Swizz Beatz was born Kasseem Dean in the Bronx area of New York City. He relocated to Atlanta as a teenager, where he started to DJ parties. When his relatives became involved with the Ruff Ryders label, he began to produce tracks at the tender age of 16. Forgoing the practice of using samples, he used real instruments whenever possible and tried to accentuate the performance aspect of his music. He produced countless rap and R&B acts, from DMX to Eve, but he never really got much credit for his work. It wasn't until his first solo album, 2002's G.H.E.T.T.O. Stories, that he started to get notices for his production style and interesting ideas.
