Music Production

Canadian producer Murda Beatz has explained how he made Migos, Nicki Minaj, and Cardi B‘s hit “MotorSport” on a new episode of Genius’ Deconstructed. The track was DJcity’s third most-downloaded song of November.

In the video, Murda discusses how the collaboration came together then breaks down the beat in FL Studio.

Born in Ontario, Murda co-produced Drake‘s newest single, “Nice For What.” He also worked on Drizzy’s “Portland” featuring Quavo and Travis Scott and “With You” featuring PartyNextDoor and Jeremih. The 24-year-old also produced Travis Scott’s “Butterfly Effect,” 2 Chainz‘s “It’s A Vibe” featuring Ty Dolla $ign, Trey Songz, and Jhene Aiko, and Nicki Minaj, Drake, and Lil Wayne‘s “No Frauds.”

“MotorSport” was released in October as the lead single from Migos’ third studio album, Culture II. It peaked at No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and has been certified triple platinum.

Watch Deconstructed above.

Related: Watch the Producer of Rich The Kid’s ‘Plug Walk’ Explain How He Made the Track

The producer of Rich The Kid‘s hit single “Plug Walk” has broken down the track on a new episode of Genius’ Deconstructed. The song, which was included in DJcity’s February Trends report, is currently No. 18 on Billboard’s Hot 100. It is Rich’s highest charting single to date.

In the video, rising Toronto producer TheLabCook discusses how he and Rich met, and breaks down the elements of the track.

“I had no idea it would be gold in a month or almost platinum … I didn’t see the potential in it,” Cook admits. “A lot of [a track’s success] has to do with how the producer uses [the beat].”

Cook is an in-house producer for the rapper’s label, Rich Forever Music. He has collaborated with rappers like Migos, Lil Yachty, Gucci Mane, A$AP Ferg, and 2 Chainz.

“Plug Walk” is the second single off Rich’s debut album, The World Is Yours. The project contains the Kendrick Lamar-assisted single “New Freezer,” which peaked at No. 42 on the Hot 100.

Watch Deconstructed above.

Related: Watch Rich The Kid’s ‘New Freezer’ Video Feat. Kendrick Lamar

Rising Colombian producer Thombs has explained how to produce a moombahton track in a new video for Latin America-based YouTube channel, El Arte de Ser DJ. The Spanish-language channel, which translates to “The Art of Being a DJ,” reviewed DJcity’s record pool in March.

Thombs breaks down his production process in FL Studio using his 2014 heater “La Era del Moombahton” featuring Happy Colors and Jack Style. Billboard listed the track as one of its top 50 moombahton songs of all time in 2016.

Watch the video above and read a Spanish translation below.

El productor colombiano Thombs ha explicado cómo producir una canción de moombahton en un nuevo video para el canal de YouTube, El Arte de Ser DJ. El canal revisó el record pool de DJcity en marzo.

Thombs analiza su proceso de producción en FL Studio utilizando su éxito de 2014 “La Era del Moombahton” con Happy Colors y Jack Style. Billboard listó la canción como una de sus mejores 50 canciones de moombahton de todo el tiempo en 2016.

Mira el video arriba.

Related: Thombs Drops Moombahton Remix of Santana’s ‘Corazon Espinado’ Feat. Maná

Since 2015, Power 106‘s Wax Only series has examined some of the most iconic albums in hip-hop history. While each episode has been outstanding, the latest one is extra special.

Today, Wax Only is celebrating its 100th episode by honoring the 20th anniversary of Gang Starr’s fifth studio album, Moment of Truth.

Released on March 31, 1998, Moment of Truth debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and peaked at No. 6 on the 200 chart. The project, which was produced by DJ Premier and the late great Guru, was the duo’s first gold album and most successful commercially.

Moment of Truth featured the singles “You Know My Steez” and “The Militia.” It also contained classic tracks like “Above the Clouds,” “Work,” and the title track, “Moment of Truth.”

Watch Wax Only above.

Related: The Samples Behind 2Pac’s ‘Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z…’

Maarten Vorwerk (Source: Facebook)

Of the thousands of production tutorials on YouTube, few stand out as much as Reid Stefan‘s. The Los Angeles DJ/producer hosts a popular channel in which a puppet version of him gives lessons.

Stefan is best known for his 2016 Steve Aoki collab “Bring the Funk Back” as well as his 2015 twerk single, “Booty Alert.”

The channel, which focuses on teaching in Ableton, has close to 100,000 subscribers and one million views. It occasionally features tutorials from guests, including Henry Fong and Milo & Otis member KillaGraham.

Stefan’s latest guest is Dutch producer Maarten Vorwerk. An Aruba native, Vorwerk is rumored to be the ghost producer behind some of dance music’s biggest artists.

Vorwerk joins Stefan via Skype for a quick interview before giving a tutorial on how to make a mono signal sound more stereo. During the convo, Vorwerk talks about his production book Vorwerk Tip of the Week, having patience while producing, and his favorite plugins.

Watch the interview and tutorial below.

Related: Watch Boi-1da Explain How He Produced Drake’s ‘Diplomatic Immunity’

Grammy-winning producer Boi-1da has explained how he made Drake’s “Diplomatic Immunity” on a new episode of Genius’ Deconstructed. The track was DJcity’s No. 19 most-downloaded song of January.

“Diplomatic Immunity” is the second single off Drake’s two-track Scary Hours EP. Released in January, the song debuted at No. 7 on Billboard’s Hot 100. The first single, “God’s Plan,” debuted at No. 1 in the same week, making Drake the first artist to have two singles debut in the top 10 at the same time.

An in-house OVO Sound producer, Boi-1da starts off by discussing what made him want to work with Drizzy when they first met as teenagers. He then goes on to break down “Diplomatic Immunity” in FL Studio and ends by sharing his approach to making a beat.

Watch Deconstructed above.

Related: Watch Buckwild Explain How He Produced The Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘I Got a Story To Tell’

Genius’ Deconstructed series focuses on recent tracks, but occasionally it breaks down classics.

On the latest episode, Deconstructed sits down with legendary producer Buckwild to discuss the making of The Notorious B.I.G.‘s “I Got a Story to Tell.” The track, which was released in 1997, appears on the rapper’s second and final studio album, Life After Death.

A member of the D.I.T.C. crew, Buckwild is best known for producing hip-hop classics like Black Rob’s “Woah!,” Big L’s “Put It On,” O.C.’s “Time’s Up,” and Organized Konfusion’s “Stress.”

On the episode, Buck says that Biggie liked his productions, but didn’t think Buck had any tracks that worked for him. “It’s like basketball when they say you can’t hit a jump shot, you go back in the gym and keep shooting,” Buck says.

Eventually, the Bronx producer sent him a beat tape which included the instrumental for “I Got a Story to Tell.” The rest was history.

Watch Buck break down the track above.

Related: The Samples Behind The Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘Ready to Die’

Producers Smash David, OG Parker, and The Martianz have explained how they made Chris Brown‘s hit single, “Pills & Automobiles.” The track, which was one of DJcity’s 50 most-downloaded songs of 2017, features Yo Gotti, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, and Kodak Black.

Released in August, “Pills & Automobiles” peaked at No. 46 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and has been certified platinum. The song serves as the fourth single from Breezy’s 45-track studio album, Heartbreak on a Full Moon.

Smash David is a Grammy-nominated producer best known for co-producing Big Sean’s “Bounce Back,” Khalid’s “Location,” and Flo Rida‘s “Hola” featuring Maluma. Atlanta’s OG Parker co-produced Migos‘ “Slippery” featuring Gucci Mane and “Walk It Talk It” featuring Drake. The Martianz, which consist of Hutch and Hide, have produced tracks for Rae Sremmurd, Lil Skies, and Lil Baby.

In the episode, each producer takes a turn breaking down their contribution to the track. OG Parker then recalls how they linked up with Breezy.

Watch it above and download “Pills & Automobiles” on DJcity.

Related: Honorable C.N.O.T.E. Explains How He Produced Trippie Redd’s ‘Dark Knight Dummo’

A-Trak at Holy Ship! 10.0. (Credit: Miranda McDonald Photography)

Fresh off the release of his single “Ride For Me” featuring Young Thug and 24hrs, A-Trak sat down with the legendary Pensado’s Place show.

Back in December, the Fool’s Gold chief got a chance to tell his story in a comprehensive interview with Complex’s Blueprint series. This time, A-Trak focused mostly on music production and how DJing has influenced his work in that realm.

On how being a DJ and turntablist has helped him as a producer:

“My DJing definitely informs my production. The obvious way to explain that is just like, DJs know what works well in the clubs. So there’s a bit of that, but even on a very, an almost unconscious level, some of the programming that I do, if I’m chopping up a sound, my friends will say that I make it sound like it’s a scratch. I don’t even realize it, but my ear is so accustomed to sound manipulation and certain patterns. … But the thing that’s been interesting for me in recent years is I feel I’ve learned how to produce my scratching. So there’s a lot of full circle things going on … .”

On his limitations as a producer:

“One of the great lessons for me as I went more into production was to accept my limitations. It’s hard, and I’m stubborn, and I like to know how to do everything, but there are certain things that I’m not as good at. And I definitely still believe that I’m a DJ who got into producing, who got into remixing, who got into running a label, all these other things. And when I was learning how to produce, at first I really wanted to do everything myself. … I would drive people crazy, and by the way, even now today I’m a month and a half late delivering a remix. Sometimes I’ve very late delivering things because I stubbornly wanna do it my way or [do it] myself. And again, I’m in my element when I’m DJing. When I’m producing, I’m still trying to get the ideas out of my head, and sometimes there’s roadblocks.”

Watch the interview below.

Related: A-Trak Tells His Story in Comprehensive Interview

Atlanta producer Honorable C.N.O.T.E. has broken down how he made Trippie Redd‘s buzzing single “Dark Knight Dummo” featuring Travis Scott.

Released in December, the track has become Trippie’s highest-charting single, having peaked at no. 72 on Billboard’s Hot 100.

Speaking with Genius, C.N.O.T.E. said the vibe of the track was inspired by war. “I think somebody was talking about [North] Korea bombing America or some sh#t, so I was like, ‘what the f#ck do that sound like?’ … Some of my beats tell stories. This happens to be one of those the beats that tells stories.”

C.N.O.T.E went through the track’s entire storyline, breaking down each sound and the context behind it.

Watch above and download “Dark Knight Dummo” on DJcity.

Related: Watch Honorable C.N.O.T.E. Make a Beat by Sampling Random Records