Producer Stephen ‘Di Genius’ McGregor Shares How He Got His Name

Those who know of popular music producer Stephen ‘Di Genius’ McGregor have probably unanimously agreed that his moniker coincides with his music mastery. You know, like a literal genius! 

It turns out he got the name as a child during his introductory stages in production from Future Fambo while they were wrapping up a late-night session.

“When mi turn ‘bout 11, I did start working on my first juggling riddim; a riddim named the Dutch Master Riddim. It never really come out and do nothing, it never did buss. But, I did have couple people on it and one of those songs was a song with Future Troubles, who is now Future Fambo, and Singing Melody,” McGregor shared in a video uploaded to social media on Sunday.

“While I was recording him, I remember I kept looking at the time ‘cause mi a think mi haffi go bed. At one point, I said it to Fambo, and I was like, ‘yo, we kinda have to wrap up soon ‘cause mi have school inna di morning,” he added.

From there, a curious Fambo inquired about his age, to which he told the deejay he was “soon 12.”

“Him look pon mi and seh, ‘yo, yah only 12 and yuh can do all of this already? You’re a genius!’… The name kinda start stick from there amongst mi fren dem and people close by,” McGregor added.

Earlier in the video, he explained that his father— the legendary Freddie McGregor—built a studio at their home when he was 10 years old, which is where he got his induction into what production is about. He was clearly a natural because he soon started selling rhythms to producers like Outlaw and Father Romie of Exodus Nuclear Sound.

Fast forward to when he was officially credited as ‘Di Genius.’

“The first time was when I did the Redbull & Guinness Riddim with Delly Ranx because at the time, he was calling himself The Ranx, so on the instrumental he put ‘The Ranx and The Genius’… after that, I just started putting that as my official credit,” he explained.

The Redbull & Guinness Riddim featured a plethora of legendary hits such as Mavado’s Weh Dem A Do, Bling Dawg’s We Don’t Play, Vybz Kartel’s Gunshot and Stop Gwaan Stush and many others.

With over two decades in the business, McGregor has achieved many feats. In 2020, he was even featured on Apple Music’s ‘Behind the Boards,’ a playlist series celebrating the work of some of the world’s biggest names in music production, such as Timbaland, Swizz Beatz, Pharrell Williams, and Kanye West.