{"id":191447,"date":"2024-01-25T19:45:17","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T19:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=191447"},"modified":"2024-01-25T20:00:20","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T20:00:20","slug":"dot-da-genius-on-kid-cudi-kanye-the-possibility-of-a-producers-strike-and-why-he-wants-to-completely-overhaul-the-current-music-industry-business-model","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/dot-da-genius-on-kid-cudi-kanye-the-possibility-of-a-producers-strike-and-why-he-wants-to-completely-overhaul-the-current-music-industry-business-model\/","title":{"rendered":"Dot Da Genius on Kid Cudi, Kanye, the possibility of a producers’ strike and why he wants to ‘completely overhaul’ the current music industry business model"},"content":{"rendered":"

MBW\u2019s World\u2019s Greatest Producers series sees us interview \u2013 and celebrate \u2013 some of the outstanding talents working in studios across the decades. Dot Da Genius is best known as the producer of Kid Cudi’s biggest hits, but his CV – and ambition – is much deeper and wider than that. World\u2019s Greatest Producers is supported by Hipgnosis Song Management.<\/a><\/p>\n

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<\/a>\"Music<\/i><\/a><\/figure>

2009 was a very good year for Oladipo Omishore. In one 12-month period, the producer and songwriter \u2013 better known as Dot Da Genius \u2013 graduated from university, became a dad and had the first monster hit of his career with Kid Cudi\u2019s\u00a0Day \u2018N\u2019 Nite<\/em>, which went to No.3 on the US Hot 100 and rewrote rap\u2019s sonic template.<\/p>\n

But it also marked the year when he got serious about the music industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was working security for\u00a0Vice<\/em>\u00a0magazine at the time,\u201d he remembers. \u201cDay \u2018N\u2019 Nite<\/em>\u00a0would play on the radio and I\u2019m telling them, \u2018I made this beat, we made this song\u2019. And they were like, \u2018If you made this song, you would not be here working security!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI had no idea where the money came from or how to get it; my introduction to the world of publishing was abrupt. You don\u2019t understand where the revenue streams are coming from and the terms that the publishers come up with\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

As a diligent student, Omishore hit the library to educate himself about how the industry worked \u2013 something that has stood him in good stead on his journey from the streets of Brooklyn to the penthouse suite of hip-hop production, working with the likes of Kanye West, Nas, Eminem, Travis Scott and Lil Nas X.<\/p>\n

It’s his enduring collaboration with Cudi that has really made his mark though. They met when both were just starting out and Cudi even lived with the producer and his family for two years in Brooklyn (\u201cMy parents came from Nigeria, they\u2019re very strict in some ways and I\u2019m sure that was a shock for him. But it didn\u2019t take long for my parents to feel as if, \u2018OK, this is one of ours\u2019\u201d), helping to construct an unbreakable bond that has produced classic songs such as\u00a0Marijuana<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Tequila Shots<\/em>, and even spawned an alternative rock band, WZRD, and a film score, for Cudi\u2019s\u00a0Entergalactic<\/em>\u00a0Netflix animated special.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019ve seen each other through many different moments in our lives; it forged this friendship and this trust.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWhen you meet somebody before they have their moment, it\u2019s a more genuine kind of connection,\u201d Omishore says. \u201cBecause it\u2019s two people that aren\u2019t trying to capitalize off one another, they\u2019re just chasing a journey. We\u2019ve seen each other through many different moments in our lives; it forged this friendship and this trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dot Da Genius (the name is no hip-hop brag; it\u2019s part childhood nickname given for his intellectual prowess, part homage to Jay-Z\u2019s S. Carter sneaker collection) credits his father with making him take piano lessons as a kid and opening his eyes to the idea that music could be a profession. Inspired by the likes of Pharrell and Timbaland (\u201cCharacters that were right there next to the artist\u201d), he began forging beats in his bedroom while he studied electrical engineering at NYU and is eyeing a future as an entrepreneur as well as a producer.<\/p>\n

He has his own production company, Headbanga Muzik Group, and recently formed a new publishing partnership with OTM Music, the boutique publishing company with a big reputation for placements with the likes of Apple, Netflix and EA.<\/p>\n

“OTM Music proactively partners with world-building producers who are at the center\u00a0of\u00a0culture, and\u00a0Dot\u00a0Da\u00a0Genius\u00a0literally sets the platinum standard,\u201d says OTM SVP of Creative\/Head of North America Melissa Woods Maskan, who says they plan to connect the producer with creatives across music, film, TV, advertising and video games.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe possibilities are really endless and span across every musical genre and media platform,\u201d adds OTM CEO\/founder Alex Sheridan. \u201cIn one sense, he\u2019s a legendary creator and hitmaker, and in another, he\u2019s just at the beginning\u00a0of\u00a0his story with so much ahead.”<\/p>\n

With\u00a0Entergalactic<\/em>\u00a0having expanded his musical horizons (\u201cIt was like discovering a new muscle\u201d), Omishore says he wants to work on more film music and also collaborate with musicians beyond the hip-hop scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t just fancy myself as a rap producer,\u201d he grins. \u201cI can step into any space and add value, contribute and do something new that still feels like me.\u201d<\/p>\n

First though, it\u2019s time for him to sit down in LA and talk to MBW<\/em> about Cudi, Kanye and why the music industry\u2019s business model needs a remix\u2026<\/p>\n

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WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO DO THE DEAL WITH OTM?<\/h6>\n

As a young kid coming from the inner city of Brooklyn, when you have all this legalese being thrown around and you\u2019re meeting all these different people, it\u2019s impossible to be guided right or even know what\u2019s important.<\/p>\n

“These are the things you have to spend years in the industry learning.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These are the things you have to spend years in the industry learning. After doing this for 15 years, I\u2019ve had the pleasure of working with many major [companies] and, although they have their benefits, this was the right time for me to partner with somebody with a very specific vision and keen understanding of what I am as a music creator.<\/p>\n

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WAS YOUR CHEMISTRY WITH KID CUDI INSTANT?<\/h6>\n

Our energy and our synergy was almost instantaneous. Cudi is a very charming, very personable guy. He is from Cleveland, so the way he looked at the world was different, the way he talked was different.<\/p>\n

“Musically, when we first got together, [Kid Cudi] was way more advanced in his vision of himself and what he wanted to be as an artist.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Musically, when we first got together, he was way more advanced in his vision of himself and what he wanted to be as an artist. I had just started really taking producing seriously.<\/p>\n

But he saw the potential in what I was doing, he saw my capabilities and the greatness in me and I saw the greatness in him, it was obvious. But did I ever think it would be like this? No, that was never a thought.<\/p>\n

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WHEN YOU WERE MAKING\u00a0DAY \u2018N\u2019 NITE, DID YOU REALIZE WHAT AN INFLUENTIAL RECORD IT WOULD BECOME?<\/h6>\n

No sir! Cudi had an idea, he felt it had the potential to be a big record. But it was just another day in the studio, another day of trying to make a good song. That\u2019s one of the beautiful things about this business: you just do you, and the world decides it loves that \u2013 and that was my first experience with it.<\/p>\n

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