thaFormula.com - Did you start out DJ'ing or just producing straight out?

Nottz - Nah, I started out rapping first. I needed my own beats so I started making my own joints. Darryl (D) and a couple my brothers made beats together so they got out of it I stayed in it. D was helping me out and here we are.

thaFormula.com - Can you tell the difference between a producer that started off as a DJ as opposed to someone who didn't?

Nottz - I mean you can tell a little bit. Most DJ's they know what a crowd wants. They know how to at least formulate a beat and I mean it's a crowd thing. They know how to rock crowds and stuff they been listening to records all their life mixing and all that stuff. I think it's easier for them. My oldest brother used to DJ.

thaFormula.com - Now you started with more of an East Coast sound and heavy sampling in the beginning, is it still the same for you or is live instrumentation something you are going more towards?

Nottz - It's both. I still sample and use a lot of live instruments and hi-hats and snares, horns and stuff like that. I try to get more into that. I'm not trying to say I'm trying to stray away more from the sampling cause that's me, I can do that all day, but that shit is money.

thaFormula.com - When did you realize that sampling really can cut into your publishing real deep?

Nottz - It really didn't start kicking in until a couple of years ago and cats just started getting greedy with it. They don't want nobody to sample their music even though they really need it. Then people got hip to playing the stuff over. I mean I know what I want so that's good enough.

thaFormula.com - Are you the type of producer that's in the lab 24/7 or only when your feeling it?

Nottz - I'm in the lab 24/7 man. I'm in there everyday except Sunday cause that's family day but I'm in there everyday and I try to bang out at least 5 or 6 tracks a day.

thaFormula.com - Are you a slow worker in the studio when making beats or are you the fast type?

Nottz - I'm fast because I'm used to it, this is all I do versus somebody else that gets a single on the radio and thinks that's it, they can just kick back. This is all I do, this is my job and how my kids eat so you know?

thaFormula.com - So what year did you start doing beats and how long after did you start doing tracks for artists?

Nottz - I started doing beats in '92 and in like '97 or '98 is when we did the Lyricists Lounge joint. It was Lord Have Mercy and DV Alias Christ and Busta (Rhymes) was supposed to be on that song and he didn't get on it somehow and then he was like "look I need you to do some joints for my album." I gave him a tape that had beats on it. The first 3 beats that was on that tape ended up being the first 3 beats on the "E.L.E." album. After that we just went from there and everybody started calling.

thaFormula.com - Now at the level that you were at as a producer at that time, could you make a decent living off of that underground producer status?

Nottz - I mean you can, just don't look to expect the high dollar like the Pharell's and the Timbaland's and all that, but yeah you can, that's if you ain't money hungry like that you know. You're making enough to live off of it.

thaFormula.com - What would you say was that one track that you would say took you up a notch production wise?

Nottz - I'm really thinking it's the first 3 joints from the Busta album. Everybody wanted a Nottz beat after that.

thaFormula.com - for you is there a difference between a "beat maker" and a producer?

Nottz - a "beat maker" makes beats. A producer produces a track. He gives the track the visual man, the life. Versus the "beat maker," he just makes beats.

thaFormula.com - When do you feel that you graduated from being a "beat maker" to producer?

Nottz - The Busta album. That's when I knew because like everything I put up there on that tape, I made sure I could see a video to it. It wasn't that I did all that stuff for Busta, it was more like "I'm a rapper so I know I can see a video to this if I did it." Then he ate them up with those 3 joints. He did his thing. We didn't get no videos off of any of those 3, we were supposed to do a video to one but it never happened.

thaFormula.com - As someone who is a vet in the production game, when you hear a track can you tell when it's made by someone who just started producing?

Nottz - I mean I listen to the whole track you know but you can tell who has been in it for a minute and who just started like yesterday. You can tell by the way the drums is laid out. But you got so many programs that can make you seem like you're a dynamic producer you know what I mean and it takes away from niggaz who do it for real, who been doing it for years and there is a lot of folks that's getting into it like yesterday and they're getting over. You got niggaz like Diamond D and Pete Rock not getting recognition like they really, really deserve. A lot of underground dudes out there that's really doing it and then you got this dude making this popcorn stuff and its winning and getting million dollar deals off this crap. It's not fair, but we are about to make a real impact on this game.

thaFormula.com - Speaking of software, how do you feel about computer software being so big now for production, is that something you have started to use now?

Nottz - All I got is Pro Tools, everybody and they mama got Pro Tools, but I don't sequence in it. I sequence on my ASR and I dump it into Pro Tools.

thaFormula.com - Can you personally tell the difference between a beat made on a computer and one made on a MPC for example?

Nottz - Naw, you just cant. Everybody can do it now and it's crazy man.

thaFormula.com - Now in the beginning you were heavy into that straight East Coast sound, when did you make the decision to try a more universal sound and what made you do that?

Nottz - You know what it was man, when that big check comes and you got the money to travel, that's when it really like comes into play man. It's bigger than where we at and we're like "lets explore over there." A lot of dudes don't know that. Everybody on the East, they start going to Atlanta because they're thinking that's hot. Whatever, we're going to Cali, we're going to the West where ain't nobody touching it yet. Then once they catch on, they're gonna start coming over here and then we go back somewhere else. That's how I work it now.

thaFormula.com - So what were you doing right before you hit Snoop with his hit single "That's That"?

Nottz - Before we even did that record man, I said "Snoops gonna do it for us 'cause Busta was supposed to have did it for us," but Busta didn't do it for us like that. So we sent Snoop the beat and he got on it and killed it. He said R. Kelly had did it with him as a favor. He sent the joint to him and R Kelly did the hook, they sent it to us. We mapped it out and sent it back to Snoop who did his verses. We went out to Miami and we mixed it and it was over.

thaFormula.com - Did you expect it to hit as hard as it did man?

Nottz - Not at all man.

thaFormula.com - Now you have said many times in different interviews to hit them business books up hard. What was it that made you really stress that?

Nottz - Just you know dudes not paying you right. Getting over with points. Especially with sample clearance man, you got people that know the people at the sample spots and they can tell you one thing and it end up being another. They pocket the money also. It's kind of crazy man with dudes getting over on producers man. You got a lot of that going on and man its so much stuff. It's not just music and people get blinded by that thinking that you just do a beat, sell it and that's it. It's not like that.

thaFormula.com - Now how do you usually handle things, do you do money for tracks or do you prefer points or both?

Nottz - I do it both ways. With the money, let's say that track don't even come out, you know you get a first end and a back end. Your first end, you get that, uh lets say the record don't come out ever, your not getting a back end versus points and royalty points, that when that record is still selling you get money like every 6 months. It keeps money coming in. It ain't gonna be nothing big like that but then it also depends on who the artist is and what the record is.

thaFormula.com - How important is a manager for a producer?

Nottz - I mean you got to have a manager who is gonna grind, and who is willing to get of they ass and work for you and your like his sole priority. Some dudes really don't know what management is. They are just taking money from him but ain't really doing nothing for him, but he's getting all this money from him. D works hard man and he's been doing it for a minute. I mean we got ups and downs but everybody goes through that.

thaFormula.com - For you, what is the number one rule when stepping into this industry?

Nottz - Trust man. Don't trust nobody man. Everybody is trying to fuck you man. Everybody is trying to get at you man. Its crazy but its easier for somebody that's not known to get got because they don't know nothing versus a dude that's been doing it for a minute and he knows damn near everybody in it and know what their capable of doing. It's easier for a nobody to get caught. That's why I tell everybody to read books and get into that stuff. You've got to get into it. Darryl put me on to a lot of books man. Like one time he had a book man and I didn't read it and he had put a 20 dollar bill in it. He was like "did you read the book?" I was like "yeah I read the book." He said, "you ain't read the book, turn to this page," I turned to the page and there was a 20 dollar bill in that joint. He was like, "so you didn't read the book," so its like that man. You got to read man.

thaFormula.com - Now a lot more producers are starting to drop solo albums. Is that something that your looking at doing soon?

Nottz - Oh yeah man. I've been working on an album like (Dr.) Dre working on "Detox." But yeah I've been in the lab doing it. You know I started out rappin' first like I said man. My manager keeps telling me don't do a whole album rappin', but to do some features and stuff like that. But I was rapping first so I'd rather rap. I'm a few joints into the album already. Me and Pete Rock got a joint together. Me, Denaun Porter and Hi-Tek got a joint together. Kardinal Offishal is up there with me. Corey Guns, I'm trying to get Cee-Lo on a joint on a hook with me and Corey Guns. Busta is gonna do something up there. You know a lot of cats man. We're just gonna take from them joints. I mean not everybody is gonna be on it.

thaFormula.com - How much have things changed work wise for you since the Snoop track hit so big?

Nottz -It's a lot of calls man and a lot of shit going on. Its like everybody wanna mess with you now when you got a record out. It shouldn't be like that but it's always like that. That's what it is man. You've got a record out, everybody wanna be involved man you know?

thaFormula.com - So lastly who are you working with now and what should people expect?

Nottz - I'm working with Omar Cruz, WC, Ice Cube, hopefully some more Dre stuff, Tiffany who is over there at Aftermath, Bishop Lamont, got a new 50 Cent track, and Ashanti. It's so much stuff man and so much other stuff man that I can't even talk about that's going on that's about to happen. We're trying to take over the world man. We need help with it, but we're gonna do it.

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