What Up i2i. I’m back here with another producer that I learned a lot from and taught me some important things. I’m here with my dude, Darrell “Digga” Branch. Me and Digga go back to 1998 from when he was the in house producer at Untertainment Records and I was an intern that was trying to learn everything. At that time I was 17 and very eager to learn about producing so on some nights I used to find a way to get in the studio with him and Lance “Un” Rivera, and just sit back and watch what they did and always asked questions and Digga would always give me some important tips to take home. I haven’t spoke to Digga in a couple of years, But thanks to myspace big homie found me and we been back in contact for the past 2 years! He interviewed Me for his website and now Digga returns the favor with no problem!

Music Mystro:
Mr Branch!!!!… What’s Up Big Pimpin!? How you been?

Digga:
What up Eric, I mean Mystro LOL. I’m good.

Music Mystro:
Lmao… Oh Shit! Lol.. That caught me off gurad. Lol.

You Been quiet Lately, BUT still making some real big moves. Lets talk about PSKILL UNIVERSITY.

Digga:
Yeah, I’ve took a break from the beat game for a minute to start some other businesses. I started a custom home building company called Branch Signature Homes and Producers Skill, Inc, the parent company of OnlineBeatTutor.com, ProducersSkill.com and Pskill University. Pskill University is the first online production school for aspiring beatmakers and producers .

Music Mystro:
What are some advantages producers would have joining Pskill University?

Digga:
The main advantage is the quality of information and education a producer will learn. I don’t have anything against other music schools but to be honest, they don’t teach you stuff that will help you in real world situations. There is so much information I have learned just from having a hands on experience. All of the instructors have the background and experience to teach you what to really expect when you get into the music business. Right now, I will teach some courses along with Needlz (50 cent, Ludacris), Ski Beatz (Jay-Z, Fat Joe, Nas, Camp Lo), engineer Ariel Burojow (Bad Boy, T.I.) and attorney Dante Marshall (T.I., Cloud 9). We are not a replacement to other schools, we will just be there to re-enforce some of the main areas related to urban production so you can get a real understanding.

Music Mystro:
What was the concept and idea behind creating Pskill University?

Digga:
Like I said, the main concept is to provide additional education in the production field for producers of urban music. For example, a typical music school will give you an overview on the business side of production. Pskill will teach you where you actually get your checks from. Students will be able to learn some of the actual steps the instructors haven’t taken to be successful.

Music Mystro:
You also have OnlineBeatTutor.com . What’s goes on over there?

Digga:
Yeah man, the site is going great and I’m getting a great response. OnlineBeatTutor.com is the is video sharing site for producers. I also upload my own clips of tutorials to help answer any questions you may have. If you home working on beats at the crib and you get stuck or you have a issue, log on to OBT and search for some help.

Music Mystro:
And you have DiggaTalkRadio.com. What do you do on there?

Digga:
Digga Talk Radio is my podcast where I talk about music production, politics, technology and other stuff. Basically, its just another outlet where you can get to know me and my views on things other than just music. Not to sound arrogant but I know I have much more to offer than just beats. That’s why I’m doing all of this because you will never catch me rapping or dancing in videos but you hopefully I can take this education thing to the next level. I have a college B.A. degree in music.

Music Mystro:
You also been busy with your company with Six Figga Entertainment. Talk about some of your artist like Fab Nickel:

Digga:
Don’t get it twisted, its Six Figga Entertainment since 1995! We’re still keeping the music poppin forever. Right now, Fab Nickel and Thonio are ready to show the world what they got. Fab Nickel is 5 dudes from upstate new york. They have created a buzz all over especially in europe during this past year. I want people to just check them out be I can sit here all day bragging but its really up to the fans to determine if they like the music. Thonio is a multi talented dude from Little Rock, Arkansas. He can sing, rap and make beats so he’s definitely a triple threat. We about to set arkansas on fire.

Music Mystro:
And My Homey Party Man aka Platinum Producer Neek Rusher:

Digga:
Man, people don’t even know what Neek is up to right now. I’m not going to let the cat out the bag but I’ll say the Party Man movement is what true Hip Hop fans have been waiting for. This is gonna be big, I mean hollywood big!

Music Mystro:
What Type of gear are you working with?

Digga:
Just the MPC 4000, Reason and Pro Tools, that’s it.

Music Mystro:
What gets you inspired to start making a beat?

Digga:
just being in a creative mood. I stop forcing myself to sit down and make beats. My best tracks come when I feel like doing something new.

Music Mystro:
When your in “Producer Block”, what does it take to get out of that slump?

Digga:
Honestly, I so busy doing other things that when I do sit down, my main intention is to do something creative. That’s the main challenge for me. If you think about it, a painter doesn’t set up his/her paint brushes everyday and just start making a bunch of paintings.

Music Mystro:
How do you feel about these new websites popping up for producers where they can sell their beats that they spent hours and hard work on, but choose to post there beats up for $5. (Before you answer I just wanna say that I’m not really a fan of it. If I’m spending 3 to 6 hours on a banga that I can get out there for a easy 7500, I’m not gonna but it out there for $5. I feel a lot of these young producers don’t know the worth in their music. In the Baby Paul Interview I did, he said they do it to get their name out there., but what if an artist brought a beat for $5, and it gets all over mixtape and possibly blows up becoming a hit? The artist got a $5 hit! How do you feel about that?

Digga:
I have to agree with Baby Paul. There is an industry for unsigned artist to find beats now. If you can make yourself hot on that level than you can build off of that buzz. I know some producers that have placements on major artist albums and haven’t received any money, so what’s the real point. I know the average producer beliefs that getting a placement will jump start their career but you have to know how to strategically market yourself. There will be courses on this at Pskill University. I put some beats on mybeatshop.com because I wanted to give unsigned artist the opportunity to record to one of my tracks instead of them emailing me on Myspace for beats. Also, it helps connect me to some producers that don’t know about Producers Skill, Inc. I got emails all the time saying “Thanks Digga for doing this or Its cool that you’re on these sites with us”. Me, along with Sha Money XL are dudes that are actually trying to help the next group of producers. But to get back to your question, a young producer will not get paid $7500 for a track in these days and times anyway. If your track ends up in the hands of an signed artist, there are other ways you can make sure you make some money. That’s what Pskill University will teach you.

Music Mystro:
Ok. With how many years in the game now? There’s things that you didn’t get the proper credit for. You know I been around you and Cam for some years now, and you two was very close at one point. I seen and heard a lot of things that I wasn’t even sure of, and didn’t wanna ask ya’ll because it wasn’t in my place.
The first thing is your actually one of the original founders of the Diplomats as well, I remember in the beginning you was the one making the Diplomat shirts with FUCK GULIANI on the back of them, but you never got mentioned with any of that. What happened with that?

Digga:
Yeah..Its one of those things. People are going to hear what they want to hear. For the most part though, people show me love. I met Killer Mike the other day for the first time and he said “I know who you are, you started Dip Set”. I don’t really dwell on that too much because that really doesn’t give me a any points like that. But people should know the history so when they see me starting things like OnlineBeatTutor.com or Pskill University, you can tell who was the man that created the concept including the “The Diplomats”. A video just surfaced a few weeks ago from 1995 with me, Cam and Bloodshed as Children of The Corn, so its a lot deeper than what the public thinks. You were there back in the days. Did you ever think it would turn out this way?

Music Mystro:
Not at all.

After handling the bulk of Confessions Of Fire & SDE, You was absent from “Come Home With Me” and the Following albums after, with the exception of More Than Music Vol 1. Was there a falling out with you and Cam?

Digga:
Yeah, we were going in two different directions. I wasn’t feeling a lot of the music he was doing at the time and when we started working directly with Epic records, everything became unorganized. To make a long story short though, he didn’t sign off on me getting paid for the S.D.E album. That really made me go through a few changes to get paid and I had 10 songs on there! I knew I couldn’t do business with dude anymore and now I guess Jimmy and Juelz are learning their lesson now.

Music Mystro:
I think a lot of people are…. I know I learned even thou one of my first placements came from them.
Ok…
Moving along…………..
Here’s a lil something I like to do in my interviews with the producers. With over 20 Million records sold, I wanna talk about some of my personal favorites and some of the biggest records Produced By Digga.

Digga:
Its funny because honestly, I don’t really like any of my records like that but if I had to pick my favorite it would be “Can’T Stop, Wont’ Stop” by the Young Gunz because of the impact and the simplicity of the track. It got me some radio money and some checks from the NBA too.

Music Mystro:
First record I wanna talk about Is Dopeman By Jay-Z off Vol 3. Originally this was D.Rugs part 2 by Cam and it was floating around on mixtapes as well. How did Jay end up getting the record?

Digga:
This is actually a good example of what we talked about earlier with the $5.00 beats. That Dopeman beat was just hanging around. Cam would do songs to almost every beat I would make. Somehow, Kayslay got his hands on the song and put it on his tape. Hip Hop (Jay-Z’s A&R )at the time heard the tape and asked me for a copy of the beat for Jay. The rest is history.

Music Mystro:
Also on this Record Dj Clue was credited on this joint. What did he do on this record?

Digga:
Nothing. People will take some drastic measures in order to get on a Jay-Z album. Clue pulled a fast move on the credits because he got somebody to replay the sample because he found out the sample couldn’t get cleared. Hip Hop did call me to either replay it or make a new version but Clue and Duro managed to find a way to do it and play it for Jay before I got a chance to.. Jay liked it so I had to roll with it. I couldn’t tell Jay to not to go with it because Clue went behind my back. See how sheisty the business can be?

Music Mystro:
Yeah man….. offensive foul on Clue, 50 yard Penalty, 4th Down! Lol

Next Joint that was big for you was Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop by the Young Gunz. What was it like making this Record. What was the process getting it to the Young Gunz?

Digga:
That beat was actually for Jay Z. I knew that was a hit when I did it. I made it in 10 minutes. It was on the same beat cd I gave Jay that had “What They Gonna Do Part 2″ off of Blueprint 2. The Young Gunz recorded the song probably a year before it was released. That song not only launched the Young Gunz career, it also gave them a chance to be able to get a budget from Rocafella. You know how many artist was signed to Rocafella?

Music Mystro:

Too many!

Digga:
They are the only group from state property to release an album on Rocafella aside from Freeway.

Music Mystro:
Wasn’t you also Nominated for a Grammy with this Record?

Digga:
Yes sir.

Music Mystro:
Another Huge Record you produced, and is apart of a classic album, Many Men By 50 Cent off that Get Rich Or Die Trying album. What was it like working with 50 on that joint?

Digga:
That was truly a blessing. That beat went through so many hands before 50 got it. Nas and Cam had it before hand. 50 called me one day and said he had a crazy song to the track and he was gonna use it on his album when he got his deal. You know , you hear that all the time but he kept his promise. I still didn’t believe it but when I started getting strange calls from A&Rs and managers, I knew it was about to be on.

Music Mystro:
I still remember the first time I heard the Jennifer Lopez “Open Off My Love” Track @ Untertainment in Troy and Just office. How did you get that to J.Lo?

Digga:
We were working at the Hit Factory on Cam’s album back in the day and Jennifer Lopez came through. We played her some tracks and when the CD got that track, she said “That’s it, I want that one now”. The following week, I was in the studio with her.

Music Mystro:
What They Gonna Do Part 2 - Jay-Z off of The Blueprint 2. How did your version end up being a part 2 when yours was the first one out?

Digga:
Here is another example of how shiesty people can be. Now, just remember Timbaland has done a lot of songs with Jay before. Jay did the song to my track with Sean Paul on it first. I still have the Pro Tools files to it. He let Timbaland hear it and Timbaland took the accapella and re-created another track around it. I think he was trying to get his shine because the song featured Sean Paul but I believe I won the battle because people like my version better and its on the Blueprint 2.1 album version.

Music Mystro:
What’s Happened with Pull It with DMX? Why wasn’t this on Confessions?

Digga:
Sample clearance. It actually got cleared after the album was already released. Its still a street classic though.

Music Mystro:
I read something funny a while back in Scratch Magazine. Tell the readers about the Experience recording Violence with Cam.

Digga:
I think you’re talking about the Ol’ dirty Bastard situation. To make a long story short, me and Cam were working on a song in the studio and Dirty comes through the door and he’s like “this track is crazy, let me get on that”. He goes in the studio mic booth and spits 8 bars and just leaves the studio without saying a word. It was one of the funniest things ever.

Music Mystro:
Let Me Know By Cam’ron off SDE -

Digga:
That was a Joint Me and Cam was trying to do for the streets, like a anthem. To keep it real, it was like a friendly competition with Ruff Ryders back then. I also wanted to create another joint inspired by a T.V theme.

Music Mystro:
357 - Cam’ron off Confessions of Fire

Digga:
This is one of the things I don’t get my props for. I wasn’t the first one to do a track inspired by a TV theme but I was the first to show producers how to flip them. No one was thinking about that at that time. After I did 357, you had “night court”, night ridder”, “the price is right”, the list goes on. If you think back, ya boy Jay-Z did “Hard Knock Life” after that too. Keep it real?

Music Mystro:
Feels Good - Cam’ron feat Usher off Confessions

Digga:
Our attempt at trying to do a song for radio. I think if we would’ve push that some more, it would have be a hit.

Music Mystro:
Losing Weight - Cam Feat Prodigy

Digga:
Yeah, you can’t front on that in the streets. I’ve heard everybody from Lil Eazy E to 50 Cent freestyle to that track on mixtapes.

Music Mystro:
GoodTimes & Ghostface by Ghostface

Digga:
Again, who is thinking about flipping something like Goodtimes? And the song “Ghostface” is straight off of a 2 track mix off of a beat CD. Ghost did the joint and put it straight on the album as-is.

Music Mystro:
So what’s the next Big step for Digga?

Digga:
I’m about get back at it as far as the beats go. I’m gonna try to get some major placements again if it makes sense to me. There are still some artist I would like to work with like Ludacris and Jadakiss. I’m taking this production education thing all the way. In the fall, I’m gonna start working in the N.Y.C public school system to bring production education to the kids. Also, I’m collaborating with Sha Money XL on some things also.

Music Mystro:
Is there any projects we should be looking out for that has “Six Figgaaaaaaaa” in the beginning? lol

Digga:
Your guest is as good is mind. I have a few things in the works but right now, its all about me and my artist Fab Nickel, Thonio and Party Man. These are projects you should be on the look out for.

Music Mystro:
Before we wrap this up is there anything extra you want to add in that I didn’t mention?

Digga:
Nah..We talked about a lot of stuff lol.

Music Mystro:
Any shout outs or links you want to put out there?

Digga:
Of course, the whole Six Figga family, everybody at Producers Skill, Inc. Be on the look out for Pskill University launching in august. Hit me up at onlinebeattutor.com/digga

Music Mystro:
Yo Digga. I thank for your time, and you know I’ll keep in touch.

Digga
No doubt. Hold your head and don’t loose your patients!

Music Mystro:
Yeah man.. I’ll try not to.
Now to see My interview on Digga’s site click on http:// onlinebeattutor.com/features/?p=5

DIGGA’S DISCOGRAPHY

Children Of The Corn

“Children Of The Corn” The Collector’s Edition

“CamRon”
“357″, “Pull It”,”Confession”,”Death”,”Wrong Ones”,”F%ck You”, “D Rugs”,Who’s Nice”, “Let Me Know”,”Losing Weight”,”Come and Kill Me”,What Do I Have To Live For”, Where The F%ck U At”,”Double Up”, “Do It Again”, “Violence”, “Where I’m From”, “Whatever”