Before the internet had any influence on mixtapes, and DJs still used vinyl, Hip-Hop was in its purest form. We’re talking New York, in the mid-90s when the urban music scene wasn’t over-saturated with MCs, DJs, and producers, like it is in the present day. It consisted of more fans, and people who loved and respected the culture. A young, Don Notz was indeed, one of them.
Hailing from the City of Poughkeepsie (Dutchess County, NY) Devon developed a passion for hip-hop music at age 10, listening to acts such as Black Sheep, Das EFX, Wu-Tang Clan, and Tribe Called Quest to name a few. At 14, his family moved him to a new school district on the outskirts of Poughkeepsie, where all he did was listen to his music and play basketball. It was at this time where he started taking up an interest for the art of DJing. The following Christmas he was given a Gemini DJ Starter Package and wasted no time in recording his own mixtapes, under the moniker “DJ Reality.” Every week he made trips to the local record stores and spent his entire paycheck on the newest and unreleased vinyl. The new kid in school started making a name for himself with his tapes and began catching his peers’ attention.
In 1998, one of his fellow classmates, known by the alias of “Catch Phrase” impressed him with his microphone skills. He started making appearances on DJ Reality mixtapes and the two eventually formed a group called “United Front.” This marked the beginning of his production career. Reality started composing beats with a few beginner software programs. Upon graduating high school, United Front continued to make music despite Catch Phrase studying down south in college. They kept in touch, e-mailing beats back and forth with each other and developing concepts for songs. During vacations, they would reunite to record a few demos which were leaked out locally and on the internet. It was during this time that Reality purchased an MPC 2000 and Roland XP-50 and started to notice his beat making abilities were becoming more of a second nature. He focused solely on producing tracks and decided to leave DJing alone for a while.
Starting in 2002, he began networking and landed a few different internships with some local recording studios and sharpened his mixing and engineering skills. He did away with the name “DJ Reality” and started going by the alias of “Don Notz,” a name in which he felt symbolized a point of maturing in his career. Soon after, the United Front movement began losing steam and Catch Phrase moved down to Atlanta. This did not stop Don Notz from making beats and getting his work out there.
In 2004, Charley Brown, a local who had just returned from college himself, had taken notice to the work being crafted by Don Notz and grew interested in managing him. This marked the birth of “Pop-Off Productions,” a production company owned by the two of them. The company started releasing promotional mixtapes, and Don Notz returned to the art of DJing along with long-time friend DJ Kingpin. They started developing a reputation in there hometown for having high-profile artists host their mixtapes, something no one in the area had ever done before. Charley Brown was making connects and developing good relationships with artists and record company executives. This opened the doors for Don Notz to get his production heard by the right people which would eventually pay off.
Early in 2006, Pop-Off Productions started working with local MC Intense, and organized his entire debut mixtape, “The Calm Before The Storm” in which Don Notz was credited executive producer. The mixtape received great reviews from critics and a lot of the songs were featured on websites such as hiphopgame.com and hiphopdx.com to name a few. The individual tracks off this release were also featured on a countless number of mixtapes both nationally and internationally.
To date, Don Notz has produced tracks for the likes of “The Originator” Jaz-O, Tek (of Smif-n-Wessun), Capone (of CNN), Sha Stimuli, and Illa Ghee. He has also done mixtapes which were hosted by artists such as Chamillionaire, LeToya Luckett, Styles P, AZ, Trife Da God, Stat Quo, Joell Ortiz, Grafh, Little Brother, Prodigy, Skyzoo, and many more.
For more info on Don Notz and Pop-Off Productions please visit Pop-Off Productions' Myspace Page
and popoffproductions.net!
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Tek (Smif n Wessun) Feat. General Steele and Havoc (Mobb Deep) - "Death Is Forever" Prod. by Don Notz
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Track 14 "Is Death 4Eva?" Produced by Don Notz
On the new album from Tek (of Smif N Wessun)- "U.G.P."
***IN STORES NOW***
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Check out "We Live This Radio" brought to you by Pop-Off Productions & welivethis.com!!!
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Need production? Inquire about leasing and exclusive rights for the beats below!
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For booking info and production inquiries, contact Charley Brown at 914.456.5057 or popoffproductions@gmail.com.
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