Going for the industry jugular vein for heavyweight and undisputed Producer and Songwriter Title - Derrick "Bigg D" Baker is taking no shorts. Bigg D, is better known for Jamie Foxx' smash single "Unpredictable" (featuring Ludacris) that peaked number 2 on The Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles in 2006. Branding Billboard toppers for an all star line up - Jamie Foxx, Pretty Ricky, Trina and Trick Daddy, Bigg D soon become a contender in the eyes of the majors and artists calling him to "chop it up" in the studio also known as the "lab" as he famously refers to. Bigg D was born and raised in Liberty City the heart and soul of a predominately poverty riddled neighborhood in Miami, Florida. Miami is not all glitz and glamor on the strip of Collins and Lincoln but on the other side of town, Liberty City is where aspiring rappers, drug dealers and hustlers come from with platinum ice grills and spinning medallions both on rims and hanging from necklines.
Everything has its season and it was not up until 2006 Big D's work ethics paid off earning him both the BMI Urban Music Awards' 2006 Producer and Songwriter of the Year. "Let’s Go" by Trick Daddy (featuring Lil Jon & Twista), and Pretty Ricky’s "Grind With Me" and "Your Body" all three song were on the most played list with co-writes by Bigg D. Pretty Ricky's 'Grind on Me' went number seven of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 2005. D cranked out the hits, LPs, soundtracks and re-mixes for such heavy-hitters as Trick Daddy, Pretty Ricky, Trina "Here We Go" (featuring Kelly Rowland), Jacki-O, Cee-Lo and Pitbull since 2000. Big D has also produced Lil Wayne's single "The Greatest Rapper Alive" and Twista's "Girl Tonite" (featuring Trey Songz).
Bigg D's love of music stems from his mother and grandmother giving him both a well versed appetite of various musical genres. With a Casio keyboard and a boom box in tow, Bigg D streamlined his soul with Rhythm and Blues, with the sounds of Earth Wind & Fire, Chicago, The Gap Band, and Fleetwood Mac. D is known for his finger stroke on his now pearly white Ibanez guitar. It was not always the guitar you see him with today but rather two drumsticks and the constant nudging of his mother to put D in guitar lessons. He could have become a poster child for Sigmund Freud's Nature vs. Nurture theory. D became an emulation of his environment - nurturing his musical influences, while by both parents being musicians naturally contributed to D's animal instinct to fine tuning his senses to become adaptive among the wolves in the recording industry.
D, decided to pursue his passion for music by songwriting and producing. He looked up to the the likes of world renowned producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and his younger brother, Sean who was his mentor that taught him everything he knew. D began his career as a guitarist for 11-time Grammy Winning artist Shirley Caesar in the early 80's and later was a back up guitarist for BeBe and CeCe Winans for the next few years. During his years with the Winans, D decided to do what he loved the most - songwriting and producing. He produced his first album for a local group G-Shorties a.k.a Gangsta Shorty's from Miami FL.
After producing G-Shorties album, D worked with R&B artist, J-Shin. Following suit Trick Daddy hooked up with D to lay down Trick's single "Let's Go", these chain of events led to working with Miami rappers Trina and Pitbull. It was only inevitable the producer teamed up with teen sensation Pretty Ricky in which he produced their smash single 'Grind With Me' off their debut album.
Bigg D received his first publishing deal with EMI Music Publishing in 2004 and shortly thereafter took off his shoes at the front doorsteps of Universal Motown in early 2005, while leaving mud prints at the houses of many record labels on various projects. Desperately in need of management Bigg D joined forces with long time business acquaintance and industry veteran Derek "L.A." Jackson Founder and CEO of Hip Hop’s powerhouse management and consultant firm, Hustla Incorporated and shortly thereafter teaming up with Wakeane "Wak" Caffey (Hustla, Inc.), Bigg D's manager. Wak took a special interest in grooming the musical genius and taking his career to the next level. Wak's vision is to create a mega producer within his management team. It was like the best of both worlds with the Los Angeles and Miami natives who took business and street savvy and meshed the two making them an inseparable management and producer duo. Hustla Incorporated is no stranger to managing super producers - its is also home to Scott Storch.
Apart from producing, D is also the founding creator and visionary of the legendary Miami L.I.V.E. an all star studded industry night that D and The Bottom Shelf Band formerly performed live to a packed house, which shared D's love of composing not only in the studio but for a live audience giving the crowd a taste of raw and uncut music without mixing boards and pro-tools.
Bigg D is now working on building the Dadetown Entertainment empire, signing acts Grind Mode, Git Fresh, Bottom Shelf, and 3 Kings. Stay tuned for new music from Bigg D and Dadetown.
JENNIFER LOPEZ "WRONG WHEN YOUR GONE"
LIL WAYNE - NAVIGATOR MAN
LiL Wayne - The Navigator Man
JAMIE FOXX FEAT. LUDACRIS "UNPREDICTABLE"
TWISTA AND TREY SONGZ "GIRL TONITE"
PRETTY RICKY "YOUR BODY"
T.I and Bigg D at Miami L.I.V.E.
Jim Jones and Bigg D "Ballin"
