Melvin Breeden

Melvin Breeden

Melvin Breeden, better known as Mel-Man, is a hip hop producer from Norfolk, Virginia.

Early life

Mel-Man grew up in the city's toughest neighborhood known as the Hill District. He was always into music as a youth and started rapping and producing locally. He went on to become a local phenom, releasing several albums and doing shows around the Tri-State region. Mel-Man, through his buzz and with help Sam Sneed, had a meeting with Dr. Dre. He is most notable for his work producing and rapping on Dr. Dre's critically-acclaimed 1999 album, 2001.

Joining Aftermath

Mel-Man was introduced to Dre at the same time Dre was leaving Death Row and starting his own label. In 1996, Mel-Man was officially signed with Aftermath Entertainment. Although he was signed as a producer/artist, he was more known for his production skills. Dr. Dre took on producer Mel-Man as a co-producer, and his music took on a more synthesizer-based sound, using less vocal samples (as he had used on "Lil Ghetto Boy" and "Let Me Ride", for example). Fellow Aftermath producer Focus has credited Mel-Man as a key architect in the current Aftermath sound (see references for details).who co-produced Dr. Dre's 2001 album. He co-produced several tracks with Dr. Dre for Eminem's second album The Marshall Mathers LP. He performed on the track "Shittin' on the World" from the Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath compilation album.

Though a co-producer on Dr. Dre's multi-platinum 2001 album, Mel-Man has not shared co-production credits with Dr. Dre since approximately 2002. In 2003, The Source magazine reported that Mel-Man had left Aftermath, though in 2004, Focus stated that Mel-Man had since re-joined the label.

Production credits

• Various Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath: "Aftermath (The Intro)", "Shittin' On The World" (with Dr. Dre)
• Xzibit 40 Dayz & 40 Nightz: "Los Angeles Times".
• Xzibit Restless: "Get Your Walk On" (with Battlecat).
• Dr. Dre 2001: Co-production with Dr. Dre on every track except "The Message".
• Eminem The Slim Shady LP: "Role Model" (with Dr. Dre).
• Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP: "Kill You", "Who Knew", "The Real Slim Shady", "Remember Me?", and "I'm Back" (all with Dr. Dre).
• Knoc-Turn'al The Way I Am: "Watch Out"
• Joe Beast Im In Tha Hood Cause um Hood Mixtape
• Joe Beast No
• The Firm - The Album "untouchables"
• Joe Beast Gangsta
• Eve Eve Of Destruction
• Snoop Dogg Dog Named Snoop feat. Trey-Dee
• Nate Dogg Music & Me: "I Pledge Allegiance" feat. Pharoahe Monch.
• The Lady of Rage Verbal Abuse: "Worldwide"

Links and further reading

• Discography
• Rare Interview (circa 2001)
• 2003 Source Interview (After leaving Aftermath)
• Interview with fellow Aftermath Producer Focus (As citation that Mel-Man rejoined Aftermath in 2004)
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Article