Good War Story: Not long after signing their first recording contract, Serenity was dropped from its label, and Dorsey found himself homeless, living in a friend's recording studio in the Fifth Ward community.
Despite being dropped from Polygraph, Dorsey wasn't legally allowed to record, so he found a loophole. He had learned the art of production, he said, from "watching the producers that we worked with when we signed our first record deal."
With this knowledge, and with the help of a producer friend who provided him housing in his studio space, Dorsey began writing and producing for local artists such as Slim Thug and Lil Keke. His second big break -- or first, depending on how you feel about that record deal -- came when he got discovered by Jonathan "J.R." Rotem's Beluga Heights record label; thus began work producing for national acts such T.I. and Plies.
An even bigger break came when Rotem gave Dorsey an opportunity to produce for Christian hip-hop artist Lecrae's sixth album, Rehab: The Overdose. That collaboration resulted in the 2012 Stellar Award for Rap/Hip-Hop Album of the Year.
Five Desert Island Discs:
- Prince, The Hits/The B-Sides
- Jodeci, The Show, the Afterparty the Hotel
- Al Green, Greatest Hits
- Mumford & Sons, Babel
- Tupac, All Eyez on Me
First Song You Fell In Love With: "Stay" by Jodeci. "I was at the age where I had fallen in love," Dorsey said of the track that explores first-time infatuation. "I could relate to it."
MARATHON will be released globally today.
See who else has joined The Rocks Off 100 this year on the next page.
