There was no doubting that it would happen eventually, but late last month, it finally did: Kanye West's brilliant 2010 release, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, went platinum.
And, OK, while that's maybe not a huge deal for West, whose entire catalog has already gone platinum multiple times over at this point, it's quite the big deal for local hip-hop producer Larry D. Griffin Jr., better known as Symbolyc One, who was duly sent one of West's celebratory platinum plaques upon the announcement as a thank you for his production work on the album's incendiary lead single, "Power." It's the first such plaque earned by the longtime Dallas producer and rapper (as part of the group Strange Fruit Project).
"It felt so good!" S1 told DC9 earlier this week when we caught up with him by phone to see how he was taking the news. "It felt really good -- you know, just to see the fruits of my labor. I always believed that something like this would happen, but you get to a point where you don't know when. To actually get to this point, it just felt so good. I'm really grateful. It's a blessing. How many people can have something like this happen to them? And it was crazy: I called Kanye and thanked him, and every time I did, he turned it around and thanked me."
Turns out, though, West is thanking S1 by giving him more than a plaque and a few compliments. He's also been introducing S1 to his powerful circle of friends.
S1 said he recently got back to town after jaunts to Australia and London with both West and Jay-Z, with whom he's working and producing for on their upcoming collaborative disc, Watch The Throne.
"A lot of opportunities are opening up," S1 said.
In addition to work with Jay-Z and West, S1 tells us that his work has also recently been featured in Talib Kweli's new album, Gutter Rainbows. His beat creations will also appear on 50 Cent's upcoming album, Black Magic.
But perhaps most notable of all? He also recently spent a week in New York City, working with and producing beats for Beyonce.
"It's real crazy," S1 said of their collaboration. "Last year, my wife and I kind of spoke this into existence. We'd be sitting in the studio, listening to beats, and we'd say, 'Man, this is a Beyonce song.' And now they actually are!"
First up, though: Some proof, perhaps, that S1 hasn't yet gone completely Hollywood on the rest of us. The new Strange Fruit Project disc, he says, is done and ready for release. Expect it to be released next month. And, as soon as next week, expect a music video for the album's lead single to drop as well.
