On November 2nd, 2007 the movie American Gangster hit the theaters spearheaded by two-time Oscar winner, Denzel Washington and one-time Oscar winner Russell Crowe. After making an estimated $245,007,299.00 worldwide, it gears up to make its way into your living rooms in DVD form.

On November 6th of the same year, Jay-Z followed suit with his 10th studio album of the same name. Inspired by the film itself, Jay-Z watched it on a monitor during his recording sessions with his non-traditional way of creating material—strictly by keeping all the words gathered in his head long enough for them to roll off his tongue just as effortlessly as people breathing air. And just as its movie counterpart, the album was well received and very successful.

Quickly erasing Jay-Z’s previous album Kingdom Come (which was the equivalent of Jordan coming out of retirement to play with the Washington Wizards; it sounded like a good idea, but after further thought, he should’ve left it alone) from everybody’s memory. The album tied Elvis Presley with officially ten albums debuting at number one, just behind The Beatles. To this date, the album has sold over 978,362 copies in the United States alone (and with the evolution of “downloading” paired with a slumping CD sales market, numbers like those are considered astronomical). But just as Denzel W ashington and Russell Crowe had the assistance of director Ridley Scott and producer Brain Grazer to help guide them to greatness once again and fill up their resume with another box-office smash, Jay-Z also had a pair of talented fellows to thank for his project, and they go by the names of Sean C. and LV.

The pair of sound-techs are an extended member of Puffy’s production team known as The Hitmen, and also behind every man’s theme song when they’re in the club drunk off Patron shots, “Roc Boys (And The Winner Is).” Not to mention they’re the people behind “Sweet,” “No Hook,” “American Dreamin,’” “Party Life,” and “Pray.”

Having six placements on an album that has fifteen tracks, which happens to be a Jay-Z album isn’t a bad turnaround. But don’t think for a second that these beatsmiths are “happy-go-lucky” who were in the right place at the right time and got a chance to work with the “God MC.”

Because if you think that, then all you have to do is go in your cassette collection (circa ’96) wipe the dust off your Reasonable Doubt cassette, unfold that ‘impossible-to-fold-back’ cassette lining, and read the credits for “Can’t Knock The Hustle” and Sean C’s name will be there in black and white.

Now after you’ve exhausted yourself trying to fold that annoying paper back up into that bulky plastic cassette case, fast-forward back to the present time and they’re also responsible for Fat Joe’s new ode to the female anatomy “I Won’t Tell” which also features every teenage girl’s new heart throb, J. Holiday. The New York Puerto Rican Day Parade wouldn’t complete without its anthem, “100%” by late great Big Pun. And guess what? Yeah, they’re behind that too. Throw in the fact that they also have five placements on Ghosface’s new album The Big Doe Rehab (including Celebrate) and it’s safe to say that they’re not lucky, just skillful.

While most producers would be happy with landing one track on a major project, this duo is averaging at least 4-5 per album. If that’s not the definition of “getting it in,” then who knows what is. Odds are that if a producer is having trouble landing a spot, it’s because this two-man crew got there before them (a couple times over). But just as Biggie Smalls put it so eloquently, “Don’t be mad, UPS is hiring.”

What’s good? How are things?

Sean C: I can’t complain God is good.

I hear you on that. So how did you first get into producing? Did you come from a musical background?

Sean C:  Um I started off as DJ, so I think that’s the natural evolution. You go from a DJ to a producer because you’re already a part of the musical background for certain things—and that’s kind of where it went from.

What was the first track you produced that put you on the map?

Sean C:  Well the first thing I did—or big placement was “Can’t Knock The Hustle.” I did that with my partner Nobody. So that was like the first big thing with Jay-Z and Mary J. [Blige]. The first taste of it.

When did you Puffy first cross paths?

Sean C:  The relationship started—we have an artist named Aasim signed to our production company, and we have a deal with Bad Boy. Through our deal, we’d be working in the studio all the time or whatever, and then when Puff started working on his last album, he wanted us to get involved with it. Just to have all the producers in the room, and he liked the way we “vibed” in our room all the time. So then we went down to Miami, and worked on some sh*t.

Like our whole thing is “vibes” you know what I’m saying? Like we vibe in the studio, and love to get in the studio and work, and it’s like a fun atmosphere as well. So he was like, “Yo that’s the most fun I had in the studio in years!” We was just having a ball making music, and I think from there, it kind of built the relationship stronger. And when the whole “Jay-Z-thing” came around, we all got involved in that.   

Is he a tough person to work with?

Sean C:  Um, nah I wouldn’t say that, he’s a perfectionist. You gotta be willing to change things. Like he might want you to change the drums, or get louder drums. Or play the keys differently. He just a perfectionist, I wouldn’t say—it depends on what you measure is hard to work with. If you’re not ready to work, then you shouldn’t be working with him if you’re not ready to work. You know? 

Yeah, that’s pretty understandable. So what kind of situation do you have at Bad Boy? Are you and LV recognized as two members of their in-house production team?

Sean C:  We have a different relationship, it’s not so much they we’re “in-house producers” that’s just our family. Like we did the Ghostface album, and that’s outside of Bad Boy. When we work with Bad Boy, that stuff is separate then when we work with other people, you know? When we do something with Puff, we’ll do it under the “Hitmen” moniker but with [our] music, that’s us, and that’s [our] company. Because we do other stuff as well, that’s just one fashion of what we do. We’re not in-house Bad Boy producers, but that’s our family though, you know what I mean?

Yeah, I can dig that. So there’s never a problem when you want to work with artists outside of the Bad Boy camp?

Sean C:  Nah. Because that other stuff is stuff that we do on our own. But we just have a stronger relationship with Puff because of the fact that we have an artist over there also.

I heard one producer say that there are beat makers, and there are producers. In your opinion, what’s the difference?

Sean C:  The definition of a producer really is—and this is something that Matthew Knowles even told me. A producer is in charge of the record, in general. It’s not so much of you just making the beat, if you look at Quincy Jones and all the historical producers; you’re in charge of the session. It’s your job to make sure the song gets done. From hiring the drummer, the bass player, to picking the studio that you’re in, and then guiding the record to completion. Even if you need a vocal coach, you have to go out and pick the right vocal coach that goes with the artist. That’s producing a record.

Hip-Hop is like the only place where it’s like, “Oh you do the beat, then you produced the song.” You know? And that’s the difference. A lot of people can just sit there and do a hot beat, but they won’t know how to turn it into a song—even down to what beats to play for a certain artist. You shouldn’t have to sit there sometimes and play—unless the artist wants to do that. But you shouldn’t have to play 12 million beats, and when you get to the 60th, that’s the one for him.

As a producer, you should come in like, “I’m gonna make “this” kind of song for “this” kind of artist.” “I feel this is where Jada needs to be, and this is the music I’m going to give to him, and this is the kind of record it should be.” You make a whole song, from the beginning to the end.     

Off Jay-Z’s American Gangster album you did “Pray,” “American Dreamin,’” “Roc Boys (And The Winner Is),” “Sweet,” and “Party Life.”

Sean C:  And there’s one more you’re forgetting—there’s six. [Laughing] You said five so far, but I can’t remember all six. [Laughing]

Neither can I! It just seemed like y’all did 90% of the project! [Laughing]

Sean C: [Laughing] Yeah man, God is good, that was a blessing. I always forget though. People ask me sometimes, and I can’t remember. I’ll be like, “What is the sixth song?!” “I can’t remember what it is!” [Laughs]

[Laughing] Okay we’ll run through it again [checking the credits]. Okay now, you did “Pray,” “American Dreamin,’” “Roc Boys (And The Winner Is),” “Sweet,”  “Party Life,” and “No Hook.” Did you have any idea Jay would pick all those tracks?

Sean C:  Um, not going into it. We definitely didn’t know we were going to be doing that many records man, we definitely didn’t know. He came to the studio, and he sat down—like Puff called him and was like, “Yo, you gotta come to the studio!” “I’m telling you; you wanted that heat?” “We got it right here!” And he sat there. And the first beat we played was “Sweet.” And he was going crazy! He looked around the room like, “What the f**k!”

He was just bugged-out because that was everything in his mind, and that was the direction he wanted go in. And without even really telling us— it was just there.

So he took “Sweet” and “No Hook” that night. He recorded another song that night in the booth, but we didn’t end up using it. But he recorded it right away, he started mumbling to himself, and he was like, “Turn the mic on!” But yeah, we were definitely surprised, and then he came back–maybe two days later. And he played  “No Hook” and “Sweet” and we was like, “Okay oh sh*t!” “Now we’re on a roll!” Then me and LV just kind of dug-in and we did “Roc Boys” we did “Pray,” and we did “Party Life.” It was just crazy. And then we did “American Dreamin.’”    

And that’s how you got involved with American Gangster? I thought maybe he reached out to y’all initially. How was the creative process like this time around?

Sean C:  Well this time around, working with him, everything was done REALLY-REALLY fast. The album got done ‘literally’ in like two weeks. As far as the recording and everything, it was like two weeks. He knocked sh*t out so quick. It was a process where he had to get the album out really quick because no one was supposed to know about it. He’d be working at Roc The Mic, [studio] and we’d be working at Daddy’s House [studio]. As soon as we’d do something new, we’d send it over to Roc The Mic, and he would send back new vocals.

When we gave him “Roc Boys” he sent us back the track, and we was like, “Oh sh*t!” and we added more sh*t to it, like the horns and all of that. And when he heard that, he went back and changed a couple of things here and there. So it was just kind of like us going back and forth, back and forth. While he’s doing “Roc Boys,” we’re working on “Pray.” While he’s doing “Pray,” we’re working on “Party Life.” It was like an assembly line, it was great. It was a real good experience; the vibe was crazy.  

Rolling Stone named “Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)” song of the year. Calling it, “The most triumphant sound anyone came up with all year.” How did that make you feel?

Sean C:  It was unbelievable man. It was great. It makes me thankful. Somebody had sent me the email, and I was like, “Oh SH*T!” “CRAZY!” It was a great experience man.

So what’s the whole idea behind your company Grind Music?

Sean C:  Well Grind Music is me and LV. And our whole thing is like we’re grinding. A lot of people say they’re grinding, and I’m not saying nobody else is, but that’s kind of the perspective that we have. And that’s also when we make our music, and just being successful, you know what I mean? We’ve been here for a minute working and “L” always says there’s no coincidence that we’re here, and got to the point where we are now. And we’re still going to grow, because we work really hard. When you work hard, you get the accolades and you get recognized for your work. And I think that is what’s happening now. We just want to go further, and we’re thankful for what we’ve accomplished, and now we’re just looking at moving further. You know what I mean?

I sure do. You guys ended 2007 strong. What else do you have planned as you go further into 2008?

Sean C:  Right now we’re working on Busta’s [Rhymes] album, we did a joint for Nas, and we’re working on The Clipse as well, and a couple of other people. But we’re definitely setting our sites for everybody whoever wants to work; we’re ready to go.