The Trak Starz

Last updated
The Trak Starz
Origin St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Genres Hip hop, pop, R&B
Occupations
Years active2000–present
LabelsTrak Starz
MembersAlonzo "Zo" Lee Jr.
Shamar "Sham" Daugherty
Website MySpace

The Trak Starz are an American hip hop songwriting and record production duo from St. Louis, composed of Alonzo "Zo" Lee Jr. and Shamar "Sham" Daugherty. [1]

Contents

Biography

Prior to forming the Trak Starz in 2000, Zo played in numerous reggae and funk bands including Reggae At Will and Dr. Zhivegas, while Sham was in a group called Out of Order. Zo produced tracks for various regional rappers. After producing a few tracks for Sham's Out of Order group the two began producing together, forming the Trak Starz. [1] Soon after, the newly formed partners produced an album for Da Hol’ 9, a group that was signed to MCA Records. They also received production credits on albums for Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Krayzie Bone and Tyrese, as well as producing background music for various MTV shows. After their work with Da Hol’ 9 and other artists, The Trak Starz were managed by Chaka Zulu, whose connections helped them sign former 3 Strikes group member Chingy to Disturbing tha Peace Records. The three began working on Chingy's solo album. According to Zo:

We had a two-bedroom apartment in University City, Missouri where one room had a Pro-Tools set up, a bunch of keyboards and a microphone, and the main room was for sleeping. We all just ended up crashing there and that grew into a roommate situation where all three of us shared an apartment. [1]

Their first song was "Right Thurr", the overnight nationwide hit.

After our success with Chingy we started fishing around for a situation, a home to put out the rest of our groups. When it was all said and done we had had talks with EMI, Motown, Jive, and Universal. Barry Hankerson was instrumental in our talks, and we decided to sign with Blackground Records. [1]

After securing a deal with Barry Hankerson's (R. Kelly, Toni Braxton, JoJo, Ginuwine and Aaliyah) Blackground Records, the Trak Starz hoped to develop local artists from their Trak Starz Productions roster

2003–2004

By the end of 2003, the Track Starz had earned production credits on Ludacris' multi-platinum Chicken-n-Beer (“Splash Waterfalls”) and Britney Spears' "Me Against the Music (The Trak Starz Remix)." They wrote and produced Houston's hit single "I Like That." [1] They also earned a Diamond certification and a Grammy Award nomination for Album of the Year with their contributions on Usher's Confessions . Additional production credits would also include Chingy's Platinum certified Powerballin' and DreamWorks Shark Tale soundtrack. [2]

Star Studded and side-projects

In 2005 the Trak Starz, now managed by Larry Rudolph (Britney Spears' manager) of ReignDeer Entertainment, announced the release of their debut album titled Star Studded. [3] The album's guest list was extensive, including David Banner, Twista, Juvenile, Lil Jon, Timbaland, Chingy, Nate Dogg, Bun B. and Jon B. Recorded in their state-of-the art studio in St. Louis, The Trak Meet, [2] the first official single titled "Take it Off," featured STL and T Deep, the first artists signed to the Trak Starz label. [4] The album was never released.

The Trak Starz kept working on other projects for Nas, Ludacris, E-40, Chingy and Janet Jackson.

Release Therapy - present

In 2007 the Trak Starz earned a Grammy Award for their production on Ludacris' 2006 Release Therapy album. Their award for Best Rap Album was achieved for their production on "Do Your Time" featuring Beanie Sigel, C-Murder and the late Pimp C. [1]

In addition, the Trak Starz produced the hit "Pop, Lock, and Drop It” for Jive Records/HiTz Committee recording artist Huey. [1]

Partial discography

Production credits

List of songs produced and/or co-produced, with other performing artists, showing year released and album name [5] [6]
YearSongArtistAlbumNotes
2003"Jackpot Intro" Chingy Jackpot N/A
"He's Herre"N/A
"Represent" Chingy, Tity Boi, I-20 N/A
"Right Thurr" Chingy N/A
"Jackpot the Pimp"N/A
"Wurrs My Cash"N/A
"Chingy Jackpot"N/A
"Sample Dat Ass" Chingy, Murphy Lee N/A
"One Call Away" Chingy, J-Weav N/A
"Dice Game" Chingy N/A
"Gettin' It" 2 Fast 2 Furious Soundtrack and Jackpot N/A
"Holidae In" Chingy, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg Jackpot N/A
"Juice" Chingy N/A
"Fuck That Nigga"N/A
"Madd at Me"N/A
"Mob wit Me"N/A
"That's Her"Da Hol' 9That Hella-Thurl ShitN/A
"Gangsta-Luv"N/A
"This Yo Song"N/A
"Im Kooool on That"N/A
2004"I Like That" Houston, Chingy, Nate Dogg, I-20 It's Already Written N/A
"Gold Digger" Ludacris, Bobby Valentino, Lil' Fate Shark Tale: Motion Picture SoundtrackN/A
"Jackpot the Pimp (Part 2)" Chingy Powerballin' N/A
"Make That Ass Talk" Chingy, ZiggyN/A
"I Do" Chingy N/A
"Don't Worry" Chingy, Janet Jackson N/A
"We Clubbin'" Chingy N/A
"We Do" Chingy, Bun B N/A
"Wurr Da 'Git It' Gurlz At?" Chingy, G.I.B.N/A
"Bring da Beef"N/A
2005"Professional" Coach Carter: Music from the Motion Picture N/A
"Sweet Revenge" Ludacris Disturbing tha Peace N/A
"That's My Shit" Ludacris, Field Mob, Playaz Circle, Perfect HarmanyN/A
2006"Bounce That" Chingy Hoodstar N/A
"How We Roll"N/A
"All We Do Is This"N/A
"Do Your Time" Ludacris, Beanie Sigel, Pimp C, C-Murder Release Therapy N/A
2007"Lean'n" Ali & Gipp, Murphy Lee, Nelly Kinfolk N/A
"All Night Excuse Me" Ali & Gipp, Nelly, Avery Storm, Juvenile N/A
2008"Ringtone"Yung RoThe Rising SonN/A
2009"DJ Know Me" Playaz Circle, Young Dro Flight 360: The Takeoff co-prod. by Billionaire BoyScout

Remixes

List of songs remixed, with other performing artists, showing year released and album name [5] [6]
YearSongArtistAlbumNotes
2002"Dirty & Stinkin'" (Remix) Ol' Dirty Bastard, Insane Clown Posse The Trials and Tribulations of Russell Jones remixed w/ One Eye & Tytanic; prod. w/ One Eye
2003"Right Thurr" (Remix) Chingy, Jermaine Dupri, Trina Jackpot N/A
"Lemmehollatcha" (Remix)Da Hol' 9That Hella-Thurl Shitalso prod.
"Me Against the Music" (The Trak Starz Remix) Britney Spears, Madonna N/Aalso add. prod.
2004"Splash Waterfalls" (Whatever You Want Remix) Ludacris, Raphael Saadiq N/AN/A

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "About The Trak Starz-Producers". MySpace. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  2. 1 2 "Trak Starz Get First Place with GC Pro". GC Pro. Archived from the original on August 20, 2007. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  3. ↑ "THE TRAK STARZ READY DEBUT ALBUM: Guest Spots include Lil Jon, Timbaland, Juvenile, David Banner, and more". EURweb.com. 2005-10-05. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  4. ↑ "Trak Starz Dropping New Album, Scoring Film". Urban Clubbers. 2005-09-23. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  5. 1 2 "The Trak Starz". Discogs .
  6. 1 2 "The Trak Starz | Credits". AllMusic .
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