Give This Man His Flowers
Before the world figured out what a Houston beat was supposed to sound like, Mr. Lee had already built it. Born Leroy Williams Jr. and raised in Pineville, Louisiana, he has been behind the boards in Houston since the mid 1990s, and the Mr. Lee producer credit sits on a hall of fame ballot: Scarface, Geto Boys, Pimp C, Bun B, UGK, Z-Ro, Slim Thug, Paul Wall, Lil’ Keke, 2Pac, Jay Z, Jeezy, Nipsey Hussle, Drake. Nine platinum albums. Six gold albums. Singles on the radio for thirteen straight years. A Grammy nomination on the wall.
And somehow he is still one of the most underrated names in rap production. Not anymore.
Table of Contents
Mr. Lee Producer Credits: The Records That Changed the Game
Forget the timeline for a second. These are the Mr. Lee records that moved the culture.
“Get Throwed” (Bun B feat. Pimp C, Z-Ro, Jeezy and Jay Z, 2005). The definitive Houston posse cut. Pimp C’s first video after coming home from prison, Jay Z on a Rap-A-Lot record, and a beat that still gets the whole club screaming sixteen years later. It hit the Billboard rap chart, anchored Bun’s gold Trill album, and in 2021 Drake and Future sampled it for “N 2 Deep” on Certified Lover Boy, putting Leroy Williams Jr. in the writing credits of a number one album.
“Break ‘Em Off” (Paul Wall feat. Lil’ Keke, 2007). The lead single from Get Money, Stay True, which debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200. The record cracked the Hot 100 at number 72 and hit number 21 on the rap chart. A Swishahouse and Southside collab that felt like the whole city on one song.
“Chunk Up the Deuce” (Lil’ Keke feat. Paul Wall and UGK, 2006). The Houston anthem of 2006. Keke, Paul Wall, Bun B and Pimp C on one record right at the peak of the H Town takeover, hitting the Billboard R&B and Hip Hop chart. A Mr. Lee production that every Texan under 40 knows word for word.
“I’m a G” (Lil’ Keke feat. Birdman, 2007). The single that brought Keke back nationally on Loved by Few, Hated by Many. Birdman on a Houston beat at the height of Cash Money’s power, produced by Mr. Lee.
“You’re Everything” (Bun B feat. Rick Ross, David Banner and 8Ball & MJG, 2008). The Jodeci flip that became a Southern anthem. Premiered on BET’s Access Granted, charted on the R&B and Hip Hop chart, and remains one of the most loved cuts on II Trill.
“3 Kings” (Slim Thug feat. Bun B and T.I., 2005). The first single from Already Platinum, a gold album, and the record that put Slim, Bun and Tip on the same throne at the exact moment the South was taking over.
“The Mo City Don” (Z-Ro, 2008). From Ro’s Crack album, which peaked at 48 on the Billboard 200. One of the most quoted Z-Ro records ever made, and it is a Mr. Lee beat.
“Blue Laces 2” (Nipsey Hussle, 2018). The one that made the whole world pay attention. The heart of Victory Lap, an album that earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album, and one of the most streamed songs in Nipsey’s catalog. A Houston producer gave Los Angeles one of its most sacred records.
The Timeline
1990s: Louisiana to Rap-A-Lot
Mr. Lee is not a Houston native, which makes what he did for Houston even bigger. He grew up on a family compound in Pineville, Louisiana, playing piano in competitions by age 9 and backing his father, a Gospel singer, in church. He was classically trained on multiple instruments, marched in the 1990 McDonald’s All American Band, and became the first Black drum major at Tioga High School, where he led the band to its first state championship in 19 years.
He did not fall in love with hip hop until he was 21. He formed a rap group called Four Deep, then in 1995 moved to Houston with one goal: make beats. He was getting fifty dollars a track until he met Big Chief, VP of Rap-A-Lot Records, who put him in the building at the most important rap label in the South, on the same roster as his idol Scarface.
By 1997 he was an in house Rap-A-Lot producer. In 1998 alone he produced on Scarface’s platinum My Homies (“Homies & Thugs,” “Win Lose or Draw,” “Hustler”), the Geto Boys’ Da Good Da Bad & Da Ugly (“Free,” “Gangsta (Put Me Down),” “Eye 4 an Eye”), Devin the Dude’s The Dude, and Do or Die’s Headz or Tailz, including the Twista and Johnny P classic “Still Po’ Pimpin’.” He also landed production on 2Pac’s posthumous Still I Rise.
Early 2000s: Scarface, Z-Ro and the Noddfactor Era
He stayed busy through the early 2000s with Scarface (“Look Me In My Eyes,” “Get Out” with Jay Z, “In And Out” with Devin the Dude and Too $hort, “On My Grind” with Z-Ro), Devin the Dude’s Just Tryin’ ta Live, the Outlawz, Luniz and Facemob. He also launched his own label, Noddfactor Entertainment, and produced most of Lil’ Keke’s The Big Unit in 2003.
2005: The Year Houston Took Over
When Houston ran rap in 2005, Mr. Lee was everywhere. “Get Throwed,” “Pushin'” with Scarface and Jeezy, and “I’m a G” with T.I. on Bun B’s Trill. “3 Kings,” “Diamonds” and the intro on Slim Thug’s Already Platinum. “Sippin’ Tha Barre” on Paul Wall’s platinum, number one The Peoples Champ. Five tracks on Z-Ro’s Let the Truth Be Told including “1st Time Again” with Ashanti and “From the South” with Paul Wall and Lil’ Flip. And “Hogg in the Game” and “I Know U Strapped” on Pimp C’s The Sweet James Jones Stories, the album that welcomed Pimp home.
2006 to 2008: Keke, Paul Wall, Bun and Ro
“Chunk Up the Deuce” in 2006. Then in 2007 he produced nine tracks on Paul Wall’s Get Money, Stay True, including “Break ‘Em Off,” “Everybody Know Me” with Snoop Dogg, “That Fire” with Trina and “Tonight” with Jon B. In 2008 he delivered “You’re Everything” on Bun B’s II Trill, “The Mo City Don,” “Top Notch” with Pimp C and “If That’s How You Feel” with Lil’ Keke on Z-Ro’s Crack, and five tracks on Lil’ Keke’s Loved by Few, Hated by Many including “I’m a G,” “Boss,” “Money In the City” with Slim Thug and Paul Wall, and “Slab Holiday.”
2009 to 2015: Slim Thug and the Pimp C Legacy
Slim Thug never stopped calling. “Thug” and “My Bitch” on Boss of All Bosses in 2009, then a steady run of records through the next decade. In 2013 he produced BeatKing’s “Smile.” And in 2015 he produced seven tracks on Long Live the Pimp, the posthumous Pimp C album on Mass Appeal: “3 Way Freak” with Lil Wayne, “Friends” with Nas and Juicy J, “Ain’t Said Shit” with Ty Dolla $ign and Devin the Dude, “Trill” with Slim Thug, E.S.G. and Lil’ Keke, “Bitch Get Down” with 8Ball & MJG, “Slab Music” and “True to the Game” with David Banner. When they needed someone to protect Pimp’s sound after he was gone, they called Mr. Lee.
2018: Blue Laces 2
“Blue Laces 2” on Victory Lap. Grammy nominated. Enough said.
2021 to Now: Still Texas
Drake sampled “Get Throwed” on Certified Lover Boy in 2021. Slim Thug kept the streak alive with “Best Pu$$y” (2021), “Slow Rolling” (2024) and “The Kings” (January 2026). In 2022 he produced Megan Thee Stallion’s “Southside Royalty Freestyle” with Sauce Walka, Big Pokey, Lil’ Keke and Mike D, a Houston family reunion on one beat. He followed with “Play Tha Game” (Big Pokey, J-Dawg, Lil’ Keke, 2023) and J-Dawg’s “You Already Know” and “Lose It” in 2024.
His most recent major project is Lil’ Keke’s 2025 album, where he produced “Tell ‘Em,” “Slab Nights,” “All My Life,” “Life We Live” with C-Bo and “Way Gone” with Slim Thug. He also produced the full AL-D*300 project in May 2025 and kept it going into 2026 with “Icy Whites.”
Thirty years in and the man is still dropping Houston records with Houston legends every few months.
The True Texas Sound
Plenty of producers have a Houston sound. Mr. Lee has the Houston catalog. A Louisiana church kid moved to Texas with fifty dollar beats and ended up defining the city. Rap-A-Lot to Swishahouse, Scarface to Slim Thug, Pimp C to Nipsey Hussle, 2Pac to Drake to Megan Thee Stallion. When you draw a line through the last three decades of Texas rap, he is on almost every point of it, usually in the credits and rarely in the headlines.
Consider this the headline. The Mr. Lee producer tag is the true Texas sound. Give him his flowers while he is still here to smell them.
Follow the Mr. Lee producer story at mrleeonthetrack.com