'We just make history': Music producer from KCK is a force on Cardi B's debut album

So what exactly does the guy who helped craft rapper Cardi B's success do on the release day of her long-awaited debut album?

Sleep in, of course.

"My phone's going crazy," Jermaine "JWhiteDidIt" White says with a laugh around 2 p.m. Friday. "But look, man, it's been hard work. I've been working. I'm just now getting up."

The music producer, who grew up in Kansas City, Kan., and graduated from Leavenworth High, is the man behind "Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)," the five-time platinum song that catapulted Cardi B from reality TV personality to rap's new "It Girl."

On this afternoon, "Invasion of Privacy," the debut album that features that single, hasn't been out for 24 hours, but it has already gone gold.

"As it should!" White says with excitement from his adopted home of Dallas. "One thing you can't not do is trust the process."

That's the fastest ever for an album by a female rapper to reach gold status.

"We gold now and hopefully we're platinum tomorrow," White says.

Last year, "Bodak Yellow" became the first song by a solo female rapper in nearly two decades to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

"You've got to trust the formula," White says. "I think it's proven that when me and Cardi get together, we just make history."

The track was White's big break after more than 10 years of building his name as a producer working with a range of R&B and hip-hop artists like former Destiny's Child member LeToya Luckett and California hip-hop legends Too Short and E-40.

With this new album, Cardi adds two more songs produced by White, making him her most frequent collaborator on "Invasion of Privacy."

"It feels good to see somebody who’s wanted something so bad finally achieve their goals," White says. "It makes me feel like I'm worth it. That I can be a help to making someone's career."

In addition to "Bodak Yellow," White co-produced the cocky club record "Money Bag" and "I Like It," a Latin-flair track that samples the classic 1967 Pete Rodriguez song "I Like It Like That."

"'I Like It' was a process," White says with a laugh. "We teamed up in Miami, and we worked on that track for a long time. For months and months and months."

He hasn't had much time to celebrate with Cardi yet. "That girl stays moving and working," he says.

"Like everybody else, I’m pleased how the album came out and how sonically scrumptious it feels to your ear. A lot of people were giving her slack early on about her record choices, but it goes back to trusting the process, being a believer in your own self and letting the music do the talking."

With or without Cardi, White will be heading home soon.

He will host a themed Black and White celebration from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. April 13 at the Heritage Center in Leavenworth. It's free at 10 p.m., with a $10 cover after 11.

"I've got a couple of surprises coming in with me," White says. "We're from the KC area, and we don’t get this kind of success often, so we've got to celebrate."

This story was originally published April 6, 2018 at 5:55 PM with the headline "'We just make history': Music producer from KCK is a force on Cardi B's debut album."