Brian McKnight News

In six short years, songwriter/producers Harvey Mason Jr. and Damon Thomas, aka the Underdogs, have amassed an extensive and diverse list of credits that stretches from Tyrese ("I Like Them Girls") to their first soundtrack project, the Golden Globe-winning musical "Dreamgirls." The album hit No. 1 last week on the Billboard 200.

"The most unique sensibility the Underdogs bring to their songs is a keen sense for lyric and melody," said another hitmaking authority, RCA Music Group chairman/CEO Clive Davis.

"Today, where so many focus on how hot the track is," he added, "they've never forgotten that ultimately it's the lyric and melody which are the most important elements of a long-lasting hit."

Davis' J Records now provides marketing, promotion, sales and distribution for acts Mason and Thomas sign to their own label, Underdog Entertainment. The duo will continue producing projects for other record labels as well.

Mason's and Thomas' innate sense of lyrics and melody dates back to childhood.

LIFELONG PASSION

Midwesterner Thomas was a 5-year-old piano prodigy whose mom fed his fervor for music by giving him sound equipment to approximate a home studio.

"I knew then, at 13, that I wanted to be a record producer," Thomas said.

Mason grew up with his own in-house producer, dad Harvey Mason Sr. The well-regarded studio musician/drummer worked with such jazz greats as Erroll Garner, George Shearing, Herbie Hancock and Grover Washington Jr. in addition to releasing two solo albums on Arista.

"My dad was the first producer I knew, however I didn't know what producers did," Mason said. "But I ended up going to work with him from the time I was 7 or 8. Growing up around the studio and what he did, I knew that was what I wanted to do."

Thomas' production quest brought him to Los Angeles. Under the tutelage of Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Thomas helped write top 10 hits for Pink, Dru Hill, Faith Evans and Brandy.

Mason, meanwhile, was sharpening his skills as a writer for Rodney Jerkins' Darkchild Entertainment. In addition to co-writing Toni Braxton's No. 1 single "He Wasn't Man Enough," Mason penned songs for Brandy and Brian McKnight.

After interviewing with the Darkchild camp and meeting Mason at Darkchild, Thomas suggested the two join forces. Mason says the first hour they worked together sealed the Underdog Entertainment partnership for him.

"The first song we wrote did really well," Mason said of the pair's initial songwriting foray in 2001. "But besides that, it came naturally. It was fun writing together, a total collaboration. That first day we had a track, lyric, melody and then recorded the demo. The next thing we knew, three people wanted the record."

The song in question was Tyrese's "I Like Them Girls." Among the three people who wanted the record was Clive Davis.

"I had wanted the song for (singer) RL of the group Next," Davis said. "Ironically, I began working with the Underdogs right after that, and we had our first No. 1 together with Tyrese's 'How You Gonna Act Like That."'

BUCKING THE TREND

EMI Music Publishing executive VP/head of urban Big Jon Platt calls the Underdogs "true R&B producers in a musical climate where everything is hip-hop R&B."

Platt added, "At a time when hip-hop was dominating radio -- which was great for hip-hop -- a ballad came through the middle and shut radio down. If you want an R&B song, a true R&B ballad, there's a limited list you can go to. The Underdogs are arguably at the top of that list."

That songwriting talent has lured a host of artists into the Underdogs' world, notably Craig David, JoJo, Jamie Foxx, Faith Evans, Mario, Omarion, Chris Brown, Stacie Orrico, Mariah Carey and three "American Idol" winners: Ruben Studdard, Kelly Clarkson and Fantasia.

Those collaborations and others have resulted in a string of hits and a 2004 Grammy Award nomination for Justin Timberlake's "Justified" album.

Brown and Studdard are among the artists who have made repeat visits to the Underdogs' eight-room Underlab facilities, which occupies two floors in the Edmonds Building in the heart of Hollywood.

Studdard first worked with the duo on the song that became the first single of his career, "Flying Without Wings." A second collaboration, "Sorry 2004," scored him his first No. 1 record. The trio has since reunited on Studdard's current album, "The Return."

"Although I was a brand-new artist, they treated me as an equal," Studdard said. "Working with them is like working with a well-oiled machine. They have a gift for knowing exactly what your talents and abilities are. Then they use that gift to bring out the best in you as an artist."

Mason and Thomas eat, drink and breathe music at Underlab. What started out as the home of the Underdogs and one engineer has morphed into a full-fledged music factory with three studios, four composing rooms, four full-time engineers and a stable of 10 songwriter/producers.

It was that dedication -- plus the grand piano and drum set he saw in the studio -- that convinced "Dreamgirls" co-music supervisor/Paramount VP of music Randy Spendlove that he had found the right producers to update the 25-year-old Broadway musical for today's theater-going audience. Armed with a who's who list of every producer in R&B and hip-hop, Spendlove said he was looking for true musicianship.

"There were instruments everywhere," Spendlove said, "making it clear that these guys could approach this music from a real organic place. It's not about sampling; it had to be real and soulful, respecting the roots of the film's Broadway origins while bringing the music into contemporary production values and sounds."

"Dreamgirls" director Bill Condon cited the pair's brilliance at "keeping within the story as they reshaped the music dramatically. It was fun to watch the actor/performers -- some of whom hadn't done this before -- in their gentle hands."

Reuters/Billboard