Joshua Howard Luellen (born February 2, 1989),
[Interview: SouthSide](_blank)
The Marrack known professionally as Southside (also known as Sizzle), is an American record producer, rapper and songwriter. Based in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, he is recognized in the
music industry
The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...
for his aggressive,
trap-infused production work for prominent hip hop artists. After meeting hometown rapper
Waka Flocka Flame
Juaquin James Malphurs (born May 31, 1986), known professionally as Waka Flocka Flame, is an American rapper. He first became known for his 2009 single "O Let's Do It", which entered the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and led him to ...
, Luellen signed with his record label
Brick Squad Monopoly—an imprint of
Gucci Mane
Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper. He is credited, along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Jeezy, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music for mainstream a ...
's
1017 Records—as in-house talent in 2010. Luellen and labelmate, fellow producer
Lex Luger
Lawrence Wendell Pfohl (born June 2, 1958), better known by the ring name Lex Luger, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, bodybuilder, and gridiron football player. He is best known for his work with Jim Crocke ...
established the production team
808 Mafia that same year; it was credited on several commercially successful releases throughout the remaining decade.
As a lead artist, Luellen signed with
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...
to release his collaborative album with
G Herbo, ''
Swervo'' (2018), which peaked at number 15 on the
''Billboard'' 200. His 2022 single, "
Hold That Heat" (with
Future
The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ex ...
featuring
Travis Scott) marked his first entry—at number 57—on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100. Despite not performing on both, he has released several mixtapes as a recording artist.
Early life
Southside was raised in the Southeast section of
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
.
Growing up, he played
Little League Baseball but gave up the sport after suffering a concussion when he was hit in the head with a ball.
He started making beats when he was 14 years old, when he got his first computer from his uncle.
Career
It was around his mid-teenage years that Southside decided to start taking music production as a serious career, He was later discovered by rapper
Waka Flocka Flame
Juaquin James Malphurs (born May 31, 1986), known professionally as Waka Flocka Flame, is an American rapper. He first became known for his 2009 single "O Let's Do It", which entered the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and led him to ...
at the age of 17, and through Waka's connection with
Gucci Mane
Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper. He is credited, along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Jeezy, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music for mainstream a ...
, Luellen was signed to
1017 Records.
[Southside music will make us sizzle](_blank)
TheWhatItDo.com At the label, Luellen met
Lex Luger
Lawrence Wendell Pfohl (born June 2, 1958), better known by the ring name Lex Luger, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, bodybuilder, and gridiron football player. He is best known for his work with Jim Crocke ...
, a fellow producer for Waka Flocka, and the two laid the production groundwork for Waka Flocka's debut album, ''
Flockaveli
''Flockaveli'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Waka Flocka Flame. It was released through 1017 Brick Squad, Asylum, and Warner Bros. Records on October 5, 2010. The title of the album is a portmanteau of Waka Flocka Flame's name ...
'' (2010). Southside's first major credit was the song "Fuck the Club Up," which appeared on the album.
In 2011, Southside co-produced the track "Illest Motherfucker Alive", from
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 ...
and
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...
's album ''
Watch the Throne'' (2011). This gained him wider recognition in mainstream hip hop. He has since worked with artists such as
Rick Ross
William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. An influential figure in modern Hip-hop, hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "Wiktionary:booming, booming" vocal perfor ...
,
Jeezy
Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. He is credited, alongside fellow Georgia-based rappers T.I. and Gucci Mane, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music for ...
,
Wale,
Meek Mill
Robert Rihmeek Williams (born May 6, 1987), known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group the Blo ...
,
Lil Scrappy,
MGK[Interview with Southside](_blank)
IGetMusic.com among others. Southside was the main producer of Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka's collaborative album, ''
Ferrari Boyz'' (2011), as well as Flocka's second album ''
Triple F Life: Friends, Fans & Family'' (2012).
In January 2013, Southside produced "Millions" – the lead single from
Pusha T
Terrence LeVarr Thornton (born May 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Pusha T, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as one half of the Virginia-based hip hop duo Clipse, which he formed with his older brother No Malice, Malice. M ...
's mixtape ''
Wrath of Caine''. The music video for the song was released on February 10. The song sparked controversy when producer
Rico Beats was asked to modify Southside's instrumental for the final version of the song. Southside wasn't notified of the changes, which led to the two producers exchanging threats over
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
.
On ''Wrath of Caine'' official track list, Kanye West was credited as co-producer, instead of Rico Beats. Also in 2013, Southside and
TM88 produced the song "
Tapout" by
Rich Gang from their ''
self-titled album''. The song peaked at number 44 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and received gold certification by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA).
Throughout the early 2010s, Southside's productions have been featured on numerous mixtapes. Produced with TM88,
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 ...
's 2014 single "Danny Glover" became one of his breakout hits. By late 2014, Southside's production continued to catapult into Atlanta's hip hop mainstream when Future's mixtape ''
Monster
A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes Anxiety, terror ...
'' saw widespread praise as Southside handled a quarter of the mixtape's production. ''Monster ''standout "
Commas" was released as a commercial single in March 2015 and spent 20 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 55 while earning a gold certification by the RIAA.
In 2015, Southside continued to push his trap sound in the hip hop industry ubiquitously, especially on various songs produced by him and his 808 Mafia collective. Luellen was responsible for producing a significant portion of
Future
The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ex ...
's album, ''
DS2'', as well as being responsible for producing nine of the ten tracks of Future's mixtape, ''
56 Nights'' (2015), in which Southside made the entire project's worth of beats in only one night. In addition, Southside also contributed to the production of three tracks on the collaborative mixtape ''
What a Time to Be Alive'' by Future and
Drake
Drake may refer to:
Animals and creatures
* A male duck
* Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon
People and fictional characters
* Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...
. He would also write and produce the song "
Nightcrawler" off
Travis Scott's debut album ''
Rodeo
Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...
''. In 2016, he would produce
From 2016 to 2017, Southside would produce two songs for Kanye West's album ''
The Life of Pablo
''The Life of Pablo'' is the seventh studio album by American rapper Kanye West. It was released on February 14, 2016, through GOOD Music and distributed by Def Jam Recordings. Recording sessions took place from 2013 to 2016, in Italy, Mexico, ...
'', two songs on
Playboi Carti
Jordan Terrell Carter (born September 13, 1995, or 1996), known professionally as Playboi Carti, 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 a ...
's ''
self-titled mixtape'', and two songs on the duo
Huncho Jack's debut studio album ''
Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho.'' Also in 2017, Southside would produce the song "Frat Rules" on ''
Cozy Tapes Vol. 2: Too Cozy''.
The song received gold certification by the RIAA.
He would contribute to the production of three tracks on the collaborative mixtape ''
Super Slimey'' by Future and Young Thug. Throught the early 2020s, Southside would contribute to the productions of multiple big albums including ''
Savage Mode II'' (2020) by
21 Savage and
Metro Boomin
Leland Tyler Wayne (born September 16, 1993), known professionally as Metro Boomin, is an American record producer and music executive. Widely acclaimed for his dark and cinematic production style, he is regarded as one of the most influential p ...
, ''
Dark Lane Demo Tapes'' (2020) and ''
For All the Dogs
''For All the Dogs'' is the eighth studio album by the Canadian rapper Drake. It was released by OVO Sound and Republic Records on October 6, 2023. The album features guest appearances from Teezo Touchdown, 21 Savage, J. Cole, Yeat, SZA, Par ...
'' (2023) by Drake, ''
I Never Liked You'' (2022) by Future, and ''
Deep Thoughts'' (2025) by
Lil Durk
Durk Derrick Banks (born October 19, 1992), known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper. Regarded as a pioneering artist in the Chicago-based hip-hop subgenre drill music, he is often considered the subgenre's most commercially suc ...
.
Artistry
Southside uses the digital audio workstation,
FL Studio
FL Studio (known as FruityLoops before 2003) is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by the Belgian company Image-Line. It features a graphical user interface with a pattern-based music sequencer. It is available in four different ...
along with custom installed
VST plugins to compose his beats. Luellen's distinct signature
trap sound is gritty, grimy, and thunderous hip hop street sound which is similar to that of his collaborators, Lex Luger and his group
808 Mafia. Despite such similarities, Luellen's sound is distinctly known to be more gangster, bombastic, gritty, rambunctious, and menacing compared to that of his collaborators. Luellen is known for his dark, belligerent, and menacing hip hop sound coupled with hard hitting
808 kicks, crisp snare drums, fast hi-hats, frantic synthesizers, sinister lead instruments, and colorfully layered ominous orchestration of synthesized brass,
hits, stringed, woodwind, and keyboard instruments.
Like many other producers Southside uses a musical signature tag on many of the songs he has produced. His main tag is a pitched-up voice saying his name. He also uses his team tag, 808 Mafia and more recently, a sample of the
Ironside (1967 TV series)
''Ironside'' is an American television crime drama that aired on NBC over eight seasons from 1967 to 1975. The show starred Raymond Burr as Robert T. Ironside (usually addressed by the title "Chief Ironside"), a consultant to the San Francisco ...
theme song produced by
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...
.
Back in the beginning of his career, Southside claimed to complete a single beat in 15 to 30 minutes, but as of 2015, he claims to be able to make a single beat in less than 6 minutes and with no sound.
He cites
Lil Jon
Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971), better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, DJ, and record producer. Regarded as a progenitor of the club-oriented hip-hop subgenre crunk, his production and voice presence were inst ...
as his favorite producer and enjoys the production work made by
Pharrell
Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...
,
Shawty Redd, and
Drumma Boy. He is also influenced by the production works of
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 ...
,
Dr. Dre
Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founder of ...
,
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 ...
and
Swizz Beatz
Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in the Bronx borough of New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ in 1994. At the age ...
.
Southside also credits modern technology and internet, particularly through the monetization of music through streaming sites such as
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...
,
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
,
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...
, and
Apple Music
Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...
that help him make a living off of his passion for hip hop music and well as making his own production career possible.
Inside the studio, Southside is known for his strong work ethic and strategic marketing acumen when producing beats for artists and getting the finalized track on the mixtape circuit or radio.
Since 2013, Southside began to focus on his career as a producer from an entrepreneurial perspective, cultivating talent while learning the ins and outs of the legality in the music production business as well as negotiating deals and making the financial decisions on every track he is responsible for producing.
Discography
Collaborative albums
Mixtapes
Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southside
1989 births
Living people
1017 Records artists
African-American male rappers
20th-century American male rappers
African-American record producers
American hip-hop record producers
American rhythm and blues keyboardists
Businesspeople from Atlanta
GOOD Music artists
Musicians from Atlanta
Rappers from Atlanta
Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state)
Southern hip-hop musicians
American trap musicians
Record producers from Georgia (U.S. state)
21st-century American rappers
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century African-American musicians
20th-century African-American musicians
African-American male songwriters