If you don't know the name Rashad Smith, there's no doubt you'll be familiar with his work. At the ridiculously young age of 19, he was providing beats for some of hip hop's legendary artists such as Main Source, K-Cut, Rakim, MC Lyte and A Tribe Called Quest. As his bio states, 'In 1995 he laid the beat for a remix of The Notorious B.I.G.’s “One More Chance,” one of the few remixes that would surpass the original version for radio playability. The source of that sample, DeBarge’s “Stay With Me,” made a comeback to club staple status, as would several more of Smith’s sample choices (“Love and Happiness” by Al Green and “Blues and Pants” by James Brown to name a couple).' And it doesn't stop there.
Teaming up with keyboardist Avon Marshall he formed the powerhouse production company Tumblin Dice, flossing Puff Daddy's newly formed Bad Boy Records with hit after hit, in what would become known as the Hitmen Collective. Rashad states 'I was the original Hitman' creating a stack of your all-time favourite hip hop classics. When we asked him what jams in particular, Rashad humbly stated 'it's easier for me to just go into your computer and point out the jams I've produced'. SOLID!
While in town with Erykah Badu as DJ for her Australian Tour, we were fortunate enough to hook up with Rashad and show him around the office. While he's a massive Nike head, he tells us he's into plain, simple, classy kicks these days. It's an obsession he's passed onto his 14 year old son... Rashad flipped when he saw Solebox's Omnizone Pump, yelling 'my son would go bananas over those! He loves Pumps'. We made sure Rashad didn't leave empty handed, so with Sneaker Freaker tees, mags and our limited edition Puma book in hand, we bid a 'seeyalaaada' to the man who has made a million hip hop heads' dreams come true.
