iTemas - Juan “Play” and Oscar “Skillz” Salinas
Grammy Award winning producers and rap duo Play-NSkillz, comprised of, Juan “Play” and Oscar “Skillz” Salinas, are proud to have paved the way for future Latino producers in hip-hop. Hailing from Irving, Texas, the beat-smiths first gained notoriety in 2006 when they produced and co-wrote Chamillionaire’s smash hit “Ridin’” (Dirty). The single soared on the urban and mainstream radio charts as the most requested song of the year, reaching a milestone as the highest selling ringtone of all-time, surpassing 4 million in sales. By the end of the year, “Ridin’” was certified by the RIAA as the first multi-platinum Mastertone in history. Marked as the new go-to producers, the following year brought in Kia Shine’s anthem “So Kripsy,” Pitbull’s “Secret Admirer” and Hillary Duff’s “With Love” featuring Slim Thug. With their newfound fame, the brothers’ show no signs of slowing down in ‘08. Recently, launching their own music label, G4 Recordz, Play took a moment to sit down with ULM to discuss the super-producer’s success, breaking down the color barriers and their mentors, UGK.
What prompted the need for G4 Recordz?
Basically, my brother and I were
producing hits for a lot of artists and
we felt it was time for us to step it up
as young executives. Especially being
Latinos. And since they’re not enough of
us [represented in the business], we felt
that we needed to put out some artists.
We have our own vision of music and
our own ideas of what we’re going to do.
So, we created our record company and
have four to five acts signed.
Are most of the acts concentrated in
hip-hop?
Actually, we have a little bit of
everything. We have hip-hop acts and
R&B acts. We’re very excited about this
hip-hop rock band that is really cool,
called The Big Red Rooster. They’re a
mixture of hip-hop, R&B and Reggae
with hard rock guitars on it. Think Lipkin
Park, but a little more hip-hop. There are
no boundaries.
Speaking of boundaries, did Play-
N-Skillz break down barriers for Latino
producers in hip-hop?
Absolutely…
well, yes and no cause black’s and
brown’s are the same at the end of the
day. To be honest we’ve received a lot of
love. It was just in the beginning where
questions were asked like ‘Can these
boys really bang on the beat? Do they
really have that funk? Are the kick and
the snare going to be snapping like how
the black producers got it popping?’
But in the end, actions speak louder
than words. All the hit records spoke for
themselves. So we kind of ran over that
barrier. And we want to continue to do
that and be the frontrunners as Latino
producers.
What does 2008 hold for Play-NSkillz?
As far as music, G4 Recordz is
what we’re really concentrating on. We’re
very excited about a Play-N-Skillz artist
album, which will be coming out. We got
a single on Lil’Wayne’s, Da Carter III featuring
T-Pain. We’re producing Krayzie
Bone’s solo album. It will probably come
out through our label. And we’re also
working on Bun B’s solo album.
Bun B is a mentor, right?
Absolutely!
B was the first guy to come with open
hands. He took us to Houston under his
dollar and put us in the studio to produce
for him. It was just a real humble thing
that he didn’t have to do. UGK is our version of the East Coast Rakim. They were
it for us. So, when that was happening
it was unreal. Through the years, Bun
has given us great advice and anything
we ever needed. Pimp C was the same
way.
How has the unfortunate death of
Pimp C affected you and your brother?
It’s made us wake up, because Pimp
was a young dude. Since he died of
natural causes, it made us realize not to
take anything for granted.
ULM Podcast