Damizza

Damion Young, better known by his stage name, Damizza, is a record producer, artist & author known for producing artists such as Ice Cube, Shade Sheist, Snoop Dogg, Korn, Nate Dogg, Ca$his, and Mariah Carey, including Carey's single "Crybaby."

Contents

Biography

Damion Young got his start working at local radio station KHTY in his home town of Santa Barbara at the age of 12 —one of the youngest program directors in history. He quickly became one of the forefathers of the Alternative format, breaking artists such as Hootie & the Blowfish, Collective Soul & Garbage, by the age of 17. He moved to Los Angeles on Feb. 3, 1997, to KPWR Los Angeles, California. As Music Director he led the fledgling station to #1 status, along the way breaking such artists as Eminem, Jay-Z & reuniting rap-legends Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg for their Chronic 2001 smash. Young rose quickly to Senior Director of Programming and Artist Relations, forging friendships with numerous hip-hop artists and other entertainers. Damion was also dispatched to Power's sister station Hot 97 in New York in an effort to “smooth out” relations between the station and several artists and record companies in the wake of the infamous February 2001, shootout between the entourages of rappers Lil' Kim and Foxy Brown in front of the station’s front offices. Damion also was called in to quiet a beef Jay-Z had with the station shortly after competitor Power 105 came on the air. Damion was named the #4 most powerful person in hip-hop by The Source (source issue # 113 Feb. 1999).

In the wake of changes at Power 106/Hot 97 owner Emmis Broadcasting, Damion resigned and retired from radio at the age of 30, proclaiming that corporate interference was going to doom the stations — and radio as a whole; Power dropped from #1 to #13 within six month of his departure and has never recovered in the ratings war, losing to longtime rival [[KIIS FM. Damion has been involved in many charities & non-profits such as the United Nation’s World Food Programme (WFP), Teddy Bear Cancer foundation, Make-a-Wish and worked closely with Jim Brown and the Amer-I-Can Foundation. In 2007, Damizza released a collaboration album with Butch Cassidy, Back B4 You're Lonely that produced the hit single “Cruzin.” He has been quoted as saying a second installment of the Damizza Presents series is imminent.

He completed working with J. Marshall Craig on a book on his life, "Guilty By Association," which is scheduled for release sometime late-2011 after two years of delays over legal issues and made some public appearances at various California universities and colleges discussing the book and his life as a radio prodigy-turned hip-hop producer and performer.

In late 2009, Damizza made a cameo appearance as himself in Australian filmmaker Frank Howson's next feature picture, "Remembering Nigel," for which he also served as music supervisor. The film won Best Foreign Film at the Paso Robles Digital Film Festival in November 2009 and also took honors for Best Music Soundtrack. As of September 2011 the feature is in negotiations for worldwide release.

His love of music and burgeoning recognition with the rock and roll establishment has opened him to meeting and working with an ever-growing list of rock icons, among them Terry Reid and Eric Burdon of the Animals & War, drummer Phil Jones (longtime percussionist and drummer for Tom Petty) and bass player Rick "The Bass Player" Rosas of Neil Young/Joe Walsh fame. Damizza has also worked with noted Eagles/Johnny Rivers songwriter Jack Tempchin and Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart. In 2011 he began working on a new web venture where he judges new music with A&R music guru Nigel Grainge & iconic rocker Sir Bob Geldof. He has also remixed some of Sir Bob’s latest material.

Baby Ree Records/Music Production

Damion’s alter ego Damizza was a name created by Mariah Carey during the sessions for “I Still Believe” which was also his first commercial release as a producer. He worked with KG from legendary rap group Naughty by Nature to co-produce “Where I wanna be” from his own effort titled the same. In later years Damizza has been working hard on coming out of what he has described in interviews as his "self-imposed retirement to focus on my family and helping kids in my native Santa Barbara, where I've found talent just waiting to burst out in a positive way," and rebuilding his label Baby Ree Records. His label has made power moves, among them, signing award-winning (Grammy and Emmy) blues musicians to the label. The LA BLUES ALLIANCE is a supergroup of blues and rock musician's including Snuffy Walden, Keb' Mo’, Mike Finnigan and others working with mega producer Mike Post. Their first CD, "What a Life," hit stores June 26, 2007 on Baby Ree, distributed through Universal/Fontana. In addition he has been "graduating" a series of producers, singers and songwriters including Carlos "Los" Ramirez a 20-something beat-maker from Santa Barbara, credited for producing Butch Cassidy and Damizza's hit single "Cruzin’. "

Music Featured In

Label artists

Awards/Chart Positions

Discography

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

References

  1. ^ Trauma (Top Independent Albums chart, Billboard, November 19, 2005
  2. ^ "Crybaby" (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart), Billboard, September 23, 2000
  3. ^ "Where I Wanna Be" (Hot Rap Singles chart), Billboard, June 16, 2001.
  4. ^ "Where I Wanna Be" (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, Billboard, December 16, 2000.
  5. ^ [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=379&cfgn=Singles&cfn=The+Billboard+Hot+100&ci=3039935&cdi=7654963&cid=12%2F09%2F2000 "Where I Wanna Be" (Hot 100 chart), Billboard, December 9, 2000.
  6. ^ Damizza Presents... Where I Wanna Be (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart), Billboard, December 16, 2000
  7. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=305&cfgn=Albums&cfn=The+Billboard+200&ci=3039832&cdi=7651064&cid=11%2F25%2F2000 Damizza Presents... Where I Wanna Be (Billboard 200 chart)], Billboard, November 25, 2000

External links