Just recently the Hip Hop Enquirer had the opportunity to chop things up with Focus…; a two time Grammy award winning producer who worked diligently with Dr. Dre to deliver the Compton soundtrack.
Bernard Edwards Jr, better known as Focus…, has been in the music business for 25 years and says that he was really born into it. He has produced music for some of the industry’s top talents including Beyonce, 50 Cent, The Game, Jennifer Lopez, Busta Rhymes, and Jay Rock. He has won two Grammy awards, one for producing the song “Yes” on Dangerously in Love for Beyonce and another for producing the Best Rap Song of the Year for the Spanish rapper Mala Rodriguez.
Focus… has worked with Dr. Dre and Aftermath before. He was signed to label in 2001 and worked for them until 2008 before going off on his own. He returned to the Aftermath label just recently to begin working on some new productions. Focus… was there during the production of the Straight Outta Compton movie and had a major role in producing “Compton: a Soundtrack by Dr. Dre.”
The Atlanta based producer began to describe the Compton soundtracks as the biggest and greatest project he has worked on in his entire career. He explained that being back with Aftermath he wanted to be of service to Dr. Dre and the rest of the team.
After Focus… left Aftermath he got back with the label through his brother, Tyhiem Cannon. Cannon was already involved with the label and played some of Edwards’ music for Dre and that led to the music legend signing Focus… back on as a producer.
“I used to work for him but, now I’m working with him,” said Focus. I’m in the studio every time he is in the studio and its helped me grow.”
Focus… was involved in the production of six tracks on the Compton Soundtrack: Intro, Loose Cannon, Issues, Deep Water, One Shot One Kill, and Medicine Man.
Speaking on what it was like working side by side with music legend Dr. Dre on his latest project, Focus… said, “Dre was so heavily involved not in just writing or production of the movie but everything from top to bottom; even the casting. He brought that excitement and energy to the studio. It was really cool to see him do songs with Kendrick Lamar and even the new kids King Mez and Justus. Not only did he keep it vintage but he mixed in the new school.”
During our interview with Focus… we asked if there was a tour in the works for the Compton Soundtrack but he didn’t give us any info on the matter.
“A tour is definitely something that would be amazing and something that could be in the works. We never really talk about what could happen because of what happened with the Detox album,” said Focus.
However, he did mention that as far as the music and film for Straight Outta Compton goes, there are some surprises still to come.
Follow us online @HipHopEnquirer
