Haastattelussa Frisco-tuottaja Metropolis Music.
- What’s up, Metropolis? Introduce yourself to our readers.
I am the second half of “Metropolis Music / Think Bigg Vision,” a label that me and Bigg Quint from U.D.I. started about ten years ago. We began with “Fifth Element,” and from there the label has expanded; to date, we have six albums and at least 150 singles.
- How did you start making music in the first place?
Growing up in San Francisco and in the area where me and Bigg Quint come from, music was a part of everything we did. The ’80s era is underrated and can be debated as the best music era ever. If you were a square or a part of the mob, you used music as a means to express what we were experiencing growing up during the birth of the crack epidemic.
- Where do you find your artistic inspiration?
I get my inspiration from pretty much anything that makes me feel. Lately, it’s been the Bay; our sound is unlike any other coast. The Mekanix are producers from Oakland that I keep on repeat, along with DJ Fresh and Traxamillion. Bassline is a Bay signature.
- What is the best part of making beats?
Making beats can be like falling into a trance state, and while in that trance, there’s no other feeling like it. It’s like you’re outside the matrix.
- How would you define your style?
My style is unorthodox slap. My style is no style, like Bruce Lee; I flow but with force.
- Do you have any advice for producers working on their craft?
Make music from the heart, and don’t let anybody change your beat concept. Create a tag and put it on every work, like a signature. Stand your ground and network. If producers would connect more often, can you imagine the music that would be made? Find other producers and build and share with one another. I’m always ready to work with artists, and my famous saying is, “It Only Takes One.”
- Who are your favorite producers who have inspired you when it comes to making beats?
Teddy Riley has got to be one of the most underrated and dopest producers ever to do it. The Mekanix, of course, because they keep the basslines slappin’, and DJ Fresh.
- What is the first album you ever owned? How did you acquire it?
Stevie Wonder’s “Songs In the Key of Life” was a gift from my father, and that album opened me up to melody.
- What’s your relationship with Bigg Quint of U.D.I.?
My brother from another mother. We have known one another since 1977. We are the owners of the Metropolis Music / Think Bigg Vision label.
- Outside of music, do you have other hobbies/interests?
I’m working on a movie script, a book, and a SoundCloud project. I also meditate.
- What is next for you?
I just dropped a four-single project with Bonnie Legion and Jove Mayse, two artists that I’ve recently hooked up with on Choon. The Metropolis Camp is dropping an album, and Cyba, a female rapper from London, is dropping a project in February 2019.
- Any parting words for our readers?
Tap in with the music on my page at https://www.choon.co/artists/metropolismusic69/. If you’ve got heat, send me an email, and let’s make music.
Haastattelu: Fileerausveitsi
