Photo credit: Sidney Chase

When it comes to production, the producers who have truly shaped the sound of Rap music are few and far between. One producer that has been undeniable in his influence is Darrell “Six Figga Digga” Branch.

Harlem-born, Digga was a member of Children of The Corn, a group originally made up of Cam’ron, Bloodshed, Big L, McGruff, and Ma$e (then known as Murda Mase). Digga went on to produce some of Cam’ron’s earliest music and for countless other artists including Jay-Z, Jennifer Lopez, Young Gunz, and many others. However, Digga is best known for his classic production contribution to 50 Cent’s ‘Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ album on the pounding promotional single “Many Men (Wish Death)” which in 2025 remains one of 50 Cent’s most referenced and talked about records.

The Hip Hop Museum caught up with Digga to talk about “Many Men,” Irv Gotti, his unique production sound, and his favorite record he’s produced (hint: it’s not “Many Men”).

Adam Aziz: One of my favorite records you’ve produced is Jay-Z’s “Dopeman.” On the song, Jay references Murder Inc., both the label and the group that was supposed to happen with him, Ja Rule and DMX. We recently lost Irv Gotti. Do you have any thoughts on Irv and his impact on Hip Hop?

Six Figga Digga: I go further back with Irv. Before he was Irv Gotti, he was DJ Irv. He was working with The Cash Money Click with Ja Rule and they were signed to Blunt Recordings. When I was in Children of The Corn with Cam (Cam’ron), Blood (Bloodshed), and all of them, we were in the process of signing with Blunt and Cash Money were artists on Blunt at the time.

Seeing him go from that to being an A&R at Def Jam and helping bring in DMX to helping them bring in the deal with Roc-A-Fella. He changed the game, and it’s always sad when people have to pass away to get their flowers.

When we came in, and he was an A&R, things were different musically, with Bad Boy doing their thing. A lot of the music, especially from the East Coast, was commercialized with the sampling of all the 80s stuff. And Irv was the one to say, “Nah, let’s get gritty with DMX.” I produced “Pull It,” which is a record Cam and DMX did that was really popular in nightclubs and propelled DMX’s career at that time. 

AA: One of the wildest things to happen in recent years was how 50 Cent’s “Many Men,” a record you produced, was co-opted by the Trump campaign around his re-election bid and getting connected to his assassination attempt in the Summer of 2024. What did you make of that whole situation?

Digga: I’m blessed and grateful that I was part of such an iconic song. I hear the song in some way every day, getting tagged in social posts—it has been part of my life since it came out. 

But it was interesting to see how the Trump campaign adapted it. I never came out and said I was going to stop Trump from using the song. My thing was that it had to be used legally. With social media, it’s a wild west out there. You have to chase after everything. Once it’s online, it goes around the world twice before you have a chance to catch up.

AA: I know you’ve talked about “Many Men” so much already, but is there a story or interesting fact about the song’s creation that you could share with us?

Digga: I have a series coming out on my website called ‘I Know You’re Gonna Dig This,’ where I will talk about the stories behind some of my productions.

But I finished that beat two years before it appeared on 50’s album. It went through many hands first. It was actually one of the first Dipset songs I produced. You’ll be able to hear a snippet of that soon on my website. And when Dipset didn’t ultimately use it, Nas also had a song to the beat.

I guess one of the details that is kind of crazy is that 50 got the beat from listening to Nas’s version of the song. 

AA: I was trying to put together a description of your early production. For me, it was a combination of anthemic sounds and quirkiness. Like Timbaland had back in the day. Tracks that come to mind for me are Charli Baltimore’s “NBC” and Cam’ron’s “Let Me Know.” Do you agree with that description? How would you describe your early production work?

Digga: I actually do agree. And that was something that I discovered by working and doing it over time. That wasn’t on purpose, per se. But I remember that. I think one of the reasons my production started to sound like that is when I came up producing… I’ve been around many of the producers, Trackmasters, Buckwild, Ski Beatz, and others I came up with. I noticed that a lot of them would be digging for samples and stuff. But they would be digging for kind of the same samples, in my opinion. Do you know what I mean? Like looking for the same groups or the same type of sound.

I went in reverse. A lot of the stuff that I was doing was in the traditional dollar bin records; you know what I mean. I found the challenge of taking those records and turning nothing into something.

So, for some of those records, I’m literally sampling some crazy fairy tale sounds. And flip it into a Hip Hop beat.

AA: Staying on the theme of unique samples. You sampled the Monday Night Football theme on Cam’ron’s “Let Me Know.” How difficult was that to clear?

Digga: It wasn’t easy because, you know, traditionally, those things weren’t really being done. We were sampling traditional records. The process was to sample this, go to the publisher and the record label and clear it. Now, this is a TV theme and you don’t go to the traditional music publishers. 

In this case, it actually worked in my favor because we did get the song cleared, and it was a lot of money. I think at that time, it might have even been maybe fifty thousand dollars or a hundred thousand dollars just to clear the sample, but it was an all-in deal, so you just paid for the use of the sample. The writers didn’t get any credit. They don’t own a portion of the song. That kind of worked in our favor.

That song influenced the whole SDE (Sports, Drugs, and Entertainment) album from Cam. We sampled the NFL theme. We had the concept of sports, drugs, and entertainment. Then, they went to work on marketing and promotions. And they actually used the NBA logo on the album and had a gun in the hand instead of a basketball. And I think a $250,000 lawsuit had to be paid. That was an expensive album. 

AA: What do you make of the influx of AI in music production? Are you using it at all?

Digga: Not really. I’m trying to stay away from it, not because I don’t think it can’t help, but I want to stick to my own process and creativity. And at this point, I just wanna keep everything the same way so I can be creative. 

I don’t know if stems technology is considered AI, but that’s where I’m at right now. I like the ability to separate songs into different portions. Obviously, this is something that a sample-based producer has wanted to do for years. 

AA: Do you have a favorite record you’ve produced? And why that one?

Digga: It’s hard to pick a favorite but I would probably say “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop” by Young Gunz because it’s so minimal. Most of the time, as a producer, you’re making beats, and the ones that you’re really in love with aren’t the ones that go, or those aren’t the ones that are picked. I knew on the beat for “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop.” It took me ten minutes to do it. I didn’t do anything to it. It’s basically just drums. That was one of the beats that was pitched to Jay-Z. 

AA: Why did you feel so confident about the beat?

Digga: Because it was so sparse. I just had a special feeling about it. I get that question a lot from up-and-coming producers. How do you know a beat is finished? It’s just a feeling. And sometimes, you can’t replicate that. 

AA: Who are some producers that you like or respect?

Digga: I always talk about Hit-Boy. He reminds me of myself because of his versatility. He can produce for someone like Nas but also younger artists. 

AA: Are there any upcoming projects you can talk about?

Digga: As mentioned, I’m working on the production series where I talk about the stories behind some of my songs. I just finished filming the first season. I’ll also do a recreation of the beat and show you how I put it together. I’ll talk about songs like “Many Men,” “Good Times” with Ghostface and Raekwon, “Losing Weight” with Prodigy, and more.

I also have an album I’m about to complete called ‘The Guy In The Vest.’ It’s a play on my viral videos going around which is me recreating the “Many Men” beat. A lot of people see the videos and think I’m actually creating the beat at that time. They aren’t too familiar with me. A lot of the younger generation coming on board that don’t know anything about me. They’re like, oh, that’s the guy who made that hot beat in a vest. And they crack jokes like, “he looks like an IT worker,” and other people say, “Yo, that’s Six Figga Digga. You better do your research.”

I’m also about to start doing some work with Benny The Butcher and Cee-Lo.Follow Digga on Instagram.

Read more interviews on The Hip Hop Museum!