OG Parker fondly remembers listening to R&B music as a child. In fact, he admits Usher’s third studio album “8701″ was the first CD he ever purchased, setting the foundation for the 29-year-old’s deep passion for the genre.
For nearly a decade, the Fayetteville native has cemented himself as a premier hitmaker in R&B and hip-hop by making trap beats that sound romantic.
His latest single, for example, “Still Work” boasts groovy, hard-hitting percussion that’s seamlessly laced in a love song about a pair of exes who still have feelings for each other. The song, which features Muni Long and Ty Dolla $ign as its protagonists, is the latest single from OG Parker’s forthcoming debut album “Moments.” Although Parker hasn’t finalized a release date for it, the album is slated to drop this year.
“I’ve been sitting on these records for 2-3 years now,” he said about “Moments”. “I wanted the project to properly represent me, so I didn’t want to rush it and go with songs on the album that aren’t perfect.”
The producer has laid beats for everyone from Ciara to Megan Thee Stallion and Dua Lipa. His latest offering is producing Ciara’s new single “Da Girls,” which was released last month. After dropping out of Georgia State University to pursue music professionally, Parker (born Joshua Parker) signed to Quality Control in 2014 and started producing Migos’ earliest hits. Parker still names Migos’ 2017 record “Slippery” as his favorite song to produce to date.
And, of course, he’s created joint projects, like 2021′s “Die 4 Respect” with Michigan rapper DDG and last year’s “While You Wait,” with Atlanta-based R&B singer Vedo. But OG Parker knows now is the right time for him to drop his own project. He has an extensive list of hits to prove it. “Moments” will feature songs from Latto, Partynextdoor, PnB Rock and more.
“I just feel like you have to do your due diligence in the game first,” the Buckhead resident said. “You have to put some hits out before you put out a producer album. I feel like you just have to put the work in. I like to dabble in every genre, but I’d say R&B is probably my favorite genre, so I feel like it’s going to properly represent that sound.”
Parker credits his grandfather, Willie Floyd Ruffin III, for honing his sound as an artist. Ruffin was a former music professor at Morehouse College. He died in 2021.
“He kind of made everybody in the family learn the basics of piano, but he also wanted me, my brother and two cousins to pick an instrument,” Parker said of his late grandfather. “I picked saxophone, my brother picked clarinet, my cousin picked the violin and my other cousin just picked the piano. That was my first entry to falling in love with music because he took us all to Jackson Music Store to pick out all the instruments. I’ve just always loved music. I’d been in the band since sixth grade, so I always knew I was going to do something with music.”
Now, the multi-platinum producer is learning to play the guitar and wants to experiment with pop and other genres, although R&B music will always be his core. Outside of his debut, he’s focusing on further developing his label Neutral Records. Parker formed the Atlanta-based label in 2017 to inspire innovation in arts and music. The label has a handful of producers and one artist — Imani, a 23-year-old budding R&B artist — on its roster.
With the label, he hopes to continue building Atlanta’s vibrant camaraderie within its arts scene that has anchored his career so far.
“I think the biggest thing about Atlanta is that we’d all come together,” Parker said. “I feel like living in Atlanta is kind of like being around everybody that’s creative. My manager went to Clark. I went to Georgia State. My other manager went to Clark, so we were just all in the AUC networking and meeting the same people.”
