When producer Don Vito calls himself the "Urban Legend," please believe he has put in the work to earn the title. Gary, Indiana-made, Atlanta, Georgia-paid, the producer born Rodney Richard entered Hip Hop as a DJ studying Southern icons such as Grammy-winning DJ Toomp, star-making DJ Nabs and hit-crafting DJ Cooly C. Their duality as both DJ and producer would eventually rub off on Vito as he hopped from behind the tables and behind the board to produce artist that unbeknownst to him, would become Southern Hip Hop legends.
"My whole approach to being a producer is from a DJ perspective," says Vito, who has produced memorable jams for A-town Hip Hop forefathers Raheem The Dream, Kilo and Ghetto Mafia to name a few. "My first thought is 'what's gonna make you move?'"
Appropriately enough, moving is something that Vito has always been accustomed to, physically and musically. During his time as an upstart producer, Vito worked at various 9-to-5's doing everything from customer service to collections. In the meantime, he was scoring between $100 to $750 per track. But it wasn't until he hooked up with music industry luminary Tricky Stewart that he went from doing credit collections to collecting credits.
Stewart, the man behind behind 1 hits such as Mariah Carey's “Touch My Body,” Rihanna's "Umbrella" and The Dream's Love/Hate project, among countless others, recruited Vito into his Red Zone Entertainment production team. "He said he liked my beats and wanted me to do something on Sole's album," recalls Vito. "I wasn't sure about doing R&B-ish type beats. But after I heard Blu Cantrell sing over one of my records, I was sold."
Obviously, Vito has grown more comfortable in his role as an R&B go-to guy. In just the last two years Vito has birthed stars by producing chart-topping hits for Shonuff Records female quartet Cherish ("Do It"), R&B crooners Jagged Edge (“Good Luck Charm”) and has made history with mega-singles for Bow Wow and Omarion ("My Girlfriend"). However, he has still managed to stay rooted in Hip Hop with his production of smashes like Yung Joc's "Coffee Shop" and remixes for Boyz N Da Hood and Dem Franchize Boyz.
His rare ability to switch styles as fast as the wind comes from not only his Midwest upbringing and Southern influences, but from his choice to keep the freshest of talent within arms reach. "I keep young and hungry musicians around me," says Vito who opened doors for other successful producers such Nitti (Yung Joc, Plies, Eightball & MJG). "Whether it's a keyboardist, drum players or even another producer, they all play a part in keeping me sharp."
A self-confessed geek who probably has enough to make George Jetson jealous and has just as many record label A&Rs calling on him for beats as they do for computer tips, Don Vito plans to keep his name as well as his sound ahead of the curve.
"When I made one of my first beats, the first person I called was [Organized Noize co-founder] Rico Wade. He told me it sounded ‘real good, but anybody can make beats; not everybody can be a producer.' That's what I strive to be now…a world-class producer."
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