The main thing about being a producer and not a beatmaker, the difference is the ear.
Metro Boomin
School is the same as producing: If you want to make it far, there are a million, trillion people trying to do the same thing. If you're not in over-grind mode, it's probably not going to work the way that you want it to.
My name is Leland Tyler Wayne. My mom wanted to give me a name where, no matter what I wanted to do, I'd be able to do it. An astronaut. President. Whatever.
Future's like an older brother to me, and Thug's more like a brother my age.
If I stay negative in negative energy, that's what's gonna come back.
I try to take elements from all kinds of music. Even if I'm listening to anything off the wall, like Britney Spears, there might be a certain way someone did something, that I can feel, in some hip-hop flavor.
Coming up, a lot of people I looked up to had a signature sound, but I came up, and I was always in search of one, trying to find it, trying to create one. I was never really able to have a creative signature sound, you know?
When Thug hears a song, he knows how the whole shape of the thing goes. He can nudge the whole frame to the left to make it offbeat and sound how he wants it to sound.
Wiz is a cool guy, humble guy, down to Earth guy. You would really think he was just a regular guy if you didn't know who he was. But he still has a superstar aura about him.
A lot of people are programmed to think, 'Oh, I want to do this, but I also want this.' It's like they want everything. You want your cake, and you want to eat it, too. Even though I guess you're supposed to eat cake, but I never really get that saying.
Two people making a beat is really like one person making a beat. But you have another person's brain. So what might sound good to you, they could flip it a different way. It's really a collaborative effort, really.
I just pretty much go to class, do my work, and go to my dorm and make beats. Or I pull up to a session. That's pretty much my day-to-day.
Me and Future recorded so many songs that as soon as we did 'Honest,' I liked it a lot, but I didn't see it as a single. But he just kept talking about it after we did it like, 'Man, this is big. This is big. It's gonna be a single.'
I'm glad 'Honest' came out right after 'Karate Chop,' because I don't want to be seen as a one-hit wonder.
I stay positive, keep positive energy to myself.
You just need the ear. But the ear is something, I guess, that you can't buy. And I can't play the piano fluently, but I feel like my ear is my strong point.
I just think about how much worse something could be, and I'm like, 'Alright, cool, whatever.' I'm nonchalant.
When I started making beats in the 7th grade - even through middle school and high school - I admired a lot of Shawty Redd, stuff like that, that real dark, trap sound.
I naturally, when I make beats, aim for a darker tone just because I've always preferred those types of feelings.
I don't look at it as, 'Oh, I'm gonna keep making beats, and I'm gonna do that until I die.' But that's how some people look at it - gonna just keep making beats, get placement after placement.
I started making beats when I was 13.
I like my name. If somebody wants to call me Leland, that's cool.
You would think I'm mad or depressed all the time, but that's not the case at all.
When I came up, one of my favorite groups and producers was Three 6 Mafia.
I plan on making my mark on the legacy of hip-hop, period, but also in Atlanta production because there's a lot of history there.
There's always something in Atlanta that's so far from people's comfort zone.
I'm heavily influenced by a lot of people like Dre, Pharrell, and Kanye. They're all big-time tastemakers and trendsetters, just for culture, period. So I strive to do that as well.
I'm always going to be heavy in producing. It's always going to come first. It never can't come first.
Growing up, flute riffs was big in rap back then. It's what I listened to.
One of the things I love about music and making beats is making something and watching someone's reaction, knowing you can do something to manipulate the way people move or act.
In high school, for two years, I made all my beats on earbuds. I'd just guess, so the frequencies would be all off.
That's what helps me in my career: I know how to relate to people, knowing what they want.
Makonnen is a good dude. It's just good energy when he's around.
Pac was real, and he put everything into that music with the passion, creativity, and the drive, and I feel like it's all one in the same with myself.
I grew up in St Louis, just with my mom.
I wanted to rap, but I needed beats. I couldn't buy any, so I just made my own.
On Christmas, when I was 13, my mom got me my first laptop. I downloaded it, FruityLoops, cause I had heard about it, and started messing around.
Future is different from a lot of artists just because of his work ethic.
People like Tay Don, Don Cannon, and OJ Da Juiceman - those were the core people that I rock with. And I still rock with them.
I'm real big on making sure everything is right and taking my time.
You hear what Thug says in his songs - the musical level of it is so crazy that it doesn't register with some people, so they call it trash. But anybody who loves music can appreciate what he's doing.
Ain't nothing wrong with college, but I just feel like everyone's paths are different.
I met Kendrick, and we were in the studio. He picked a bunch of beats out; that was great. He's a great guy - we vibed out for the day.
Any piece of music or album or anything - I don't care what genre - in the States, a piece of it came through Atlanta somehow.
Really, I just sit down, mess around, and play with sounds.
Future's a workaholic. That's definitely the most hard-working artist I know.
A lot of rappers are stars, but people like Drake and Lil Wayne, those are superstars.
Working with Thug and working with Future feels the same. They don't sound like each other, but their creative process and their level of talent is the same. Anybody who knows both of them would agree.
