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Get Familiar: SupaHotBeats

Written by Jake Greene. Published: Friday, June 17, 2011.

Get Familiar: SupaHotBeats Name: SupaHotBeats

Label/Affiliations: SupaHotBeats / Ghet-O-Vision ; Yelawolf / Wiz Khalifa / Rittz / Eminem / Nikkiya / Cyhi Da Prynce / Diamond

Age: NA

Discography: Trunk Muzik, Trunk Muzik 0-60 (Yelawolf)

First hip-hop album?

I bought Eric B and Rakim’s Paid In Full. I don’t really remember the year, but I would say around ‘87 or ‘88.

How did your career get started?

Well I wanted to start a record label back in ’98 and I didn’t have a set producer that could work in-house. At that time though, I was just getting into producing. I had a machine called a Roland VS 880 and I put that with a Sonic keyboard and just started making beats.

In retrospect, if you played one of your beats from back when you first started, would it sound anything like what you’re on now?

Not at all… [laughs], but I did have the luxury of kinda being tutored by a friend named Byron Counts. He was a producer and helped give me great understanding of how to make beats, how to produce records and create personal reads for each instrument in my music. The first record that I did was for this artist named Felicia Welch. Listening to it today – I just kinda laugh about it because compared to what I’m doing now of course, you can hear the growth. In that record though – you could still tell that there was a lot of love and energy put into that record. I’ve grown over time. My sound selection and drum selection is a lot better now. You learn as you grow, so now I hear things different. I’m quite sure ten years from now I should be on some other shit.

Were you working with Yelawolf when he was signed to Columbia?

Yeah I was and what’s really crazy about that is that I came in on the project right when Yelawolf was just about done with creating his album for Columbia. As soon as he got signed he called me. We’ve been homies for a long time since like 2000-01. In our talk over the phone he was like ‘look man I got signed. I don’t know how you going to get to New York, but if you get to New York you can just stay in this apartment that I’m in right now. Just come to the studio with your beats. I don’t know if we’ll get it off, but if you come I’ll make sure you get a shot.’ I went up and drove on my own dime in my van. Once I got there I slept on his floor, went to the studio and ended up with three records on that project. Once I got my foot in the door on that project I also ended up doing a lil’ more than half of the Slick Ricky Bobby mixtape.

What happened to the material from the Columbia Records album with Yelawolf?

I really don’t know. I’m sure KP (Founder of Ghet-O-Vision) and ‘em know what happened to it. Even though the album never came out and things happened the way it did over at Columbia, Yelawolf evolved even more and kept going. I’m sure someday that people may get to hear it. I think that with his popularity and growth now, that stuff is going to be available at one point.

What goes through your head when you listen to Trunk Muzik?

When I hear Trunk Muzik I just feel really good about it. I feel like it was the most organic project that I’ve ever been apart of. I think that when Yelawolf and myself went and did it – we weren’t planning anything. We didn’t have an idea and we didn’t have a concept. We decided we would just try to make good rap records the way we felt it needed to done. We didn’t have any A&R over the top of us. We didn’t have anybody. It was just me and Yelawolf.

What does that mixtape/EP mean to your career?

It is the absolute turning point of my career. It was definitely the life changer for me. If you put it up on the spot – it would immediately grab the attention of people. We finally started getting noticed for our craft. For me as a producer, I’m not really sure about ‘Wolf, it changed my life. I went from literally from 0 to 60 behind Trunk Muzik.

What music memory sticks out to you?

I would say “Pop The Trunk.” That is a very vivid memory. I remember coming up with the horn line in the record and I remember when ‘Wolf was just kinda playing with the cadence of it because the cadence of the record is kinda different. It’s got about 6 routes to it in a count but ‘Wolf would just count that count and he put words in there. I’ll never forget it when he said ‘Don’t Make Me Go Pop The Trunk.’ We both just started yelling and jumping around the room. That was definitely the high point of cutting that record. That memory is always going to be with me.

How does your production process differ from others?

I think mine is really organic. I don’t think a lot about it. I’ll start anywhere in producing a record. One day I’ll start with keys and one day I’ll start with the drums. One day I’ll be singing a melody and just start with that. I’m really good at listening to what an artist already has in mind and I’m able to build around whatever concepts and ideas the artist has. I thinks that’s kinda where I’m a lil’ different than most. I don’t have a method to it. It’s really organic and my best music comes from when there’s no serious thought put into it. It’s just something you feel. \

What equipment/software do you use?

Logic. I’ve been on Logic since ’98. I was on Logic when Logic was still Emagic, before it went over to Mac, so I grew up on it. That’s all I know. I touched other things but that’s what I produce on.

What’s next from SupaHotBeats?

I’m on to producing my own artists named Nikkiya. She actually started with Yelawolf and myself back in 2000–01. She’s a phenomenal singer and song writer. She’s very similar to Yelawolf in the production area. Like she’s very in-tune with what music is and what kind of music we make. I’m really excited about it. I think we’re on to something with her and hopefully I can create another great musical entity with her in the same way we were able to come up with Yelawolf.

What would make you consider your career a success?

My career is already a success. I just look at what’s happening and I just take it one day at a time. I’m really proud of where we are and what’s been happening. We’re really fortunate to go from being nobody to even being in the presence of the people that we know. Everyone knows that Eminem is like at the top of the food chain, so to even have a relationship with these type of guys is just it’s amazing. Some people measure success by money – I ain’t really tripping about that. Of course I want some money, but as far it being about success – it’s that already.

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