Freshman Haze: Stacy Barthe

For Stacy Barthe, the decision to become a songwriter came as easy to her as the skill itself. The New York native always had a knack for pairing the right words to the right melody, most of which were produced by her partners from the Surf Club -- consisting of Hit-Boy, Chase'N Cashe, Chilli Chil, B. Carr, and Kent M$ney. Before he became the man known for producing Jay-Z and Kanye West's R&B/Hip-Hop Songs No. 1 "Ni**as In Paris," Hit-Boy was sending his music to Barthe, who at the time was interning at Geffen (summer, 2003) and later, Jive (spring 2004 and fall 2005).

Little did Hit-Boy know that Barthe wasn't a label A&R but an aspiring artist much like himself. Instead of passing on Hit-Boy's music, Barthe wrote a song and sent it back to him. From then, Barthe, Hit-Boy, and the rest of the Surf Club have had a strong musical partnership