You may not recognize the name Eddie “F” Ferrell immediately, but you might have been grooving to his smooth tracks since his introduction to the R&B scene in 1987, with his debut with Heavy D & the Boyz, Living Large with Mr. Big Stuff. During the time of Eddie’s introduction in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, he also created and performed the theme song for the television show In Living Color and MADtv. Truth be told, Eddie has had more chart-topping hits and new artist sensations than most people realize.
Eddie is not only a talented artist and DJ, he is also a gifted song writer, producer, and entrepreneur. He has developed and delivered many top names in the Mt. Vernon area (New York), such as Al B. Sure and P. Diddy, just to name a few. Eddie lived with Sean Combes (P. Diddy) for a short time during his early years when they were both in the process of discovering their talent and direction in life.
“Mr. Big Stuff with Heavy D & the Boyz changed my life,” says Eddie, “The album gave me the courage to continue pursuing my musical career—if I didn’t get a break in the music business, I would have gone into computer science.” Lucky for us fans his gamble paid off when Heavy D & the Boyz went platinum with their second and third albums, Big Tyme and Peaceful Journey. Eddie’s career in the music industry was on its way.
“Untouchables Entertainment Group was my next big step,” Eddie explains. “I created Untouchables in 1998 with such artists as Donell Jones and Kenny Greene (lead singer of INTRO).” In time, Eddie began to build on his roster of multi-platinum artists and releases. Since then, Untouchables has produced and worked with such heavy hitters as Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Will Smith, LL Cool J, Destiny’s Child, TLC, Jaheim, Jodeci, Luther Vandross, Nicole Wray, Taral Hicks, and the first rap group to ever receive a gold-certified album, Run DMC.
“My last greatest moment would be when I took over V.P. of A&R (artists and records) for La Face,” Eddie reminisces. “This is where I was trained to deal with artists and handle the business end of the industry—I had to learn on the fly and make up my own rules.” A few years down the road, Eddie would also accept Executive V.P. for the Motown label.
“These are just three,” Eddie reminds me. “There have been a lot of great moments in my career.”
“I prefer the creation of music to the production of it,” Eddie admits. “But production offers its own unique challenges—the music industry has become crowded, leaving music fans with the impression that many of today’s artists are not as good, but there are a lot of great artists and producers, just more bad gets in with the good now that it’s easier to make music.”
“In the ‘80s and ‘90s it was difficult to make a demo reel—you had to have the funds and backing.” Before the emergence of computer virtual sound studios, a quality reel could only be attained with expensive professional equipment and a pro who knew how to mix the sounds and pull it together into a package capable of being played in the competitive market. This usually meant somebody of reliable opinion had to of listened to the talent, agreed they were good enough to deserve a single/album, and then sponsored that group towards that endeavor. Today, readily accessible software programs allow for virtually anyone to put together a professional-sounding album and put it out on the market.
“The result is a market flooded with just as many bad-sounding artists as great ones,” says Eddie. Tragically for the music scene this gives the indication that the shallow end of the talent pool is more prevalent than it really is. “But there are still a lot of great artists, hit records and great music out there,” insists Eddie. “In fact, in some ways it is not such a bad thing because it allows people to expose their talent and let the public decide what they like.”
One such venue is Musicwerks (www.musicwerks.com), which allows artists to get their music out to the public via independent distribution. Eddie is the founding father of this new generation of homegrown music star.
“It will be the Koch Records of digital space,” says Eddie with excitement. “With Musicwerks, the artist makes the lion’s share of the money—the project will incorporate the use of today’s technology to maximize delivery and production of new music.” New artists will now be able to focus on getting their music to the public, utilizing the quickest method available today, the Internet, making a generous profit for each album or single they sell.
“I want to bridge the gap between technology and music over the next 10 years and make it understandable for both the artist and producer—iTunes-style distribution will be the jump-off point for this project.” says Eddie. Eddie plans to combine his experiences as an artist with his knowledge of the inner workings of the music industry to create a whole new range of possibilities for the way music will be experienced by the listener and the performer. Eddie is very aware of the possibilities the computer age has opened up and is determined to take full advantage of them.
Besides focusing on the technological advancement of music, Eddie is coming off of a brief hiatus of inactivity since the last Chris Brown Album, Nuthin But Love, and co-producing for a number of popular established artists. Two of Eddie’s most recent projects are the Mary J. Blige hit, Take Me As I Am, and the single, Steam, off Nicole Scherzinger’s debut album. He is also working on the future release of several more singles from G-Unit, 50 Cent, Serious Jones, and Usher.
On more of a personal level, Eddie is working on new projects with Jaheim, Charlie Wilson, Jennifer Hudson and Chris Brown. Chris Brown’s newest album will hopefully be out within the year. Eddie also has a brand new artist by the name of Noel Gourdin in store for his fans. Noel’s debut album should be released this May, but Eddie doesn’t want to make any guarantees on that. Eddie describes Noel’s style of music as “kind of neo-soul meets hip hop – aggressive and soulful.” Some have gone as far to say Noel is reminiscent of Marvin Gaye. Noel’s single. The River, can be heard on radio stations across the US.
Pete Rock, Dave Hall, Kenny Greene, Mary Brown, Kenny Smoove, Donell Jones, TLC, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, LL Cool J, Will Smith, Jodeci, Destiny’s Child, Jaheim, Nicole Wray, Taral Hicks, Luther Vandross, Run DMC, Usher, OutKast, TLC, Toni Braxton, 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., P. Diddy, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, The Temptations, Boyz II Men, 98 Degrees, 702, Anthony Hamilton and Mario Winans – Eddie has produced and worked with the best in the music industry. The past 20 years have only been about Eddie warming up for what’s to come.
Technology and new media developments are changing the way every generation experiences music and Eddie is always two steps ahead when it comes to the newest trends in the music scene. Keep an eye out for Eddie and his ensemble of artists, productions and groundbreaking business ventures. The world is full of artists named Eddie F, but there is only one original. Take note all ye’ poseurs, the ante is high to compete among these ranks!