{"id":199544,"date":"2024-04-30T19:28:48","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T18:28:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=199544"},"modified":"2024-04-30T19:28:48","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T18:28:48","slug":"there-are-so-many-people-who-make-beats-but-dont-know-how-to-produce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/there-are-so-many-people-who-make-beats-but-dont-know-how-to-produce\/","title":{"rendered":"‘There are so many people who make beats but don’t know how to produce.’"},"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. Here we meet T-Minus, a Canadian producer who got his first big break making beats for Drake and has gone on to work with many of the biggest names in modern hip-hop. World\u2019s Greatest Producers is supported by Hipgnosis Song Management<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>\"Music<\/i><\/a><\/figure>Tyler Williams, who co-produced J. Cole\u2019s recent mixtape Might Delete Later<\/i>, which charted at No.2 in the US in April, never imagined he\u2019d make a career out of what was once a hobby.<\/p>\n

He set off on the rather less glamorous path of accounting, before a few chance meetings around the small Canadian town of Whitby, just outside of Toronto, where he grew up, changed his course.<\/p>\n

One of those meetings happened to be a young Drake, which led to Williams, who is now better known as T-Minus, producing a beat for his 2007 single, Replacement Girl<\/i> featuring Trey Songz. The young producer later came into contact with Ludacris via a friend and, after incessantly hounding him with tracks, one became the 2009 hit single How Low<\/i>, which earned multi-platinum status and added rocket-fuel to Williams\u2019 then burgeoning career.<\/p>\n

A publishing deal with Warner Chappell followed and Williams decided to pursue music full time. Cuts with Nicki Minaj (Moment 4 Life<\/i>) and T.I. (Poppin\u2019 Bottles<\/i>), both of which featured Drake, led Williams to work on the latter\u2019s 2011 album, Take Care<\/i>, which hit No.1 in the US and Canada.<\/p>\n

Since then, he\u2019s worked with a long list of artists including Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Justin Bieber and many more besides.<\/p>\n

Growing up, Williams was inspired by Timbaland\u2019s Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado era, The Neptunes, producer and DJ Just Blaze (Eminem, Kanye, Diddy) and R&B producer Bryan-Michael Cox (Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Toni Braxton).<\/p>\n

“The thing that I’m constantly focused on is how do you separate yourself from the rest?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Discussing his own style, he says: \u201cThe thing that I’m constantly focused on is how do you separate yourself from the rest? Or how do you make something that’s special and unique? I’ve gone through different eras of different styles but making tracks with different styles and different sounds is, to me, a testament of true creativity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t want to be seen as a producer who just makes a certain style of beat. So it’s hard to pinpoint what my sound is, but what I will say is that it\u2019s constantly evolving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here, we chat to Williams about lessons learned across his career, seminal moments, working with Lamar, Cole and the biggest challenges that come with working as a producer today.<\/p>\n

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What makes a great producer, in your opinion?<\/h6>\n

Attention to detail and filling in the blanks when needed. When I’m working with an artist and they play me a song, I’m always looking for moments that could be missing and how to make things better. I think that’s a really good sign of doing great work as a producer.<\/p>\n

Then, paying attention to the details of things, like the sonic value of what you’re creating. Whenever I listen to or make a track, I’m always trying to pick the right drum sounds, the right synth sounds or melodies and have it glued together really well. And be involved in the mixing process. It’s a multi-layer thing. Being a producer is more than just making a beat, of course, but I also think it\u2019s all about staying through the process, through the entire recording and song.<\/p>\n

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How do you cultivate good and lasting relationships with artists?<\/h6>\n

I stay in touch and try to frequently send them tracks when I’m not with them. Most artists are being thrown into different rooms with different producers all the time. I might have a session with an artist next week, but then he’s going to have sessions with another producer and another producer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So it’s about staying on their minds and bringing value to whatever they’re trying to do. That could be helping them pick tracks or it could be listening to their music and giving critique. These are ways that I have good relationships with artists. It\u2019s not just about sending beats anymore. It’s also about how can I make your songs better? How can I make you sound better or what can I provide that you need for your project?<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/i><\/a><\/figure>You did a lot of work on J. Cole\u2019s Might Delete Later<\/i>. Can you tell me how your relationship with him started?<\/h6>\n

I met Cole back in 2017. I’d received his contact from a good friend of mine named Matt McNeal [VP of A&R at Warner Records\/President of Money Makin\u2019 Management]. I ran into him at a studio and he gave me Cole\u2019s email. I started sending tracks to him and Cole asked me to text him, which is a better way to send beats nowadays because artists are not usually checking emails as much as they used to.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the time, he was away on vacation and that’s when I landed the track Kevin’s Heart<\/i>. Then we decided to link up one time in LA and from that point, we kept in touch and I started getting more involved in his production and his artistry. J. Cole is known for being a producer, artist, engineer, he wears many hats, but one of his greatest strengths is songwriting and when I came in to produce, he was able to focus mainly on his artistry and his pen.<\/p>\n

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Your work with Kendrick Lamar, and on the track Swimming Pools<\/i>, in particular, is another seminal point in your career. How did that happen?<\/h6>\n

Back in 2011, I linked up with Kendrick and Schoolboy Q and played them tracks and I remember him taking the Swimming Pools<\/i> beat. One of the A&Rs at Interscope was like, \u2018Kendrick is at the hotel, he’s writing to this track,\u2019 and played me a voice note or a video recording of him writing to the Swimming Pools<\/i> track, which was really cool.<\/p>\n

It was such a great process because I never imagined that song was going to blow up. I didn’t think it was going to be that big of a hit song and one of his first hit songs. The track itself was for another artist but the other artist was debating whether to take it or not and they ended up passing on it.<\/p>\n