From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Inside the rappers studio

A suburban home in North Miami Beach lures some of the biggest names in urban music to its studios.

by T.M. Shine

November 10 2004

To truly experience Circle House Studios, you have to be everywhere at once. On the couch by the front door, Evan St. Clair, the celebrity events planner for the Miami Beach nightclub Skybar, is laughing about how P. Diddy likes to test people. "If he thinks you're weak, he will get in your face to see what you got," he says.

Ten feet away, behind closed doors, engineer Kevin Davis is tweaking a track by Cash Money Records artist Boo. In the kitchen, up-and-coming rappers Biserk and Lunch Money are looking for something to eat. "Have you met 'Psycho' Simone?" Lunch Money asks, introducing the chef, quickly taking the remark back, since he knows from where his next plate of jerk chicken will come.

In a vocal booth on the second level, R&B artist C.J. is pulling a baby-blue bucket hat down over his headphones, lost in another take of his "All I Wanna Do." Flopped in a chair near the billiard table, Ian Lewis, bassist for legendary reggae band Inner Circle, perks up when the subject turns to politics. "Who do you think won the debate?" he asks, challenging anyone to disagree with his point of view.

Strolling out of the poolside cabana, recording engineer Fabian is here during a break from working with everyone from Britney Spears to Usher. "I could be anywhere from here to L.A., but this is the best," he says, widening his arms to survey the scene.

The cabana is also a state-of-the-art recording studio. Its free-flowing, open-air atmosphere is a favorite of both artists and engineers. "Ja Rule can be singing about titties, and a girl can be flashing him from the pool at the same time," says Lewis' 26-year-old son, Abebe, who acts as the studio's coordinator and ambassador. "Not that it happened. But it could."

Anything can happen, and it has here at Circle House Studios, a private facility located in a modest North Miami Beach neighborhood just east of I-95. "Near the ghetto, not too far from the schools," describes Ian Lewis, who, along with other members of Inner Circle, initially erected a one-room studio on this property strictly to be used by the band.

"Then, they added a room so they could record in one and mix in the other," says Lourdes Hersh, the studio's business manager. "Next thing, they're loaning the place to Ziggy Marley while they're away and adding more space and … "

Ten years later, the likes of 50 Cent, Nas, Trick Daddy, Ludacris, Will Smith, Pitbull, Ricky Martin, Lenny Kravitz and Mariah Carey have all ventured down this quiet street. "Mariah likes to get up close with the hip-hop world," Abebe Lewis says. "She gets excited like, 'Oh look, dreads.' "

Circle House is now a sprawling family affair, with Abebe Lewis; his 16-year-old brother, Lunch Money; and his uncle, Inner Circle guitarist Roger Lewis, at the helm, operating one of the most prolific hip-hop studios in the nation, as well as a networking mecca. "The credibility of Circle House is known internationally," St. Clair says. "It's like the Madonna of studios."

"It's the surroundings," says Trick Daddy, who recorded much of his new album, Thug Matrimony: Married to the Streets, at Circle House. "You can't beat the vibe with the family and the food. Man, the food."

Lil Jon has a studio in his Miami home, but he still likes to head for Circle House in the middle of the night. He has laid down so many hits here that he returns partly out of superstition. "Plus, the iced tea is excellent," Fabian says.

During his Bad Boy for Life tour, P. Diddy came rolling down the block in his tour bus. "Farnsworth [Bentley is] running down the street, the whole bit," Abebe Lewis recalls.

Circle House's location is a real draw, since it is only minutes from downtown Miami and South Beach. "But I'll get clients," engineer Davis explains, "who'll be like, 'Where are you taking me? Why are we cruising through this neighborhood?' "

"But in Jamaica, where Inner Circle began, there is more a mixture of commercial and residential," Hersh adds. "The band wanted a studio but said, 'Let's make it like a home.' "

Nick V., co-host of the Baka Boyz morning show on 103.5 The Beat, was walking into a club on South Beach when he ran into Pharrell Williams. "He says, 'Come to Circle House with me. Come on!' " the DJ says, kicking back in a chair upstairs. "So I went, man. And I've been coming back ever since."

The comfortable, homey vibe is prevalent throughout the building, from the scent of Simone Gregg's Jamaican delights to the array of fresh bootleg movies such as The Bourne Supremacy and I, Robot available for viewing in an upstairs office. "A guy just brought by something called Cellular. I don't know what the hell that is," Abebe admits. "Is it even in the theaters yet?"

The two-story house boasts lounges on each floor. "We added another one, 'cause sometimes, you have to keep certain cliques and crews separated," Abebe explains. "You know, like Cash Money will show up with a big entourage. Two or three 16-passenger vans will pull up, and if the Ruff Ryder crew is already here, it's a good idea to keep them apart."

Often, the one to make trouble isn't the artist, in fact, but, like, the guy in the crew who fetches Chinese food for everyone. "And sometimes, certain artists don't have anything against someone; they just don't want to hang out with them," Abebe says. "They'll be like, 'Man, put me somewhere else.' " On the other hand, artists have felt the love over a game of eight ball among such unlikely cohorts as Brian McKnight, Birdman and Mr. Cheeks, who ended up recording together.

Lunch Money, whose real name is Gamal Lewis, has spent most of his life shooting pool with the artists and hanging at the studio. "I like to just study Puffy when he's on the phone talking numbers," he says. A promising rapper himself, he got his nickname from producer Salaam Remy (The Fugees, Nas) while they were shooting pool at the studio. Acts such as Mystikal have also called on him to ghostwrite lyrics.

"People listen to him," Abebe notes. "They think, 'Let me hear what this motherfucker's got to say, 'cause he's been around it all his life.' "

When the members of Korn showed up to work on some new tracks for the band's recent greatest-hits compilation, the place completely mellowed them out. "We expected things to be whack with those guys," Abebe remembers. "But they were like, 'Mmmm. Let's smoke some Cohibas out by the pool. Can we get another cappuccino?' "

The talent can get anything it wants at Circle House. Recently, the Cash Money crew set up shop for a couple of weeks with Lil Wayne and Mannie Fresh having the run of the place. If an artist is new to the area, Abebe and the other staff members will point him in the right direction. "We become valuable, a trusted friend," Abebe says. "They want to explore. They need to know what's going on at Café Iguana on Monday, Bermuda on Friday. If need be, I'll call ahead for them so there's no problem at a club when they show. I'd want the same help. I'm not walking into the illest club in Brooklyn without a nigga from Brooklyn backing me."

The place, with the quiet ambiance of a rehab center, is certainly an oasis from South Beach. But the madness sometimes follows them home. "It can get wild, but it's a different kind of wild," Davis says. "It's hard to explain."

"Let's be honest," Abebe adds. "Miami is about the music. But the girls are the main point. These guys have never even seen women like we got down here on South Beach. They can't get it anywhere else. All the sudden, they're staring down this Jamaican-Chinese girl -- with ass. Or a Dominican -- dark skin, straight hair, big titties. They're like, 'What the hell?' Sometimes, one of the ladies will be thanking me for the hospitality on the way out, and I'll be like, 'No, thank you.' I should be writing them a check for keeping these guys coming down here to Miami."

If someone wants to create a party, all Abebe has to do is reach for his phone and hit speed dial. He'll put the word out to the ladies, get DJ Ideal to spin on the patio and watch it go.

The neighbors are used to it all. In fact, Circle House is its own best neighbor. If the Escalade and blacked-out Suburban parked in the driveway of the modest block house across the street seem out of place, that's because the studio owns that house and the one next to it, transforming both into additional recording space.

"I've got friends who drive by, peeking in the driveways and then calling me on my cell, 'B, who you got in there. Whose Phantom is that?' " Abebe says.

It probably belongs to Nas, who recorded his first single at Circle House and is referred to in reverential tones here. It's amazing for the studio's staff to watch the rise of someone such as Lil Wayne, who doesn't even write down lyrics. He just listens to the beats for about 20 minutes and then goes into the recording booth and just destroys. But Nas … "Nas is a thinker. With Nas, they actually print out the lyrics," Abebe says. "Nas, oh shit, you hang on every word. Poet."

"It's God," the Baka Boyz's Nick V. says, referring to Nas' lyrics.

For major hip-hop artists, the studio choices in Miami are essentially limited to the soulful and spiritual, laid-back Circle House or the more-commercial Hit Factory. That makes for an exclusive clientele.

"We're very particular about who records here, but if it's something we want to put our brand on, I'll go out of my way to get them into Circle House," Abebe explains. "Like hot sneakers, we want our name there. Pit or Trick Daddy or Usher -- get the name on that."

The studio is especially determined when it comes to local breakout stars such as Pitbull or Trick Daddy, because these artists continue to fight the reputation that Miami is a great place to work but doesn't support a huge talent pool. "I love it when someone breaks and I can tell those A and R people, 'I told you motherfuckers about Jacki-O two years ago,' " Abebe brags.

Jacki-O recalls how years ago, when she had no money, Abebe used to help her get into the studio. "He'd sneak me in, and it was funny 'cause I'd want to keep coming back, but sometimes, it was like, 'No, no, not today. Janet Jackson is here.' " Today, though, Jacki-O is promoting the release of her national debut on TVT Records, Poe Little Rich Girl, which was mixed almost entirely at Circle House. The studio hopes the album will do more to elevate its -- and Miami's -- profile as a hip-hop destination.

"Miami has an energy like no other place," adds Davis, who lives in L.A. "The clubs are truly breaking new sounds like nowhere else."

Not to mention the love.

"In Miami, it's all love," Abebe says. And not just in the kitchen at Circle House when Simone is simmering up some homemade Pickapeppa sauce. "I was in Crobar the other night, and Ja Rule and Busta Rhymes were hugging," Abebe says of the bitter rivals.

Last year, the studio teamed up with www.305hiphop.com in creating the Miami Music Awards to recognize local talent. Categories included everything from Best DJ to Best Mix Tape. "Just to show some love to the local talent, let them know their work is not going unnoticed," Abebe explains.

This year, they're hoping for a bigger and better awards show. The event is set for Nov. 23 at Player in Miami, and Abebe will call in favors to try and stock the place with both local and national hip-hop talent, including Fat Joe, Ciara, Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz, Pitbull, Trina and G Unit.

The studio also utilizes interns from Winter Park's Full Sail Real World Education tech school and welcomes field trips from inner-city schools. "To show them that the music business is not all glory," manager Hersh says.

But it's hard not to dwell on the glory when it's so easy to conjure up images of the Marleys playing soccer in the field beyond the pool, Korn puffing on Cohibas, beat machine Lil Jon burning up a booth after midnight, Trick Daddy wolfing down a Simone specialty, P. Diddy's tour bus parading down the road, Phantoms in the driveway, a Jamaican-Chinese girl with ass under the tiki hut, a Shark Tale bootleg on the plasma TV, 50 Cent playing nine ball, Nas in contemplation at the top of the stairs, Usher on the Xbox …

"Ladies by the pool, food on order. People can't wait to get here," Abebe says. "One manager told me he nearly fell down when he saw his artist at the hotel catching a cab at 10 a.m. to get over here. Circle House is addictive."