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3/20/2006 What's good guys? Dru: I'm doing good. We're just kicking back, trying to relax. How did the Runners come about? Dru: Mayne and I went to preschool together. We've known each other forever. We were both getting into the music business together and that's when we decided to form the Runners. Mayne: Yeah, that was like 2003. Why did you guys want to work together? Dru: I had moved when I was 13 years-old. I moved from Florida to North Carolina. I called him out of the blue one day and I asked him what he was doing. He was playing the drums for his church. I was studying music production, so we basically formulated a plan to start this company. Did it take a long time to get started? Mayne: There was a lot of ground-work. Coming into the game, if you don't have your own sound, first of all, it's kind of hard to separate yourself from all of the other producers out there. You need to be in your own lane so people can look at you and respect you for going left from what the sound is at the time. That right there took a long time. We had a lot of beats that we thought were hot that didn't sell. There was a lot of trial-and-error. It's hard trying to find your own sound. Now that you guys are getting established, how would you describe your beats? Dru: I would call it "pull-back" music. The DJ's can always pull-back the intro's to our songs. Look at Rick Ross' "Hustling." It's what the South has been waiting for for a long time. Mayne: It's high-energy. With the ingredients that we put in it, it just makes your have to pull it back. What is it about you guys that make artists like Fat Joe and Rick Ross want to work with you? Mayne: It's the sound. It's something new and versatile. It's the same reason why they would go holler at Pharell or Timbo for a beat. It's a certain sound they would want. It's just our time right now. "Hustling" is definitely your biggest song right now. How did that song come about? Dru: I had given the record to an A&R at Atlantic Records, Mike Caren. He gave the CD to Rick Ross' manager. They heard it and loved it. Then they contacted me at that point. It fell into their hands. Can you take us behind the making of the "Hustling" beat? Mayne: We started out with the melody, added the drums, and then the hook came from our artist that we're working with, Lil' Beezie. He's the voice for the "Hustling" record and the "Money on my Mind" record (Lil' Wayne). We knew it was a hit as soon as we finished it. We were very confident walking that record into Atlantic's office and every other office we took that record to. Dru: When we finished that record, Mayne had said that we had a hit record. Anytime that Mayne tells me we have a hit record, he's right. You have to feel good about how you helped Rick Ross and his situation? Dru: Yeah. We call Rick Ross our big brother. We helped each other. We've already got five tracks on Rick Ross' album. Why is Rick Ross hot right now? Dru: I think that Rick Ross is hot now because he was hot all this time in Florida, but he needs a big record to be hot everywhere. That song was waiting on Ross. When that record came together with Rick Ross, it was a hit. What potential does Rick Ross have? Mayne: He's the future of the South. He can bring Miami to where it needs to be. How is it working with Fat Joe? Dru: We didn't even have the opportunity to work with Joe. We sent him the record and he recorded it. That's because we were new to the game. We had to take our punches at first. Is it easier to get in the studio with major artists now that you have a respectable track record? Mayne: It's getting there. It depends on what type of relationship we build with the artist. We vibe with Rick Ross whenever he comes here. We vibe with Smitty on the records. It's slowly but surely getting there. What do you do if you don't like the song an artist does over your beat? Mayne: We try to put in as much creative input at the end, but at the end of the day it's a collaborative effort. We put our part in and they put their part in, and it's the label's choice if they want to run with it. You're doing a lot of work with Smitty as well. Why do you work with him? Dru: He has an amazing writing ability. He blew my mind on that "Little Haiti" record. I knew he was hot, but when I heard his record, he really did it up. I wish nothing but success for him. Was working with Juelz Santana a good experience? Mayne: Anytime I hear someone new over our record is a good experience. I'm always wondering what certain artists would sound like over our records, and once we do it, it's a good feeling. Hearing them for the first time on our records is crazy. How did Lil' Wayne's "Money on my Mind" come about? Dru: There's a producer named DJ Nasty who had a relationship with someone at Cash Money. He knew they were looking for records so we sent them beats and "Money on my Mind" was recorded right away. Do you make beats with artists in mind? Mayne: Yeah. "Little Haiti" was catered to Smitty. His people hit us up at midnight and we had his record ready the next morning. Now that we have work coming in, and Cam may want a single for us, we got their beats ready. We have to do what we have to do. If Fat Joe wants a single, we do it. Everything is catered now. We put hooks on our records. Most of our records already have hooks in them. The hooks have to fit them, and if it does, you have a smash. Not a lot of producers put the hooks in. Dru: I think it's very important. If you're giving the artist just the beat, you're leaving it all in the artist's hands to make a hit. If the hook is wack, the song's not going to work. We are trying to consistently land singles from this point on. Do artists want to work with you more now that you have big tracks under your belt? Mayne: A lot of people who come to us don't know we did "Money on my Mind" or "Murda Murda." They just know that we did the "Hustling" beat. They want us for that sound. Once they hear us, then they take in our creative thoughts and respect us more. They see that we know what we're talking about. It all comes around. How do you guys work together on tracks? Dru: I lean more towards the business side of things. Mayne handles a lot of the music. We don't step on each other's toes. Some days I may lay some drums down, or I may just give Mayne my input. A lot of groups seem to have problems once they get big. How do you handle any problems? Mayne: A lot of duos became friends when they were 25. We've been friends since pre-school. He's my brother. We came into this business together and we know what roles we're going to play. There's no assuming in this relationship. We're very upfront about everything and it's all straight-forward. That's how we're going to be successful together in this business. Does friendship come before business? Mayne: Yeah, definitely. It's going to get to a point where we have to feed our families off of what we're doing, so if we're mad at each other for something, we still have to chop it up and handle the business side of things. What's the most important element behind a Runners beat? Mayne: It's the feeling. A Runners beat is going to have feeling. It's going to have its highs and lows. It's real emotional. It's going to grab your attention and you're going to feel it. What equipment do you use? Mayne: We have the MPC2000XL, a Macintosh computer, and a Motif keyboard. What projects are coming up? We've got Currency featuring Lil' Wayne and Remy Martin. We have a lot of Smitty tracks coming up. We have DJ Khaled's single coming out called "Born and Raised." It looks like we might have Fat Joe's lead single. We also have Dirtbag's new single. We have a song coming up with Ludacris on his album. We've got a couple tracks on Cool and Dre's album. Baby wants a single too. We're just all over the place. What do you want to say to everyone? Mayne: If you want to get at us, you know how to. Contact Dru, that's management, myspace.com/therunners. Singles only, please.

By Brian Kayser

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