I got into production because I didn’t want my song on somebody else’s beat.
I started out rapping in churches. Music wasn’t new to me (the saxophone was my first instrument, and I played it through most of middle and high school), but I knew nothing about making beats. So I bought a CD called Rap Traxx just to have something to write to. Problem was, I didn’t like the beats. They were OK, but they weren’t me. More than that, knowing other people would be rapping over the same beats bothered me.
So while some people get into music production because they see a way to make money, I got into it because I was writing my own songs. Nothing more. It was never about money or notoriety. It was always about my love for creating songs.
How I Taught Myself
Long before I got into music production, I was a bit of a whiz kid on the computer. I taught myself how to program when I was probably 12, so computers and technology have always come easy to me. No surprise that I gravitated toward MIDI early on, using early forms of wavetable synthesis. The community college I was attending had Cakewalk installed on a PC in the library, and I spent my time between classes teaching myself how to use it. Later, a friend let me borrow his ASR-10, and that’s how I learned sampling and playing on a keyboard.
Early on, I learned the power of owning the creative process from end to end. You get the song idea, you make the beat, then you put the two together like a sandwich. And sometimes it’s the other way around: you create the beat, it evokes a thought or emotion, and the lyrics come. Either way, being able to control the whole process is powerful, but it’s not for everyone. It’s a lot of work to write and produce, but if you can pull it off, there’s nothing stopping you from turning thoughts into something people can hear.
Beyond the music theory I picked up from band, I learned by studying other people’s production. I deconstructed R&B, Hip-Hop, Soul, Gospel, and even film scores by ear to understand arrangement and technique. Eventually I got good enough that others started asking me to produce for them.
Being a computer guy, I spent a lot of time on music message boards picking up samples and asking questions. That’s where I started running into producers who were doing it for real. Two that come to mind are D.Black (Discogs) and the late Lew Laing (Discogs). They were hardware (MPC, keyboards) guys at the time and I was a PC producer, so I’d take what I picked up from them and apply it to my world. I’d ask them questions, and they were always helpful in guiding me. Back then I was using Sonic Foundry ACID, FL Studio (aka Fruity Loops), and Cakewalk. I figured out how to take MPC sounds and use them in FL Studio to make my drums, then I’d create my own loops in Cakewalk and export them to use in ACID. That’s how I put my beats together.
It was around this time that D.Black connected me with the late actor and rapper Deezer D (Wikipedia), and that was the first time I produced for someone else and got paid. I ended up doing three songs for Deezer. Flew out to LA, chopped it up, and I’m like, “Oh yeah, this is it — on my way!”, but not quite.
Why I Work The Way I Do
Doors continued to open, and I worked with a variety of independent artists. I produced and mixed most of K.E.R.M.’s album By Design, and I was also working with another artist on a 16-song concept album. The opportunities were there, and indie work was rewarding. But here’s the reality: I never got into this to make money, but making music costs money. I wasn’t about to use cracked software or uncleared samples, so doing it right meant paying for it, and indie work was a lot of hours for very little in return. At some point you’re just subsidizing passion, and that’s what makes bigger placements start to look like the natural next step. That’s where I started having reservations though. Some of it was my own doubt, but through the people I was connected with, I got a close-up look at what it actually took to land those placements, and the rooms you had to be in to get them. Definitely not what I thought.
To state it directly, the music industry is grimy, and God knows I would’ve been chewed up and spit out at that time. Just being real. I already had brothers whom I trusted telling me about the dark side of the business. But it was a phone call with a brother named Maji that help provide direction. He gave me words of wisdom and encouragement, then prayed with me, and from that point on I was done with the idea of going down certain paths just to get a placement. Not worth it. Instead, I put my energy into continuing to get better and set up my own publishing company — and avoid the circles that I knew were not meant for me.
This didn’t mean I stopped creating either. If anything, I just built my own thing. I’m my own publisher, I register my own songs, I assign my own ISRC codes, and I can take a song from an idea in my head to a finished track on streaming platforms. So I’m not just a beat maker. I’m a full-service producer who knows the whole road, because I drive it with my own music. And because I’m an artist and songwriter too, I know what it’s like to have a concept in your head but no track to call your own. Not everyone wants to make their own beats, and they shouldn’t have to. That’s where I come in. I’d rather help you bring your song to life than hand you a beat and leave you to figure it out on your own.
Selected Credits
- Produced five tracks on Lil Raskull’s Gory to Glory 2, including “I’m a Beast” (Spotify), plus his single “Jus a Lil Bit” (Spotify)
- Produced and mixed most of K.E.R.M.’s album By Design (Apple Music)
- Produced music for the late actor and rapper Deezer D across a 14-year working relationship (2002–2016)
- One of eight producers selected for the iStandard showcase at the 2018 ASCAP “I Create Music” EXPO, critiqued live by a panel including OG Parker of Quality Control Music (event page)
- Production music licensed internationally and by national TV networks
- Produced, recorded, and mixed my own album What If as Sanktifyd (2019) (Spotify)
- Unreleased work with Knine and Mr. Solo of the Gospel Gangstaz
- More credits on Muso.ai
Today
While I’m no longer using Cakewalk to make beats, I’m still composing my own music and writing and recording my own songs under the name sanktifyd. And I’m looking for artists who treat their music like a career, whether or not it’s their only one.
If that’s you, message me and tell me what you’re writing about.
