Garifuna Coalition honors Garifuna-American Hip Hop Producer Imsomie ‘Mahogany Beatz’ Leeper on Hip-Hop 50th Anniversary
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop, the Bronx-based Garifuna Coalition, U.S.A., Inc. honors 2017 Garifuna Music Award Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Garifuna-American Hip Hop Producer Imsomie “Mahogany Beatz” Leeper.
José Francisco Ávila López, chairman of the Coalition said Imsomie “Mahogany Beatz” Leeper is the son of a Garifuna mother from Honduras.
He was born in Boston and raised in the South Bronx.
He began producing in October 1997 and sold his first beat to Jay-Z at the age of 22, landing him the lead single for the Streets Is Watching (soundtrack), which was the first feature film for Jay-Z and Dame Das, according to Ávila López.
Mohogany Beatz is a record producer and TV & Film synch producer for Sony ATV, based in New York.
He was a record producer/songwriter at EMI Music Publishing.
Mahogany Beatz has earned seven Certified Multi-Platinum Awards and won his first GRAMMY with Jay-Z on the “Hard Knock Life Vol 2.” album as a record producer.
“Notably producing the hit single entitled ‘It’s Alright’, performed by Jay-Z, allowed him to continue working with Roc-A-Fella Records as the first in-house producer under the Team Roc umbrella,” Ávila López said.
He said Mahogany also earned his second Grammy Award with Mariah Carey on her comeback album the “Emancipation of Mimi” with the bonus hit single “Sprung”, which promoted the album in the UK and Japan, then re-released in the US exclusively at Target retail stores.
Ávila López said Mahogany Beatz worked with various labels, such as Island Def Jam, Universal, Loud and G-Unit, and that d Mahogany was “signed directly” by current CEO of SonyATV Jon Platt during his tenure at EMI Music Publishing.
“Being recognized as a team player Mahogany joined Ruff Ryders Entertainment as an in-house producer, the home of DMX, EVE & Swizz Beatz,” Ávila López said. “This opened the door for Mahogany to produce music for Dr. Dre at Aftermath Records.
“Being recognized as the only producer to ever produce a hit single for Dr. Dre on the feature film ‘The Wash’, starring Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg,” he added.
Ávila López said the song, “Bad Intentions”, became the film’s lead single, “with Dr. Dre acknowledging Mahogany as the lead producer by announcing ‘Mahogany Dropping the Instrumental’ during outro of the track.
In addition, Ávila López said Mahogany Beatz has production credit on movie soundtracks, such as 8 Mile, starring Eminem; HBO series OZ; The Wash; starring Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg; The Streets Is Watching starring Jay-Z and Dame Dash; and (Starz series Akatapuss, starring Akineyle; TV shows on Fox, E! Network, NBA; as well as music video games for Sony Playstation and XBox.
Imsomie Mahogany Leeper, is a graduate from the Fashion Institute of Technology, where he studied International Trade and Marketing while gaining experience at the prestigious Global Luxury Brand of Louis Vuitton.
“As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop, we proudly celebrate the contribution of 2017 Garifuna Music Award Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Hip Hop Artist, and Producer Imsomie ‘Mahogany Beatz’ Leeper,” Ávila López said.
