New York City and the world are celebrating 50 years of hip-hop this week. Over the past five decades, the art form that was born in the Bronx transformed music and culture. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop, we’d like to honor 2017 Garifuna Music Award Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Garifuna-American Hip Hop Producer Imsomie Mahogany Beatz Leeper. 

Imsomie “Mahogany Beatz” Leeper is the son of a Garifuna mother from Honduras, he was born in Boston and was raised in The South Bronx section of New York City. He began producing in October 1997 and sold his first beat to Jay-Z at the age of 22 landing him the lead single for the Streets Is Watching (soundtrack), which was the first feature film for Jay-Z and Dame Dash. 

Imsomie Mahogany Beatz Leeper is a Garifuna-American record producer and TV & Film synch producer for Sony ATV, based in New York. Previously record producer/songwriter at EMI Music Publishing. (Imsomie Leeper Discography ) 

Mahogany Beatz has earned 7 Certified Multi-Platinum Awards and won his first Grammy with superstar recording artist Jay-Z on the "Hard Knock Life Vol 2." album as a record producer. Notably producing the hit single entitled "It’s Alright" performed by Jay-Z, allowed him to continue working with Roc-A-Fella Records as the first in-house producer under the Team Roc umbrella. 

Mahogany also earned his second Grammy Award with Mariah Carey on her comeback album the "Emancipation of Mimi" with the bonus hit single "Sprung" which promoted the album in the UK & Japan then re-released in the U.S exclusively at Target retail stores. 

Mahogany Beatz worked with various labels such as Island Def Jam, Universal, Loud and G-Unit. Mahogany was signed directly by current CEO of SonyATV Jon Platt during his tenure at EMI Music Publishing. 

Being recognized as a team player Mahogany joined Ruff Ryders Entertainment as an in-house producer, the home of DMX, EVE & Swizz Beatz, this opened the door for Mahogany to produce music for Dr.Dre at Aftermath Records. Being recognized as the only producer to ever produce a hit single for Dr.Dre on the feature film "The Wash" starring Dr.Dre & Snoop Dogg. 

The song entitled "Bad Intentions" became the films lead single, with Dr.Dre acknowledging Mahogany as the lead producer by announcing "Mahogany Dropping the Instrumental" during outro of the track. 

Mahogany Beatz has production credit on movie soundtracks like, (8 Mile starring Eminem), (HBO series OZ), (The Wash starring Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg), (The Streets Is Watching starring Jay-Z & Dame Dash), and (Starz series Akatapuss starring Akineyle), TV Shows on FOX, E! Network, NBA, as well as music video games for Sony Playstation & XBOX. 

Imsomie Mahogany Leeper, is a graduate from the Fashion Institute of Technology where he studied International Trade & Marketing while gaining experience at the prestigious Global Luxury Brand of Louis Vuitton. 

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hip-Hop, we proudly celebrate the  contribution of   2017 Garifuna Music Award Lifetime Achievement Award recipient,  Hip Hop Artist, and Producer Imsomie Mahogany Beatz Leeper.