From an early age Russell W. Howard was obsessed with music. He started playing drums at the age of 7 and got his first Roland 808 drum machine when he was 11. Growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, he regularly commuted into the city to buy music and check out DJ’s. At age 15 he was discovered by Chris Schwartz, CEO of Ruffhouse Records, who took the young Howard under his wing.
With access to the Ruffhouse studios, Howard was able to see records by legendary artists like Cypress Hill and The Fugees being cut.
His first big break came when he was introduced by a mutual friend to a local high school basketball star who wanted to record some hip hop tracks – that basketball star turned out to be Kobe Bryant. Before they could record anything though, Kobe was drafted by the Lakers and moved to Los Angeles. However, a year later he flew Howard out to L.A. so they could record together. Their album never saw release but it established Howard as a legit producer.
Russell W. Howard‘s second big break came in the form of a chance encounter with Jay-Z. In an interview he related the story of how it went down: ”During a recording session with Kobe Bryant, JAY-Z walked in. He looked at me and said ’shouldn’t you be fallin off a ship right now?” Referring to Leo in the Titanic… I was nervous as hell. He was like my idol. It felt surreal. He listened to my beats. He picked two of them burned them to a CD and left. Two weeks later, I was flown to New York and we recorded two songs that ended up on The Life and Times of Shawn Carter Vol. 3. The album sold 5.6 Million copies. I was officially a legitimate producer in the business.”
Since then he’s made beats for the likes of Jay-Z, Method Man, Paul Wall, Lupe Fiasco andDMX. Check out his newest track, “Welcome to the Lovely Life,” which features the rapper Nipsey Hussle. Showcasing Howards white hot production and some smooth verses by Westcoast rapper Nipsey Hussle, “Welcome to the Lovely Life” is another solid addition to Howard’s catalog.
