Fifteen years ago when he collaborated with American recording artiste Bruno Mars on two songs for the singer’s debut album Doo-Wops & Hooligans, Jamaican-born, Florida-based producer Dwayne “Supa Dups” Chin-Quee had no idea that the songs would have stood the test of time.

On October 17, the album earned a new Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certification of 9 million units. Two of the songs from the album — Liquor Store Blues featuring Damian “Jr Gong” Marley and Our First Time — were certified platinum and gold respectively.

Supa Dups produced both songs.

In an interview with the Jamaica Observer recently, Supa Dups spoke about meeting and collaborating with Bruno Mars.

“I was introduced to Bruno by a young A&R [artiste & repertoire] at Atlantic Records named Aaron Bay-Shuck, who funny enough went on to become the CEO of Warner Music. At that time, Bruno had just dropped his first runaway single,
Just the Way You Are, and they needed to wrap up the album quickly. Bruno sent me those records, Liquor Store Blues and Our First Time, both unfinished. I actually got a third record, too, but it didn’t make the final cut. I worked on them remotely. My cousin Mitchum “Khan” Chin was in Jamaica and I was in Miami. We were literally on Skype back and forth — him recording guitar parts and sending them to me. Bruno literally finished those songs the same day the album was getting mastered for release,” he said.

He went on to explain that he was not sure what would become of them.

“No one knows whether a record will ever become a classic or not. The key to me is to just keep working, always be willing to learn, improve and, most importantly, stay humble. It’s not about thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less,” Supa Dups added.

Liquor Store Blues was released as a promotional single from the album. It charted at #97 in Canada, #74 in Romania, #20 on the Billboard Latin Pop Airplay chart, and #68 on Billboard’s US Digital Song Sales chart.

Our First Time, a reggae/R&B/pop influenced track, was not released as a single.

Doo-Wops & Hooligans featured on the #1 Billboard Hot 100 hits Grenade and Just the Way You Are. Other charted singles from the album include Marry You, The Lazy Song, Talking to the Moon, Count on Me, and Runaway Baby.

The album received five nominations in the 2012 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Album.

Doo-Wops & Hooligans topped charts in eight countries and made the top 10 in 12 other countries, including #3 in the United States. It has racked up several certifications through the years, including 8x platinum in Australia and the United Kingdom, 7x platinum in Denmark, 11x platinum in New Zealand, 5x gold in Germany, 4x platinum in Ireland and Singapore, and 2x platinum in Italy, Austria, France and Switzerland.

Commenting on the new certifications for the two songs that he worked on, Supa Dups said: “It’s a blessing, man. To see that album still doing numbers after 15 years is crazy. Liquor Store Blues’ going platinum and Our First Time going gold. The album Doo-Wops & Hooligans has now sold over nine million in the USA, according to the RIAA, and about 16 million worldwide. It just shows that good music doesn’t expire.”

Supa Dups has worked on albums and songs for several R&B, hip hop, dancehall, and reggae acts. The list includes Nina Sky (the duo’s Billboard-charting single Turnin Me On), Controlla by Drake, Too Good by Drake featuring Rihanna, Not Nice by PartyNextDoor, Sean Paul, Juicy J, Eminem, John Legend, Estelle, Beenie Man, Collie Buddz, Kardinal Offishall, Mary J Blige, Christina Aguilera, Shenseea, Popcaan, and Skip Marley.

— Kevin Jackson

From left: American recording artiste Bruno Mars, Supa Dups, and cousin Mitchum “Khan” Chin .