Producergrind Podcast

We are back with another Producergrind Podcast episode filmed out here in Los Angeles. We had the pleasure of interviewing multi-platinum producer & artist FKi 1st aka 1$t at his studio where he told us his legendary come up story being from Atlanta and working with Travis Porter, Post Malone and Iggy Azalea early on to eventually selling many records with Migos, Travis Scott, 2 Chainz and more. FKi 1st shared with us many gems and music career advice, including how to build relationships in the music industry through having good intentions, studio etiquette and tips on how to get in a recording studio, and how engineering launched his career!

We are back with the Producergrind Podcasts after 6 months since quarantine started. We took a trip to LA to interview producer Bone Collector where he gives us gems on working with songwriters in order to get producer placements. Bone Collector also shares his music producer come up story being from the Ivory Coast, moving to France and succeeding in the French music industry, then eventually moving to LA with no relationships, following his gut and manifesting his music career.

Our interview with newly signed QC producer Twysted Genius who just was #1 on the Billboard producer chart after getting placements on Lil Baby My Turn album. We recently dropped the making of Lil Baby Sum 2 Prove with Twysted Genius where he shows you how to make a beat for Lil Baby in FL Studio 20. In this interview we talk about the music producer come up story and how he started coming to Atlanta from his small hometown in Mississippi where he linked up and got signed to Ralo before his complicated series of legal issues. Now Twysted Genius is newly signed to QC aka Quality Control music group alongside other hit makers like OG Parker & Quay Global.

We left quarantine to do a Producergrind interview with Ant Chamberlain! It was worth it cause he dropped a lot of gems for music producers selling beats online. He told us his come up story and how he went from getting barely any views on his beats to in about a year making $20,000 per month on Beatstars selling beats. He started out trying to get placements and actually got a few including one with YFN Lucci and Offset called 'Boss Life' which we showed the making of a few years ago. We talked about him joining the Navy and being at sea with no internet and how that helped him perfect his craft. We also talked about everything going on with the virus this past week and what music producers can expect if we go into a 2020 recession and financial crisis. We hope everyone is staying safe! This is one of our best ones of the year so far 💎💎💎

We got up with Hoodrich Keem for an exclusive interview talking about his come up story, moving to Atlanta, becoming one of the biggest mixtape DJ's in Atlanta & more. We talked a lot about knowing what qualities successful artists should have and knowing who to invest your time into building a relationship with. We talked a lot about how Hoodrich Keem used Twitter and Instagram to network online before coming to Atlanta so when he was finally here it was easier to connect dots and link up with the people he wanted to build with. He dropped a lot of gems on why artists and producers act Hollywood and why he still likes living/working in Atlanta over LA even now a days while LA is getting more and more popular.

Interview with S1 (Symbolyc One) the 3x grammy award winning music producer from Dallas, TX. S1 has become a master at getting placements, including "Kanye West - Power", as well as records with Drake, Jay-Z, Madonna, Eminem & more. S1 pulled up to our studio in ATL to drop some exclusive gems on the producer community. Of course we started with his come up story and his life changing moment when he found out Kanye West flew him out to Hawaii and wanted to use his beat for a song that we now know as "Power." He later signed to Kanye West's production team and started making beats for Very G.O.O.D. Beats & getting placements with superstars like Jay-Z & Beyonce. One of our favorite topics was when S1 talked about how he came up with a plan to quit his job to be a producer full time and actually executed it and made it work. He talked about the importance of having a daily schedule and how much time a producer should be spending on their dream. We also tapped into the spiritual side of S1 and how important maintaining his relationship with God has been to his journey. He warns that many people tend to only talk to god when things are bad and leave him out of the picture when things are going good, a concept that seems like common sense but takes real effort.

Interview with Decap, the producer that created the famous Drums that knock drum kit. Decap pulled up on us at the studio while he was in Atlanta to drop gems on the Producergrind community. We talked a lot more about sound design than usual including the current trend where producers are recording sounds from real life with a field recorder and turning them into free trap drum kits. We also got Decap to tell his journey from when he first started making beats to figuring out how to get sync placements (his first real income from music) and later to getting placements as a producer with DaBaby, Joyner Lucas & more. Now a days Decap spends his time as a successful music producer helping the community with his FL Studio & Ableton Live tutorial videos as well as his Splice drum kit series "Drums That Knock." He has created a 6 figure yearly income by building his personal brand as a music producer NOT by chasing placements or trying to get signed.

Interview with the legend DJ Toomp who is one of, if not, the creator of making trap beats. He has produced countless hits including many of the beats on T.I.'s first succesful albums like Trap Muzik and songs like "U Don't Know Me" as well as the grammy winning T.I. song "What You Know." His producer credits also include Kanye West "Good Life" & "Can't Tell Me Nothing" as well as Young Jeezy "I Luv It" all which went platinum before Apple Music and Spotify streaming was a thing. We covered a wide variety of topics in what is now our LONGEST INTERVIEW yet (lol we know its long AF y'all!)! We talked about how much producers & artists get paid from Spotify and the difference between songs going platinum now vs 15 years ago when selling physical CD's were a major part of the music industry's business model. Carrington and Toomp had a nice convo about the good ol' days when ladies and gentleman would slow dance at the club (oh how they wish it would come back 😔😢) **** We think the MOST IMPORTANT part of this interview is DJ Toomp's groundbreaking idea on ways for producers to get paid every time an artist performs their song at a show or concert (sort of like a government regulated tax.) This is something he also brought up at our Producer Town Hall in Atlanta. This is important because most producers have to rely on getting placements, selling beats & music publishing checks to pay their bills. Another one of our favorite parts of this DJ Toomp interview is when we talked about poor money spending habits made by artist's and producer's who make a lot of money before really getting a financial education

We got up with JD On Tha Track to hear his come up story in this exclusive interview. He grew up in Brazil teaching himself english and hip-hop culture which eventually led to him learning how to make beats in FL Studio and getting placements with Chicago rappers in the drill scene. One of the major keys to his success was believing in and building with an artist who only had 10K followers but later blew up (Lil Tjay.) Now JDOnThaTrack is a multi-platinum producer with a major publishing deal and living the music producer's dream in Atlanta. We talked a lot about how important using twitter & Instagram for getting placements was for him since he was all the way in Brazil with no access to rappers & fellow producers. 'Paying for collabs' is another topic we touch on since JD secured a few placements through collabs and even helped other producers get placements through paid collabs.

We linked up with 21 Savage's official DJ, Marc B, for our first interview of 2020. Marc B is one of the most well known DJs in the Atlanta hip hop scene and has been expanding his brand and network as a producer by dropping songs and compilation albums with up & coming rappers like Young Mal, Doe Boy, SG Tip & more. We talked a lot about the new wave of producers taking the initiative to drop songs on their own own Spotify and Apple Music profiles to have more control over their careers instead of just waiting on getting placements and selling beats. We also talked why music streaming and Spotify playlist and artists focusing on how to get on Spotify playlists really destroyed the careers and income streams of the average mixtape DJ and in Atlanta it went one step further when the city banned 18 & up clubs making it near impossible for DJ's to break music from up & coming rappers. This made it 100% important to focus on the internet and social media marketing for music promotion. The interview gets wrapped up by discussing new years resolutions and why it is hard to stick to them unless you make LIFESTYLE CHANGES!