James H. Smith, former CEO of Reel Life Productions, is the executive producer of a series of underground rap records released in the '90s. Much of this material -- such as the delicately entitled Detroit Dog Shit -- features Smith's brother, the rapper known as Esham. This Smith should not be confused with a gangsta rap mogul of the same name who runs Houston's Rap-a-Lot label, although there certainly is a similarity in their both men's involvement in the development of aggressive, confrontational hip-hop stylings.

The Esham relation may have gotten a bit too aggressive in his behavior outside the recording studio, however, judging from his M.I.A. status from the production scene from about 1998 onwards. Smith was apparently producing license plates for the state during that period, achieving parole circa 2004. At that point, according to associate Violent J of the Insane Clown Posse, Smith didn't "...come around much...he's still getting used to life on the outside...he probably don't like to come out with us at night because all we pretty much do is drink and smoke." ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi