Red Spyda
Andy Thelusma (born December 5, 1975), known professionally by his stage name Red Spyda, is an American musician and record producer from Florida, specializing in hip-hop and R&B music.
Red Spyda
Andy Thelusma
- Spyda
- Rush
December 5, 1975
1999–2012
Red Beam Entertainment
During his career, he produced several high-charting singles such as Royce da 5′9″'s "Rock City", G-Unit's "Wanna Get to Know You" and Twista's "Sunshine". He also has produced songs for the likes of Trina, Layzie Bone, Cage, Trick Daddy, Lil' Flip, D12, 8Ball & MJG, The Lox, Mobb Deep, Guerilla Black, I-20, Jacki-O, Amerie,[1] Mad Skillz, Lil' Kim, Lumidee, Saigon and Ghostface Killah, remixed songs for Ruff Endz and 2Pac, and collaborated with DJ Whoo Kid.
Other notable works by Thelusma under his less commonly used alias Rush, have included his contributions to the soundtrack of 2001 video game Grand Theft Auto III. He produced background music for the in-game fictional radio station Game FM (the name is derived from Game Recordings; several of the hip-hop label's artists such as Royce da 5′9″ appeared on the radio station) and also has production credits in the game for two freestyles and previously released songs featured in the game.
He moved to New York City in the early 2000. DJ Stretch Armstrong introduced Thelusma to DJ Whoo Kid and Eminem. Whoo Kid, who was G-Unit's deejay at the time, acquainted him with 50 Cent, which led Spyda to participate in several G-Unit/Shady camp projects up until 2004 inclusive.[2]
In 2004 Thelusma contributed his production duties on D12's "Leave Dat Boy Alone" from D12 World, Jadakiss's "Kiss of Death" from the album of the same name (the LP also featured Eminem on the L.O.X. song "Welcome to D-Block"), Young Buck's "Welcome to the South" from Straight Outta Ca$hville and 2Pac's posthumous Eminem-produced Loyal to the Game (which also featured guest appearance from Jadakiss) to name a few. 2004 also saw the release of Ja Rule's single "New York" with Fat Joe and Jadakiss, which sparked feud between 50 Cent and Jadakiss as the latter took part in G-Unit/Shady rival song. In 2005, the L.O.X. member Sheek Louch released his second studio album After Taxes, which contains three songs produced by Red Spyda, including 50 Cent diss track "Maybe If I Sing". Furthermore, Spyda went on to produce two songs each for Sheek's next two solo projects - Silverback Gorilla (2008) and Donnie G: Don Gorilla (2010) - as well as for his 2012 collaboration album with Ghostface Killah, Wu Block.