The Trak Starz
| The Trak Starz | |
|---|---|
| Origin | St. Louis, Missouri, USA |
| Genres | Hip-Hop, Pop, R&B |
| Occupation(s) | Record producers |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Labels | Trak Starz Records/Universal Records |
| Associated acts | Chingy, Ludacris, Houston, Usher, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears |
| Website | MySpace |
| Members | Alonzo “Zo” Lee Jr. Shamar “Sham” Daugherty |
The Trak Starz (Alonzo "Zo" Lee Jr. & Shamar “Sham” Daugherty), are an American hip-hop production group from St. Louis, Missouri.
Credited with helping establish St. Louis in the hip-hop community, The Trak Starz quickly developed a reputation as one of the rap industry's marquee production teams. Prior to forming The Trak Starz in 2000, Sham and Zo had known each other for over 7 years. Zo played in numerous reggae and funk bands including Reggae At Will and Dr. Zhivegas, while Sham was in a group called Out of Order. Zo also utilized his keyboard skills to produce tracks for various regional rappers. After producing a few tracks for Sham's Out of Order group the two began producing together, forming The Trak Starz. Soon after, the newly formed partners produced an album for the Whole 9, a group that was signed to MCA Records. They also received production credits on albums for Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Krayzie Bone and Tyrese, as well as producing background music for various MTV shows. After their work with the Whole 9 and other artists, The Trak Starz were managed by Chaka Zulu, whose connections helped them sign former 3 Strikes group member Chingy to Disturbing tha Peace Records. After signing with The Trak Starz production company, the three began working on Chingy's solo album. According to Zo:
The first song created in that small apartment was "Right Thurr", the overnight nationwide hit that would launch the relative unknowns to stardom, as well as Chingy's solo career. Their melodic, irresistible, radio-friendly beats spawned numerous hits from Chingy's debut album Jackpot, which would go on to sell over 3 million copies. The overwhelming success of Chingy also propelled The Trak Starz to the forefront of hip-hop production, landing them their own label deal. Zo explains:
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