Shady business: Grammy-winning Sylvania producer has song on new Eminem album

Guess who’s back ... back again ... Aossey’s back ... tell a friend.

Sylvania music producer Jameil Aossey suddenly finds his name seen by millions of eyeballs this weekend, as he is the producer and co-writer of the song ‘Head Honcho,’ track number 14 on the just released Eminem album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace) .

This comes a little more than a year after the 40-year-old Southview High School graduate won a Grammy Award for his work on Beyonce’s 2022 album Renaissance , which saw him standing on the red carpet next to Taylor Swift.

But that was then and this is now. And while Aossey is thrilled to be a part of the official history of the most successful artist of the 21st century, there’s more work to do.

Down in the basement of his Sylvania home, Aossey produces the sounds and music that have propelled him into musical success on his terms.

Aossey’s workstation has grown since 2023 when he was producing tracks for Bey’s Renaissance album. He’s added another row of musical gadgets to his music production arsenal, which allow him to create new and unusual sounds. Sitting in his office chair, surrounded by electronic instruments of every variety — including a Theremin — Aossey looks like a cross between Captain Kirk and Giorgio Moroder.

Around the workstation are various clues that point to Aossey’s indefatigable work ethic. There’s a check that Aossey has made out to himself for a million-and-a-half dollars, a payday he is determined to get one day. A copy of the book Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon sits near a plaque reading Never Never Never Give Up. Written on a nearby whiteboard is a phrase Aossey has written reading “Choose the path where no one goes,” a lyric from the Led Zeppelin song “No Quarter.”

“When I’m working and I’m creating, that’s exactly what my mentality is. That’s a daily reminder that needs to be written down and in your face.”

A day’s work

By day, Aossey works with his family’s security business, usually rising around 8 a.m. His day job sometimes takes him all over the country, and then, upon returning home, he works on music for several hours.

“Let’s say you get home at 9 or 10 o’clock at night, then you’re in the studio until 2 or 3 in the morning then you get up and do it all over against the next day. I’ve been doing that for the better part of 10 years,” he said. “Since 2014, I couldn’t tell you how many 18, 19, 20 hour days I have under my belt. But that’s what’s required if you’re going to work and take care of your family and still pursue the music business.”

After Aossey won the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album in February of 2023 for his production work on Beyonce’s album Renaissance , he suddenly found himself bombarded with requests from artists and labels who wanted to work with him.

“I was extremely overwhelmed and I wasn’t ready for what came with the Grammys,” said Aossey. “I was not prepared for what the load would be and how much would be coming at me. I was overwhelmed but I had a hard time saying no because I wanted to take everything in. But in turn you end up dropping more balls because you’re trying to put too much on your plate and you don't have the capacity to handle it.”

Aossey and his business and production partner Larry Griffin, Jr., professionally known as S1, also worked on a hip-hop movie where the duo would be doing all the music. But the Hollywood strikes happened, which effectively shut down the production.

Griffin is one of Aossey’s biggest proponents. He has praised Aossey for his ability to consistently bounce back from the sometimes tough breaks of the music industry and this was no different.

“Jameil has an incredible ear for music,” said Griffin. “The way he articulates sound and design, then is able to translate and present sound in ways that are entirely new and captivating is truly remarkable.”

Though Aossey was no stranger to disappointment, he was left reeling in the wake of the film project getting shelved.

“After the movie thing fell through, I had my month of ‘what the hell?’” said Aossey.

But the setback only made Aossey work smarter, not harder. He descended into his basement and did what he did best — making music. He sent out folders of songs to his manager, just like he always did, but now he was choosing his projects more selectively.

“We’re all capable of working on all sorts of different projects, but what are the ones that get me excited? Which ones do I have passion for?” said Aossey. “I went through a major growth process. I need to focus on health, wellness. You can’t do 20 hours every day and expect to be successful. So I’ve been trying to be smarter about what I’m doing and not overthinking things. I’m going with my gut right away and not caring if someone else is going to like it. They might not have asked for something specifically, but this is where my heart took me so this is what I’m going to deliver. And creatively I’m just getting really good results with that.”

Mistaken identity

Here’s where it gets crazy.

Aossey was on vacation with his family in the summer of 2023 when he got a call from his manager Ryan Rodriguez, who had heard some tracks Aossey had sent over.

“My manager told me, ‘Hey, man, this one beat is ridiculous! Good thing you marked it. I’m going to send it over to Eminem,’” said Aossey, who was initially confused. It turns out Rodriguez was talking about a track that had been marked EM, which stood for “E-Minor”.

“I tag all my songs with tempo and song key so when the writer or producer gets it, they can just load it up into their system,” said Aossey.

But Rodriguez mistakenly thought the track marked EM was code for ‘Eminem’ and submitted the track to Shady Records.

At the time Aossey laughed at his manager’s error. But no one was laughing two days later when they heard from Eminem’s manager Paul Rosenberg that they were interested in using Aossey’s song.

“So a complete misunderstanding turned into an Eminem song for a kid from Toledo who had no buisness working with Eminem.” said Aossey. “If it wasn’t for being consistent and having the right relationships of people who were connected in the business. And it’s a good thing he thought it was for Eminem and not E-minor.”

The funny thing was Aossey had submitted several tracks to Eminem’s team in years prior, and none of them were chosen. Aossey pauses a moment, in awe of his own story as he tells it.

“By the way, how crazy is that?” said Aossey in a hushed voice.

A year went by and nothing more was heard from Shady Records until June of 2024 when Aossey got an email from his attorney stating that it was official: Jameil Aossey would be listed as a co-writer on a track on Eminem’s album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace) .

“You know something’s meant to be when it happens by accident,” said Aossey.

So a kid from Southview ended up producing songs for both Beyonce and Eminem. But Aossey’s longtime friend and collaborator Griffin isn’t surprised by his colleague’s success.

“When he first mentioned that he's featured on the new Eminem album, my initial reaction was, ‘Wow. That's incredible.’ But then I thought, well, it's not really surprising because he absolutely belongs on there,” Griffin said.

For Aossey, however, it’s time to get down to business and and make more music magic.

“What keeps you going is your passion,” said Aossey. “Then it’s not work, it’s actually business. Work is work but studio is business and that’s where my passion lies.”