Production Credit: DJ Spinz Talks “Cashin Out” and Working With 2 Chainz and Rick Ross

DJ Spinz has an ear for hits. When the Augusta, Georgia native moved to Atlanta and began learning how to produce in 2007, he added beat-making to his list of skills. Now, the 23-year-old is combining his talents to produce bangers for everyone from 2 Chainz to Rick Ross. Recently, Epic Records rapper Ca$h Out's track “Cashin Out” hit No. 5 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop charts (and is still climbing) thanks in part to the addictive beat Spinz crafted for it. XXLMag.com spoke with the mix show DJ and radio host (he's on Hot 107.9 with DJ Scream and DJ Cory B, Hood Rich Radio on Sirius) to talk about his current hit streak, his relationship with 2 Chainz and Travis Porter and more. —Calvin Stovall

XXLMag.com: “Cashin Out” is huge and keeps climbing the charts. How does that feel?
DJ Spinz: I felt it coming. I’m excited, happy, blessed.

When did you make the track?
We made it in November of last year.

Did you know immediately that it was gonna be a hit?
Yeah, definitely. My background—I was a DJ first. So picking out [hits], that’s how I got a name before I was producing. Just being able to pick out what was gon’ go. At the radio station, we always played the new of whatever it was gon’ be. It normally came through our camp. So, when I heard it, it was instant. I was like, I gotta perfect it and make it all the way right.

How did the song itself come together?
Me and Ca$h Out were just in the studio one day vibin’. I played the beat, I had started on the beat, and we were running through [beats] and I went to the next one he was like, “Nah, bring that one back up.” He started telling me the hook or whatever and I was like, “That’s dope.” And I just built the beat around the chorus. He heard the beat and then it came to him.

You also produced 2 Chainz's “Riot,” which went from a mixtape cut to a successful single. How long ago did you make that?
Maybe October, or September. Basically, I been knowing Tit for a long time, too. We had planned to get in the studio for a long time. I finally got a chance to pull up on him, played him a couple beats. “Riot” was actually, I think, the second song I played for him. He had did another song before that and then my man knocked it out, really. One take. It didn’t take but 30-45 minutes.

How far back do you and 2 Chainz go?
I been knowin' Tit for about—Tit rapped on a beat in the first year I was making beats. So that was probably like, ’08. I moved to Atlanta when I was 18 to go to college. I went to the Art Institute [to study audio production] up here. I moved like at the end of ’07, so I been up here for five years.

Did the song you two made back then ever come out?
It’s out, it’s called “A Lot A Hoes”

You had a hit a few years back with Travis Porter, too.
They more like my brothers, man. I been seeing from the ground up, really. Knowing them since ’07, ’08, too. We just used to sit in my apartment and kick it— party, drink, whatever. That’s when I first started making beats, too. So I just made a beat one day. “Go Shorty” happened in about 20 minutes. 20, 25 minutes.

How did “Ring Ring” happen with Rick Ross and Future?
The way “Ring Ring” happened was kind of weird, actually. I made a beat, and I took it to Future. And he laid a hook on it and he said he was gonna get Lloyd on it. And this was probably about seven or eight months before Rich Forever came out. So the day before Rich Forever came out, I saw that it said my name on the tracklisting. I was like, “Damn, didn’t know I had a song with Ross.” And [DJ] Scream’s [on] Maybach [Music Group], so I called him and asked him. I was like, “What’s this song or whatever? Can I hear it?” He was like, “I haven’t heard it, either.” So when it came out and I heard the beat, I was like, “Wow!” I didn’t know how that happened. But sometimes blessings just fall out of the sky. So I guess some of Future’s people sent the hook to Ross and he ended up doing the song to it.