Interview With CJ Francis: Genius of the Beat and Young Producer from Georgia

CJ Francis, the beat genius? This 16 year old Lawrenceville youth has been making some noise on myspace.com. With over five thousand friends, one would ask what is this guy all about? Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia this young man comes from a family of disc jockeys, so it’s no wonder he has passion for music. CJ has other interest that include producing a and athletics. This 11th grade Peachtree Ridge junior currently resides in Lawrenceville Georgia. With so much buz behind this young man, I decided to sit down with CJ and ask him a few questions:

AC: What does the term beat genius imply?
CJ: It is just a way to express my love for making orginal beats.

AC: Do you have formal musical training?
CJ: Nope. My mom bought me a keyboard two years ago and I just started messing around with the sounds and it grew from there. I started putting different sounds and samples together with my Fruity loops program and keyboard.

AC: What is your inspiration for creating these sounds?
CJ: Lots of different things.

AC: Just give me a few.
CJ: People, events, places, just depends on what’s going in my mind at the time. Since I am a teenager, so I like to write about things teenagers talk about; dancing, dating, you know, just having fun.

AC: I’ve listend to some of your samples and the beats are really good, however I do have a question about some of the content.
CJ: Yes, I know there’s some language and content that I would not recommend for young children.

AC: I am glad you said that, because that’s what I was thinking. I am from the old school, so I personally don’t think it takes explicit content to be popular. Did you think you had to include explicit content to sell your product?
CJ: No, I didn’t do it to sell my CD. It’s just the culture today. It’s a way that teenagers express themselves, don’t take it personal.

AC: CJ, are you signed with a major lable yet?
CJ: Not yet, I have been made a few offers, but they were not right for me. I know that my product is quality because its from the heart, so I think I’ll wait for the right opportunity.

AC: I agree, you should not sell yourself short, because you’ve got some talent. When does the official CD drop?
CJ: My birthday, October 16, 2006. Although, I have some of the singles on my webpage for people to preview

AC: Great, I wish only great things for you in the future and hopefully you will add inspirational tracks in your future projects.
CJ: No doubt. I want to make music for everybody to enjoy, so it’ coming.

You heard it for yourself. CJ’s CD “The Youngest and in Charge” offically hits the streets on October 16, 2006.