Digi+Phonics is an American

hip hop production Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music in a recording studio. While the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music creation, including recording the rapping of an MC, a turntablist or DJ providing a beat, playing samples and " ...

team, composed of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

-based

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

s Tae Beast,

Sounwave Mark Anthony Spears (born February 28, 1986), known professionally as Sounwave, is an American record producer and songwriter. He is a frequent collaborator of rapper Kendrick Lamar, having worked on all of his projects since his 2009 self-title ...

, and

Willie B Willie B. ( – February 2, 2000) was a western lowland gorilla who lived at the Zoo of Atlanta for 39 years, from 1961 until his death on February 2, 2000. He was named after the former mayor of Atlanta, William Berry Hartsfield. Willie B. was ...

, while

Dave Free David Isaac Friley (born November 13, 1986), known professionally as Dave Free, is an American filmmaker and record producer. Born and raised in Inglewood, California, he is best known as the manager and creative partner of fellow California ...

is a former original member and co-founder, having left to focus on his

PGLang PGLang (stylized as pgLang, an abbreviation for "program language") is an American independent multidisciplinary creative communications company headquartered in Los Angeles. Founded and owned by Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free, it specializes in ...

company. They currently serve as the main in-house producers for Carson-based

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

Top Dawg Entertainment Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) is an American independent record label. Specializing in hip hop and R&B artists, TDE is based in Carson, California. The label was founded in 2004 by record producer Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, who is the chief exec ...

(TDE). Digi+Phonics work significantly on projects from all the members of former hip hop supergroup

Black Hippy Black Hippy was an American hip hop supergroupKendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

(who left TDE on 2022),

Jay Rock Johnny Reed McKinzie Jr. (born March 31, 1985), better known by his stage name Jay Rock, is an American rapper from Los Angeles, California. Rock signed with local independent label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2005. He secured a major lab ...

Schoolboy Q Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q (stylized as ScHoolboy Q), is an American rapper. He began recording in 2007, and released his first two mixtapes, ''ScHoolboy Turned Hustla'' (2008) and '' ...

, and

Ab-Soul Herbert Anthony Stevens IV (born February 23, 1987), better known by his stage name Ab-Soul, is an American rapper. Raised in Carson, California, he signed to indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2007, where he eventually formed We ...

. Their best known productions include "

Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" edited for radio as "Trick, Don't Kill My Vibe" or simply "Don't Kill My Vibe", is a song by American rapper Kendrick Lamar, from his major-label debut studio album ''Good Kid, M.A.A.D City'' (2012). The song, prod ...

" by Kendrick Lamar, "There He Go" by Schoolboy Q, and "Terrorist Threats" by Ab-Soul. They frequently co-produce songs together and put the finishing touches on the projects released by Top Dawg Entertainment.

History

Tae Beast grew up in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

area. He started producing for

ScHoolboy Q Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q (stylized as ScHoolboy Q), is an American rapper. He began recording in 2007, and released his first two mixtapes, ''ScHoolboy Turned Hustla'' (2008) and '' ...

and

. In November 2012, ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' named Digi Phonics (Sounwave, Tae Beast, Willie B & Dave Free) as one of the "Top 25 New Producers to Watch Out For". In July 2013,

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

named Digi+Phonics as a group, as one of the top ten young producers on the rise. Members of the group also worked on ScHoolboy Q's

major label debut :''"Major Label Debut" is also a song by Broken Social Scene'' ''Major Label Debut'' is the tenth EP by Chicago punk rock band Screeching Weasel. Despite the name, the E.P. was the first release on Panic Button Records, an independent record la ...

album ''

Oxymoron An oxymoron (plurals: oxymorons and oxymora) is a figure of speech that Juxtaposition, juxtaposes concepts with opposite meanings within a word or in a phrase that is a self-contradiction (disambiguation), self-contradiction. As a rhetorical de ...

''.

Members

TaeBeast

Donte Perkins, better known by his stage name TaeBeast, is an American record producer from Los Angeles, California. His is influenced by the likes of

J Dilla James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006), better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer, composer and rapper. He emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michiga ...

RZA Robert Fitzgerald Diggs (born July 5, 1969), better known by his stage name RZA ( ) or the RZA, is an American rapper, record producer, composer, actor, and filmmaker. He is the '' de facto'' leader of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, having pro ...

and

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

. TaeBeast originally got linked up with

(TDE) after playing a few beats for Black Hippy's

, in 2010, one of which became "Turn Me Up". Soon after he had a meeting with TDE, it resulted in him signing with the record label as a producer. On July 15, 2010, Tae Beast released his first project, an instrumental mixtape titled ''The Tae Beast Tape''. On October 1, 2012, he released the sequel to his first mixtape, aptly titled ''The Tae Beast Tape 2''. In early 2014, he earned placement on ScHoolboy Q's album ''Oxymoron'' by producing "Grooveline Pt. 2" and produced the song "

Alright Alright, All Right or Allwright may refer to: Music Albums * ''Alright!'' (album), a 2007 album by Bogdan Raczynski * ''Alright'', a 2011 album by Jerry Williams * ''All Right'', a 1982 album by Himiko Kikuchi Songs * "Alright" (Cast song) * ...

" by

Logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...

featuring

Big Sean Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988), known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. He met Kanye West as a teenager, and signed with his record label GOOD Music, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings in 2007. He gained popul ...

. He then produced two songs on Ab-Soul's third studio album '' These Days...''. TaeBeast is known for his drum loops and sample chopping in his productions. His best known productions include Kendrick Lamar's "Hood Politics", ScHoolboy Q's "Groovy Tony", Mac Miller's "Small Worlds" and

J. Cole Jermaine Lamarr Cole (born January 28, 1985) is an American rapper and record producer. Born in a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained attention as a rapper following the release of his d ...

's "Punchin' the Clock". He has produced for Kendrick Lamar, ScHoolboy Q, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul,

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

Mac Miller Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known by the stage name Mac Miller, was an American rapper. He began his career in Pittsburgh's local hip hop music, hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of 15. In 2010, he signed ...

, Logic,

Jhené Aiko Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo (; born March 16, 1988) is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer and rapper. Aiko embarked on her musical career in 2002, as a backing vocalist and music video performer for the R&B group B2K. She was signed by the ...

, Big Sean,

Young Thug Jeffery Lamar Williams II (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper. Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, he is considered an influential figure in modern hip hop music, hip hop and trap music ...

, J. Cole and others.

Sounwave

Mark Anthony Spears, better known by his stage name Sounwave, is an American record producer from

Compton, California Compton is a city located in the Gateway Cities region of southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county, and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth ci ...

. Sounwave credits "

Up Jumps da Boogie "Up Jumps da Boogie" is the debut single by hip-hop duo Timbaland & Magoo (then known as Magoo and Timbaland), released on July 11, 1997, as the first single from their debut studio album, '' Welcome to Our World''. Featuring rapper Missy Elliott ...

" by

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer and rapper. Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, he is widely acclaimed for his distinctive production work and "stuttering" rhythm ...

as the first hip hop instrumental he ever listened to. From the age of ten he started using a

Korg , founded as Keio Electronic Laboratories, is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instrument An electronic musical instrument or electrophone is a musical instrument that produces sound using electr ...

drum machine to make simple drum beats. From there, he graduated to a 4-track machine and then to the MTV Music Generator for

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

. After using that for a while he hooked up with rapper

Bishop Lamont Philip Brandon Martin (born October 31, 1978), better known as Bishop Lamont, is an American rapper from Carson, California. He was signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment record label and released one project under the label, eventually le ...

from

Carson, California Carson is a city in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and the Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor regions of Los Angeles County, California, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International ...

, and a song he produced for him with MTV Music Generator received local radio placement. In 2005, Sounwave was originally discovered by Top Dawg Entertainment co-founder Terrence "Punch" Henderson, who had him meet with TDE CEO, Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith. Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith was originally unimpressed with Sounwave, however, he persisted and honed his craft which ended up "blowing away" Tiffith. Sounwave's earliest work for Top Dawg Entertainment surfaced on the self-titled ''Kendrick Lamar EP'', and Jay Rock's compilation track "Fa Sho" in 2009 and 2010 respectively. In 2011, Sounwave produced a bulk of Kendrick Lamar's mixtape/album ''

Section.80 ''Section.80'' is the debut studio album by the American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on July 2, 2011, by Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). In the years leading up to its release, Lamar produced various mixtapes under the moniker K.Dot. In ...

'', which landed him on ''Complex''s "15 New Producers to Watch" list. He also produced three songs on Lamar's critically acclaimed second album ''

Good Kid, M.A.A.D City ''Good Kid, M.A.A.D City'' (stylized as ''good kid, m.A.A.d city'') is the second studio album by the American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on October 22, 2012, by Interscope Records, Top Dawg Entertainment and Dr. Dre's Aftermath Enter ...

'' (2012). Sounwave is best known for producing Kendrick Lamar's hit single "

", among other songs such as " M.A.A.D. City", " A.D.H.D" and ScHoolboy Q's "There He Go". Then in 2014, he earned placement on Top Dawg Entertainment artist

Isaiah Rashad Isaiah Rashad Joel McClain (born May 16, 1991) is an American rapper. He first gained recognition following his performances on the 2012 Smoker's Club Tour alongside rappers Juicy J, Joey Badass and Smoke DZA. He is a founding member of the Chat ...

's ''

Cilvia Demo ''Cilvia Demo'' (also referred to as ''Cilvia'') is the debut mixtape by American rapper Isaiah Rashad. It was released on January 28, 2014, by Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). The mixtape features guest appearances from Jean Deaux and Michael Da Vin ...

'' and produced "Hoover Street" and "Prescription/Oxymoron" on ScHoolboy Q's ''Oxymoron''. He also is known for not significantly producing for artists outside of the Top Dawg Entertainment label, except "Finally Here" by

Flo Rida Tramar Lacel Dillard (born September 16, 1979), known professionally as Flo Rida ( ), is an American rapper and singer. His 2007 debut and breakout single "Low (Flo Rida song), Low" was number one for 10 weeks in the United States and broke the ...

from his second album '' R.O.O.T.S.'' (2009). Sounwave is also credited with production on four tracks on ScHoolboy Q's fourth studio album, ''

Blank Face LP ''Blank Face LP'' is the fourth studio album by the American rapper Schoolboy Q. It was released on July 8, 2016, through Top Dawg Entertainment and distributed by Interscope Records. SchoolBoy Q began work on the album in July 2014, months after ...

''. He was a major contributor to '' Black Panther: The Album''. In 2019, Sounwave co-wrote the song " London Boy" with

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

and

Jack Antonoff Jack Michael Antonoff (born March 31, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is the lead vocalist of the rock band Bleachers, and previously the guitarist and drummer for the pop band Fun and the lead vocalist of t ...

, produced by Swift and Antonoff, a co-production by Sounwave, for Swift's seventh studio album '' Lover'' (2019). In 2022, Sounwave co-wrote and co-produced on Swift's tenth studio album ''

Midnights ''Midnights'' is the tenth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on October 21, 2022, by Republic Records. She conceived ''Midnights'' as a concept album about nocturnal ruminations inspired by her sleepl ...

'' (2022), including "

Lavender Haze "Lavender Haze" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her tenth studio album, ''Midnights'' (2022). Swift wrote and produced the song with Jack Antonoff, Jahaan Sweet, and Sounwave. Zoë Kravitz and Sam Dew co-wrote the ...

", "

Karma Karma (, from , ; ) is an ancient Indian concept that refers to an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called ...

", and "Glitch".

Dave Free

David Friley, better known by the names Dave Free, Dee.Jay.Dave, or Miyatola serves as a member of Digi+Phonics, former president of Top Dawg Entertainment, a

music video director A music video director is the head, overseer or facilitator of music video production. The director conceives of videos' artistic and dramatic aspects while instructing the musical act, technical crew, actors, models, and dancers. They may or ...

and Kendrick Lamar's manager. When co-directing music videos alongside Lamar, they are collectively known as The Little Homies. Shortly after launching Top Dawg Entertainment and signing Jay Rock, Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith reached out to Kendrick Lamar's childhood friend Dave Free to serve as president and general manager of the record label. During 2004 he served as social media director of the label. By February 2006, he had been promoted to president of the TDE. He is best known for producing Ab-Soul's song "Terrorist Threats". Recently he has been more involved with the business side of Top Dawg Entertainment rather than producing. In 2020, Free co-founded production company

, alongside Lamar. On January 13, 2022, it was announced that he is going to produce an untitled film with Lamar through PGLang as well as

Trey Parker Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, and musician. He is best known for co-creating ''South Park'' (1997) and '' The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative part ...

and

Matt Stone Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, and musician. He is best known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon (musical), The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his cre ...

through Parker County, and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

Willie B

Willie Brown better known by his stage names Willie B and The Ichiban Don, is American

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

recording artist and record producer that began producing professionally in 2006. On January 6, 2011, Willie B released a mixtape titled ''I'm Not a Producer'' hosted by DJ Age & featuring

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

s from Jay Rock,

Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He first earned recognition through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def (now known as Yasiin Bey) in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's music ...

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

, Little Brother,

Crooked I Dominick Antron Wickliffe (born September 23, 1976), better known by his stage name Kxng Crooked, (stylised as KXNG Crooked and pronounced "King Crooked"; formerly Crooked I) is an American rapper from Long Beach, California. He formed the hip ho ...

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

Glasses Malone Charles Phillip Ivory Penniman (born December 10, 1978), known professionally Glasses Malone, is an American rapper from Los Angeles, California. Early life Charles Penniman grew up in the Watts and Compton neighborhoods in Greater Los Angeles. ...

, and

Kurupt Ricardo Emmanuel Brown (born November 23, 1972), better known by his stage name Kurupt, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he formed Tha Dogg Pound in 1992 along with Daz Dillinger; the rap duo has releas ...

. He is best known for producing Kendrick Lamar's "Ignorance Is Bliss" and "Rigamortis" from Lamar's ''

Overly Dedicated ''Overly Dedicated'' (sometimes stylized as ''O(verly) D(edicated)'' and abbreviated as ''OD'') is the fourth solo mixtape by American rapper Kendrick Lamar, released on September 14, 2010, via Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). It is the first mixtap ...

'' and ''

'', respectively. He has also produced Ab-Soul's "Black Lip Bastard", and ScHoolboy Q's "Gangsta in Designer (No Concept)", from his second studio album ''

Habits & Contradictions ''Habits & Contradictions'' is the second studio album by American rapper Schoolboy Q. It was released on January 14, 2012, exclusively on iTunes, by Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). The album features guest appearances from ASAP Rocky, Jhené Aiko, ...

'', among other songs for TDE. Outside of TDE he has produced for artists such as

Freddie Gibbs Fredrick Jamel Tipton (born June 14, 1982), better known by his stage name Freddie Gibbs, is an American rapper and songwriter. He signed with Interscope Records in 2006 and recorded his debut album for the label; however, its release was cance ...

Childish Gambino Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his musical stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American actor, comedian, musician, and filmmaker. While he studied at New York University and after working in Derrick ...

Wale Wale or WALE may refer to: Places * Wale, Devon, a hamlet in England * Wale, Tomaszów Mazowiecki County, a village in Poland People * Wale (surname) *Wale (rapper), stage name of American rapper Olubowale Victor Akintimehin Radio and televisi ...

and Apollo the Great, among others. On July 27, 2013, he released the first ever

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

-only instrumental mixtape.

References

External links

* {{Authority control African-American musical quartets African-American record producers American hip-hop record producers Musical groups established in 2005 Musical groups from Los Angeles Record production teams Top Dawg Entertainment artists Record producers from California