Drumma Boy

At 40 years old, Drumma Boy has this physical status:

Christopher James Gholson (born August 11, 1983), better known by his stage name Drumma Boy, is an American producer, guitarist, composer, and philanthropist.

Early life

He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised in Cordova, Tennessee, where he was first exposed to music at a young age. Billie Baker Gholson, his mother, was an accountant who worked as a part-time opera singer and was the first African-American to graduate from Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis. G. James Gholson, a former clarinetist and music instructor at Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, was the first African-American male to hold the first chair position in the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. His father is an emeritus of the Memphis Woodwind Quintet and a soloist in the United States Navy Band. His paternal grandfather was a high school principal and has a high school named after him in Washington, D.C. The majority of his extended family, including grandmothers and aunts, were also musicians and taught music in the schools. Drumma Boy says he had a recorder in his hand at age 3 and a clarinet at age 5. His father was instrumental in teaching him classical music, but it was his mother who introduced him to Curtis Mayfield and 1970s rhythm and blues. Gholson, a classically trained musician, began to practice E-flat clarinet at age six and then moved to the B-flat clarinet. Gholson began taking piano lessons at the age of six.

Mathematics was his favorite school subject. He wrote a song about the quadratic formula for extra credit in 9th grade and was given the highest grade for the class. At the age of 12, Gholson began making hip hop beats and received his first production placement on local radio with Memphis rapper Tela's "Double Dose." At age 14, he made an entire album. Gholson played basketball and was given multiple athletic scholarships throughout high school. He was given a job with the Memphis Youth Symphony Orchestra as well as college music scholarships. He began charging $200 for every beat he made and eventually earned $500 per track by the time he graduated from high school as an amateur producer during his time as an amateur musician.

Gholson matriculated in 2001 and attended the University of Memphis as a Music Business major. His father was told that a college degree would lead to more opportunities for career advancement, and that financial literacy is a key. Gholson attended college to please his father's belief that a college degree would guarantee a long and fruitful career. Drumma Boy made a name for himself and became Tennessee's most in-demand producers by following his father's example and early in his junior year. He spent a large portion of his spare time outside of school on the keyboard and drum machine, making hip hop beats in his room. In between attending classes, he'll shop his homemade beats to local Memphis rappers like Gangsta Boo, as well as traveling to Texas to work on musical projects for Scarface and Bun B of UGK. Despite good grades, Gholson was suspended from school in 2004 due to a lack of attendance. Gholson's music production company was so good that he realized that he had no reason to remain in college. His father pleaded with him to return to college in an attempt to convince him to return to college by a year's end. Drumma Boy earned $100,000 in ten months. Despite the fact that Gholson never returned to the University of Memphis, he and his father established the James and Christopher Gholson Scholarship Fund, a grant that goes to undergraduate and graduate students studying music at the university, furthering his father's dedication and values toward education and cultural literacy.

Drumma Boy had formed friendships with a number of hip hop artists and rappers including Outkast, Trick Daddy, Slim Thug, DJ Cash Money, Pastor Troy, and Killer Mike within two years of leaving his hometown city.

Drumma Boy performed a halftime show during the 2013-2014 season opener of his hometown NBA team, the Memphis Grizzlies, in October 2013.

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Career

Gholson has performed with a variety of artists from hip hop, R&B, and reggae. In 2004, Gholson moved to Atlanta to become a full-fledged music producer and entrepreneur. Gholson founded Drum Squad, a music production firm that represents writers and musicians, Drum Squad Records (a record label), and Drum Squad Films, a film production and distribution firm, citing his sense of corporate acumen from his mother, a professional accountant.

Gholson became one of the most sought-after hip hop producers in the music industry by 2008. Vibe Magazine named him one of the top five producers "making noise" in the music industry in 2008. He was named by The New York Times as one of Atlanta's top young producers "driving the city" in December 2009, describing his appearance as "a swarm of synths overlaid with brash bass injections that are equal parts Memphis and Atlanta." He was profiled in Rolling Stone's January 2010 issue concerning his recording work for Gucci Mane's most popular rap album The State vs. Radric Davis.

In BET's reality series Welcome to Dreamland, Gholson appeared alongside Jazze Pha and Vawn in January 2009. He appeared on Bravo's The Real Housewives of Atlanta while giving beats to cast member Kandi Burruss as well as appearing in the studio during an episode of Monica's BET reality series Still Standing. Drumma Boy's debut "Dis Girl" by Mr. Boomtown in November 2009, the first single off his mixtape Welcome II My City album, which attracted millions of hits on Worldstarhiphop. He has appeared on Good Day Atlanta, Good Morning Memphis, CBS News Channel 9, BET, and MTV.

Gholson has worked on television and film, most recently on FOX's hit TV show Empire with Bryshere Gray (Yazz). Drumma Boy was hired to produce film scores for NaRa Films and O.Y.'s Spotlite Entertainment in December 2013. He created film scores for films Chapters and Holla 2.

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