Stoic Beats Talks Coming Up As a Producer Today

modrNation: Where are you originally from?

Stoic: I’m from New York, I moved to LA a while back but actually came back out here about six months ago.

modrNation: What got you started in production?

Stoic: I’ve been making music all my life, then one day I was on YouTube right around when Good Kid M.A.A.D City came out and I saw one of Kendrick’s producers using a beat pad. I don’t know what made me think I could get into that, but I bought one because of that video and from there the rest is history. It’s been a hobby of mine since I was about 16 and I’m now 25, I just kept with it and kind of kept getting better.

modrNation: So you began with a physical drum pad rather than downloading a program?

Stoic: Yeah it was hardware, which is funny because I don’t even use that anymore I actually gave it away. I was having so much fun with that then I saw what Kaytranada was doing then DOOM and Madlib with their drum machines so I knew I had to get into that.

modrNation: Who are some of your biggest inspirations?

Stoic: Favorite of all time, it goes back and forth a lot but I really love The Alchemist, Madlib, Knxwledge, Dilla, more old school guys. Also obviously Kanye and even Tyler The Creator  is up there production wise for me.

modrNation: You began as a youtube producer?

Stoic: When I started I was only putting my stuff on YouTube, I was really only doing that because I wanted a place to catalog it all. I was never trying to be a YouTube producer, I saw people around me selling beats and back then it wasn’t as big of a thing to make a living selling your beats. Eventually I started posting more beats and I saw people were actually viewing them so I decided to see how far I could take it.

modrNation: Was there one beat you can remember really blowing up and taking your channel to the next level?

Stoic: Back in October of 2019 I made a Mac Miller type beat, and that was my first video to get over 100k views and from there my subscribers just grew exponentially. Right around that October to December range of 2019 is when I dilated in and really started to take it seriously. 

modrNation: What was your first credit on a track that you were really proud of?

Stoic: There were definitely a couple, but I got one with Tai Verdes that’s going to be on his next album. I saw how well his career was going and the fact that this guy wanted me to be a part of his sound really made me see how far my career can go.

modrNation: Who are some artists you’d want to collaborate with in the future?

Stoic: My top artist has to be Earl Sweatshirt. I’ve been a fan of his for over ten years now and I’d still really love to get something in with him, I think it’ll come soon. Of course I’d love to work with Kendrick and Frank Ocean, those three have got to be my top artists.

modrNation: Take me through your creative process when producing?

Stoic: I make all my music in the morning because that’s when I feel like I’m most creative. I start out by listening to a few songs that I may want to sample, then I kind of just get into it. Some days I’ll find a drum groove I really like and start from there, or I’ll start by chopping up a sample. It really depends what mood I’m in and what music I’ve been listening to that day.

modrNation: What would you say is the importance of breaking barriers as an artist and experimenting with new sounds?

Stoic: That’s all that I try to do, for me personally I think experimenting with new sounds is what keeps me going. On paper you could do the same thing with every beat and you’d make great stuff, but that wouldn’t be as fun and I wouldn’t have been able to keep up the longevity I have. I’ve been posting a beat every other day on YouTube for a few years now and I don’t think I’d be able to do that if I wasn’t pushing my own boundaries. Some sort of element of your own style has to be unique in order to stand out, so I really try to put an emphasis on that.

modrNation: Where do you see yourself five years from now?

Stoic: I would love for my career to take a path like The Alchemist or Kaytranada, where they do a lot of production for people without their names attached to it but they’ll also drop a collab album with the artists they really love working with. I think that would be really cool, just to have a bunch of crazy records in my catalog with people I really admire.