Sha Money XL: Playing Games

Some know Sha Money XL as one of the driving forces behind 50 Cent’s early success and the G-Unit movement. Some simply know him as a producer and others as a business man. Now it’s time to meet Sha Money XL who is actually all of the above and discuss his involvement with one of the latest games to hit the web; Freestyle Basketball.

Scheme: What’s up Sha, how you holding up?

Sha Money XL: I’m doing good, just working on new projects and staying busy.

Scheme: That’s always good. So let’s get into it, many people know you as producer and others as a business man. How do you describe yourself, how would you like to be known?

Sha Money XL: Really I am all of the above. I started off in the game as a producer and will always be a producer. I love to produce and not just make beats but really craft the sound. The business part was just a natural evolution of things, if you’re not about your business in this industry they will eat you up and run you over, so becoming a business man was almost a necessity.

Scheme: So how did the involvement with Freestyle basketball come about?

Sha Money XL: Well I was overseas and this game just kept popping up with people playing it. I tried it out myself and it was ill, it was entertaining and the opportunity came about where I could get down and score the soundtrack for the game.

Scheme: So it has international presence, that’s a good look. So what’s the process with scoring a game versus producing a record for an artist?

Sha Money XL: Well it is different because you’re complimenting a moment and the scenery of the moment. You know this is a game about street ball so when you see the intensity of the players, running fast, really active and sweating you need to match that intensity with the music. The music needs to keep pace and enhance the moment, not take away from it.

Scheme: So what is more challenging, scoring a soundtrack or producing for an artist?

Sha Money XL: I would have to say producing for an artist because they are live people and you need to work with their feedback. Also, when you’re doing a record you have expectations from a label and executives to craft a hit and move units so there is a lot more “baggage” that comes with it.

Scheme: So what artists are featured on the soundtrack?

Sha Money XL: We have Banks on there, Buck and my new artist out of Harlem named Riz.

Scheme: Okay, Riz is under my radar so put us up on game regarding Riz.

Sha Money XL: Well Riz is an artist that just kept popping up at the video shoots and I kept seeing this show pop up and I kept thinking to myself “who is this dude that keeps popping up with all this Jewelry on?” He kept getting his CD to me and I took a moment to listen and realized that this dude could really spit. So I scooped him up and we are looking at doing some big things, he’s a problem.

Scheme: This isn’t your first taste of scoring a game right?

Sha Money XL: Nope, I scored the 50 Cent game “Bulletproof” so I learned with that game and this has given me the opportunity to work on my craft and improve.

Scheme: Do you plan on transitioning out of games and scoring movies?

Sha Money XL: Yeah, well I learned a lot being on the sets of 50’s movies. I mean I had the chance to sit next to Quincy Jones and see him use a 100 person Orchestra to score the movie and it was amazing. I learned a lot behind the scenes and would love to add movie soundtracks to my regular grind.

Scheme: For those that would love to get into soundtrack scoring, how does the money end of it work? Are things still on a point system such as records?

Sha Money XL: Well with scoring something like scoring a movie or a game, it’s a buyout. They purchase the work but you still retain the right to place it on others games or movies. It’s still yours, and they are paying for the right to use it.

Scheme: Let’s talk about your producer conference you hosted out in Phoenix earlier this year. From what I’ve heard the feedback has been great, what has been your take on the feedback?

Sha Money XL: It’s been great man! Producers, we are a different breed from the artist and we really just needed a forum to get together and discuss our position in the industry, our profession. We needed to top people, like Premier to come and share their knowledge. It was a beautiful thing.

Scheme: Did you have a workshop on scoring games or movies?

Sha Money XL: I touched on it briefly and so did Alchemist but next year we will feature it more and make it more prominent. This year we broke the ice and from here we can build on it.

So as Sha Money XL continues to diversify his contributions to the music game, keep an eye out because he is far from done.