A Scott Storch Story from my Music Days. Our Phone Conversation, and Coming Close to Working Together at the Beat Factory in Miami, Florida. Anton Iagounov Follow Nov 26, 2019 · 9 min read

Anyone even slightly familiar with Hip-Hop and R&B knows how big multi-platinum producer Scott Storch was during the 2000’s. At one point in time, Storch was worth $100 million dollars. But this isn’t about his net worth, as a man of that kind of musical talent, in my opinion, is priceless. The man is a genius, and what most folks don’t realize is that many songs produced by Dr. Dre, Timbaland, and many others, where in part made possible by Scott Storch.

I’m not going to talk much about my music career, as I never really achieved a level of musical recognition. But for the sake of this article, I was an aspiring Hip-Hop artist during the early 2000’s, was musically active since about 2003, and quit pursuing a music career sometime 2006. I’ve had several aliases and monikers, but mainly went by the stage name “Event,” during which time I had the opportunity of meeting, and working with, some of the Hip-Hop industries best and most talented individuals, including Harold Scrap Freddie (Co-Producer of “All Eyez on Me” by 2Pac), Sly Boogy (Rapper/Formerly Signed to J-Records), Spice 1 (Multi-Platinum West-Coast Rapper from the Bay Area), 50 Cent (G-Unit Records/Interscope), and others.

I didn’t personally ever meet Scott Storch, however, we talked on the phone once. This is a story about my phone conversation with Scott Storch, and how I came close to working with one of the worlds biggest Hip-Hop producers of all time. And, the funny story behind how I got Storch’s telephone number.

Scott Storch is an American record producer and songwriter with Lithuanian-Jewish heritage. He has been said to have been born in Canada, but Miami New Times has confirmed that Storch is not Canadian, and was in fact born in Long Island, New York. He has worked with Hip-Hop, R&B, Soul, and Pop artists such as; Erykha Badhu, The Roots, 50 Cent, Eminem, The Game, Dr. Dre, Fat Joe, Snoop Dogg, Nas, Beyonce, Chris Brown, and many others. Storch has produced thousands of records, and has sold millions of copies world wide. He is currently active in the music scene, and continues to produce records for some of the biggest names in the music industry.

Sometime 2006, I had met an Armenian-American producer by the name of “Jack Danielz,” who later changed his moniker to “J Danielz,” for trademark reasons. Danielz had heard a track which I recorded for my demo at the time, “Major Players,” which featured west-coast Inland Empire Rapper “Sly Boogy.” It was this song that captivated Danielz’ interest in me as an artist, and after meeting via MySpace we chatted on the phone and made plans to collaborate. I was not familiar with Danielz as a producer, but really liked his music from what I had listened to on his MySpace page. As Danielz put it, he wanted to re-mix “Major Players,” and for obvious reasons, so we made arrangements to get in the studio and make music.

Danielz was a real young up and coming producer at the time, and so was I, so neither one really had any wits about how to really approach the music industry. By that time I had already recorded a few independent albums, worked with several multi-platinum producers who helped with my demo, and had even went on tour with west-coast bay area rapper Spice 1, and even met 50 Cent at one of his music video shoots in Los Angeles for the track “Best Friend” featuring Olivia, which featured on his second album on Shady/Interscope/G-Unit Records. I had done a few shows as an opening act, and was really more of a backpack rapper who spent much of his time in the studio. Hip-Hop was my thing. I would always be making music, and when I wasn’t, I would usually be somewhere selling my CD’s on the street. Hence the term “backpack rapper.”

Now, Danielz was a smart guy for his age. He was about 16 years old when we met and was making music that was incredible. He and I both liked Scott Storch, so we would try to emulate Storch’s sound in our production because that was really what was poppin’ at the time, you know, that kinda middle-eastern sound with the flutes and strings, like Fat Joe’s “Lean Back,” which Storch produced.

Also, it was during that time that I had made the mistake of signing on with the worst music manager ever, whose name I won’t mention. I mean, this manager was a great con-artist, and if he was just a little more honest and constructive, and was less compulsive and thought long-term, his cons could have turned into a legitimate business, but he just couldn’t do it. He wanted to do less work, and more partying, which is why our partnership went nowhere.

Danielz and I made a few songs together, and would often discuss how we could break into the music industry. Danielz had talent, and I was pretty nice on the mic, so it wasn’t something that was far fetched at the time. And, we were both youngsters, so we had the energy and ambition to make it happen.

One day we were talking about getting in touch with Scott Storch, and if only he heard our music, he would invite us to Miami to work together. Around that time, there was an entertainer by the name of “Ralphige” who was notorious for prank calling famous celebrities. This guy was prank calling everyone, from Suge Knight, Jay-Z, Hulk Hogan, and even the current U.S. President, Donald J. Trump. Well, one of the people Ralphige had prank called was Scott Storch. These were all prank calls you could find on iTunes, and YouTube, and what would later become an interesting social experiment.

One thing about the music industry, is people lie all the time. Someone could have music industry connections, but at the same time be a real fraudster. People in showbiz get peoples numbers all the time through questionable means, and then call up celebrities in an attempt to try to build work relations. For Ralphige, it was understandable since he was pranking these folks, and for Danielz and I this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. So, we decided to find a way to get Scott Stroch’s phone number so we can call him up and make music happen.

When Ralphige had posted his prank calls to celebrities on the internet, he forgot to edit out him actually dialing the numbers. With a good musical ear, anyone can take the sound of numbers being dialed on a cell phone, and decipher what numbers are actually being dialed. This wasn’t my idea, it was actually Danielz, for which I thought he was a genius. With that being said, it was a matter of uploading the audio of Ralphige calling Scott Storch to a sound editing software like Pro-Tools. Then, recording ourselves pushing every number on our cellphone onto the software, but on a separate track. And, then labeling each tone with its corresponding number, messing around with the tones configuration which we recorded so that those tones harmonically line up with the tones from the prank call to Scott Storch, which we obtained from YouTube.

The idea is that; each number on your dial pad has its own unique tone which is different and varies from all other numbers on the dial pad. If we can get our numbers to line up in harmony where the tones sound doesn’t conflict with the tones from the prank call, we have deciphered the number since our tones were labeled with their corresponding dial pad number when entered into the recording software.

In short, our numbers from the dial pad on our phone would serve as the key to decipher Scott Storch’s telephone number which was dialed in the beginning of Ralphige’s phone call. And, after spending several hours messing around in the studio, it actually worked. We knew this because Scott Storch lived in Miami at the time, and the area code of the number we deciphered was from Miami, thus, we knew we were on the right track. So, now that we had his number, all we had to do was call right? Now that’s easier said than done. And, I didn’t know it at the time, but what we actually did, in the hacking world is known as “reverse engineering,” which I would later learn more about in my pursuit of a career as an ethical hacker.

Danielz didn’t want to call him, so I said I would. But what do you say to someone who is the biggest Hip-Hop and R&B producer at that time? What if he doesn’t pick up? What if he does? So, I decided to make my move and call Scott Storch, and I did.

The phone rang several times before finally someone answered “Storch.” I said “Scott Storch?” He replied, “Yea, who’s this?” I said “It’s Event, I got your number from my producer and was calling about possibly working together. Can I send you my demo?” And Storch replied “Yea, just send it to the Beat Factory in Miami.” And I said “Alright, I’ll do that man. Thanks…” with Storch replying “Alright, peace.” And then hanging up.

There’s a feeling you get when you talk to people you admire. An anxiety and Adrenalin rush, because of the publicity and the hype which surrounds famous people. It’s not that some celebrities aren’t great, they definitely are. But, we as the general public often don’t see our own value, and get caught up in esteeming others above ourselves, and to the point that we loose sight of who we are. Till this day, I still admire Scott Storch for even picking up his phone. You would think that with his social status and kinda wealth at the time, he would have servants answering the phone for him.

I mailed a copy of my demo to Scott Storch at the Beat Factory in Miami, at which point I wasn’t even really thinking about working with Storch, but felt accomplished by just speaking with the man. I later heard back from one of his close business partners and associates at the time, who then invited me to Miami with promise of getting me a recording session with Storch.

Another thing about the music industry is that money goes a long way, so if you have the cash in greenback, you can buy your way into stardom.

As Storch’s business partner said, “You bring $20,000 in a brown paper bag, and I get you in tha’ studio with Storch yo.” I did my research and found out the guy was legit, but also probably one of the folks surrounding Storch at the time which led to his downfall, addiction, and filing for bankruptcy. I mean, anytime you start talking about large sums of cash in brown paper bags in exchange for music production, you know there’s some shady dealing going on there. Besides, I didn’t have that kind of cash and was already in enough debt, and made ends meet by selling copies of my Mix-tapes and Albums as a full-time hustle. So, I took a pass on that and continued to work with the production I had available to me at the time. I really wanted to work with Storch, and up until that point, had worked with just about everyone I had put my mind towards working with.

Danielz and I made some music together but lost touch when I retired from my music career in early 2007. Interestingly, it was also about that time that Storch began to make news headlines for blowing his $100 million fortune. It’s things like that which make me wonder if people meat for a reason, and what could have been different had Danielz and I got our wish to work with Storch and had flown out to Miami.

With that said, this wasn’t so much a story about my music experience, or Scott Storch, or Danielz and I reverse engineering Ralphige’s prank call to Storch we got from YouTube, but a story about how we people really are all connected in some way, directly or indirectly, and that there is always a sequence of events which take place that further have a butterfly effect on our world as we know it, be it big or little change, for better or for worse, it’s these kinds of situations that really make you wonder. Life is kind of like a point system, were we either pass or fail, from which point we either go left or right, up or down.

I may have not succeeded in music, or many other career plans for that matter, but what I did succeed in was learning to understand the dynamics of people, whether I was making music, or fast forwarding to later on when I worked security, law enforcement, and public safety.

I wouldn’t say this is a tale of great significance, as it doesn’t entail anything that is relevant which impacts society by affecting real meaningful social change, like saving the environment, or feeding the hungry in Africa, and maybe I will one day get to tell the greatest story ever told.

What I will say is that; we are constantly making history, and are therefore apart of history, and not just our’s, but others as well, even if it is just making up for a small fraction of a moment in someone else’s life. That bears a significant meaning and chain reaction, good or bad, or maybe bad and then good, or vice versa, be it we are inspired by, or inspire others, or whatever, people tend to work together in mysterious ways, making up an ecosystem we call society where our past determines the future, and the future relies on the past.