Drumma Boy is an American record producer who is best known for producing music for several A-List American artists on numerous commercially successful singles and albums. He has also released the solo studio albums Welcome II My City (2009), The Birth of D-Boy Fresh (2011), Welcome to My City 2 (2012), and Welcome to My City 3 (2014).
Born Name
Christopher James Gholson
Nick Name
Drumma Boy, D-Boy Fresh
Drumma Boy as seen in an Instagram Post in January 2022 (Drumma Boy / Instagram)
Sun Sign
Leo
Born Place
Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, United States
Residence
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Nationality
Education
Drumma Boy, after his high school graduation in 2001, had joined the University of Memphis, a public research university in his hometown of Memphis, as a music business major. He was expelled from there in 2004 due to poor attendance.
Occupation
Record Producer
Drumma Boy as seen in an Instagram Post in February 2022 (Drumma Boy / Instagram)
Family
Father – G. James Gholson (Former Clarinetist, Former Music Professor at Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, Emeritus of the Memphis Woodwind Quintet, Former Soloist in the United States Navy Band, the first African-American male to hold the first chair position in the Memphis Symphony Orchestra)
Mother – Billie Baker Gholson (Former Accountant, Former Part-Time Opera Singer, the first African-American to graduate from Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis)
Siblings – Ferell Miles aka Ensayne Wayne (Brother) (Music Producer) (d. February 2018)
Others – His paternal grandfather was a high school principal and has a high school named after him in Washington, D.C. His grandmothers and aunts were also musicians and taught music in schools.
Genre
Hip Hop, Rap, Trap, Southern Hip Hop
Instruments
Roland TR-808, Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Akai MPC-4000, Apple GarageBand, Korg Triton, Propellerhead Reason, Clarinet, Piano, Sampler, Vocals
Labels
Drum Squad Records
Build
Slim
Height
5 ft 9 in or 175 cm
Weight
72 kg or 158.5 lbs
Drumma Boy as seen in an Instagram Post in November 2021 (Drumma Boy / Instagram)
Race / Ethnicity
Black
He is of African-American descent.
Hair Color
Bald
Eye Color
Dark Brown
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
Slender frame
Often makes appearances in a baseball hat
Sports a trimmed goatee
Drumma Boy as seen in an Instagram Post in December 2021 (Drumma Boy / Instagram)
Drumma Boy Facts
Born into a family of musicians, Drumma Boy had developed an interest in music at a very early age. He used to have a recorder in his hand when he was 3 years old and had started learning how to play the clarinet when he was 5. A year later, he had started taking piano lessons.
When he was in 9th grade, he had made a song about the quadratic formula for extra credit as mathematics was his favorite subject. He had started making hip-hop beats by the time he was 12 and had produced an entire album about 2 years later.
During high school, he used to play basketball and had been offered several athletic scholarships. He had also been offered a position in the Memphis Youth Symphony Orchestra and several college music scholarships. While still in high school, as an amateur producer, he used to charge USD 200 for every beat that he would make. By the time he had graduated from high school, he was charging USD 500 for each track that he would create.
He had started attending the University of Memphis only because of pressure from his parents. By his junior year, he had become one of the most sought-after music producers in the state of Tennessee and used to spend most of his spare time outside of classes, making hip-hop beats in his room. He would sell his homemade beats to local Memphis rappers. He was eventually expelled from the university due to poor attendance. To test his independence, Drumma Boy’s father had challenged him to earn USD 100k within 12 months. Drumma Boy had managed to achieve that target within 10 months.
Although he had never returned to the University of Memphis, he and his father had later established the James and Christopher Gholson Scholarship Fund to support undergraduate and graduate students studying music there.
He is the founder of Drum Squad, an independent umbrella entertainment company that encompasses Drum Squad Productions (a music production company), Drum Squad Records (a record label), and Drum Squad Films (a film production/distribution company).
He had won the ‘Best Indie Producer of the Year’ award for 3 years in a row (2009-2011) at the Southern Entertainment Awards.
In 2013, he had launched a luxury wine brand called Moreno BHLV. He is also the owner of G Factory, a 20,000 square foot creative studio in Memphis for film and TV show production.
In October 2013, he had conducted a halftime show during the season-opening of the Memphis Grizzlies, his hometown NBA (National Basketball Association) team.
