Darwin Cordale Quinn (born October 7, 1987), known professionally as Lil' C (also known as C-Gutta), is an American hip hop record producer, songwriter, and rapper. He’s perhaps best known for producing

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

-based rapper

Young Dro D'Juan Montrel Hart (born January 15, 1979), better known by his stage name Young Dro, is an American rapper. After gaining recognition with his regional hit song "Yes Sir", from his 2002 independent album ''I Got That Dro'', Young Dro aligned ...

's 2006 debut single, "

Shoulder Lean "Shoulder Lean" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Young Dro, released to rhythmic contemporary radio on May 2, 2006, as his debut single and the lead single from his first album ''Best Thang Smokin. The song features Dro's fell ...

", which led to a deal with

Grand Hustle Records Grand Hustle Records (formerly Grand Hustle Entertainment), also known as Hustle Gang Music, is an Atlanta, Georgia-based hip hop record label, founded in 2003, by American rapper T.I. and his manager Jason Geter. Up until December 2012, the lab ...

. Quinn is also part of the record production team Smash Factory, alongside frequent collaborator

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

and Grand Hustle label-boss T.I.

Musical career

Quinn began producing hip hop beats as a means to make money and pay his bills. He embarked on this path at a young age, selling beats to classmates at the high school he attended. At fifteen, he was working in a studio that was housed under Hot 97.7 in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...

, which is how he made a lot of connections in the music industry early on. At the age 17, Quinn produced the song " My Hood", for Young Jeezy, which was the third single from his debut album '' Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101'' (2005). He would later meet Jason Geter, the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

(CEO) of American rapper T.I.'s

. Geter flew Quinn out to

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

on the day of the "I'm A King",

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

shoot. Quinn took his keyboard with and went on to impress Geter with his skills. He gained major recognition in 2006, after producing "

", from Grand Hustle artist

’s debut album ''

Best Thang Smokin' ''Best Thang Smokin is the debut studio album by American rapper Young Dro. It was released on August 29, 2006, by Grand Hustle Records and Atlantic Records. ''Best Thang Smokin serves as Dro's major label debut, following his independent album, ...

'' (2006). It sold over 2 million ringtones, which led him to his first co-publishing deal with

Warner Chappell Music Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalogue consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 65,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries. ...

and Grand Hustle at the age of 18. In 2007, Quinn and T.I. formed a record production and songwriting team called The Smash Factory, alongside Lamar "Mars" Edwards of

1500 or Nothin' 1500 or Nothin' is an American musical ensemble composed of record producers, songwriters, musicians and music videographers, formed in 2006, in Los Angeles, California. With headquarters located in Inglewood, California, 1500 or Nothin' is comp ...

. In late 2014, Quinn produced the remix of "Heaven Knows" for the fifth season winner of ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'',

Tessanne Chin Tessanne Amanda Chin (; born September 20, 1985) is a Jamaican recording artist, best known for winning Season 5 of NBC's reality TV singing competition '' The Voice'' as part of Adam Levine's team. She has opened for artists such as Patti LaBe ...

. "Heaven Knows (Remix)" was released as a single by Republic Records in November 2014. In early 2015, Quinn signed with

Kobalt Music Group Kobalt Music Group is an independent rights management and music publishing company. Founded in 2000 by CEO Willard Ahdritz, Kobalt acts primarily as an administrative publishing company, not owning any copyrights. Also offering label services ...

on a new Administration deal. Also in 2015, Quinn produced "Offset" for T.I. and

Young Thug Jeffery Lamar Williams (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is considered to be an influential figure of his generation, with his music impacting the modern sound of hip ...

, which is included on the soundtrack to the film ''

Furious 7 ''Furious 7'' (also known as ''Fast & Furious 7'') is a 2015 American action film directed by James Wan and written by Chris Morgan. It is the sequel to ''Fast & Furious 6'' (2013) and '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'' (2006), and ser ...

''.

Production discography

Singles produced

Other songs

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lil' C African-American record producers American hip hop record producers Musicians from Jackson, Mississippi Businesspeople from Jackson, Mississippi Southern hip hop musicians 1987 births Living people Grand Hustle Records artists 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people