Producer of Grammy-nominated tracks, hit radio records, award-winning beats, and the creator of modern-day classics- Drumma Boy has been the world’s super producer for 16 years and counting.
His success comes as no surprise, considering his early musical introduction and upbringing since the young age of three. Drumma Boy is the producer that never disappoints, and his 2018 track record agrees. The Knockturnal got a chance to catch up with the hitmaker himself to find out more about his latest tracks, business endeavors, and best advice for up and coming producers. Catch the full conversation below:
The Knockturnal: Recently you just did a huge track with NBA YoungBoy that has been taking over clubs everywhere. Can you tell us how that came about?
Drumma Boy: NBA Young Boy was super cool. He came to my studio. I have a studio in Atlanta called House of Hits. Our Instagram is ATLHouseofHits. Just having him come through, everybody has been wanting to work in my studio in Atlanta. They hit me up, they want to come through, and they came through. That was the first song we started working on. Just seeing how receptive he was to the coaching that I was doing it was just a classic moment. Just to be seeing him so young but in tune with what he wants I think was really dope. Super fun, a lot of energy, cool kid. He was like, “Drum do you think I should do it like this? Drum do you think I should do it like that? What do you think about this?” It was just really cool working hand in hand with him. It’s crazy because it hadn’t even been out for two months yet and it’s already right under 40 million views on YouTube.
The Knockturnal: You also have another new record, XYO, that has been largely successful how did that track come about?
Drumma Boy: XYO is a record I did in conjunction for this new project I’m working on called Live On. It’s an anthem for a Crypto Currency song. Crypto Currency, a company called XYO I recently did a big deal with out of San Diego. I was like man, let me come up with a theme song or something for the company. Similar to what I did for World Star. I dropped a record in the past called I’m a World Star featuring 2Chainz, Gucci Man and World Star ended up coming to Atlanta and sponsoring and putting up money for the video. I was like man what can I do for this company? I came up with the theme song for this coin. A lot of people are familiar with BitCoin. The new wave of Crypto Currency and whatnot and this is actually the first Crypto Currency company to sponsor NASCAR. It’s a really big deal. The company is blowing up and that song was catered to that new deal.
The Knockturnal: You’ve worked with a lot of big artists before they blow up. You did a lot of the beats early on for Gucci and Migos. I’m wondering what’s it like having been in the game so long and helping these artists grow.
Drumma Boy: It’s definitely cool. It’s a fun fact about me. I love new artists, I love working with new people and giving any and everybody a shot that’s worthy, so I’m not just going around like, “I wanna work with you.” Things that are worthy or things that attract me in a sense, I go in with him. The first song I did with Drake he was coming from Degrassi and I did Money to Blow. It’s always a blessing delivering for the new artist and being a part of their career through their entire career. Me and Gucci have over 500 songs out.
The Knockturnal: You now have a studio in L.A. that you’ve been working at with Young Buck?
Drumma Boy: Yeah. The new studio that we put together in L.A. is called the Fader Room. I fly down to L.A. and have a great team of engineers doing some stuff out there. I’ve been doing a lot of work with David Hiller. He goes under the name Olympus and me and him are working on this really big instrumental EDM album, so I’m excited about that. Open format, partying, views, and the physical authenticity.
The Knockturnal: What advice you have for young, up and coming producers?
Drumma Boy: Young, up and coming producers definitely it’s about copyrighting your music. Different ways of hip-hop because the music goes viral so quick and for me it’ about trying to only copyright the masters, registering your records, and making sure the business side is tight because it’s so easy to go viral now. It’s so easy for people to hear your music and for your music to be heard, but you want to make sure that the business side is definitely locked down. Management and PR those things are always gonna have a place for a producer. A lot of producers make great credit, they are working with great people, but they don’t publicize that. Nobody knows so there’s only so big you could be without sharing with the world certain things that you do. There’s a way to go about that. So, making sure those things are followed properly.”
The Knockturnal: What are your thoughts on forming a potential Producer’s Union?
Drumma Boy: Yeah absolutely. I’ve been speaking on that for quite some time and just saying it’s gonna take all of us to come together as well as some banking systems and things of that nature being implemented. I think the process of that is very tricky because of several things of that nature, and the depth of what it requires to actually start a bank.
The Knockturnal: Outside of music, you also have a boutique in Atlanta that is doing incredibly well. How did you get into the clothing business?
Drumma Boy: I’ve always been a fan of my older brother, and he always had the top brands. Polo, Nautica, and Tommy Hilfiger when I was a kid, so I would wear his clothes a lot. I got heavily influenced by the fashion world. Once I started running with the name Drumma Boy it became super popular. In the city of Memphis, people would start sending me clothes. In one of the first jobs I had I worked at Just For Feet. It was the very first job I had selling shoes, selling clothes. I fell in love with delivering to the people whether it’s music, whether it’s fashion, or whether it’s food. Making people happy. Seeing you deliver something to a mass group of people, and they are like, “Dang, when’s the next one drop? When you coming out with the next one?” I come out with a t-shirt and they are like, “Yo, this is crazy.” The same thing as the music. Just having this passion for delivering to the people and keeping the people fresh. Keeping your ears fresh with music candy and repping people up.
The Knockturnal: What upcoming projects can we look forward to?
Drumma Boy: Right now I’m working on Life of Desiigner album. I’m working on stuff with French Montana. I got a new artist Matthew McQueen I’m really excited about and really focused on launching the project. My new store in Atlanta has a fresh ATL boutique that’s been doing really well.
