this guy must be mac fu's hero...

MIAMI - The year 2005 was a very good one for the hitmaking producer Scott Storch. For dozens of weeks, singles like Mario's "Let Me Love You," 50 Cent's "Candy Shop" and "Just a Lil Bit" and Lil' Kim's "Lighters Up" - all of which he helped create - topped the Billboard charts and blasted from radio stations around the country. And he is the man behind "Run It," the ubiquitous ditty that single-handedly kick-started the career of the R&B singer Chris Brown.

As a result, Mr. Storch may be the most important hip-hop producer that you've never heard of. And the fact that he is white and Jewish still comes as a surprise to many. (He has called himself the Meyer Lansky of hip-hop.)

"That definitely threw me off at first," Mr. Brown said. "I mean, I was really surprised by that."