{"id":207355,"date":"2024-07-29T16:04:31","date_gmt":"2024-07-29T15:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=207355"},"modified":"2024-07-29T16:04:31","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T15:04:31","slug":"artists-like-drake-and-travis-scott-push-me-to-go-to-my-limits-every-time-i-make-music-for-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/artists-like-drake-and-travis-scott-push-me-to-go-to-my-limits-every-time-i-make-music-for-them\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Artists like Drake and Travis Scott push me to go to my limits every time I make music for them.’"},"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. This time out we speak to Swiss producer\/songwriter OZ, now established as a major player through his work with Drake, Travis Scott, Jack Harlow and others. World\u2019s Greatest Producers is supported by Hipgnosis Song Management<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

What\u2019s the best 300 bucks you\u2019ve ever spent?<\/p>\n

Producer Ozan Yildirim \u2013 better known as OZ \u2013 knows exactly what he spent it on: it was the 250 Swiss francs he shelled out to a contact in exchange for Meek Mill\u2019s email address.<\/p>\n

At the time, he was based in a small village in Switzerland and, while he was making a name for himself in European hip-hop production, the all-important American market, whilst in thrall to Swizz Beatz, had little appetite for actual Swiss beats, meaning he was struggling to get noticed on the other side of the Atlantic.<\/p>\n

One transaction later, however, and legendary rapper Mill was in possession of a WeTransfer link with 10 precision-tooled OZ beats attached.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the best investment of my life!\u201d chuckles OZ. \u201cI was very frustrated during that time. Normally, I\u2019m not a person that goes and asks for favors. I knew my beats were very good. I had a lot of experience working with German artists, I\u2019d put two albums together on my own, with no collaborations, so I was like, \u2018My beats got way better, so I have to try it, because I know he\u2019s going to like my stuff\u2019. The worst thing he could say was \u2018No’.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luckily, Mill was impressed and brought in OZ to co-write and co-produce on the likes of Been That<\/em> (feat. Rick Ross) and Cold Hearted<\/em> (feat. Puff Daddy). That led to more work Stateside and the rest is transatlantic hip-hop history.<\/p>\n

Mill\u2019s patronage was a game-changer for OZ, whose talent had never been in doubt, simply hampered by his unfashionable location. Of Turkish descent, OZ grew up in Switzerland, and became obsessed with rap music through the clips he saw on MTV.<\/p>\n

He started DJ-ing when he was 12 (\u201cI wasn\u2019t in the club, because I could get in the club!\u201d he quips), then progressed to making his own beats on Magix Music Maker software by the time he was 14. In the mid-2000s, he started posting them on YouTube and MySpace and \u201csending my beats out to random rappers\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t thinking about my career, I was just having fun,\u201d he says. \u201cThere was no scene [in Switzerland], America looked very far away and there were no other producers I could look up to in Europe where I could say, \u2018I want to be like him.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually, however, Austrian rapper Nazar got in touch and signed OZ to his No Limits stable. As German-language hip-hop grew, so did OZ\u2019s reputation, but still he dreamed of making it big Stateside.<\/p>\n

“It scared me a little bit, but I believed in myself.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI was 18 or 19 and I could barely speak English,\u201d he says. \u201cI didn\u2019t know how it worked and people told me crazy stories about how it is in America; how you have to speak the language and you have to be from there \u2013 things that were impossible for me at the time. It scared me a little bit, but I believed in myself. The fact that I was working in Germany gave me a positive mindset; I knew I\u2019d made it there, so why shouldn\u2019t I make it in the States?\u201d<\/p>\n

And, after his breakthrough with Meek Mill, that\u2019s exactly what he did. Signed to Kobalt, he\u2019s become the consummate modern co-writer\/co-producer and a key collaborator for the likes of Drake (Toosie Slide, Girls Want Girls<\/em>), Travis Scott (Sicko Mode, Highest In The Room<\/em>), Future (Life Is Good<\/em>) and many more.<\/p>\n

An astounding seven billion streams later (\u201cI never take for granted the privilege of having platinum songs\u201d), he’s on another hot streak with the likes of Drake\u2019s First Person Shooter<\/em> and Jack Harlow\u2019s monster crossover hit Lovin\u2019 On Me<\/em>, and now has his own stable of producers as he looks to help others get the breaks he worked so hard for.<\/p>\n

As he chats to MBW<\/em> from his Swiss HQ, OZ fizzes with plans to move into genres beyond hip-hop. But first, it\u2019s time to talk us through Drake, AI and why artists need to give producers more respect\u2026<\/p>\n

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WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED WORKING WITH US ARTISTS, DID YOU REALIZE WHAT A TRAIL YOU WERE BLAZING FOR EUROPEAN HIP-HOP PRODUCERS?<\/h6>\n

No, because I was so focused. I wasn\u2019t thinking about being a pioneer.<\/p>\n

There was one producer in Berlin who worked with someone in America, but that was something he did once. My plan was to do that constantly, not just one song and then it\u2019s over.<\/p>\n

Once I started working with Meek, some hip-hop pages started writing articles about me and I started to realize this was huge for everyone, not just for me. A lot of producers started texting me and telling me how motivated they were because I started going overseas and showed them [it was possible].<\/p>\n

I realized it was something special, but I was focused on staying in the American industry. I wanted to be in there forever and live off music.<\/p>\n

I believe that you can achieve anything from anywhere, as long as you are willing to put the work in. Of course, it is a big industry and at that time the main center was the US. Additionally, people were telling me I would not make it, so I definitely had my doubts at times. Especially coming from a small village in Switzerland! But my belief in my vision was bigger than my doubts and the voices around me.<\/p>\n

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WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING IN THE US WHEN YOU FINALLY GOT THERE?<\/h6>\n

It wasn\u2019t like what people had warned me about. When I was making beats in 2008 or 2009, in my mind, I was doing beats for Usher.<\/p>\n

I had this American friend in the industry and he always told me, \u2018You have to be prepared, because once you\u2019re in the room with Usher or big artists like him, you have to be the leader in the studio, tell them how to sing\u2019. I\u2019m like, \u2018How can I tell Usher how to sing? He\u2019s a pro!\u2019<\/p>\n

But, after a couple of years, I figured out that there are so many people working on one song, it\u2019s not just the artist and the producer. And that definitely made my life easier. I had more belief and, once I started working with American people, my language got better.<\/p>\n

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WHAT\u2019S THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF PRODUCTION FOR YOU?<\/h6>\n

Beats have always been a source of inspiration for me. As English is not my native language, I did not always understand the lyrics of the songs I listened to as a teenager. However, I was fascinated by the art as a whole. Even today I tend to focus more on the overall vibe of a song rather than its lyrics.<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/i><\/a><\/figure>YOU ONCE SAID THAT DRAKE MAKES YOU A BETTER PRODUCER. HOW DOES HE DO THAT?<\/h6>\n

Drake as an artist is picky, he knows what he wants and it\u2019s always evolving. Working with him has taken my creative process to the next level and the art we create separately and together makes it work so well.<\/p>\n

There are so many amazing producers out there sending music to Drake or Travis [Scott] \u2013 those artists always try to find new sounds and it\u2019s always a challenge.<\/p>\n

So, when we have a song drop, I\u2019m already thinking about what\u2019s coming next. It\u2019s rare that someone takes the same production twice, it\u2019s always about what\u2019s next? Artists like Drake or Travis know what they\u2019re looking for, so that was a challenge to me and that\u2019s how I always get better and better.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not easy to make songs with artists like Drake or Travis. I can\u2019t just sit down, do nothing and be like, \u2018This will work out somehow\u2019. It pushes me to go to my limits every time I make music for them.<\/p>\n

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IS THAT HOW YOU ACQUIRED YOUR REPUTATION FOR ALWAYS MOVING YOUR SOUND ON?<\/h6>\n

Yeah. I know I\u2019m not the only producer in the whole industry \u2013 I have to do something that other people don\u2019t do. I have to get better, try new sounds, try new ways to stand out with my production \u2013 that\u2019s definitely something that makes me go harder.<\/p>\n

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WHAT\u2019S IT LIKE TO BE IN THE MIDDLE OF A HUGE HIT LIKE LOVIN\u2019 ON ME?<\/em><\/strong><\/h6>\n

There was definitely something special with that song. When I was making the music, I knew right away; this is a production that everyone\u2019s going to like.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s timeless, it gives you good energy \u2013 when you play it, you will get in the mood to dance and have a good time. Normally, I don\u2019t have that feeling, but I knew during the process, this could stand out and go crazy worldwide.<\/p>\n