Beginning in 2000, sfter moving to Atlanta to work on a few musical projects, Focus's music industry clout increased, more and more artists began approaching him for beats. He struck up a relationship with the 2Pac's Outlawz, who were working on new material. "Everybody loves the stuff that they did with Pac," Focus says. "I saw a vision for them and I told them that if they gave me a chance, I could show them what they needed to do. I was just asking them to believe in me enough to show them and they did. I was giving them that edge back and giving them the leeway to turn around and do deeper songs instead of more surface songs."

In 2001, Focus's main mentor, Dr. Dre hired him as a non-exclusive Aftermath Entertainment staff producer. "Dre said he liked my style, the way I attacked the music," Focus… recalls. "He heard East and West Coast in it and he liked the way that I bridged the two. He said I was talented, so he never made me become a mini him, (Dr. Dre). He always took me for who I was and let me be me."

Focus's work has since appeared on The Game's double platinum The Documentary ("Where I'm From"), 112's Pleasure & Pain (smash single "U Already Know"), Beyonce's quadruple platinum Dangerously In Love ("Yes") and J. Lo's platinum-plus This Is Me…Then ("Dear Ben"), among others.

What makes Focus stand out is his sonic diversity. Focus went on to comment, "Unlike every other producer, I don't want them to listen to a track and be like, 'That's Focus… I want them to look at the credits and go, 'Damn, that's Focus?' It keeps you alive longer. Once you get pigeonholed and you can't make something outside of yourself, it's really hard to reinvent yourself. I reinvent myself every six months. It gives the listener something different to listen to, but it's from the same cat."

As one of music's hottest beatmakers, Focus is already slated to work with 50 Cent, Usher, JoJo, G-Unit rapper Tony Yayo and platinum R&B crooner Musiq, as well as on several movie scores and soundtracks. He also co-executive produced the new album from 2Pac's Outlawz, Outlaw 4 Life 2005 A.P., produced several tracks on the forthcoming Sway & King Tech Presents Back 2 Basics (including work with Chino XL and Kam) and is shopping his artists, Jay Life and F'lana Star, while developing several other artists.

Focus keeps his music fresh and innovative by relying on his moods for inspiration. "It's all emotion," he says. "If I'm in an angry mood, I'll come up with an 'I Dare U' for the Outlawz, a 'Watch Closer' for Chino XL, something that has aggression in the beat. Any time I'm in a good mood, it's R&B. Things depend on my mood."

The remarkable results led to Focus'a credit as co-executive producer of Outlaw 4 Life 2005 A.P. Focus will be executive producing the Outlawz's next album with the group, something Focus hopes will give him the impetus for his next major goal: to own and operate his own record label, a.Fam Records.