Sibling rivalry never seems to raise its ugly head in music. Talking to Bless, one half of the Souldiggaz production brethren hailing from New Jersey, brotherly love is pretty much all around.

Prominence is something Bless and his brother K-Mack have to literally work their asses for. Not because they don’t cut it in the studio; but because their circle includes names like Timbaland and Missy, tough people to impress.

But to cut a long story short, they have and they still do impress. Tim snapped them up for an imprint deal on his Mosley Music label, Missy has them with fingers crossed for a credit or two on her forthcoming album. Life couldn’t be better for the Newark natives.

HipHopDX caught up with Bless for an impromptu nose into their history and had them break down their aspirations. Talking artists, respect for both music and the craft and just how leaving a DVD playing led to a hit for bad girl Cheri Dennis, Bless gives us the 411 on a duo that are forever paying dues.

HipHopDX: Being that y’all are brothers, does that make it easier for you to work together?
Bless: We actually have a certain way that we work together. In the beginning it was kinda hard as it was like a "big brother, little brother" thing. But now we have a certain flow with each other.

DX: Can you even imagine working with someone else besides your brother?
B: Not really, it is just a connection. We are like left and right.

DX: You have quite an impressive resume. You have an imprint with Timbaland, you have worked with Missy, and these are two of the production legends. Taking it back to Missy, how did that come about?
B: Basically our other partner Corte is Missy’s cousin and she just happened to hear some music and she wanted us to come in and work with her on some stuff. Then a month or two later, she asked us to work with her on a production situation. We were signed to her for three years or so and from 2003 onwards. The majority of everything she did during that time, we did with her.

DX: You all still cool?
B: Yeah we were just at her house the other day; you know she was showing us her new video.

DX: Is it important for you to have the respect and advice from your peers when you are coming out of an area rich in Hip-Hop history?
B: I think in general, it is important to have the respect of your peers. We just try to bend for the new generation of producers. Me and K, we set examples and we try to learn from other producers, the Missy Elliot’s, the people we are around. We try and listen from everyone, even if it might be people that are on our level, we try to listen and learn and move accordingly.

DX: You mention being part of the new generation of the producers, define just what that means as you have serious credits?
B: Honestly, we are still of the new generation because we always refresh, we will always be fresh and are always going to be part of that next trend and we never think that we are too good enough. You know even with your resume, you always feel like you have to get more. I guess we will one day decide we have got more but all we want to be in the best at what we do. We like to let everyone see for themselves, allow them to appreciate what we do.

DX: Do you feel that it is easier for a producer to constantly re-invent themselves as opposed to an artist, even if a producer is known for having a distinct sound?
B: For some, it's not. For us, it is a little different as again, we are always trying to look for the next thing ahead of time. That is one of the things we learned from being in camps with certain trend-setters. You always have to look for what is going to be the next thing or the next sound and what is going to make something a hit. You might not get it at first, as you know good music is timeless.

DX: Do you think it is good to change your sound, is this something you are always going to do?
B: I think it is good to change your sound when you hear a hit record. You always have to look at the trend-setters, but that doesn’t mean you have to follow what everyone else is doing. It is just good to switch up.

DX: Everyone wants to make a hit, what do you think determines a hit nowadays?
B: Honestly you can’t determine a formula for it, but me personally? I look for big choruses that are timeless and the first 15 seconds of a song is going to let you know whether you like it or not and the chorus is going to put the stamp on it. For a hit record, you got to have a strong chorus, where it either has you making love, having fun or dancing. If it doesn’t make you do any of those things then it is not a hit record.

DX: If every record a producer was to put out became a hit record y’all would be very rich. How do you know when you personally get a hit, say with the Bow Wow and Omarion joint?
B: I think it comes along when you are getting several calls for the joint. We have people wanting to place that joint in movies and TV series. When you get those calls wanting to place the song, you know it is a hit. You get a smash, smash hit when you get one of those ring tone companies wanting to use your song or redo your song. There are lots of things that can determine a hit. We were one of the first groups to do ringtones with beats. There are different types of hits you can get. You know you get a hit and you get a super global mega hit. That’s what we are looking to get. Continued on page 2 »