Leshan Lewis (born December 7, 1966), professionally known by his pseudonym L.E.S., is an American DJ and record producer commonly associated with New York rapper Nas, with whom he grew up in the Queensbridge housing project.[1] His first production credit landed on Nas' popular song "Life's a Bitch" from Illmatic album in 1994.[2] The following year saw him producing his first charted single, AZ's "Sugar Hill" from Doe or Die. Since the mid-90's, Lewis has produced songs for hip hop acts such as Shyheim, 50 Cent, Mobb Deep, Royal Flush, LL Cool J, Big Pun, Capone-N-Noreaga, MC Lyte, Flipmode Squad, Rahzel, Benzino, Cassidy and Cormega, Fat Joe, as well as R&B singer Joe, and German rappers Kool Savas and Azad.[3]
L.E.S. | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | LeShan Lewis |
| Also known as |
|
| Born | December 7, 1966 Queens, New York City, U.S. |
| Origin | Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 1994–2016 |
| Labels | Ill Will |
Lewis first teamed up with hip hop production duo Poke & Tone for the song "Black Girl Lost" from Nas' second studio album It Was Written in 1996.[4] Collaboratively, they went on to produce several songs for Will Smith's 1997 album Big Willie Style, including number-one single "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" and "Miami", as well as Amil's 2000 single "I Got That" from All Money Is Legal. He joined forces with record producer Cory Rooney twice, working on R&B hits "Bring It All to Me" by Blaque and "I'm Real" by J.Lo, with the latter has also been produced by Troy Oliver.
Until mid-2008, Lewis took part in almost all the musical projects of Nas and his affiliates, including The Firm, Bravehearts and Nas & Ill Will Records Presents QB's Finest, handling production of the singles "Firm Biz", "Nastradamus" and "Just a Moment".
In the 2010s, Lewis and Wyldfyer, with whom he previously collaborated on Nas' Hip Hop Is Dead, produced Jay Rock's song "Trapped in the Hood" from Black Friday mixtape. Together with Chucky Thompson, with whom he united working on Nas' Street's Disciple, Lewis produced a song "Your Loss" from Busta Rhymes' The Return of the Dragon (The Abstract Went on Vacation) mixtape. Lewis and record producer Chemist produced Freeway's song "Kane & Abel" for the rapper's fifth solo studio album Free Will.
In 2014 he starred in documentary film Nas: Time Is Illmatic.
L.E.S. along with DJ Rick Flare co-founded a recording studio named 45th Street Studios located in Norfolk, Virginia.[5]
Notable productions
edit| Year | Song | Artist(s) | Album | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | "Life's a Bitch" | Nas, AZ | Illmatic | |
| 1995 | "Sugar Hill" | AZ, Miss Jones | Doe or Die | |
| "Envy" | Fat Joe | Jealous One's Envy | ||
| "Fat Joe's in Town" | Fat Joe, DJ Doo Wop | |||
| Sure Ya Right (Remix) | N-Tyce | Sure Ya Right 12" | ||
| 1996 | "Shaolin Style" | Shyheim | The Lost Generation | |
| "Street Life" | Mobb Deep, ACD | America Is Dying Slowly | ||
| "Black Girl Lost" | Nas, Joel "JoJo" Hailey | It Was Written | prod. w/ Poke & Tone | |
| "Suspect" | Nas | |||
| 1997 | "Worldwide" | Royal Flush | Ghetto Millionaire | |
| "Reppin'" | Royal Flush, Michelle Mitchell | |||
| "Starsky & Hutch" | LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes | Phenomenon | ||
| "Firm Biz" | The Firm, Dawn Robinson | The Album | ||
| "Gettin' Jiggy wit It" | Will Smith | Big Willie Style | co-producer; prod. by Poke & Tone | |
| "Candy" | Will Smith, Cameo | prod. w/ Poke & Tone | ||
| "Chasing Forever" | Will Smith | co-producer; prod. by Poke & Tone | ||
| "Miami" | prod. w/ Poke & Tone | |||
| "Yes Yes Y'all" | Will Smith, Camp Lo | co-producer; prod. by Poke & Tone | ||
| "Big Willie Style" | Will Smith, Left Eye | prod. w/ Poke & Tone | ||
| 1998 | "How Ya Livin'" | AZ, Nas | Pieces of a Man | |
| "Just Because" | AZ | |||
| "Glamour Life" | Big Pun, Terror Squad | Capital Punishment | ||
| "The Way We Live" | Noreaga, Chico DeBarge | N.O.R.E. | ||
| "Da Story" | Noreaga, Maze | |||
| "My Time" | MC Lyte | Seven & Seven | ||
| "The Crack Attack" | Fat Joe | Don Cartagena | ||
| "Everything" | Flipmode Squad | The Imperial | ||
| 1999 | "Bring It All to Me" | Blaque, JC Chasez | Blaque | prod. w/ Cory Rooney |
| "Favor for a Favor" | Nas, Scarface | I Am... | ||
| "I Want to Talk to You" | Nas | prod. w/ Al West | ||
| "Life Is What You Make It" | Nas, DMX | |||
| "K-I-SS-I-N-G" | Nas | prod. w/ Al West | ||
| "Undying Love" | ||||
| "Suga Sista" | Rahzel, Aaron Hall, The Roots | Make the Music 2000 | prod. w/ Rahzel | |
| "Wise Guys for Life" | Made Men | Classic Limited Edition | prod. w/ Poke & Tone | |
| "Classic Limited Edition" | ||||
| "Life We Chose" | Nas | Nastradamus | ||
| "Nastradamus" | ||||
| "Last Words" | Nas, Nashawn | |||
| "Big Girl" | Nas | |||
| "New World" | ||||
| "Corner Bodega (Coke Spot)" | 50 Cent | Power of the Dollar | ||
| 2000 | "My Turn" | Big Pun | Yeeeah Baby | co-prod. by Al West |
| "I Got That" | Amil, Beyoncé | All Money Is Legal | prod. w/ Poke & Tone | |
| "Shit Like This" | Nature | For All Seasons | ||
| "Phonetime" | Capone-N-Noreaga | The Reunion | ||
| "B EZ" | Capone-N-Noreaga, Nas | |||
| "Intro" | Jungle, Wiz | Nas & Ill Will Records Presents QB's Finest | ||
| "Da Bridge 2001" | Nas, Capone, Mobb Deep, Tragedy Khadafi, Nature, MC Shan, Marley Marl, Cormega, Millennium Thug | prod. w/ Nas | ||
| "Real Niggas" | Nas, Ruc da Jackal | |||
| "Find Ya Wealth" | Nas | prod. w/ Nas | ||
| "Straight Outta Q.B." | Cormega, Jungle, Blaq Poet | co-prod. by Cormega | ||
| "Fire" | Nature | |||
| "Street Glory" | Nas, Pop | |||
| "We Break Bread" | Lord Black, Littles, Craig G, Chaos | |||
| 2001 | "I'm Real" | Jennifer Lopez | J.Lo | prod. w/ Troy Oliver & Cory Rooney |
| "Cartel" | Cuban Link, Billy Klubz, Raze, Reif Hustle, Buck 50, Korleone, Don Dinero | 24K | ||
| "The Flyest" | Nas, AZ | Stillmatic | ||
| "Every Ghetto" | Nas, Pop | |||
| 2002 | "Take It Off" | AZ | Aziatic | |
| "Black Clouds" | Noreaga, Complexion | God's Favorite | co-prod. by K-Yze | |
| "Block Party" | Will Smith | prod. w/ Herb Middleton, | ||
| "U Gotta Love It" | Nas | The Lost Tapes | ||
| "Nothing Lasts Forever" | ||||
| "Blaze a 50" | prod. w/ Poke & Tone | |||
| 2003 | "Call My Name" | Benzino, Jadakiss | Redemption | |
| "You Dropped Your Dime" | Joe | And Then... | prod. w/ Neil da Real | |
| "I Wanna" | Bravehearts | Bravehearted | ||
| "What U Hold Down" | Troy S.L.U.G.S., Capone | Troy S.L.U.G.S. | ||
| 2004 | "A Message to the Feds, Sincerely, We the People" | Nas | Street's Disciple | prod. w/ Chucky Thompson & Salaam Remi |
| "Disciple" | ||||
| "Rest of My Life" | prod. w/ Chucky Thompson, voc. prod. by Salaam Remi | |||
| "Just a Moment" | Nas, Quan | |||
| "Reason" | Nas, Emily King | prod. w/ Chucky Thompson | ||
| "Remember the Times" | Nas | |||
| "The Makings of a Perfect Bitch" | prod. w/ T. Black & Nut | |||
| "Me & You (Dedicated to Destiny)" | prod. w/ Herb Middleton | |||
| 2005 | "What's Really Good" | Benzino, Scarface, Young Hardy | Arch Nemesis | |
| "Intro" | Kool Savas, Azad | One | ||
| "All 4 One" | ||||
| "Kick It wit You" | Cassidy, Mario | I'm a Hustla | ||
| "What It's Hittin' 4" | B. Rich | Born Rich | ||
| "Born Rich" | prod. w/ Malcom Flythe | |||
| "Life We Choose" | ||||
| "Birthday" | ||||
| 2006 | "Money Over Bullshit" | Nas | Hip Hop Is Dead | prod. w/ Wyldfyer |
| "You Can't Kill Me" | prod. w/ Al West | |||
| "Black Republican" | Nas, Jay-Z | prod. w/ Wyldfyer | ||
| "Hope" | Nas | prod. w/ Nas & Alexander "Spanador" Mosely | ||
| 2007 | "Somebody Gotta Die" | Nashawn, Jungle | Mass Destruction | prod. w/ Nut |
| 2008 | "I Want In" | Bravehearts, Nas | Bravehearted 2 | |
| "Is You Aight" | Bravehearts | |||
| "Itz So Hard" | 2Five | The Watcher | ||
| 2009 | "Girl" | Cormega | Born and Raised | co-prod. by Cormega |
| 2010 | "Trapped in the Hood" | Jay Rock | Black Friday | prod. w/ Wyldfyer |
| 2015 | "Your Loss" | Busta Rhymes, Mary J. Blige | The Return of the Dragon (The Abstract Went on Vacation) | prod. w/ Chucky Thompson |
| 2016 | "Kane & Abel" | Freeway | Free Will | prod. w/ Chemist |
References
edit- ^ Phillips, Yoh (June 13, 2018). "Which Producer Works Best with Nas? Here Are the 10 Best, Ranked". DJBooth. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- ^ Mass Appeal (April 22, 2019). "The Architects of Illmatic - L.E.S." YouTube. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- ^ Wojszkun, Maciej (April 21, 2019). "25 years of Nas "Illmatic" - interview with "Life's a Bitch" producer L.E.S." PopkillerTV. Retrieved November 20, 2023 – via YouTube.
- ^ Kenner, Rob; Ahmed, Insanul (July 2, 2016). "The Making of Nas' 'It Was Written'". Complex Networks. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- ^ "45th Street Studios – 45th Street Norfolk Music Studio". www.45thstreetstudios.com. Retrieved November 20, 2023.