As I sat down with a music producer ( Mark Shotta) whose beats have thumped through the heart of the industry, he unveiled a narrative rich with soul, struggle, and symphony. From the disciplined structure of his father to the free-flowing creativity of beat-making, our guest's voyage into the Sound Kartel collective is more than just a tale of music; it's the rhythm of life-changing mentorships and the crescendo of communal breakthroughs. Mark Shotta's shadow looms large in this saga, exemplifying the collaborative pulse of an often solitary pursuit.
Navigating the tightrope between honoring the roots and embracing innovation, the episode spins a record of the producer's odyssey through the alleys of the music industry and life. The audio canvas comes alive with stories of technological leaps from cakewalk to bleeding-edge software like logic that's reinventing our creation process. It's a vibrant collage of tales, from the climb for visibility in a crowded scene to the backstage camaraderie that powers through ego clashes, all set to a backdrop of legendary DC icons like Chuckie Thompson and the resonating beats of beat battles that refine the art of competition.
Ending on a high note, our guest and I reflect on the symphony of challenges and triumphs that come with the territory. As the needle drops on topics like the streaming era's impact on artist livelihoods, the anticipation of music releases, and the intricate dance of relationship-building, it becomes clear that this journey is about more than just beats. It's about the harmonious wait, the shared experiences, and the crescendo of a community gathered in the studio, eager for the next track to play out loud for the world to hear. Join us as we unpack these melodies and more, all waiting just beyond the play button.
Relationships Worth More Than Money by Tweezy Kennedy & Marcus Alland
available on all streaming platforms!
Instagram: @rwmtm
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RWMTMpod
Get RWMTM MERCH HERE!!!!! https://streamlabs.com/tweezydabeatterroristkennedy/merch
As I sat down with a music producer ( Mark Shotta) whose beats have thumped through the heart of the industry, he unveiled a narrative rich with soul, struggle, and symphony. From the disciplined structure of his father to the free-flowing creativity of beat-making, our guest's voyage into the Sound Kartel collective is more than just a tale of music; it's the rhythm of life-changing mentorships and the crescendo of communal breakthroughs. Mark Shotta's shadow looms large in this saga, exemplifying the collaborative pulse of an often solitary pursuit.
Navigating the tightrope between honoring the roots and embracing innovation, the episode spins a record of the producer's odyssey through the alleys of the music industry and life. The audio canvas comes alive with stories of technological leaps from cakewalk to bleeding-edge software like logic that's reinventing our creation process. It's a vibrant collage of tales, from the climb for visibility in a crowded scene to the backstage camaraderie that powers through ego clashes, all set to a backdrop of legendary DC icons like Chuckie Thompson and the resonating beats of beat battles that refine the art of competition.
Ending on a high note, our guest and I reflect on the symphony of challenges and triumphs that come with the territory. As the needle drops on topics like the streaming era's impact on artist livelihoods, the anticipation of music releases, and the intricate dance of relationship-building, it becomes clear that this journey is about more than just beats. It's about the harmonious wait, the shared experiences, and the crescendo of a community gathered in the studio, eager for the next track to play out loud for the world to hear. Join us as we unpack these melodies and more, all waiting just beyond the play button.
Relationships Worth More Than Money by Tweezy Kennedy & Marcus Alland
available on all streaming platforms!
Instagram: @rwmtm
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RWMTMpod
Get RWMTM MERCH HERE!!!!! https://streamlabs.com/tweezydabeatterroristkennedy/merch
Yes, sir, we live, we live. Oh man, this is a, this is a epidemic. Yeah, this is a pandemonium. Episode that's needed, episode that had to happen Definitely, because without this guy right here, I would not be where I'm at right now.
Speaker 1:Real facts I didn't know that, yeah, real facts, and I'm and I'm explained to you. So I was making beats, bro, since 2004. I joined the Marines in 2004. I met my boy, hash and Cali, and we started creating beats on a computer. I never, never, created a beat on computer. He was using a magic music maker.
Speaker 1:So when I left to Iraq in 05, I said when I got back, I'm going to get me a Phantomex, because I used to go to the guitar center like every other payday and see how much it cost to see if it had dropped or something had to pay it. Yeah, bro. So I was like yo, the past, these things look dope. I need something. I still never knew how to play the piano, so I started creating beats and you know, at the time, man, I was just learning.
Speaker 1:I jumped through FL, couldn't figure it out, and I jumped in at Logic, yo, yo, dawg, and I started getting into the beat battles like 2017. Okay, when I got stationed here and no, it was 2017. Probably before that, I know, I started getting. I started getting my high standard joints, got you. And then I came here and when I got out the Marines in 2015, I started doing the beat battles and stuff, and that's when I met you and I ended up, you know, doing the beat battles I'm losing, I'm losing, I'm losing. And then I got the man named I got the even kill, the even kill like his attitude was just so mellow.
Speaker 1:Street runner, street runner, he used to tell me, like yo, you need to fix your mix. You need to do this, you need it, but just like that, like I never could. I'm like, damn bro, like okay, how, like can you tell me how? That was the only thing. He would just tell you you wouldn't do that. He wouldn't give you no reason on how to do it. And then I got the guy who was here and there and, sure enough, you want to beat battle where we moved to Tacoma Park. Remember that one.
Speaker 3:I remember, yeah, but the first one I did 2018. Yeah, and you was supposed to do it, but you had something to do you? Can do that one, but like when we like and when the gallery, it was a part yeah.
Speaker 1:And I remember I came and needles was there. You know I was, I was in machine, working in machine and I was just creating. You know what I mean, just do what I normally do, and like I won. But it was crazy because needles like your plate out of back. He like you'll play what you played. He told Sid, play what you played. And I was like man, this shit sound bad, what did it sound like? And um, he played it back and sure enough, I ain't know how left went back. Everybody else you had. You didn't have to, you didn't compete in that one, you just played your music Because he was the previous one.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I won before, so I was like the premier yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so. So when I won this shit, you was just like, hey bro, uh, this shit's fired, you want to be a part of sound cartel. And that that changed me, dog, cause I was like, damn, for real. Cause, you know, I used to see all these other groups you know what I mean and not knowing, like, what it was going to bring. But joining sound cartel enhanced me, bro. It enhanced me so much Cause I started understanding mixing at a whole another level, making your drums not like it need to, not, um, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:If it's, if it's on key, if it's off key, cause I ain't really know. You know what I'm saying. And um, all them years I was just making beats and not knowing what was in key or not. And um, sure enough, bro, that that time, that day, that changed me and I just wanted to give your flowers now, bro, because you done brought a lot of people together that don't nobody normally would bring together out the whole United States, cause all of us, all over the place. You know what I'm saying. And um, yeah, bro, but without further ado, I want to introduce y'all to my guy right here. Mark Sata Bartomor is on. He don't claim the DMV, it's Bartomor.
Speaker 3:That's out to them, though Shout out to the DMV.
Speaker 1:And um, yeah, man, my guy Mark Sata, let me hit this. This is the sound cartel.
Speaker 3:Thank y'all and thank you for having me. Man, what is the hell of an introduction? Um shit, I actually um you. One of the reasons why I am kind of it's not even cause I don't really talk to people like that but you open me up to that shit.
Speaker 1:Like, um, like, stop being, don't be so introverted.
Speaker 3:Stop being so introverted Um you know, you, um Zay you know, what I mean, but like the reason why I saw the sound cartel um, I always had the vision idea. I saw the logo all of it. I saw it. But, like my first beat battle was in 2018, producer ground came to Bartomor and, um, sorry, I do this shit and, um, you know, I went to the money on that night. I didn't know it was going to be a beat battle, but I always had the clip ready. Yeah.
Speaker 3:So sure enough, oh uh, black metaphor was the judge. Yeah, it was like you know the guy. Yeah. So went there and my thing I noticed and that's a big problem in Bartomor, in my opinion I was probably like the event was in Bartomor, Everybody else from Philly dude from Detroit, dude from Atlanta. That's where I met Salphat. Yeah.
Speaker 3:He drove all the way up here just to be in this shit. So, va, like everywhere, you know from everywhere, but not from Bartomor. Right, there's only a couple of people from Bartomor, like hell. This should be for the Bartomor. Yeah. So all right. So I had to rep and I was one of the winners. You know, that's how he was doing. He was like you know, oh yeah, I got this doing with Jherbo, and then he was young, he was young, yeah, so younger than us.
Speaker 1:Shout out to Salphat, yeah.
Speaker 3:Shout out to Salphat. He got a motion like that and like like 23 at the time, right, all right. So and met up and I said let I know what I want to do. I know you down there, I'm up here and, due to lack of resources, I started up Sound Cartel, right, because then from Bartomor, my arms, you know, a little short, yeah, and I people with. Every city has this issue. But I don't know, just story, story time. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Right, I'm not going to name names. Rabbit from Bartomor, he got a whole name. He got a name to us. Yeah, I reached out to him. Child work. They heard them talking in this. It was like something going on at a patchwork. Right. And he heard. He heard he had the Baltimore accent. So you know he go over there, yeah.
Speaker 1:The Tuesdays and Tuesdays and.
Speaker 3:Tuesdays and Tuesdays and Tuesdays he said he from Cherry Hill and it was like oh word. And then you know he must have slipped up in the South Sound of Southern again and he was like nah, I just fuck over top of my man, shot he from up there. Right.
Speaker 3:And it was like, and one of somebody from the Nick group was like oh, oh, you know, you know, mark shot or whatever. It was like, yeah, that's the bro, whatever. And then just from that they put the bug in dude. They're like, oh, he must got some motion. Yeah. Yeah, that's work Right and it's just like yo I was trying to work with you. Yeah, and that's how I bought them on Niggas off.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's everywhere, bro, detroit like that too. Everywhere I've been, man, it's like, I think, in order for somebody that really genuine rock with you, it's like they got to get a outside stamp from somewhere. And I hate that because a lot of times, man, you could be messing up something next to our could have created years ago, even though you might create it in the future, right, but sometimes, I guess, when things don't align, that's probably what it is Like. You know what I mean, the stars don't align. So, yeah, man, that's.
Speaker 1:Detroit was definitely like that until now, like you know what I mean. Like previously, bro, that drink was bad man. Like, for instance, like like Vezo. I've known Vezo since what? 11th grade, 12th grade, it was in high school together and he was with my Get Money Boys Dre, rest in Peace, lil' Ant, it was so many of them, man, like all the homies P, keith, di, rest in Peace, di and Rishi and all of them, like they all was like around them, and he used to go by Vez, okay, and I still got to this day, man, I had his first I think it was Rags the Richest, his first mixtape, and he was going hard, and you know what I mean. But at that time, man, like those underground artists would not get love. And that's why it's like.
Speaker 1:I think is where a lot of times the disconnect happened with Eminem and the Big Sean is because they felt like they wasn't coming back to the hood To put them on. But at the same time, shit. I went to school off 7 Mile, running out was right the next street over that was D12. All of them proof, all of them was right there. So it was like you would see all of them, like we would see them all the time. So I think back then that was the issue and people weren't really understanding it, like how to get on? And it was like more of a like, because people be like oh, don't nobody ride around.
Speaker 1:What in music Y'all realize in was the most streamed YouTube or YouTube right, like he wasn't just a local guy, like you know what I'm saying, he's global. And once they start catching on and start doing their own thing and getting their own motion man like Doughboy Cash, out the street, lords, cheddar boys, all of them it started making sense. You know what I mean. And shout out to the city, man, I love hearing their music. Shout out to my little bro, gt, gt, hard.
Speaker 1:It's so many of them, man, peezy, babyface, ray, all of them and we all like in the same area. That's the crazy part. So, yeah, vez, on them from the six, I'm from the eight, and shit, peezy, and them right across the street from Grashen on the six, over that way. So it's like, bro, it's only like two miles separating us. You know what I mean, and we was all in that same area. Our high school was on seven miles, so that was a mile away from you know what I'm saying. So it was like, yeah, so a lot of times, man, people forget, like you know what I'm saying, you got to start somewhere. You know what I'm saying. And for you, I know we met in 2017, 2018. When did it start for you? Like, far as like the music.
Speaker 3:Oh, this started.
Speaker 1:Like we started creating music.
Speaker 3:Our stories are kind of similar when it comes to years. So what? 2003. My first son was born. That's how damn yeah, that's the credit, that's the music credit, or that's the second song. My music critic is the second song yeah, he be critiquing everything. That's J, that's my A&R. Yeah, yeah, like he be putting me on the shit. Yeah, oh, you don't know about.
Speaker 1:My kid is the same way, bro. Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 3:Well, yeah, so Um drag.
Speaker 1:A brother. Yeah, shout out to drag.
Speaker 3:Shout out to drag, big bro. I saw him recording and making beats on his shit called a music generator MTV drag, mtv music.
Speaker 1:Yeah, with that PlayStation.
Speaker 3:PlayStation 2.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And this was um, I was in college, I was 18. And um, we ended up going to the same spot and I see, uh, seeing him was like, oh, bro, so, like you know, take a ride. And he was like, you know, we know what he's doing. Yeah, I was like oh shit, and I saw him. He made the beat and all that shit, but it is looked so difficult to get the beat from the PlayStation to out into the world, so so he would.
Speaker 3:uh, you know, he had the four of us and he had the chords, the yellow white red joints the RCA drugs.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:The RCA joint plugged that into a CD burner. Yeah, back then this 2002, three or whatever, a CD burner that's used to cost Expensive yeah, they's doing that shit. I'm like shit, right. So I was like I know it gotta be another way. I know I had a baby on the way, shit. Um, I saw that I was always like um, confiscating uh soft. Yeah, you know, acquiring.
Speaker 1:Yeah, acquiring some software. Yeah.
Speaker 3:I like that better.
Speaker 1:Yeah, acquiring.
Speaker 3:Yeah, acquiring software. Yeah, acquiring software. So this was back in the day before the um, way before fiber optics and shit like that. Well, fiber optic was available, but nobody knew about it yeah Like. So I had the 56k modem to have my own line and shit at the time. So that should just be blocked up. You know I let hey, you try and reach me and you just hit me on myself, right?
Speaker 1:Cause we, we doing some acquiring right now we American online yeah, we acquiring.
Speaker 3:So that's how I got um. I actually got cakewalk at first.
Speaker 1:I remember cakewalk. That was the first. That was the first door I ever bought.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I ain't buy it, but first one I used I said it was $20.
Speaker 1:I still didn't know how to use it.
Speaker 3:And I was just like I don't like this, but then, um do it on my job. Tell me about something called FL studio.
Speaker 1:No fruity loops yeah, fl studio yeah, it's called FL studio now.
Speaker 3:Right but like fruity loops and everybody's shit is on it and all that stuff. But like I mean my first couple of weeks, yeah, okay, and I'm first artist to work on, work on my shit or rabble, it was drag. Yeah. I was like, all right, this, this shit can happen, right, and he would record in magic studio, yeah. And eventually I said, all right, I want to take this shit serious, and I know me, though, that I got to pay for this shit, so I didn't. I never liked how FL looked. Right. Like the.
Speaker 4:Uh like the interface, yeah like, yeah, GUI I never, ah it just.
Speaker 3:It didn't make sense to me, Right? So I saw the fucker with Reason. Mm-hmm. What Reason is $430? Put it on the layaway at the guitar center. Yeah. Got it out of the layaway, messing with it, and that's all I was doing working on it.
Speaker 1:You had to drink where you had to plug in the back and all of that All original. Yeah, the original Reason this is Reason 2.5.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yup, reason 2.5, and uh, that was making beats off of that and I ended up buying FL also, but, like I said, I didn't really fuck with it, so I gave it to the crew. Um, dreg Street Scott.
Speaker 1:Shout out Street Scott Shout out Street. Scott yeah Street.
Speaker 3:Scott fired too Seeing those two together because they had a studio at the Belvedere Hotel, mm-hmm and um, just being around. That it was. It was, uh, it still is, a team, team Arson, uh, now they call TAGMG. Shout out to all those guys. Yeah. And they just say, hey, here y'all can do what y'all do, and everybody itself fucking with FL. Because a lot of them was on the um, the generator Right, and once my fuckers moved from the PlayStation to the to FL. Shit changed.
Speaker 3:Yeah, because things were so much faster, mm-hmm, you know you don't got to worry about. Oh, I got to. It was just different on the on the PlayStation. Right. And um, as far as making things a lot easier to do and stuff like that. But, um, I was on reason and stuck on reason and then, um, eventually I said yo, I need VSTs, shit like that yeah, so I fucking with Logic. I've been on Logic ever since.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, that, that VST game man is crazy man. Cause, like, for instance, again, you introduced me to those VSTs, like I didn't know, I just knew, cause you know. And and the Phantom Max 6, they had their own sound. Rolling was fire, mm-hmm, you know what I mean. Then I started understanding, like this, where the 808s come from, this is where the 909s and all of that Like. So I'm like, oh, this shit fire, but how do I, how do I transfer it? Like you know what I mean. So what I started doing is I started using it as a MIDI out to, um, what I have.
Speaker 1:At the time when I was stationed here in Quantico, I think I had cause, that's when I got my first Mac in O9. Okay, so, yeah, when I got, when I got my Mac, I had, I had Logic. I had got Logic I think it was like 200 bucks or something like that Yep, yep and um, I would use it as a damn, as a MIDI, but Logic had these VSTs. And then when I, when I got introduced to you, you was like, yo, bro, you gotta, you gotta use these, use this, use this, this, this, try this sound like, try this sound. I'm like, oh, my God, like what is this Like? It was crazy. It was like open my, my, my ears up to a whole another like realm of sounds. So, like a lot of people don't, I don't say they don't use them, they use them now but how impactful that is to have VSTs in your arsenal when you're creating.
Speaker 3:That's how we get Mr. No Samples, by the way. Yeah. I started off like well, people get the misconception that I have an issue with sampling or I don't fuck with this sample. Yeah. Totally not true.
Speaker 1:It's, it's, it's how you say it.
Speaker 3:That's why I'm like I will fuck you niggas up when it come to that type of shit. But I just don't Like that's just. It's just because I can hear the melody. I can hear it and I can see it all in my head and I can transpose it out into the world. This time right. So once I started getting all these different libraries and learning how to reverb some shit, that'll make it sound like oh, that's a real, is that a sample, is it? Or like make that string sound like it's somebody right there, like really Planning it, planning it or paying it Shit a certain way, or auto-paying it. So it starts here and it moves around and it moves in. You like man, where you sample that from?
Speaker 3:Right, you know what I mean and I started doing that. Oh, and beat battles. Yeah, It'll fuck niggas up when it be like no samples, by the way. What? And in fact, you was at that night when Joe Claire, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:Remember Bruh, that was, that was a resting piece man, resting piece to Chuck E Thompson, man that was, that was a night man, like I think I hit you or somebody. Yeah, I hit you. I was like yo bro, joe Claire, doing like a interview and beat like let you play, like the showcase show beats like down at the radio station what was that? 95.5?
Speaker 3:95.5. Yeah, wpgc. In fact, you told me about it and my sister-in-law told me about it and I was like all right, you, the second person to tell me about it, let's go and I'll awkward that day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I told you, I told, I told um Lou, I told um people's champ too. Yeah, I told, but he got there late so he wasn't able to. But yeah, bro.
Speaker 3:Lou got there late too right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, lou got there late too, but I mean.
Speaker 3:And the thing about it. We didn't even know that it was like on some first come first service type shit, we just happened to get there early. Yeah.
Speaker 3:And he said, all right, cool, y'all the first two. And then it was somebody else there and he's like all right, y'all sit right here. He was like what the fuck? Yeah, all right. Once he's, 10 ceases is up. That's it. Everybody else has got to watch Everybody else has got to watch, Right, oh, so that you know a lesson Y'all a be be. Don't be on time, Be early.
Speaker 1:Right, be early, because you never know who you're going to run into early. You never know who you're going to connect with early because when this is starts, nine times out of 10, they didn't already pick the people they want on the show or they they want to talk to or whatever. Yeah, you can mingle later. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, but get there early, because me as a Marine and shit is like we was always talked to be 15 minutes prior, so we're always 15 minutes prior to 15 minutes prior. So when it comes to music, I'm trying to be there our early, even though it might not be nobody in that motherfucker, but maybe two or three people. I'm going to find out who those two or three people are before.
Speaker 3:Because we was there. It was. It was going out so early. In fact, we actually went up in the 95.5 the radio station. It was like oh no, it's downstairs and around the corner. We had that much time Right, and I wasn't a Marine. Thank you for your service. Hey, my dad would leave the fuck out of me if I didn't come outside. Right, he'll say, but he always had the old. He had the big Motorola cell phone, joint 90s shit like this fucking big heavy the big flip.
Speaker 3:Nah, it was just the old school in the bag. Yeah, oh yeah. Hey, I'll be outside at 915 click. That's it. I'm seven years old. I don't understand the importance of time Right. Until that, a hundred prelude them. Lights is going away. See them break lights. See them break lights. It's a wrap. It's a wrap. Hey, I'll see you next weekend.
Speaker 1:I ain't coming this way, I ain't coming. Yep, I'm gone. But yeah, man, that day was definitely a monumental day, because those who don't know who Chuckie Thompson is, please do your research. But he's also. He's a DC legend, but he's also a music hip hop legend, r&b legend when it comes to Mary J Blige, bad boy. If you know, you know, just go Google them. But yo, he played us.
Speaker 3:I got two bumps.
Speaker 1:Man to this day. I'm so mad that that shit didn't come out. He had a song. The best song that I heard was with yay Nikki and XXX with $10 sign on the hook, and I think that's the song from not mistaken that Nikki ain't clear for that new album that's coming out, the Voters joint from not mistaken. It makes sense Because she hasn't cleared it or whatever. But man, if that song came out, I don't know if it's it fit to be dated now, but that shit sounded crazy.
Speaker 3:That shit was crazy.
Speaker 1:I was like damn, Chuckie was just playing man, he was just playing shit. But that one was the main one that stuck out to me.
Speaker 3:It was like I got one yeah. I don't know if you have ready for this. He was like, come on, let's play. He said all right, I got to put your phones away for this. He played that record. Yeah, yeah. Xxxx just died probably.
Speaker 1:Maybe less than a year. It was less than a year.
Speaker 3:It was like months.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he had literally maybe previously like a month or two. I don't remember the actual date we went. I know it was in the fall, like summertime fall.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was like. Yep, it was around that time. Back to school time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but yeah, man, that record was crazy and that's when I was just like yo, this dude, I don't think you know, like the hit men is different, they were different, they were definitely different and all of them had their own like they came together as a group but they had their own shit, kind of like Sound Cartel. Oh yeah, you know what I'm saying and that's where I think a lot of people slept on man because we had some. We still do, like you know what I mean.
Speaker 3:Definitely no-transcript Egos. Yeah, Egos Cause like you know I would type a nigga. I am these plugins and all that stuff costs and you know what. I mean. I'm sending them to everybody. Hey, yo, here's these drums, here's these sounds. What do you think I need y'all to do?
Speaker 1:The tag and the shit Put the tag.
Speaker 3:That's all I need you to do. Put the tag I'm niggas would do it, niggas wouldn't do it. And I'm like. You don't see what I'm trying to do. This is not a. I'm not trying to like boy y'all, you know what I mean. Sorry to be on this bottom of the shit. I think Detroit niggas do it.
Speaker 1:We call it hoeing. I ain't trying to hold you, I ain't trying to do nothing.
Speaker 3:I'm sure the South side you're like, ayo, put the throwin' bats and I.
Speaker 4:You know what I'm saying. Right Everybody gonna throw that in there. Shout out to the 808, maashe. Shout out to them, man yeah.
Speaker 1:But definitely, man, I think. I think, yeah, it definitely was the Egos, and I understand it, cause it was like bro, like we all trying to do this shit together.
Speaker 3:Yeah, nobody is over.
Speaker 1:Yeah, nobody's over yet. I started it south, south of them. They created it Like but, bro, like, let's, let's take it. Yeah, let's take it to other levels. Because if you look at 808 mafia, yeah, they still 808 mafia, but you still got TM doing his thing. You got Perp, you got all of these other guys, man, doing their shit. You know what I'm saying. You got everybody doing their own thing, but they got the same tag in that joint.
Speaker 3:It never changes, it never changes.
Speaker 1:It never changes. And that's the thing. And I was just like yo, like, all right, you know what I mean. Like, at the end of the day, y'all grown men, exactly you know what I'm saying, so it's, it's so on, y'all to you know what I mean. If you do, if you do what you do, you don't, you don't cool. But at the end of the day, like, how are we going to progress? Right, if you just won't keep your ego at the door? All right, you know what I'm saying. But even though the Egos got in the way, I still think, bro, we have some times, bro, yeah, we have some time. When we went to what was that? Atlanta A3C? Right, that was the best A3C ever we had. We had man shit, we had the whole house, we had the Airbnb, we had shit. We was bumping into everybody, just Blaze, which I know, that's one of your favorites.
Speaker 3:You know what I mean One of your favorites, so that's, all the Zay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, zay is a PR guy, he is a facilitator. He's definitely a facilitator, zay the PR guy. He's definitely. He's definitely that dog Cause he will get you. He will get you in those spots. And think about Zay man, he knows everybody and I'd be like Zay. What the fuck is Zay on? Yet?
Speaker 3:Zay could be on or he could be doing something in that realm. Yeah. But yeah, I really don't know. I think, that's a. I don't know if I wouldn't say he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a ego. I think I don't know, cause like Zay, he knows people that are that could put him into position like that.
Speaker 1:Yup, like every studio.
Speaker 3:But, the Curtis yeah, you good, you good, oh, you good. Okay. The guy who owns a patchwork. He'll call Zay up and say, hey, I got. I got an event coming up. Feel free to come. Yeah, I'ma see the info.
Speaker 1:Yeah, i'ma see the info. Yeah, I'm like yeah, yeah, zay got, zay got the plug for everything in Atlanta. Everything you need in Atlanta, zay has it. Um, jet, jet was dope, jet is dope. Oh yeah, jet, we had like, we had like a real team I got.
Speaker 3:I got a cool jet story. Um somebody, I forget his name he produced for um Doug, shit like that. He went on Facebook saying um can't know why, it fucking means that so Dre, pre-matte or whatever, just out to him Shout out to Dre. Um, he said he just put my name in the mix. I said all right. So every time people do this, often I go check out this shit and I come back and say, no, you trash, I destroy you. Yeah.
Speaker 3:And then I said you know what? It wouldn't even be fair if I would do it. I'ma let one of my youngers get at you. Yeah, and Chefry Kitchen got in on it. Shout out to Chefry Shout out to Chefry. Big reason how a lot of the guys even all met.
Speaker 1:He pulled up to the joint in Atlanta. Remember, yeah, he did, he pulled up, he pulled up.
Speaker 3:He pulled up Hell of a year.
Speaker 1:Hell of a run. I've been watching him build the studio up all the way from scratch. He's doing this thing.
Speaker 3:I think he did, but uh, what's the guy's name Don Don Trip.
Speaker 1:Don Trip um whole project and Lito. I think he working with Lito too.
Speaker 3:Yep. So, um, he said, all right, all right, Uh, got a platform to do it on. All right, bet Jet. Let's say this was a, uh, we played six records like five, one jet. Yeah. And like dude ah, fuck y'all, this was bias and all this stuff. Like you, you call the fuckers up. Yeah. So yeah, shout out to Jet. Prep for the team. Yeah.
Speaker 1:AKA Hit Griffey, hit Griffey, hit Griffey yeah. Shout out to Jet. Yeah, everybody, I think everybody, um, everybody, I believe, is doing well. I try to tap in with everybody, um, but again, like I'm, I'm only one person and people need to, they can tap out to me too. Yeah, it's a two way, like ain't no, one way streets. We, we, me and Roland always talk about that shit all the time. Man Like and I asked him I'm like yo, is this a one way or two way street?
Speaker 1:Right, right right right and they be looking at me, like what I'm like, I'm asking you, like you, you talking to me, you coming at me crazy, is this a one way or two way street? And then when they, when I hit him with that, they like, oh, it's a two way, I'm like, all right, then you know what I'm saying. All right, then then act like it. But nah, man, um, sound cartel man, we we did some other stuff too, man, and I think the uh, the sound cartel beat and song critiques. I think it birthed. It birthed a lot of people to, to, to go out and and venture out and and be confident in what they're doing. Definitely, and it helped people too, because, like I mean, shout out to TB Robbie, man, tb Robbie is doing his thing. Man, he was dope Like cause he was an artist too, wasn't he? Yeah?
Speaker 1:Artisan producer. Yeah, so he he had come one week, played a song, come come the next week play a beat. Um, what's my man from Atlanta? Um, the singer songwriter, um oh it's like black yeah. Gb Sean Black, sean Black. Sean Black was fired, bro. Um, we would run, that was, I ain't gonna lie. That kept us going and Jet started it. And then when Jet had the, you know, when Jet got more into engineering, I took over and, um, when I was at that studio and like then I would do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, my, my shit would be a little meaner man, but it was it was it was needed, though it was needed, cause sometimes, man, I think, um, when you, you need that harsh critique, like you know what I'm saying, like we can't be sugarcoating, and be like oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, man, you know you do good, man, you did good, and like we give you all $50 every week. We was giving $50 every week and I think that's where our disconnect happened for the team, because a lot of people egos was getting in the way and I'm like, bro, we trying to do this for the culture.
Speaker 3:Like we was building a brand.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we was building a brand, we was building, we was building a network.
Speaker 3:Network. Yeah, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:And I don't think they were seeing that.
Speaker 3:Right and cause, I think for them, uh, it was more of a all right man, we putting this brand to this pot, but what? What are we getting back from? Yeah. And brand recognition, like seeing this flag getting flown Right. The.
Speaker 1:Jersey like you know what I'm saying. I was trying to get everybody to get Jersey, get get merch. I'm like you know me, I'm marketing. So I'm like let's get all this stuff going, man, because it's going to build Up who we are and people going to be like yo. Reach out to this person. Reach out hey, how that tweets, how that shot, how that, how that Drake, how that Zay, like you know what.
Speaker 3:I'm saying, and it just would have been dope, because, all right, let's say um, yeah, I need somebody to sing a hook on my shit, right, limbo child.
Speaker 1:Yeah, shout out to limbo.
Speaker 3:Shout out to limbo. She won this one week, or you know. Hey, hey, can you do this hook for us? No. You know, what I mean. Like it's just networking and building?
Speaker 1:I think they wasn't. They wasn't really looking at the bigger picture when it came to, like, bro, do you realize we got artists we can work with at the touch of a button from the DMs and shout out to social media for that gift part, cause that's the gift of it, like the grim, yeah, just reaching out, like hey, you realize this person? And they not charging us? Right, you know what I'm saying? We giving them a beat, we just a verse, and we split it 50, 50.
Speaker 1:Like you know what I'm saying we doing the things right, and I think too, um, when we was building, building up the brand and understanding the knowledge of the business, that's when people was just like they even need to want to do it, or, um, they, I guess they, uh, I can't speak for them.
Speaker 3:I have to ask them themselves.
Speaker 1:But I know, for me, I took the business real serious, cause I'm like, bro, like do you realize? We only getting point zero zero three? Hmm, you know what I mean. Like we need to build the brand up, keep building up, building it up to where, if one of us blow we gon, we gon be good, right, you know what I'm saying? Like, cause, now we have, we have traction and now we can build more traction and you can get in these rooms. And I think to me, um, with us building the brand, when we was doing that, we started getting in those rooms. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Cause I was at the studio out here and, VA, you was doing your thing at the crib. Everybody they had. They had, um, what's her name? The one with the high rise joint?
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, say yeah.
Speaker 1:Say shout out to Sage Sasia. Yeah, sage had the dope spot. Yeah, you can record and get some, some, some footage, like we all had different spots and they of course had patchwork, I mean, and and that's getting around, man, it was. It was really trying to just build and I think a lot of times that's where things fall, but at the same time, man, you always just had to bounce back to yourself. So what you been doing lately like far as like production, wise always shout out to Larry, the lobster man. We can't forget. Larry the lobster man.
Speaker 1:We can't forget Larry man, Larry the mother, Larry the lobster dog.
Speaker 3:The flashy playboy, Flashy man Um flashy cold. When, when, when we out Like that's like my part in crime when the companies like yeah like bars um the critiques and shit like the other ones, not like excluding hours, but like with the big motherfuckers like cooling drinks fucking uh, shaved popes Shout out to shape hope.
Speaker 1:Shout out to cool and Dre.
Speaker 3:Um, and when you hit that sound card, tell you hear that sound card, tell hold on, that was a group. And then, like you know what I mean? Well, like we, we popped up at a event, I cool and Dre and um, you know what?
Speaker 1:I mean that was in Miami, right.
Speaker 3:Out in Miami. It was a full circle moment because you know, we've been submitting shit to cool and Dre's from 2019 or something like that.
Speaker 1:That was B talk right, yeah, yep.
Speaker 3:B talk and um. I met people from that. Right. I mean this, being in situations is showing out. You know what I mean. But um, yeah, shout out to the flashy playboy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, flashy, super dope. And he had he got um? Do he still work with um? What's my man name with that deep ass?
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Uh, the delivery was crazy.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we got a record. Uh, he changed his name. It was like Prince, something yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, um, fire, another fire artist man, yeah, but um, what else? What? What you feel like? Um, like what you working? You got a dope job and then doing music. How do you fit time in for the family? Yeah.
Speaker 3:Um, uh well, Wake up four in the morning, got clock in by six, but get off. You know 2.30. I'm safe over time, I'm safe. I'm going to pick up Lim. We're going to do homework, yeah, Work on the spelling words and downstairs, cooking, yeah downstairs cooking. Trying to cook up something, yeah. If I got something. Right, if I don't, it's always something music related. If I don't.
Speaker 3:I'm browsing to see what other sounds I don't have or whatever. But I'm kicking with the wife when she get home, you know we might watch something, or somebody did do something. Right. Who else can do something this weekend?
Speaker 1:But it was supposed to be a new Easter. Yeah, bro, they be killing me. They said two storms supposed to collide and nothing happened.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but I'm just can't. But a family just need to. The family gets that. I'm very passionate about the music, but I'm passionate about the family too. But, I've been doing this shit since it's my oldest son is 20. I've been doing this since 2003, 20 years. Yeah, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:So it's just finding the time Finding balance.
Speaker 3:The balance, the happy medium, yeah, the happy medium.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because the work life balance is always one thing. Then you got the music life balance that you're trying to.
Speaker 3:That's one of the reasons why, when you know the opportunity came for me to get in life sciences slash farm material field, I took it, because you know before that I was at Domino Sugar. Yeah. And then my mother hit me up when I met. I met Domino Sugar. I was at work all the time, so it's fine Now I have time for the family and to do music.
Speaker 1:How you feel about today's music scene. Far as on the production side, I guess as a whole either Production start with production, then we can go as a whole.
Speaker 3:We got our production side I'm looking at as a hater because I remember when I did at least play something like this. Yeah, you said earlier, you know you weren't trained on a panel and either am I, but still, you have some. You can hear something. You know the course. You know something.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Now I know I'm about to sound like the old dude. You drag and drop. It'd be like you know, like well, I'm going to say it'd be a kid. And yeah, you know, I got the melody kid with the hi hats and the melodies and the only thing you got to do is the RPM. And look in the photo you see 131 BPM, high hats, 131 snare, 131 melody. Drag that shit in Boom, boom, boom, boom. We got a beat. That's how I'm going to say yo man, I made this shit in two minutes. I made this shit five minutes. Put some growth speed on it and there we go. I know I sound like a hater, but hey, this is what it is, but I don't do much shit like that.
Speaker 1:You take time.
Speaker 3:I take time. You definitely take time and I don't know. You know some niggas like McDonald's and that shit is nourishment for them, but I like a full course meal.
Speaker 1:Like that grandma home cooked meal. Yeah, you know what I'm saying. I respect that.
Speaker 3:I respect their own, but at the same time, a guy like me. Yeah, we'll get slapped because of motherfuckers and put together 10 beats while I did two.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but it's the art, though.
Speaker 3:But it's the art of it. For me, yeah, it's the art. So I appreciate the art of it. I mean so, like when I see a bank, the humble monster, but I'm trying to bank.
Speaker 1:Bank five two.
Speaker 3:You going crazy on them or people? You wouldn't know if I started this sound. Yeah. And yeah, but like he's so vocal about it and I think stuff like that Probably like kept him even. I hold him out of high regard. Yeah, he's top tier, you know what I'm saying, but I think stuff like that. I probably like put him at a, you know, like it's the reason why yay and just was, it was the open with open arms, received by whole, and maybe, you know, because all of them was there. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I mean but I mean got some hits on that joint. Yeah, he got some hits with Jay. You know what I'm saying, all of them do. But at the same time, man, I think I don't know, I don't know the whole story about it, but I mean they all made a body of work because that was what blueprint, one blueprint, blueprint to blue, it was the blueprint blueprint and before that uh, dynasty, and, but they haven't worked with them since blueprint. Yeah.
Speaker 3:And he was a freeways, a freeways album, and then sampled, when they'll remember, by glad it's night in the pit.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, yeah, bink, when they cut it out sample game and bank is is one of the top tier sampling producers that can then had them drums to be super crazy Like he, he's, he's super fire man. And yeah, like you said, bro, to each his own man. And I think, a lot of times too, I think producers get in that realm when they hear somebody like you or Bink or me or somebody to say that they, this is how they do it, and they like oh, I got to do it like him, no, like, nah do it your way.
Speaker 1:Do it your way, I mean do it your way, because I do it, yeah, Like, because if I make it from scratch, I might make two or three beats from scratch. I might use a melody from some one of the artists or producers that I've worked with you know what I'm saying or that I met there. Send me something and I create out of that, or I might chop it up and create from what you gave me. Yeah, yeah, man, just do you like whatever. Whatever works, if you can make a song from it, do you like? You know what I mean. If it's fire, do it like you know what I mean. But at the same time, don't dig, don't be feeling like discouraged, that like, oh my, because a lot of times I noticed like people look up to you, people look up to me and they were like damn, he just shitting on my process. It's not that.
Speaker 3:Not that I'm just when it comes to music. Sometimes I can be abrasive and or harsh. Yeah, you like that math teacher.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you like you that math teacher. It has to be this way For you though. Yeah, for me, exactly For you, like I do it this way, that's how I do it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's how I tell my mother all the time. I do it like this. I don't give a fuck how you do it.
Speaker 1:You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3:But you know, but if it wasn't just shit to knock, hey, I could show you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I could show you, I can help you with the, I can help you, I can help you with the drums, definitely.
Speaker 3:I can make a knock and the sonics yeah. Because, shit, I've been tripping and falling years in this music. Right, right. You know what I'm saying, so I get it now. Like beat battles seem healthy a lot.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:When, when they come to that shit.
Speaker 1:I mean, I'm not really dead for me, man, because I didn't understand it at all, because I was just like yo. Man, it's like a transition every two to four bars. Why is it so many transitions? I'm trying to make songs.
Speaker 3:Right, Like that's how me and you kind of like got cool because I noticed oh shit, yeah, yeah, beat. Battle beats are kind of like mines, meaning like I'm not in there trying to hit you, yeah, and the high heads doing all this wild shit and like my shit's a regular beats that you can wrap on and will make a song to. But it has transitions, but they make sense and they don't throw the artists off. Right.
Speaker 3:And he was doing that shit too and I was like, okay, but that's where, when we made it to Atlanta, remember that beat battle of the beast?
Speaker 1:Yeah, the beast of the beast, yeah.
Speaker 3:And it was like it all depends on who your judge was. Yep.
Speaker 1:I don't even remember who was the judge I had that day because it was like a three day event. I don't even remember who the judge I did have, but what was it do? Agent O is who I want to get shot out of the agent. Agent O was fire. This shit was fire, this shit was knocking and it's like bro, I felt like me personally. I felt like my shit was being sabotaged. I'm like bro, why am I shit so low? Yeah, and I'm like I know like you, you showed me how to make my shit get higher, sound higher, sound good, before we even like left. So I'm like why my shit sound low? And I just felt like you know what I mean. But agent O was fired on he killed, he killed, he killed me on that. On that beat, battle, drunk.
Speaker 3:I thought the agent O was Sean Hibbler.
Speaker 1:Yeah, agent M. Yeah, like shout out to those guys. Shout out to the boss, gang Bounce, gang Ingeroo boys. Yeah, shout out to the boss, gang Double A. All of those guys, man, they were fired. But yeah, agent O man.
Speaker 3:Midi Moses yeah.
Speaker 1:He showed me. He showed me I think he's from like Houston or something too. I was like okay, all right, because this shit won a lot of transitions. Either it was like our shit, what the shit was. I felt it. You know what I mean, you know how, like you know what I'm saying when you listen to music. Like I got a, I got a feeling. If I don't feel that shit, like I'm, I don't do throwaway beats I just put it to the side. You know what I mean, and just maybe come back to it another day, cause I'd be hurting. Sometimes I'd be like like what the fuck? My shit, why is it? No, am I? But yeah, shout out to them, man, but beats of the beats, definitely. I turned it up after that and then that's when I really was like diving into like logic and finding certain shit and finding things in an FL. Like I literally just jumped back into FL, but I be in all of the dogs and people be like dogs, stick to one, I mean you ain't got to stick to one.
Speaker 1:I learned literally. I learned reason from S. I learned FL from myself. I learned logic from you, like I literally was picking up each dog and understanding them. Because I felt like if you get in a room with other producers that's using a different dog and you just sitting there, you don't know what you're doing, how you going to be some type of service to them. You know what I'm saying. So I figured like let me learn these to the point where I can make beats on them, learn the fine tunes of it, and if I need to get in there, I get in there. And that's how I created dog tapes.
Speaker 3:You know what I'm saying we used to talk about dog wars, yeah dog wars.
Speaker 1:That was what uh letter L. Yeah, but now we had that line what's that shit called?
Speaker 3:When everybody be on the phone. What's that app called FaceTime? No, it was an app called uh, it was like 2020. A cap house.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, yeah, we want to see them. We want to see them yeah.
Speaker 3:So we had the dog wars shit. Yeah, there was a lot of motherfuckers in there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, I'm telling you, man, covid, I like, I hated it for the simple fact, you know, I lost family members and stuff. Yeah, but for us, and music and how it kept us going, clubhouse was definitely a staple for COVID, because we connected with so many people you know what I mean and it was so many artists and producers and like big name people coming into our Dar Wars and just letting people play, the fact that you can play your music off of a phone, and it just sounded like he was in the studio. It was crazy. To me, though, that shit was crazy. We was linking with the manufacturers. Um, who was it? Um, was it IK Multimedia? Yup, yeah, ik Multimedia that was trying to get us the right equipment to plug our phones into so it sound good. Yeah, yeah, man, we had some connections, man, we had some definite connections. But back to that music, though, producers, you already spoke on that what about, like, just music in general?
Speaker 3:Music in general. It's not fair. It's not fair as far as so. Now you know we got the stream and shit right and zero point, zero, zero.
Speaker 1:Yeah, whatever platform, yeah.
Speaker 3:Spotify being the lowest. Um, I think what would be dope and what is needed, but I don't see it happening. Um, I kind of have a good union environment from when I was in a union at a Domino Sugar and I like when Hollywood said, no, we shutting this shit down, we ain't doing shit else until.
Speaker 1:DJ Tunk was talking about this yeah. Afro. Yeah, remember we was in Atlanta. Oh yeah, he was like man. I'm trying to unionize the producers and songwriters.
Speaker 3:I agree it needs to be done, man Until shit gets worked out like on the music side because like see what they did in Hollywood, they should have mirrored that. Right. It should have been all at one time. Yeah. And like, alright, we're not shutting this shit down, but the motherfuckers that are getting to it, cause they already there, cause they already there.
Speaker 1:And they don't want to jeopardize their own wealth instead of doing it for the people Right. You know what I mean. If I was up to me, if I was in those positions, I would fight for it. You know what I'm saying. The producers and songwriters and engineers. You know what I mean? Cause engineers, man. Since I became an engineer, I really understand why they feel the way they feel.
Speaker 3:I think they should get a piece of the record also. Bruh Like. I've been working with the Yoneer games. I'm out of Brooklyn. Shout out to.
Speaker 1:Yoneer.
Speaker 3:And we got some shit coming up and he's like one of the first artists that I worked with that is just getting to it strictly all the music. Yeah, you know I work but I do the music, but like he get into it just all the music, sinks and all that stuff, and I like how, when we work with each other and shit, he said, oh hey, I pitched this to this Sinks house sends me all the information, he sends me the videos of the zoom calls and all that stuff. He keep me tapped in. And he said, oh, we got his one record. He said, hey, do you mind if I bring my engineering on the percentage? Sure, we gotta get his record out.
Speaker 3:You know what I mean, do it let's do it, and I think I wish more artists were like that.
Speaker 1:You know what it is, man. It goes back to what we talked about with song cartel ego. I really think, like you forget artists. Y'all forget that. Without the producer, without the engineer, what you got Now, yes, can you create the song if it's you writing it, but you forget about the songwriter too. Now, if it's all four of us in the room, why you not breaking bread with everybody? Right, you get what I'm saying and that's the thing that it's like. That bothers me, because it's like it's so much money out there and you just focused on the greed of it and you're not focusing on the love and the sharing the wealth. I mean, look at LeBron everybody hate him.
Speaker 3:He put his team on.
Speaker 1:But he got his team on. You can't say nothing bad about that, dude, this whole team on. Look at Kobe. Kobe did the same thing. He didn't have a big team, but guess what? He put his kids on. He put everybody that's around him on. Everybody does it. Put your people on. But they fell the concept.
Speaker 1:And that's where I think the music needs to change as well, because we can't unionize when people don't even want to be a union themselves. And a lot of times I had to say it's us, it's the blacks, it's the black folks, bro, you don't have this issue. And if you do have this issue, it's handled behind doors and they come to an agreement with us. It's like oh, I need to be the biggest, I need to be this bro, I don't want to be the biggest. Nothing. Give me mine and let me keep it moving, because I still want to be able to go into grocery stores and not have to have all that craziness. You know what I'm saying. I don't want to be famous. You know what I mean. Just give me the fortune. I say that all the time, but I think that's where you near shout out to you near. That's dope bro, that the fact that he can. Actually, he actually is doing that Like hey, bro, I'm shopping this sink. Here's the video where we talked about.
Speaker 3:That overline of communication, like a lot of artists feel. So you just made the beat. I don't got to talk to you, nigga you know what I mean, but like nah, it's an overline of communication. Like, once you get on that level, what an artist feels texting beats, or you know, or hey, you good, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Like not even on the music show, just checking in with you. You good. You know what I mean? Yeah, out of fam.
Speaker 3:You know what I mean it's like that and that's different, like a lot of artists feel so they don't have to. It's like it's more of a they wanted to be in person, I guess, like you know what I mean. Like you know what I mean. But like, yeah, but, but you know what I mean. We got a guitar player on there. That's his man's whatever. Bro, he played a guitar and do like, do you? Mind if you know he's like, you know you can say no, I get it.
Speaker 3:I mean and make him a work for hire, or could you do you want to include him in the records and include him in the record, include him Like you, because you want anything you work on. You want it to be as big as possible.
Speaker 1:Yeah, take the ego, man, I'm telling you, when I, when I create that studio. That's the first thing it's going to say is leave it, leave it at the door. Yeah. Leave it at the door. Please leave it at the door, because we want to make the best record possible. It don't matter though. It don't matter like we going to figure out the percentage, but if you play something, I'm going to make sure you get you get a percentage off that Like. I'm not going to leave you hanging.
Speaker 3:And what about you to get taught for another another reason, or for engineer or something like that, and that guitar player could go back and say I remember when you ain't you know, because I'm petty like that too. So I get it, I have a memory. I can remember back to age three, right? So anybody that's wronged me, anything like that? Like no, I remember, yeah.
Speaker 1:They be like. They be like. Oh man, just let that know. Yeah, it's certain things you ain't letting go.
Speaker 3:Right, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:It's certain things you not letting. We ain't letting 2024, we ain't letting shit slide, ain't nothing slide, no more, dog. Like you know what I'm saying. We, we've done this for so long that it's like, bro, if I keep letting you slide, I'm never going to be able to progress to where I need to go, because you just keep trying to like, do me dirty, Like you know what I'm saying. So it's like, hey, you on this record, cool, you on this record, cool, you got something you don't. All right, we'll get you the next one. You know what I'm saying. But that's why it's like well, yeah, like, yeah, we'll put anybody, you and that, if you in that room, he putting your name on that joint and they don't know what percentage you're getting, but he putting your name on there. So when you look at them, credits because I'm a credit guy, like you know what I'm saying, I'm.
Speaker 1:I used to look at the books and be looking. You know what I'm saying. Like, even with my records. Now it's like I like it. I look at the records and be like, damn, this person was on there. This person, this person was on there.
Speaker 1:Like it's dope, and I think it needs to happen. Like, you know what I'm saying. You need, you need to have people like that man. The open line of communication will get you so far, definitely, and being able to say yes or being able to be like no problem, yeah, sure, cool. What else I mean? You know you can get you in more doors, and it's like everybody be thinking they supposed to get a certain thing, but they don't understand the back end and the business of everything. Yeah, so like, learn that business part first, then go with everything else. You know what I'm saying. But, um, top five producers, top five, top five.
Speaker 3:Top five.
Speaker 1:Producers.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:All time Hit me with them.
Speaker 3:All right, I wouldn't even be making beats if it wasn't. I'm first of one for my brother, dreg. But he'll be on a pension, but um, that is on Kanye West.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yep.
Speaker 1:Is that five going up, or one, two, three or just five? It's like they all yeah, they all won A's.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's more like you can hear a little bit of the influence in all of us, but uh, when Dreg he played, we Are the Champion off the um Dream Team album. Yeah. From Pain and Fool. Yeah, I heard that. I said who the fuck made this? She was crazy. And how do I do that? Right. Then he played I Am Dame Dash, same album produced by Just Please, yeah, I got it. I got what I wanted to do this shit.
Speaker 3:Yeah, oh yeah, they, they, they, they, my, they, my guys uh Kanye. Just Please um DJ Paul and Juicy J. I'm gonna lump them in.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they together, they won, they definitely won.
Speaker 3:Cause, mr Don't Play Fire. Choice of Soundtrack.
Speaker 1:Fire.
Speaker 3:Fucking like that whole Le Chat album, like whole everything that dropped Everything that. Thing dropped in that era. Look what's the name Lil White Lil.
Speaker 1:White Lil White was hard Right, frasier Boy. Yeah, shout out to Memphis man. Shout out to Memphis.
Speaker 3:That Memphis sound has it? Yeah, it's still going, it's still going to the pack on me and it's still going to this day.
Speaker 1:It's still going to this day. It's still going to.
Speaker 3:That's why their shit don't sound. That's why you can play, Mr. Don't Play right now In the club anywhere, and it don't sound dated. It's timeless Yup, um and uh, like his uh, uh, I don't know if it's R&B and his rap, whatever you know hip hop. But man, in fact, he does everything. All of that, yeah. All of that shit, and uh Timberlake.
Speaker 1:Okay, that's a mean list. That's a mean list.
Speaker 3:Honorable mentions yeah. I got to throw them in there, even though they are really fans of each other. Uh, think and adjust to sleep.
Speaker 1:I was about to say I was like I was waiting on adjusting to think and do.
Speaker 3:Because, like, that's his league. That's, and I had a man I had a, you know, when he had his, his uh uh, which I had a chance to play, beats for him. And it was like you know I don't know if I know your audience don't really know me like that, but like they will. Yeah. But I sound. Sound like them.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:It's not like a team or a motherfuckers or some shit, or some orchestral cinematic craziness. I sent him that beat and he was like, huh, he got balls, he got balls sending this type of beat to me, or whatever. All right, I'm interested. What else?
Speaker 3:you got. You know what I mean. I'm sending him shit and um, I got a placement from that point. Um, um, yeah, so, yeah, shots out to justice, um, and and Bain. Um, I mean, I don't know if this shit gonna come out, but, um, remember, I was so a couple of months ago. I was doing some shit, Like you know, you gotta, you all got to come up with something. So I'm playing a melody that I I can post and I say, hey, um, all right, I just got this melody from this guy named uh, he from Baltimore, Mark Hill Taylor, or something like that.
Speaker 3:Let me let me hear what he got. And I press play and it was a melody but I had made the beat already, but I just stripped it. Let's play the melody DJ burn one shots out to DJ burn one Shut up, burn one. He, um, he heard it and he was like damn that think would go crazy on this and burn one for a respect.
Speaker 1:And oh yeah, that mixtape era was crazy and think reached out.
Speaker 3:Well they were. They were talking in my, in the feed. Yeah, send me that. And I say the next day this was a Sunday and the next day I'm at I'm in my cubicle at work. Yeah. And I think is uh, he got drums on my composition or the wow she sound crazy I hope it come out. If you don't, it's cool, but it does.
Speaker 1:That's the feeling, man. I think for us it's like it's the feeling of accomplishment. When you got the grace that we look up to on your music you know what I'm saying and and shout out to Newland, because Newland was when he, when he started singing on my records, I'm like, damn bro, I never thought somebody could sing on my on my records. And um, but nah, man, I'm, I'm man, I'm, I'm waiting. That's the, that's the only thing, man, when you do a music. That waiting game is something else and I wanted to talk about it because you just, you just want to, you just like, look bro, like I can't speak on it, right, but when it come out, it's going to come out, because I got some stuff, yeah, like with some Detroit artists, and I'm like, bro, when it's going to drop, right, you know what I mean. Just just so I can just be like, thank you, you know what I'm saying. You want to get that, you want to get that monkey off your back, man.
Speaker 3:But even the project that both you and I could have been on, yeah, but you know what, you know what we talked about it, but then, uh, you know the well is it canceled right now. I mean I don't know. Uh well anyway, we spoken to uh, fuck it, uh Puff brother love uh, before you know, while he was dropping his album, Yup.
Speaker 1:Uh, it was. It was called the love album, the love album.
Speaker 3:And, uh, I think you had your conversation with him.
Speaker 1:First, yeah Me and S shout out to Esquire.
Speaker 3:Shout out to Esquire.
Speaker 1:Shout out to J2 because J to want to plug this to that whole uh and um and I'll over at a workshop.
Speaker 3:But uh, j and um, he was in there. You know I play boy what y'all got All right, this is real. Yeah, and then you told me the same thing, oh shit, and I was happy for you, right? You know what I mean, Like oh, you get that shit. Yeah. Of course you said the same thing, because then you know hate type of shit.
Speaker 1:No, and that's the thing, bro. Like we, never, it's never. It's never no hate with me, it's never no hate with you. Like we, we embrace each other. Because it's like I see a lot, of, a lot of us going around man, it's like the new, the new, the old word, but it's make they making it new again. It's dick riding. Like no, bro. Like I'm rooting for my homies for real. Like, if you win it, if you get in a position to win, I'm rooting for you.
Speaker 1:Like you know what I'm saying. Like we all, like I was telling people we ain't got to talk every day, but we check in with each other. You know what I'm saying. You would send me something like yo, what you think about this. I'll send you something like damn, who was that? What artist is that? You know what I'm saying. So it's like, well, artists and producers and whatever you in, you know what I mean. They need to start understanding that like, bro, we, we bigging up each other. Like we not here for the bullshit, like the hating, and we not hating on nobody. Like you know what I mean At all. Like we want, if it's, if it's dope, it's dope. If it's not, we going to tell you it's not. And you got to be able to take that constructive criticism and just keep it moving, like you got to know when it's constructive criticism and just pure hate. You know what I'm saying, cause sometimes people do behave man.
Speaker 1:But yeah, that album definitely was waiting. I mean, it was just waiting, just waiting to hear something back. You know what I mean. S S doing his thing too, man, and like, we were just like I don't know, but we was man, we was in the studio cooking up like left and right, and then the songwriters would hit us up and we'll be on FaceTime and then they'd be like, oh, put the.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you ever had this problem, but one songwriter was like, yeah, the key on that auto tune, cause we were engineered too Like, so we were made to be sending to them. They're sending it back to us record it, and then they'll ask us to to mix it Like you know what I mean, mix it to to the point where we can send it off. And one time, bro, like the dude was singing in the wrong key and he had his auto tune set in the wrong key and I'm like, bro, this beat is in like A, a minor. Why are you in F? Like this shit is in F. He like bro, just put it in F, just do it, just do it. I'm like all right.
Speaker 3:It's a lot easier if you sing closer to the key.
Speaker 1:Yeah, cause I'm like all right, mix the joint, send it back to him. You know what I mean. I don't know, I don't know if it hit his desk or whatever. But yeah, man, that'd be the thing, just the hurry up and wait. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Hurry up and make this beat but send it out and then it's just a waiting game. You know what I'm saying. And some, some we got to figure out too Like why does the waiting game Cause you know if you like it or not, yeah, you know what I'm saying Say yes or no?
Speaker 3:Like the joint, the uh. I got two joints on John Connor's upcoming project, um, and one of the beats from the bougie project for 2019. Classic, I mean 2019.
Speaker 1:I bet you I know which one it is too. When it come out, I'm like I knew it. Yeah. Yep, I already knew it, but like I'm like, but speak on that, bro, cause 2019, you released a beat tape, an instrumental tape, yeah, in 2019, here it is in 2024. So five years in in this joint by the release. Yeah.
Speaker 1:People. They got to understand. Like I always tell people, like we used to be on the critiques, I'm like look man, it may not be for this time now, but it might be for some time later. Yeah, you know what I'm saying and that's specifically a beat right there that I really can like go back and be like look, shawta, was Shawta made this beat five years ago and it's just hitting the streets.
Speaker 3:It's not you know what I'm saying? The artist who had it before him who was killing it right now in DC Nucci.
Speaker 1:You get at the Nucci, yeah, at the Nucci.
Speaker 3:That's how the Nucci we had it joined out, but he put it out on a. He just made a little video on Instagram. She was going up Right and then she, you know took it down. Yeah.
Speaker 3:I'm like he took it down and I don't know, but like he invited me to like a studio session in a beat that now John Clonah is. I heard the record. I go oh shit, you know what I mean. It was like a little listening party. Nothing ever came out or whatever, and I don't want to wait on these artists.
Speaker 1:Yeah, don't do that either.
Speaker 3:You know like.
Speaker 1:Don't do that either.
Speaker 3:Because they ain't waiting on you, they not. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Don't do that either.
Speaker 3:So he a talented guy and I like what he doing. The porch, yeah, the porch. Yeah, that's fire, bro, that's fire.
Speaker 1:Like I'm starting to like go go music a little bit more than I did when I first got here.
Speaker 3:You know what I'm saying I mean, I like the young ladies.
Speaker 1:The ladies definitely do be killing it Right out to all the go-go's man TCB, ccb, I think I seen on their backyard.
Speaker 3:I be trying to follow them you know what I mean, but what I do respect about the go-go scene, though, is the artist. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that part and I love that they fixing the mixes, because that's what made me not like go-go.
Speaker 1:The mix will hurt my ears. Man and I went to a, didn't even know it was a go-go. I went to this like putt-putt golf joint for my man's key birthday. Now, I went to putt-putt golf, it was throw social and upstairs they had like it was like grass inside, like it was grass, but it was like cabanas and everything it was dope, like it was a dope spot. And CCB was there.
Speaker 1:Shout out to Kid Exclusive. You met Kid off of a clubhouse. He fired too Kid Exclusive producer. Shout out to Kid. He played the keys for CCB and I didn't even know it. So I'm just chilling listening to the song. I'm like like bro, that's Kid. So I texted him. I said yo, bro, when you take a break, like I'm here. I didn't know you was why you didn't tell me you was. He's like oh shit. So we chopped it up. But the mix is what made me fall in love with it, because the mix sounded so good. I remember bouncing at Layla when I used to bounce at Layla and all the go-go's would come and the mix would be so cringing man, and I'd be like man, I'm about to go outside. I ain't about to stand here and do security, I'm going to do security outside. I can't do it because it used to hurt my ears, bro, and I know deep down inside it's all about your engineer getting everything right, but a lot of times they used to just come and play instead of-.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they just love.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they just come and play and not like you know, test out the drill, test out the mics, test out everything. But yeah, man, that off the porch is definitely a gym for the city. Man, it's definitely a gym for the city. But before we get out of here, bro, I always do gym class. What's a gym that you can leave for the people of relationships worth more than money, like anything? It can be a gym that can you know what I mean Keeping a toolbox, producer, artist, whoever it's, for whoever, whatever you, Helena R Safety ochre whatever, always keep getting better, always keep learning.
Speaker 3:Never think that you know everything. Just keep trying to learn you shit comes out all the time.
Speaker 1:Stay up on it.
Speaker 3:I saw a new master in plug-in. Oh shit. It does so much and that decreases the time you got to, you know, for mixing this shit. You know what I mean Always be learning.
Speaker 1:Yeah, stay learning. That's definitely a great jump because for us man, it's producers, man Producing and we engineer. You know what I mean. We fall in love with what we got, but then it's something new that will be something so much better, like the God particle.
Speaker 3:Yeah you know, what I'm saying but now I'm on something else.
Speaker 1:Yeah, then it's like OK, the master plan now. Yeah, that was next.
Speaker 3:I like it. Don't get me wrong, but like it's so, it weighs so heavy on the CPU. Yeah. When I found out there's a master plan and the dude went to Howard so he's black. Oh shit, I got a you know what I mean. But, like great. Oh, one more thing. Who's it? Yeah, the master plan. What are you? Yeah. Oh, that's what it is. All right, I'm 39 years old. Right. But I can battle with people 18 or whatever, Like you can put my beats in that shit and it won't sound dangerous. Yeah.
Speaker 3:My issue with people a little older than me or my era. Sometimes I'm not saying all about a lot of them. You get stuck in that era or and like, yeah, why your 808's not? You know what I mean. Like you still got to, no matter how old you get or whatever, you still got to remain competitive, right, and not meaning like I'm battling everybody, but meaning like you should be able to put your shit in the room. I know who the fuck did it, don't care. Race, age, creed, whatever. Right.
Speaker 3:Oh no, that shit hard. Yeah. I mean.
Speaker 1:And understand, like you said, learning and getting better these young is learning a faster way than we did. You know what I'm saying. So, like, don't try to like knock what they got, what they doing, because, like you said, they get stuck in that era and I think that's where New York fell off and Atlanta took over, you know what I'm saying Because they were stuck in that era.
Speaker 1:But then they tried to bring it back with the UK drill. But it's the UK. Yeah, the UK already had it. Now y'all got the drill. Now it's like the drill is fizzling out now.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Now what y'all gonna do Now. More people are fucking with that and I call it a niche. Sound at first but, slowly now, Drake on it. That a Griselda sound.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's the thing. Like it's. Stay contium with your sound, but also learn to step outside of your sound, like, learn how to like do. That's when I start. I start learning how to do UK drill. I start stepping outside my normal comfort zone just to see if I can really do it. And again, that leaves more doors open for artists. Hey, what you got, tweet what you got. So like IE, it was a time trails supposed to come to the studio. Shout out to Will to his studio quality touch.
Speaker 1:I ended up working with Phomes, his right hand man, and you know like again, he was like yo, he did a video and everything for the song and he was like yo, y'all get me like a hundred likes or something like that. I'm going to drop the video. Of course, you know I flooded the joint, but it's like that man, it's like you never know. Like who you going to rock run into. And I had already had beats. Like, when he came downstairs I already had a beat playing. You know what I mean Because I was the only producer there.
Speaker 1:So I was like man, play this and had this running. And when he came in he was like yo, who was this? Right? Like who beat us? This? I'm like it's me. He's like yo. Can I get on this? Go ahead, do your thing. You know what I mean and that's how you continue to build those relationships. You know what I'm saying. Well, once again, bro, I appreciate you for finally coming you know what I mean it's been a long time to get us to like Trying to put this together.
Speaker 1:Put this together, man. But this is a special episode for me, man. Episode 10. Sound Cartel If it wasn't for Sound Cartel, it would be no me. You know what I'm saying. So I had to make sure this first 2024 episode be the one to start off the year, man, and next week we'll be in Philly. You know what I mean. At the pod con man, Go beat Wallo and them. So yeah, man, Appreciate you bro.
Speaker 1:And that Anytime, bro, and we always want to get you back. Oh, we got to start the the pod, not the pod, but the music critiques, the beat and song critiques again, man, it can be Sound Cartel, don't matter, ten zero Sound Cartel, whatever, because it's all like me, oh, that's me. Yes, all family like that man. Here we go for any.