One of the music and radio industryﾒs top producers and executives for the last 15 years, Damion Young is lifting the veil on what went on behind the scenes in the burgeoning, ongoing and, at times, recovering careers of just about every major recording star in his explosive new memoir, ﾓGuilty By Association.ﾔ
Fans will be enthrawed with Damizzaﾒs first-hand account of watching Eminem record ﾓHi My Name Isﾅﾔ in Dr. Dreﾒs home studio ﾗ and minutes later Dre taking Damizza aside, enlisting his friendﾒs advice on ﾓhow to break the white boy.ﾔ
Dre wasnﾒt the only one tapping Damizza for his expertise: The young producer and radio wunderkind was hired by L.A.ﾒs fledgling Power 106 hip-hop station to turn it into what became, during his tenure, arguablythe worldﾒs most influential music station.
In ﾓGuilty By Associationﾔ readers will be treated to the behind-the-scenes stories of some of Mariah Careyﾒs biggest hits ﾗ and her incredible comeback after the disastrous ﾓGlitterﾔ fiasco, orchestrated through her triumphant post 9/11 Super Bowl performance. And for the first time anywhere, Damizza finally goes public with the ups and down of the intense four-year personal relationship they shared and worked diligently to disguise from the worldﾒs press.
From Al Goreﾒs insightful assessment of ﾓGlitterﾔ to Billy Bob Thortonﾒs attempt to record an album under Damizzaﾒs direction, the landmark reunion of Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre on ﾓChronic 2001ﾔ and a nearly endless list of every imaginable celebrity who sought Damizzaﾒs help, ﾓGuilty By Associationﾔ is a whoﾒs who diary of how our world of popular music has evolved, all told by one of the few people who was standing in the room at nearly every moment.
But itﾒs also more than a recollection of anecdotal remembrances: Damizza spends considerable time discussing the hows and whys of the songs that have topped the charts for more than a decade came to fruition, from the writing and recording to the sometimes uncomfortable and combative machinations of the record, radio and promotional industries and the egos that propel them.
While entire chapters are dedicated to Dre, Snoop, Mariah, Warren G., Eminem, Ludacris and Jay-Z, readers will be hard pressed to come up with a famous name that does not play at least a passing role in ﾓGuilty By Association.ﾔ Axl Rose, Jennifer Love-Hewitt, Quincy Jones, Paris Hilton, Prince, Tobey McGuire, Tony Bennett, Hulk Hogan, Michael and Janet Jackson, Tommy Lee & Pamela Anderson, David Lee Roth, Harry Belafonte, Puffy, Jermaine Dupri, Nas, The Game, 50 Cent, Suge Knight, Tupac, Biggieﾅthe list literally goes on for pagesﾅa manic trip that finally pulls over at the side of the road for a little ﾓbreatherﾔ at the Betty Ford Center.
ﾓItﾒs been ﾗ it continues to be ﾗ a mindblowing journey,ﾔ Damizza says. ﾓI really felt fans deserved to hear some of my first-hand accounts of how some of their favorite records came to be. Besides, itﾒs been a while since my mailbox has been filled with cease-and-desist orders.ﾔ
J. Marshall Craig is the co-writer of Animals lead singer Eric Burdonﾒs internationally acclaimed memoir Donﾒt Let Me Be Misunderstood, Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavellﾒs Between Rock and a Home Place, and more than a half dozen other published works.
“Guilty By Association” by Damion ﾓDamizzaﾔ Young & J. Marshall Craig and Dubcnn’s very own Eddie Gurrola is coming soon. In the meantime the Press Contact is Jonathan Hay ﾗ 310.402.6949 and Management Aaron Postil ﾗ 818.517.1067.
