Beyoncé's music director on Emmy nod: 'It feels good'

In true Beyoncé fashion, when her music director learned he earned his first-ever Emmy nomination for his work on the pioneering project, "HOMECOMING: A Film by Beyoncé," he was too busy to celebrate - because he was focused on producing the superstar's next album.

Derek Dixie has worked with Beyoncé for almost a decade, rising through the ranks from assisting the music director to eventually holding the title himself.

Derek Dixie is seen at NRG Studio in Los Angeles. 

His first credit as an MD for Beyoncé was her first concert since giving birth to Blue Ivy in 2012, where former first lady Michelle Obama and her daughters Sasha and Malia were among the attendees.

Now, Dixie is competing for outstanding music direction - shared with Beyoncé - at the Emmy Awards, slated for Sept. 22 (the creative arts Emmys, a precursor to the main ceremony, takes place Sept. 14).

Dixie learned he earned his first-ever Emmy nomination for his work on "HOMECOMING: A Film by Beyoncé.”

"It feels good obviously. I haven't really digested it completely yet," Dixie said in a phone interview with The Associated Press from Los Angeles.

Beyoncé's Coachella performance marked the first time a black woman headlined the famed festival and made the singer just the third woman to score the gig, behind Bjork and Lady Gaga. And it made history:

Dixie was too busy to celebrate because he was focused on producing the superstar’s next album.

"HOMECOMING" earned a whopping six Emmy nominations, including four for Beyoncé, giving the 23-time Grammy winner a good chance to snag her first-ever Emmy.

"I don't think you can survive in her circle without being the hardest working person in the room," Dixie said of working for Beyoncé.

And for those who hope to work for Beyoncé one day, he has some advice: "Be ready to work. Yes. That's it. The glamour part comes later but the work part is definitely real."

Associated Press