Southside (record producer)

Southside
Southside at the Salute Me or Shoot Me 4 listening party in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Joshua Howard Luellen
Also known as	Southside Sizzle, Southside on da Track, Young Sizzle
Born	(1989-02-02) February 2, 1989
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Genres	Hip hop,^[1] southern hip hop, trap, R&B
Occupation(s)	Record producer, songwriter, rapper
Instruments	Vocals, FL Studio
Years active	2010–present
Labels	1017 Brick Squad
Associated acts	808 Mafia, Waka Flocka Flame, Gucci Mane, Meek Mill

Joshua Howard Luellen (born February 2, 1989),^[2] professionally known as Southside or Southside on the Track, is an American hip hop record producer and rapper from Atlanta, Georgia. Southside produced the majority of the tracks on Waka Flocka Flame's albums Triple F Life: Friends, Fans & Family and Ferrari Boyz. He has also produced a number of songs for 1017 Brick Squad artists, and is a frequent collaborator with producers TM88 and Lex Luger, with whom he co-founded 808 Mafia in 2011.

Career

Southside grew up in Atlanta, Georgia.^[2] He started making beats when he was 14 years old, when he got his first computer.^[3] He was later discovered by rapper Waka Flocka Flame, and Gucci Mane signed him to his label 1017 Brick Squad Records.^[4] There, he met Lex Luger, who was another producer for Waka Flocka, and the two started working together.

Southside’s first major release was the song "Fuck the Club Up," which appeared on Waka Flocka’s debut album Flockaveli. In 2011, Southside co-produced the track "Illest Motherfucker Alive," from Kanye West & Jay-Z’s critically acclaimed album Watch the Throne.^[5] This helped to boost his career and bring him into the mainstream. He has since worked with artists such as Rick Ross, B.o.B, Wale, Meek Mill, Lil Scrappy, MGK^[3] among others.

Southside was the main producer of Gucci Mane & Waka Flocka’s collaboration album Ferrari Boyz and on Flocka’s sophomore album "Triple F Life: Friends, Fans & Family". He cites Lil Jon as his favorite producer and is a fan of Pharrell, Shawty Redd, and Drumma Boy^[6] and is also inspired by Kanye West, Dr. Dre and Swizz Beatz.^[7]

In January 2013, Southside produced "Millions" - the lead single from Pusha T's mixtape Wrath of Caine.^[8] 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 lead to the two producers exchanging threats over Twitter.^[1] In Wrath of Caine's official tracklist, Kanye West is credited as co-producer, instead of Rico Beats.^[9] Also in 2013, Southside & TM88 produced the song "Tapout" by Birdman for his album Rich Gang: Flashy Lifestyle. The song peaked at #44 on the Billboard Hot 100 and have been certified Gold By The RIAA.

Production style

Southside uses FL Studio and custom plug-ins to create his beats. He has a distinct production style, which evolves from trap music, recognized for its use of layered synthesizers, hard 808 kicks and fast hi-hats.^[10]^[11] 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.^[2]

Personal life

Luellen was born when his mother was 18 and still in high school. His father was also a producer, known as CAPP1. Southside has two children: his first child was born when he was 18.^[2]

On the 11th July 2007, at the age of 18, Luellen was arrested for one account of Battery. He was released on bail with the total bond set to $550.^[12]