Digi+Phonics facts for kids

Digi+Phonics is a group of talented music producers from Los Angeles, California. The team includes Tae Beast, Sounwave, Dave Free, and Willie B. They are the main producers for the record label Top Dawg Entertainment, which is based in Carson, California.

Digi+Phonics works closely with the hip hop supergroup Black Hippy. This group includes famous rappers like Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q, and Ab-Soul. All these artists are also signed to Top Dawg Entertainment. The producers often work together on songs and help finish the music projects released by the label.

History

All four members of Digi+Phonics – Tae Beast, Willie B, Sounwave, and Dave Free – grew up in the Los Angeles, California area. Each of them started as a solo music producer. They began working with the members of Black Hippy, including Kendrick Lamar, Jay Rock, ScHoolboy Q, and Ab-Soul.

Top Dawg Entertainment started signing all four producers to work as their main in-house producers. Soon after they all joined, Sounwave and Dave Free were in the studio. Dave Free suggested, "We should get all our producers together and make this one Voltron of production." He believed that each producer had unique skills that would work well together.

In November 2012, Complex magazine recognized the group as one of the "Top 25 New Producers to Watch Out For." In July 2013, BET also named Digi+Phonics as one of the top ten young producers on the rise. Members of the group also helped produce ScHoolboy Q's first major album, Oxymoron.

Members

TaeBeast

TaeBeast is an American record producer from Los Angeles, California. He is inspired by famous producers like J Dilla, RZA, and Kanye West.

TaeBeast first connected with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2010. He played some of his music beats for Ab-Soul from Black Hippy. One of these beats became the song "Turn Me Up." Soon after, he met with TDE and signed with the record label as a producer.

On July 15, 2010, Tae Beast released his first project. It was an instrumental mixtape called The Tae Beast Tape. An instrumental mixtape features only the music, without singing or rapping. On October 1, 2012, he released a second mixtape, The Tae Beast Tape 2. In early 2014, he produced "Grooveline Pt. 2" on ScHoolboy Q's album Oxymoron. He also produced the song "Alright" for Logic and Big Sean. Later, he produced two songs on Ab-Soul's album These Days....

TaeBeast is known for his unique drum loops and for cutting up (chopping) music samples in his productions. Some of his most famous productions include Kendrick Lamar's "Hood Politics," ScHoolboy Q's "Groovy Tony," Mac Miller's "Small Worlds," and J. Cole's "Punchin The Clock." He has produced music for many artists, including Kendrick Lamar, ScHoolboy Q, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, Mac Miller, Logic, and J. Cole.

Sounwave

Mark Anthony Spears, known as Sounwave, is an American record producer from Compton, California. Sounwave says that "Up Jumps da Boogie" by Timbaland was the first hip hop instrumental he ever heard. When he was ten, he started making simple drum beats using a Korg drum machine. He then moved on to a 4-track machine and later used the MTV Music Generator for PlayStation.

After some time, he worked with rapper Bishop Lamont from Carson, California. A song he produced for Bishop Lamont using MTV Music Generator was played on local radio. In 2005, Sounwave was discovered by Top Dawg Entertainment co-founder Terrence "Punch" Henderson. Punch arranged for Sounwave to meet with TDE CEO, Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith. Anthony Tiffith was not very impressed at first. However, Sounwave kept working hard and improved his skills, which eventually "blew away" Tiffith.

Sounwave's first work for Top Dawg Entertainment appeared on the Kendrick Lamar EP in 2009 and Jay Rock's song "Fa Sho" in 2010. In 2011, Sounwave produced most of Kendrick Lamar's album Section.80. This helped him get on Complex magazine's "15 New Producers to Watch" list. He also produced three songs on Lamar's popular album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City (2012).

Sounwave is well-known for producing Kendrick Lamar's hit song "... Don't Kill My Vibe." He also produced other songs like "M.A.A.D. City" and "A.D.H.D," and ScHoolboy Q's "There He Go." In 2014, he produced songs for Isaiah Rashad's Cilvia Demo and "Hoover Street" and "Prescription/Oxymoron" on ScHoolboy Q's Oxymoron. Sounwave usually produces for artists on the Top Dawg Entertainment label. One exception is "Finally Here" by Flo Rida from his album R.O.O.T.S. (2009). Sounwave also contributed to ScHoolboy Q's album Blank Face LP and was a major part of Black Panther: The Album. In 2019, Sounwave helped write the song "London Boy" with Taylor Swift for her album Lover.

Dave Free

David Friley, known as Dave Free, Dee.Jay.Dave, or Miyatola, is a member of Digi+Phonics. He was also the former president of Top Dawg Entertainment. Besides producing, he is a music video director and Kendrick Lamar's manager. When he directs music videos with Kendrick Lamar, they are known together as The Little Homies.

After starting Top Dawg Entertainment and signing Jay Rock, Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith asked Kendrick Lamar's childhood friend Dave Free to be the president and general manager of the record label. In 2004, he managed the label's social media. By February 2006, he was promoted to president of TDE.

He is best known for producing Ab-Soul's song "Terrorist Threats." More recently, he has focused more on the business side of Top Dawg Entertainment rather than producing music. In 2020, Free started a production company called PGLang with Kendrick Lamar. On January 13, 2022, it was announced that he will produce a film with Lamar through PGLang, along with Trey Parker and Matt Stone through Parker County. The film will be distributed by Paramount Pictures.

Willie B

Willie Brown, known as Willie B and The Ichiban Don, is an American hip hop recording artist and record producer. He started producing professionally in 2006. On January 6, 2011, Willie B released a mixtape called I'm Not a Producer. It featured other artists like Jay Rock, Talib Kweli, Busta Rhymes, Little Brother, Kendrick Lamar, and Bishop Lamont.

He is most famous for producing Kendrick Lamar's "Ignorance Is Bliss" from Overly Dedicated and "Rigamortis" from Section 80. He also produced Ab-Soul's "Black Lip Bastard" and ScHoolboy Q's "Gangsta in Designer (No Concept)" from his album Habits & Contradictions. Outside of TDE, he has produced for artists like Freddie Gibbs, Childish Gambino, and Wale. On July 27, 2013, he released the first ever instrumental mixtape that was only available on Instagram.

See also

In Spanish: Digi+Phonics para niños