Reives*Bass: Darryl Pearson...
. Sola also produced both of Prodigy
Prodigy (rapper)
Lance Albert Johnson Banks, better known as Prodigy, is an American rapper and one half of the hip-hop and rap duo Mobb Deep....
's solo albums, H.N.I.C. and H.N.I.C. Pt. 2
H.N.I.C. Pt. 2
-Collector's Edition:...
, as well as the DVD
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for H.N.I.C. Pt. 2. Sola was also credited on the 1996 Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
#1 album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Nas' Street Dreams
Street Dreams (album)
Street Dreams is the second studio album by East Coast hip hop artist Fabolous. It was received moderately from a critical standpoint and was a minor commercial success...
.
Currently, Sola is still engineering and producing other musicians work.
Discography
- Trans-Siberian OrchestraTrans-Siberian OrchestraTrans-Siberian Orchestra is an American progressive metal band founded in 1993 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli and keyboardist and co-producer Robert Kinkel to form the core of the creative team. Since then, TSO sold nearly 8...
- Christmas Eve and Other StoriesChristmas Eve and Other StoriesChristmas Eve and Other Stories is a rock opera and Christmas album by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The story is about a young man who wanders into a bar on Christmas Eve where he encounters a mysterious old man who tells him a tale about the magical effect of Christmas day on the human race... - The BeatnutsThe BeatnutsThe Beatnuts are a New York-based hip hop group and production duo from Queens, New York City. Its current members are JuJu and Psycho Les. JuJu is Dominican American from Corona and Psycho Les is a Colombian American from Jackson Heights...
- Classic Nuts, Vol. 1Classic Nuts, Vol. 1Classic Nuts, Vol. 1 is the last of three greatest hits albums by hip hop group The Beatnuts. It was released by Loud Records during its merger with Relativity on February 19, 2002. Released prior to The Originators, another 2002 Beatnuts album, it only contains songs from The Beatnuts' first four... - The Beatnuts - Take It or Squeeze ItTake It or Squeeze ItTake It or Squeeze It is a 2001 album by hip hop duo The Beatnuts. It was the first Beatnuts album released after Loud Records finished their merger with Relativity Records. It was critically well-received, but lacked commercial success. Reviews by Rolling Stone and Allmusic noted its enjoyable...
- Method ManMethod ManClifford Smith , better known by his stage name Method Man is an American hip hop artist, record producer, actor and member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He took his stage name from the 1979 film The Fearless Young Boxer, also known as Method Man. He is one half of the rap duo Method Man...
- Tical 2000: Judgement DayTical 2000: Judgement DayTical 2000: Judgement Day is the second studio album by American rapper, and Wu-Tang Clan member Method Man, released November 17, 1998, on Def Jam Records. The album's title and overall theme were heavily influenced by the apocalypse theories surrounding the forthcoming end of the millennium... - Mobb DeepMobb DeepMobb Deep is an American hip hop duo from Queensbridge, Queens, New York, U.S., that consists of Havoc and Prodigy. The duo is "one of the most critically acclaimed hardcore East Coast hip-hop groups." The group is best known for its dark, hardcore delivery, as exemplified by the single "Shook Ones...
- Murda MuzikMurda MuzikMurda Muzik is Mobb Deep's fourth album, which was released in 1999. It features one of the group's best-known and most acclaimed songs, "Quiet Storm." It is also the duo's most commercially successful album to date, for shipping over 1 million copies and was certified Platinum by the RIAA,... - Mobb Deep - InfamyInfamy (album)Infamy is hip-hop duo Mobb Deep's fifth album. Infamy was released after Jay-Z dissed Prodigy and Nas on his song "Takeover," from Jay-Z's 2001 album, The Blueprint, which caused Prodigy to strike back on the Track "Crawlin'," in which he calls Jay a "female-ass nigga homo emcee." "H to the you...
- Mobb Deep - Blood MoneyBlood Money (Mobb Deep album)Blood Money is the seventh studio album by hip-hop duo Mobb Deep, released on May 2, 2006. It is the group's first and only album on G-Unit/Interscope Records. It features guest appearances by mainly G-Unit artists 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, Young Buck and Nyce, as well as Mary J. Blige and...
- Mobb Deep - Life of the Infamous: The Best of Mobb DeepLife of the Infamous: The Best of Mobb DeepLife of the Infamous: The Best of Mobb Deep is the greatest hits album from Queensbridge rap duo Mobb Deep. It contains songs dating back to their 1993 debut album, Juvenile Hell, through their 2004 album, Amerikaz Nightmare...
- Mobb Deep - Amerikaz NightmareAmerikaz NightmareAmerikaz Nightmare is a 2004 album by hip-hop duo Mobb Deep. It is the duo’s sixth studio album and its only on Jive Records, through a deal with the group’s own imprint. It features the singles "Got It Twisted" and "Real Gangstaz"...
- CormegaCormegaCory Mckay , better known as Cormega, is an American emcee best known for his vivid and poignant narratives about inner-city life.- Early life :...
- Born and Raised - ProdigyProdigy (rapper)Lance Albert Johnson Banks, better known as Prodigy, is an American rapper and one half of the hip-hop and rap duo Mobb Deep....
- H.N.I.C. - Lloyd BanksLloyd BanksChristopher Charles Lloyd , better known by his stage name Lloyd Banks, is an American rapper and member of the rap group G-Unit. Raised in South Jamaica, Queens, he dropped out of high school in 1998. G-Unit released two albums, Beg for Mercy in 2003 and T.O.S. in 2008...
- Rotten AppleRotten Apple (Lloyd Banks album)The album received positive reviews. Rolling Stones Evan Serpick gave it 3 out of 5 stars and said that "Eminem, Mobb Deep’s Havoc and a host of G-Unit regulars produce an album’s worth of chunky, ominous beats to fit Banks’ foul mood, but it runs a little thin over sixteen tracks".But XXL gave it... - JodeciJodeciJodeci is an American band, whose repertoire includes R&B, soul music, and new jack swing. The group consists of two pairs of brothers from Hampton, Virginia and Charlotte, North Carolina: Cedric & Joel Hailey and Donald & Dalvin DeGrate, all respectively known by their stage names: K-Ci & Jojo,...
- The Show, the After Party, the HotelThe Show, the After Party, the Hotel-Album:-Singles:"—" denotes releases that did not chart.-Personnel:Information taken from Allmusic.*Arranging: Dalvin DeGrate, Missy Elliott*Art Direction: Robert Reives*Bass: Darryl Pearson... - PlayaPlaya (band)Playa was an American R&B/hip-hop group. Composed of Smoke E. Digglera , Digital Black , and the late Static Major , Playa is best known for their 1998 hit album, "Cheers 2 U", produced by longtime collaborator Timbaland...
- Cheers 2 UCheers 2 UThe album peaked at eighty-six on the U.S. Billboard 200 and reached nineteen on the R&B Albums chart.Leo Stanley at Allmusic called the album "a promising debut" and also referred to the work as "a debut of enormous potential."-Track listing:-Album:... - Ron ArtestRon ArtestMetta World Peace is an American professional basketball player and rapper who is currently with the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA. World Peace gained a reputation as one of the league's premier defenders as he won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2004...
- My World - Infamous MobbInfamous MobbInfamous Mobb, also known as IM3, is a hip hop group from Queensbridge in Queens, New York, composed of members Ty Nitty, Twin Gambino and Godfather Pt.III. They are an integral part of the Queensbridge hip hop scene, which includes rappers like Nas, Cormega and Mobb Deep, and began with the Juice...
- Reality RapReality Rap (album)Reality Rap is third studio album by Queensbridge hip hop trio Infamous Mobb. Production by Alchemist, Sid Roams, Erick Sermon, Havoc, Evidence, and others.-Tracklisting:-Samples:... - Havoc - Havoc
- "Struggle No More (The Main Event)Struggle No More (The Main Event)"Struggle No More " is a collaborative soundtrack single by Anthony Hamilton, Jaheim, and Musiq Soulchild. Led exclusively by airplay, it entered the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at number fifty-seven the week of March 3, 2007, subsequently reaching number thirty-two.-Charts:...
" - Daddy's Little Girls soundtrackSoundtrackA soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the... - Nas and Ill Will Records Present QB's FinestNas and Ill Will Records Present QB's FinestNas and Ill Will Records Present QB's Finest is a 2000 collaborative album; the second release from rapper Nas' new Ill Will Records imprint, distributed by Columbia Records...
- Music Inspired by ScarfaceMusic Inspired by ScarfaceMusic Inspired by Scarface was released in 2003. This compilation album features songs byvarious hip-hop artists which either draw direct inspiration from the 1983 film Scarface or contain subject matter that can relate to the film.- Track listing :...
- Various artists - Lyricist Lounge 2Lyricist Lounge 2Lyricist Lounge 2 is the second installment in Rawkus Records Lyricist Lounge album series. The release was one of Rawkus' most commercially successful releases, featuring the hit crossover singles, "Oh No" and "Get Up", the former charting on the Billboard Hot 100...
- Big NoydBig NoydTaJuan Perry, better known as Big Noyd, is an American emcee from the Queensbridge projects in the New York City borough of Queens. He is closely affiliated with Mobb Deep, and he is featured on all of their albums...
- On The Grind - Backstage: A Hard Knock LifeBackstage: A Hard Knock LifeBackstage: A Hard Knock Life is the soundtrack to the 2000 documentary film, Backstage. It was released on August 29, 2000 through Def Jam Recordings and featured production from DJ Clue?, Irv Gotti and Swizz Beatz, among others...
- Barbershop 2: Back in Business (soundtrack)Barbershop 2: Back in Business (soundtrack)Barbershop 2: Back in Business is the soundtrack to the 2004 comedy film, Barbershop 2: Back in Business. It was released on February 3, 2004 through Interscope Records and consisted of hip hop and R&B music...
- Ky-Mani MarleyKy-Mani MarleyKy-mani is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist whose east African name means Adventurous Traveler. The only child of table tennis champion Anita Belnavis and reggae icon Bob Marley, Ky-mani Marley was born in Falmouth, Jamaica...
- RadioRadio (Ky-Mani Marley album)Radio is the fifth and latest studio album by American rapper Ky-Mani Marley, released on September 25, 2007. It topped the Billboard Reggae Charts at #1 in October 2007. The album features much more hip hop influences than his previous releases.... - Any Given SundayAny Given SundayAny Given Sunday is a 1999 American drama film directed by Oliver Stone depicting a fictional professional American football team. The film features an ensemble cast, consisting of Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx, James Woods, LL Cool J, Matthew Modine, John C...
- Eminem Presents: The Re-Up -
- Duets: The Final ChapterDuets: The Final ChapterDuets: The Final Chapter is a remix posthumous album featuring hip hop icon The Notorious B.I.G.. The album was released by Bad Boy Records on December 20, 2005 and charted at #3 selling 438,000 copies, beaten by the extremely high sales of Jamie Foxx's Unpredictable and Mary J Blige's The...
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