Needlz | |
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Birth name | Khari Cain |
Born |
Lansing, Michigan, United States |
April 19, 1978
Genres | Hip hop |
Occupation(s) | Record producer |
Years active | 2001–present |
Labels | Dry Rain Entertainment |
Website | [1] |
Khari Cain, better known by his stage name Needlz, is an American record producer.
Needlz was born Khari Cain in Lansing, Michigan. He began to DJ while an undergraduate in Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and Florida State University. He majored in the graduate music business program at New York's prestigious NYU and was to pursue a career in artist and repertoire (A&R). After attaining an internship with Bad Boy Records, he was inspired to begin a career in record production. With the help of A&R Folayan Knight, Needlz associated with Black Entertainment Television (BET) and MTV and created theme songs for Rap City and Suckafree Sundays, respectively. Fellow record producer Swizz Beatz assisted Needlz to "exposure" by collaborating in album production, including Cassidy's I'm a Hustla and Swizz Beatz One Man Band Man.
Needlz chiefly produces songs in the hip hop genre. He describes his style as "an oxymoron: clean and dirty at the same time". He uses Akai MPC2000XL and Pro Tools to produce hip hop beats and utilizes Kurzweil K2661 and the Roland MKS-80 for synthesizers. Recently, he has endorsed, Native Instruments' Maschine.