In addition to being the bassist for multi-platinum producer Jermaine Dupri, the “king of crunk” Lil Jon, and contemporary R&B singer Tony Rich, LaMarquis Jefferson and his bass grooves have graced recordings from OutKast, TLC (that's him on Waterfalls), and Da Brat. He also received a Grammy nomination for his contributions to Usher's 2012 mega-hit Yeah!
Raised in Youngstown, Ohio, with the sounds of his father's Earth, Wind & Fire records playing in the background, Jefferson tuned into the low frequency when his older brother received a Fender Jazz knockoff as a Christmas gift.
“I would watch him in awe as he played along with records,” Jefferson told Bass Player. “When he would go off to school, I'd sneak into his room and practice.”
That practice paid off early for Jefferson, who – without any formal training – could play Cameo's Funk Funk and A Taste of Honey's Boogie Oogie Oogie by the time he was 10 years old.
“I don't remember not being able to play the bass, but my defining bass moment happened when I was 11, when I sat down and learned Verdine White's solo from New World Symphony lick for lick.”
Jefferson continued to hone his musical skills after his family moved to Atlanta. His first musical break came in 1991 when a gospel song he penned, Ain't No Rock, earned him the grand prize in Billboard's Amateur Songwriting contest.
“I was working as a maintenance man at an apartment complex when I got a call saying that Quincy Jones had chosen my song out of 60,000 entries.”
Jefferson invested the $25,000 prize money in equipment and began to develop his skills as a producer, a role that would lead to his next big break.
“I went with an R&B group I was producing to pitch a demo to Rico Wade, who is a co-owner of Organized Noize Productions in Atlanta. Unfortunately, he wasn't moved by the demo, but I saw a bass standing in the corner – I think it only had three strings on it – and I picked it up and started fiddling around with it.”
“Rico was like, ‘You play bass?’ I said, ‘Yeah, that's my primary instrument.’ And so he asked me to play Curtis Mayfield’s Freddie's Dead. Then the guys in the studio started calling out different basslines for me to play.”
“At that point, Rico wanted to put me in the studio, so I went down to Bosstown Studios with my fretless Fender Jazz Bass. The name of the song was Tonight, and it's on Xscape's first release, Hummin' Comin' at 'Cha, but when I got there, there was no music on the track, and Rico just said, ‘Play what you hear.’
“All that's on that track are the voices of the four girls and my fretless line. That was the song that started everything off and got me into the Atlanta music scene, just in time for that scene to explode.”
Today, in addition to playing and producing, Jefferson is dedicated to teaching young players how to break into the studio scene and stay there.
“This scene has been so heavily dominated by machines that we really have to fight. Young musicians have to show producers that their tracks need live music. Live bass gives tracks the sonic flexibility they need to breathe.”
The following interview from the Bass Player archives took place in 2015.
What is it that producers like about you?
“I think I get called because I bring a producer's ear and a level of professionalism. I'm not a drinker or a smoker, so I don't do that in sessions, no matter how much the producer might be doing it.
“I also bring a variety of instruments and effects. I can bring pretty much any sound a producer wants – along with some sounds I know he has never heard come out of a bass before!”
How did you cross over from R&B into hip-hop?
“Hummin' Comin' at 'Cha was released on Jermaine Dupri's label. He had a lot going on at that time, and I told myself that if I ever got the chance to meet him, I wasn't going to ask him for anything.
“So when I saw him one day, I introduced myself and thanked him for the opportunity to play on the Xscape record. The next thing I knew, he invited me to play on some more records.”
“So I went to his studio and laid down some basslines for Da Brat's remake of Rick James's Mary Jane and a song called Give It to You. I used a fretless Music Man Sterling through a Mu-Tron pedal, and it came out sounding crazy.”
What's the writing process like with Lil Jon?
“Sometimes he'll come up with a drum pattern and a few synth parts and then relay what he wants. And sometimes when we're vibing he'll be like, ‘Yeah, I like that – put it down.’ The songs get built around whoever has the idea.
“It's a beautiful situation, because Jon is not selfish about writer's credits. He's more into getting a good vibe. It makes the creative process easier because you know he's not going to take what you do and keep it.”
Does any of the “crunk” subject matter ever get to you?
“To be honest, I can't listen to Crunk Juice. A lot of that music was done during a six-month stint in Miami. We did about 300 tracks – we made a lot of beats. The beats were sent out to various artists.
“I never knew what was going to be on those beats until the songs began to come back. And for some of them it was like, ‘Wow, cool!’ and on some others it was like, ‘Whoa, that's kind of hardcore.’ But I can't control what someone does over my music. I've had to look at it like any business.”
How do you ensure you get credit for your work?
“When you walk into a studio and the producer is sitting there with a drum machine going, and he says, ‘Play what you feel,’ at that moment – which is a defining moment – you have to look him in the eye and ask, ‘Are you asking me to write a bassline, or are you going to tell me what you want?’ If he’s asking you to write a bassline, then you're considered a co-writer on that track.”
Does that kind of question jeopardize the session’s creative spirit?
“You have to maintain the creative relationship and to settle your business at the same time. You need to ask the question, ‘What percentage can I negotiate for this bassline?’ It might be hard to pick the right moment, but if you help make his record a hit, he's not going to mind that he gave you a credit.”
How do you make sure that agreement gets remembered?
“As a songwriter, you can ask the producer for a recording of the session. Doing that can help protect you in a situation where your credit is up for question, because no producer is going to give a hired musician a copy of the session. With your copy, you have some tangible documentation.”
What else do you recommend for aspiring studio bassists?
“Professionalism is the key to getting callbacks. Respect the producer's privacy. Most producers and artists hate it when you bring someone into their creative environment that they don't know and they're not necessarily comfortable with.
“Also, get a copyright administration deal. It's hard to get a publishing deal if you don't have any songs out there, but if you're working with producers or labels, an administrator can help make sure that you get the revenues you deserve.
“Another thing to realize is that technique does not get you studio work. It's great to fly like Stanley Clarke and thump like Marcus Miller and tap like Les Claypool – that is some great stuff – but the world of the studio musician is totally different.
“It's not about entertainment. It's not about how bad you are. It's about being able to give the producer what he or she wants.”
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