BlapChat

What's it like to go from being too shy to present in front of a classroom at school, to literally rocking festivals in front of tens of thousands of people for a living? Well, we spoke to the man himself. One of our favorite producers and part of the great collective Soulection. We talk about "record placements" all of the time. It's usually a goal for most up and coming music producers. But, what about the other side of the game? What's it like to be a producer without too many major placements, but have millions of streams on Soundcloud, an amazing social media following & the ability to rock stages across the globe in front of thousands of people alongside your homies, playing the music that YOU created? That's an amazing feeling. We spoke to ESTA on the trials and tribulations, and his journey thus far.

I'm extra excited about this episode (I mean, what else is new? lol). This kid Medasin is a PROBLEM! In the last 3-4 years, he's managed to build a really amazing fanbase as a music producer. Unlocking the so called "Soundcloud Code" he's racked up millions of views, streams & follows. He's toured the world. He's rocked stadiums. It's all super authentic and super impressive. The best part about it is that his music is super creative and a nice breath of fresh air, sonically. We go deep into the roots of how he started, why he started, where he is now and an unpredictable turning point in discovering self fulfillment. One of my favorites.

Episode 50! Wowzers! In this special episode, we interview a gentleman you all should get to know and be familiar with. He is the music supervisor for the hit HBO series "Insecure" (shouts to Issa she's a genius!) and is well connected in the TV & FILM music licensing industry. We get tons of questions regarding the placement of your music and beats on TV shows, Movies, etc. The ultimate question is always "how do I get my music on these shows!?". Well, our friend Kier is here to break the whole sh*t down for you with jewels and information on how to go about doing it the RIGHT way. If you're serious about your music production, it would be foolish to not listen to this episode.

You asked for it. We delivered! This week we decided to do an entire episode of only BLAP OR CRAP! If you've been living under a rock, you're probably wondering.. What is "Blap Or Crap"?? Well, it's a segment in our podcast where we listen to random beat submissions found on www.beatthread.com and if we like the beat, we give it a "BLAP" rating. If we don't like it, we give it a "CRAP" rating. We also give a bit of constructive criticism (mostly destructive involving fart noises and toilet flushes lol). Enjoy this BLAP-filled episode, and if you're interested in submitting your beat to our "Blap Or Crap" segment (which we do at the end of every episode by the way) UPLOAD your beats on www.beatthread.com (sign up is FREE) and hashtag #blaporcrap when you upload. It's that simple.

We back baby! In this episode we have one of the filthiest up and coming superstar producers on the rise. He's from Toronto (surprise surprise.. seems like all of the awesome producers are coming from there!) With recent placements on Drake's "More Life", Uzi's "Luv Is Rage 2", Bryson Tiller's "True To Self" & more, 2017 was no doubt his break-out year. At 20 years young, what are the next steps as a music producer after just reaching these new milestones? We dig a little deeper into what life is like for Francis now, what it was like during the grind, his years of building a friendship with the amazing WondaGurl beats and how that relationship changed both of their lives and the importance of being open to collaboration.

Re-live some of our favorite moments. Back next week with a brand new episode! Enjoy!

From being Playboy's "Artist In Residence" (which is a HUUGE deal), to releasing his brand new full PUMA collaboration (shoes + shirts/etc all FIRE), to art pieces cosigned and purchased by Swizz Beats, Diddy, Rihanna & more, Naturel is one of the most influential "new school" visual artists of today. He calls himself a creative. And boy, he is creative as f*ck! He spent years and years discovering himself, grinding to the point where he decided to post some stuff on Instagram. That led to a multitude of milestones and cosigns. It's interesting to discover how similar the ART hustle is to the MUSIC PRODUCTION hustle. What an inspiring story.

I hate labels. I just want to start by making that clear. You knew we'd get here eventually. There's a lot of debate regarding this topic. What I've discovered is that there are many factors that go into play when comparing the two. Do these labels even exist? Maybe they don't. Maybe they're one in the same. Or not. We called a few fans to get their perspective. What makes you a beat maker? What makes you a music producer? Regardless, this discussion had to happen, and it's fascinating.

After !llmind's chat with Gary Vee (the motivational god of all gods!) we wanted to further examine the theory behind what "fun" actually is, and why it's such a crucial component to reaching success and happiness. You'd be surprised at how simple and powerful having fun actually is, especially in the music industry. As music creators, it's easy to get frustrated by the grind. We tend to focus on the negative things, and we start to second guess what we're doing. In this episode, we examine what "fun" actually is and how to achieve it at the highest level.

Longevity is the key. So the question is, how do you attain that in the music industry? Well, our guest Jake One might have a few ideas. 15+ years in the game. Platinum records. Platinum singles. Grammy nominations. All while staying completely true and consistent with his sound. This is the same guy that produced "Three Kings" (Jay Z, Rick Ross, Dr Dre) "Rock Co.Kane Flow" (De La Soul) "Furthest Thing" (Drake). I mean, we can go on forever. The catalog is crazy, but the stories behind them are even crazier. Another one for the books.