Front Lines: Phunk Dawg
words Al Shipley | photography Brian Harkin
Produced: Hurricane Chris “A Bay Bay”
They say hip-hop is a young man’s game, but it’s hard to tell the difference behind the boards. Lately, teens across the country have been unwittingly rocking to a beat made by someone twice their age. “I’ve been working for over 20 years [and I] just got my break,” says Earl “Phunk Dawg” Williams with a chuckle, sounding more relieved than bitter. The 36-year-old Baton Rouge native has been in the music business since before he was old enough to drive, apprenticing with legendary Al Green producer Willie Mitchell in Memphis as a teenager.
While Phunk Dawg’s earliest productions were high-energy dance tracks in the Miami bass mold, he gradually moved towards more traditional hip-hop, racking up credits as an engineer or co-producer on tracks by Southern rap luminaries like UGK and Lil Wayne. In the early 2000s, he relocated a few hours upstate to Shreveport, Lousiana, where he became the in-house producer for indie powerhouse Lava House Records.
In 2006, Lava House and Phunk Dawg scored a regional smash with Mandingo’s “Do Tha Ratchet.” Featuring Baton Rouge superstars Lil Boosie and Webbie, “Ratchet” inspired a local dance craze and countless YouTube videos. But the producer’s first national hit didn’t arrive until early this year when local teen Hurricane Chris came to Phunk Dawg with an idea for a hook shouting out Shreveport’s own DJ Hollyhood Bay Bay.
“‘A Bay Bay’ was already a catchy saying in the clubs, so when I decided to make the song, I just went to Phunk Dawg,” Hurricane Chris explains. “I worked with him before I had a deal, and we’ve always had a chemistry.”
Driven by its infectious chant, “A Bay Bay,” the lead single from Hurricane Chris’ major label debut 51/50, is more intricately layered than your average tear-da-club-up crunk, thanks in part to Phunk Dawg’s background in bass music. “It’s the whole Shreveport sound, the ratchet music,” he says.
And it’s catching on. Phunk Dawg is currently focused on independent releases from the Lava House camp, including another potential hit, Untame Mayne’s “Pass Me Sum Wata.” Still, he’s aware of the irony in becoming the hot new thing at the ripe age of 36. “One thing I tell anybody is, don’t be anxious for nothing. Be patient, because it’ll come.”
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This is only a preview! To read the rest of the FRONT LINES new producer section, pick up the SEPT/OCT issue of Scratch, on stands NOW!
One Response to "Front Lines: Phunk Dawg"
Sep.20 at 9:30 pm
Rock BANANAZ says:
This is what I like to see. Older cats that never stop trying to get it because they love what they do. Every time a 30 something producer, DJ or MC breaks through, that gives hope to the rest of us waiting our turn. Big up!
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