Nick Speed

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Nick Speed

Background information
Birth name Nicholas Marcell Speed
Born August 12, 1980
Origin Detroit, MI
Genre(s) Hip Hop and Rap
Occupation(s) Producer
Years active 1997 - present
Label(s) G-Unit Records
Libido Sounds
Associated acts Elzhi, Slum Village, iLLite, Magestik Legend, 50 Cent
Website Nick Speed at MySpace

Nick Speed is a Hip Hop producer who has produced tracks for 50 Cent, Tupac Shakur, Lloyd Banks, M.O.P., Talib Kweli and Musiq Soulchild. He is signed to Money Management Group which is a subsidiary of G-Unit Records.

Contents

[edit] Early years

During the late 1990s, Nick Speed formed a hip-hop crew called 9-2-5 Colony with classmates Magestik Legend and iLLite, both of whom would go on to become part of the Subterraneous Records stable of artists.

While still in high school, Speed and Magestik spent a significant amount of time with DJ House Shoes, who assisted them with their first production experiments while also introducing them to other like-minded artists in the Detroit hip-hop community. Among these artists were Elzhi, who was then part of the Breakfast Club, and One Be Lo, who was part of Binary Star.

Speed and Magestik Legend invited Elzhi to become a part of the 925 Colony in 1999, shortly after Elzhi had completed recording his unreleased EP, Out of Focus. The new trio recorded only a few songs, none of which were released. Among these are "Farewell," produced by Lacks, "Oh Shit," and "Gun Talk."

The trio also produced and conceived a number of unrecorded songs such as "Anarchy" and "Song of the Nightingale (Produced by DJ Houseshoes)."

[edit] After 925

With Magestik Legend's growing involvement with the Subterraneous crew, and Elzhi's affiliation with Waajeed and Slum Village, the 9-2-5 Crew found little time to write, record or perform music. While never officially terminated or disbanded, the group remains on hiatus, as each member of the crew still enjoy close ties and friendships.

Nick Speed, however, was left to his own devices, and became a freelance producer for countless underground artists. Among the projects Speed worked on during this era is the as of yet unreleased Inside Out by iLLite. This fruitful collaboration inspired the pair to work on a separate, full-length project, dubbing themselves the "People Movers." Conceived in 2002, nothing from this project has been released.

[edit] G-Unit and Libido Sounds

Towards the end of 2004, friends and long time collaborators Nick Speed and Elzhi teamed up to release Witness My Growth, a double-CD mixtape chronicaling Elzhi's long, secretive history as a solo artist. To facilitate the release of this long-gestating project, the two created "Libido Sounds," an independent imprint dedicated to releasing quality hip-hop music.

Recently, much has been made of Nick Speed's affiliation to G-Unit Records. Through connections that Nick made during frequent trips to New York City, a collection of Speed's beats found its way to the hands of Sha Money XL, who offered Nick an in-house production contract and management deal. Through this deal, Nick has produced tracks for many of today's most popular and influential emcees.

In August of 2007, Nick Speed released the D-Tour Mixtape which showcases his versatility as a producer as well as an emcee. The double CD features many of Speed's collaborations with mainstream stars like 50 Cent and Lloyd Banks, but also displays the talents of other Detroit artists such as 87 and Fes Roc.

[edit] Selected Production Credits

[edit] External links