Is it possible for rappers to make it on their own without a team behind them? Well anything is possible. But why would any artist want to shoulder the burden of the entertainment business themselves? If you watch the fictional show on HBO Entourage, then you know that it’s based on four individuals from Queens, New York. Two of them are a pair of brothers, and the other two are childhood friends.

When the lead character, Vincent “Vinny” Chase starts to get recognized through the film ranks for his acting, his close friend Eric “E” Murphy takes on the role of his manager helping to navigate his career, so it can reach further levels of success. For the most part, Vinny trusts Eric’s opinions and ultimately leaves his career in Eric's hands, and the four reap the rewards of living the “quote-un-quote” Hollywood lifestyle.

One of the few situations that comes close to mirroring the storyline of that show is the real-life success of a few more people from Queens, New York. And Curtis Jackson, and Michael “Sha Money XL” Clervoix play the actual roles.

As we all know the manager/record producer helped put 50 Cent on the path to stardom while producing songs like “Poor Lil Rich”, “Beg For Mercy”, and “This Is 50.” Although he no longer serves as t he president of G-Unit Records, his presence is still felt throughout the industry with his company; the Money Management Group which handles the careers of producers such as “The ‘Nati’s” own Hi-Tek.

Being an accomplished producer himself by earning placements outside of the G-Unit camp with artists like Slim Thug, Snoop Dogg, and Paul Wall, Sha Money could easily teach a tutorial in “Hip-Hop 101” but instead offers a meeting ground where producers can meet-and-greet, and learn the proper way of marketing themselves from the best in the business.

The event is called One Stop Shop, and this year the likes of Swizz Beatz, DJ Premier, Hi-Tek, 9th Wonder, DJ Toomp, No I.D., plus many others will be in attendance. Going from being a street team member for Def Jam to now running one of the biggest Hip-Hop events in the world, while nurturing the talent of young producers has to be a good trade-off for the kid from Queens. Don’t you think? 

What’s going on?

I’m good man, just running around right fast.

That’s understandable. So How was it like growing up in Queens?

I mean I love Queens man, Queens was the first experience in my life. Not to mention there’s a lot of rappers from Queens, know what I mean. So with that said, there was a lot of opportunity in the 90’s. Walking up Hollis, you’d see [Rev.] Run in a blue Benz at the car wash, and he’d give you something to hold onto, and give you a little talk. That sh*t would inspire a n***a. That made a n***a want to get bread, and all that. So coming out of Queens, there was a lot of people that helped my career, and there are a lot of winners out in Queens. 

Speaking of which, how did you and 50 [Cent] first cross paths?

Well he grew up on the Southside, and I was on the other side. But it was Jam Master Jay who first introduced us. It was the late great Jam Master Jay who gave us an introduction. He had a studio, and he was working on some stuff and he was playing me music from this new artist. And he was like; “Yo, this dude is sick!” “As a matter of fact, I’m gonna go get him right now!” “I’m gonna go get him!” He came back in the studio, and the [kid] came in the basement, and it was this n***a man, 50 [Cent].

Really?

Yeah, yo. It was in 1996, I’ve known this n***a for like 11 years.

That’s cool. So when did you initially get into the music business?

One of my biggest breaks came when I did an internship at Def Jam, and that got me a lot of connects. I was doing the street team at the same time for Nas' It Was Written album, and I went to a concert where I bumped into Cormega. And I sold a track to him called "Angel Dust". I got a little $2,500.00 real fast in the pocket; know what I mean.

So that was the first track you did that got you attention?

Yeah, it was for Cormega, and it was called "Angel Dust". A lot of people thought Havoc did it, because it was so Queens-like, know what I mean. But it was me man.

I dig it, but do you still have time to sit down and make beats with all that you have going on?

I just did a beat in a half hour last night. I came off the plane to New York, and I got to my studio where n***as is chilling, and I banged-out a beat in a half hour. It don’t take me too long, once I get a melody because I got the illest drums in the world, it’s all in me. I got Logic now, so I be traveling making beats on Logic now. It’s just whenever I have downtime. Like when I’m done with the calls and I’m done with the meetings, I’m in my room, my studio, my house or where ever; I’m gonna just put it in. If it takes too long, something’s wrong.

[Laughing] What did you say? “If it takes too long, something’s wrong?”

Yeah.. [Laughs]  

[Laughs] I like that saying. So what’s the most difficult part of the industry for you?

That is garbage right now, this sh*t is whack. This sh*t is like, come on, what’s really going on?! I can’t even explain it almost. All these artists with no real budgets, and no real albums coming out. It’s like nothing is really popping, know what I’m saying. N***as might as well start making “We Are The World” group albums, because those are the best records coming out. All these little; 9-10 featured-artist records. Of course you got 50 [Cent] who’s always exciting and Kanye [West], Jay-Z, and Common. Those are a lot of dudes, but [we] gotta start popping albums out every year.

Ain’t no time for no 2-year breaks, ain’t no time for none of these breaks. Ain’t no time. We gotta get at it like how Master P was doing it, dropping every four weeks like; “F**k that!” That’s why these consumers right now are like; “Well I don’t know..” But as for me, I always bought albums of anybody I liked when I was coming up. I used to by their sh*t.   

So you don’t really buy albums anymore?

I do just to be curious about what’s going on. But people would rather just download that one hit. Now they can her your whole album before they buy it, and if they don’t like it, they won’t buy it. Or they can just download the one record they like. F**k that man; [we] f**ked up with that. 

Do you still handle any duties for G-Unit Records?

Nah, I’m no longer the president, but I’m still managing artists that are on the label. I’m working with [Young] Buck to continually extend his career. I have a lot of features with him, along his clothing line, “David Brown.” He also doing a DVD and he got his own record label, Ca$hville Records, and its signed to Sony RED. So Buck is moving in a real positive direction, and he’s just planting the seeds right now.

Speaking of managing, what are some of the things you’re trying to achieve with your company, The Money Management Group?

Well management became a responsibility because 50 [Cent] didn’t trust no one. So he would set me up to do everything, and meet with everybody, and just be a part of everything just to have the right judgment. Cause my judgment is sharp. So it was more as; I was the producer, and in turn I was also the engineer.

We had no money to pay an engineer, that’s straight up and down. We didn’t have a n***a to engineer, so I taught myself Pro Tools, and the first record I learned off Pro Tools was “What Up Gangsta.”  It was all self-made, self-taught, and self-disciplined. And that helped guide me to be a manager. He knew what he wanted, so I would just execute what he wanted, and it always worked.  

Talk about the One Stop Shop Producers Conference. How did you come up with that idea?

My thing was that I have a large community via my website, and just communication constantly with other producers I met through touring, and just being accessible to these guys. Because they know I’ll take a dude that no one knows, and never heard before, then take his tracks, and get it sold. A lot producers know that I can provide that opportunity; and I’m consistent. I can tell you about 15 producers I did this fall, there’s a lot that I just met out of nowhere, and helped. And they all ask me to manage them, and I can’t do it.

So I said, you know what; “Let me provide an opportunity where I bring myself to a place with everybody in this industry, that I respect and that I know is breaking bread so we can all gather up and network.” Because your network determines your net worth. So we gotta be around the greatest to get that energy going, and for producers to start learning how to present themselves and how to shop themselves. There’s endless opportunities in this, and that’s what I wanted to give back. And just say; “Here; this is for Hip-Hop, we all have this one culture and it’s all together.”  With no drama, no bullsh*t; and just taking it to the next level.

So you think its important for producers to have managers just like artists do?

They either have to have managers, or know-how. My know-how is that whether I scraped up that last bit of money, I flew to an ASCAP Panel, or where ever I had to go like a concert, an in-store, or a record label. I put myself in a position to be around these dudes, and it happened for me. When I met Jam Master Jay, I had 10 minutes to say something that would have him say; “Yeah, I f**ks with this kid.” Because I was young, you know what I’m saying, and he did that. He was my first mentor that took the time out to show me the game.   

Are there any up-and-coming producers that stick out in your mind right now?

I’ll tell you about five of them. Jake ONE from Seattle, he’s vicious, he’s crazy. And he’s a whiteboy, the kid is nuts yo! Then you got Kit Kat, he’s a musician turned producer. He plays horns on Jay-Z’s tour. The kid is a problem he did “Funeral Music” for 50 [Cent] that n***a is a beast.

Then you got this new kid I’m working with named Kani. He’s doing like R&B and he’s the illest f**kin’ keyboard player I’ve encountered in a while. He’s retarded on the keyboard, it’s like he’s tap dancing on the keyboard, this dude is nuts.

Then you got Tha Bizness, who’s also from Seattle. Seattle got some sh*t cracking up there. And you got Vitamin D. They’re all up from Seattle, but they’re moving around to other areas to get their careers cracking.

These are all dudes that whether they sample, or whether they’re playing the keyboard, their sound is crisp. And Tha Bizness did that Robin Thicke joint that’s on 50’s album. And there’s one last dude I want to mention, Ill Mind. Oh my God! He’s an Asian cat yo. This dude, every beat! Between him and Jake ONE, they make me want to get an ASR. I’m on technology, so I got all the new stuff, but I never got an ASR.   

Was there any reason why you weren’t using an ASR?

Because I grew up around MPC’s. We went from SP 12’s to MPC’s. I came from that era in Queens where everybody was SP 12’s or MPC’ing it. So once I touched it, I was stuck with it, and I love it. 

How was the experience like working with Dr. Dre? Since we’re on the subject of beats. And Jimmy Iovine? What did you learn from them?

Well I learned that it’s absolutely a business. And with [Dr.] Dre I learned a lot, because its all about sound quality and consistency. He takes a long time to give you something, but when he gives it to you there’s nothing greater. But honestly I don’t got that Dre money, so I gotta keep my sh*t coming fast. So I keep the quality and the consistency and just try to produce a lot more. That’s what I learned from Dre, he’s a doctor for real. He really gets into the records, and I try to keep that same kind of vibe going where every record counts.

And with Jimmy, he just taught me honestly that’s it’s a business. “There’s a Michael Jackson, there’s a Curtis Jackson, and soon they’ll be another Jackson.” So he’ll tell you; “These guys come and go, he’s going to keep moving.” He taught me it’s not personal, its only business. So I got to keep that in my mind too. He’s somebody that’s all business.