Tracks and Trax and TraXX...

He's got the beats
HOT TRAXXAMILLION CRAFTS `HYPHY' HITS AT S.J. STUDIO
By Marian LiuMercury News

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Bay Area hip-hop is on the rise, and much of its backbone -- its beats -- was born in San Jose.

Producer Traxxamillion is slowly putting his hometown on the map by bringing in artists from the better-known hip-hop hot spots of Oakland and San Francisco, and even as far as Richmond and Vallejo, to record at his San Jose studio.

``Lots of people here say that we have the curse of San Jose,'' says Traxxamillion. But, clubs like the now-closed Ambassador's Lounge, co-owned by rapper E-40, brought in hip-hop followers from all corners of the Bay Area and artists from all over the country, networking and meeting each other, he says. And, his work is continuing that trend for San Jose.
The 24-year-old, who wouldn't reveal his real name, is responsible for four of the hits that the Bay Area is dishing out for mainstream radio: ``Super Hyphy,'' ``Grown Man,'' ``Jus Go'' and ``Grown Man on Remix.''

``That's why his name is Traxxamillion. He's got some tracks,'' says Scoot Dogg, one of the rappers of East Palo Alto's Dem Hoodstarz that Traxxamillion worked with on ``Grown Man'' and ``Grown Man on Remix.'' ``He pretty much set the tone for that movement.''

The movement he's talking about is known as ``hyphy'' (pronounced hi-fee) -- the sound most associated with the Bay Area. ``Hyphy,'' slang for ``hyperactive,'' has been bubbling up to the mainstream music surface, says MTV News correspondent and Oakland native Sway Calloway. On Thursday, Calloway will document the community's rise on MTV on ``My Block'' at 7 p.m.

``Hyphy is a way of life; it's basically a culture,'' Traxxamillion says. ``Our slang, the way we walk, the way we talk, the cars we drive, just the way of life, period.''

A few years ago, Traxxamillion was just a wannabe hip-hop producer and rapper, creating beats in the closet of his house in San Jose. That is, until he handed a track to the man who first came up with the name ``hyphy,'' Keak Da Sneak, and the song turned up on the radio three weeks later.

``I was basically set up in my closet,'' Traxxamillion explains, ``pulled the closet back, pulled my clothes back, hung a mike over the hanger and let it dangle. . . . And one day I got some real equipment and got better and better.''

Before hyphy, Traxxamillion was part of the Bay Area's other popular hip-hop style, known as ``backpack,'' rapping with socially conscious lyrics, reminiscent of the Berkeley crew Hieroglyphics. As a student at Willow Glen Middle School (then called Markham) in San Jose, he used to visit Santa Clara University's radio station (KSCU, 103.3 FM) every time it had a hip-hop show -- watching, learning and eventually freestyling on the mike.

But then, on top of not attracting girls with his music, he grew less attracted to the beats of the underground conscious sound, feeling as if its music didn't make the waves he was looking for.

So Traxxamillion bought a $100 Casio keyboard from Radio Shack. He imagined himself making beats for Mariah Carey, ``big-sounding, big-production music,'' he says.

``For me, everything is club,'' Traxxamillion says. ``If you can't dance to it, then I'm not trying to do it. If it's a slow song, then I want it to be a slow song you can play in a club. If it's a fast song, then I want it to be a fast song you play in a club. If it's a sad song, I want it to be a sad song you can dance to and play in a club.''

More than a year ago, when his cousins came over, their wild style of dancing inspired him to create a hypnotic, simple, broken-down beat. A beat, he says, he kept to himself for a month. It didn't fit into anything he was working on with his own group, the High, so he drove to Marysville, where Keak was performing, hoping that the artist would use it.

``It was a cold night. I drove up there, met him after the show, and was like, `Take this, man. Track No. 3 is hot,' '' Traxxamillion says. ``That's all I said.''

Keak recalls that the first two tracks were good, but ``the third one gave me shivers,'' he said. ``I listened to it for two days.''

Three weeks later, Keak called, telling him to turn up the radio, but Traxxamillion already had it on. ``Super Hyphy'' was playing.

``It was chemistry,'' Keak says. ``Traxxamillion has a lot of talent.''

It was the same story for the single ``Grown Man,'' with Dem Hoodstarz. Traxxamillion met the East Palo Alto duo in San Jose's Ambassador's Lounge and exchanged numbers. A week later, they came by Traxxamillion's studio in San Jose. And a few days later, the single was on the radio.

``It was hella easy, comfortable,'' says Scoot of Dem Hoodstarz. ``They provided a nice atmosphere for us to kick it and do what we do.''

The names of Dem Hoodstarz grace a wall of autographs from artists that have visited Traxxamillion's bigger, better studio near downtown San Jose, like Oakland rappers Mistah FAB and Too Short, a Bay Area rap godfather.

Named Official Entertainment, the setup includes a sound room, computers, video games and a makeshift kitchen, put together and financed by a fan of Traxxamillion's, Nick Grote, who is CEO of the studio. Grote is a former construction worker who now pours his time and money into putting San Jose and the Bay Area on the hip-hop map.

``There's a lot of movers and shakers in the bay but not a lot of owners,'' Grote says. ``So I said, `Let's do it.' ''

In Grote's opinion, Traxxamillion's remix of ``Grown Man'' is the best remix since the legendary remix of ``I Got 5 on It'' by Oakland's the Luniz.

These days Traxxamillion doesn't have to go hunting down artists in clubs anymore. Record labels like Atlantic and Universal are calling him up.

``I'm quite proud of the dude,'' says KMEL-FM (106.1) music director Big Von Johnson, who first put Traxxamillion's singles on the air. ``We have homegrown raps and beats. We don't have to go outside for it.''

It's a far cry from his days as a backpack rapper, creating small-time beats in his closet at home. Now, Traxxamillion has a new motto: ``Go big or go home.''

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Thanks Davey D.com.