Nick Speed is a triple threat emcee / producer / DJ, hailing from the dirty streets of Detroit, who recently signed to 50 Cent’s G-Unit Records as an in-house producer. After spending years selling beats to underground artists, Speed finally garnered national attention with the creation of Libido Sounds, a joint venture with Elzhi from Slum Village. In December of 2004 they released “Witness My Growth: The Mixtape,” a double disc compilation showcasing Elzhi’s wealth of unreleased material and Speed’s unique brand of beatmaking. Since signing to G-Unit Records in 2005, Speed has provided beats to such artists as 50 Cent, 2pac, Snoop Dogg, Lloyd Banks, M.O.P., Talib Kweli and Musiq Soulchild. “It’s a blessing for them to extend something like that to me,” he says, “a lot of doors opened just being associated with them.” Perhaps most well known of Speed’s swiftly growing resume is the track, “What If” by 50 Cent, from the platinum soundtrack to the film “Get Rich or Die Tryin’.”
photo by Doug Coombe
Speed was exposed to the technical aspects of production when he was young. His father was a producer for BET’s “Video Soul.” “I learned how to engineer and have been doing stuff like that since the age of 4,” he says.
Nick’s first foray into the world of underground hip-hop was with long time friends Elzhi and Magestik Legend, with whom he formed the legendary group 9-2-5 Colony. “We became a group right after high school,” Speed remembers, “them two dudes are still my best friends.” Since the 9-2-5 days, each member has gone on to accumulate acclaim as a solo artist, with Magestik Legend holding things down as a featured artist on Subterraneous Records, and Elzhi touring the world with Slum Village.
Elzhi and Speed started Libido Sounds in 2004 with the vision of providing like-minded artists with an uncompromising venue to release their own soulful brand of gritty, hardcore hip-hop. Their first release, “Witness My Growth,” was received well overseas, particularly in Japan and the UK.
Though he is signed to G-Unit, Speed can still produce for other labels. He produced upcoming cuts for Subterraeneous members Magestik Legend, Octane and Illite, Slum Village, Big Herk, Proof and Phat Kat. He’s formed a new collective to put out music, the Keep It Classic Klick, including Elzhi, Illite, Shawn King and Octane. “We’re trying to bring back the Motown soul, which is a deep musical legacy for the city.”
“I call it bleeps and blips. I take little pieces of nothing and turn it into something,” Speed says of his unique production style which he developed using the time-tested production staple, the MPC2000XL. “I take little samples of a note and turn ‘em into fully orchestrated pieces.”
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