Elvis "Blac Elvis" Williams
Interview by Bella & Starr

 This humble hit maker keeps the radio rockin and the industry buzzin. Producer BlacElvis graciously let THE MUSICSHELF MAGAZINE into his Norcross, Georgia studio to preview some of his music and get to know the man behind the hits!

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TMS: Where did you get the name BlacElvis?
Elvis: I got the name Elvis from my father, I always tell this story. My grandmother started naming her kids after famous people.

TMS: What are some of the names?
Elvis: I got an uncle named Milton after Louie Milton, an uncle named Charles after Ray Charles, an auntie named Marilyn after Marilyn Monroe, umm… and an auntie named Linda after Linda Carter whoever she was… But that‟s the gist of it and my dad just got caught with the name Elvis.

TMS: When we heard Elvis we wondered if you were from Memphis. Where are you from?
Elvis: I am from Memphis! That's another big question I get asked! I was originally born in Clarksdale Mississippi. It's like 30 minutes away from Memphis.

TMS: Alright! So we were on the right track! How long have you been producing?
Elvis: I‟ve been producing professionally now for eight years. I came to Atlanta in 2003 before I came to ATL I had small projects like Barricades, The Kay Project, Koopsta Knicca from Three 6 Mafia but nothing major. But when I came to ATL, that's when I started getting into it like really, really heavy.

TMS: So once you got here did things move quickly for you?
Elvis: Yeah, Yeah it took about two years. I met Polow Da Don.  I started working with him… from there we did “Promise” by Ciara, we did “Glamorous” by Fergie, we did “Like This” with Kelly Rowland ect., ECT…You know! Ya'll can Google that for the record!  My career just kind of took off and I started venturing off on my own... That's how, you know, “This is the life” by Rick Ross feat. Trey Songs, The Young Joc—that was a really old record— “Picture Perfect” on New Joc City, Paper Trail, TI “Slideshow” feat. John Legend and now Beyoncè's “Ego”. I also worked with Jamie [Fox], on his album called “Freak in me. I have a record coming out with Latoya Lockett; I worked with this new group signed to Def Jam called Brother, on their first single. The single is called “I Can't Hear the Music”. It was featured on their reality show on BET. So you know my career has been going and taking off pretty good! I'm really blessed!

TMS: Sounds like Atlanta was a really good move for you! Are you talented in any other areas of music? Do you play any instruments? Do you write? What else do you do?
Elvis: I write, I also sing a little bit, I play the drums, guitar, saxophone, organ and everybody knows I play piano. So yeah I'm very versatile musically.

TMS: You‟ve obviously made some big hits! How did it feel the first time you heard one of them on the radio, and what song was it?
Elvis: The first time I heard my record on the radio…the first record was “Promise” by Ciara. And Greg Street played that mutha “bleep bleep” eight times back to back! Top eight at eight! I was going crazy! I was in my truck, I was calling everybody! That was the most defining moment of my life to hear that! “Glamorous” followed and everything else started coming out, Kelly Rowland “Like This,” then Mario…

TMS: Which Mario song?
Elvis: “Crying Out for Me” I‟m part of that record as well.

TMS: What's in the future for BlacElvis?
Elvis: I'm about to buckle down and get real serious about the new Kelly Rowland album, R.Kelly, and Toni Braxton maybe. I wanna start scoring movies and stuff like that too. Maybe even venturing off into heavy metal, country music, or something like that. I think being an urban producer kind of puts you in a box. The other day I asked myself what is music? Music is whatever you make of it. Music is universal. So I work every day, except on weekends, because I go to church on Sundays. I have to give God His time, because I wouldn‟t be here without Him!