Back in the 70’s MoTown records had a gang of musicians, songwriters, and producers that would work on a single record. Its the reason The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder all sounded extremely incredible at a time where music was primarly being played on vinyl. Today, most producers feel as though if they’re not making the beat, the melody, writing the song, and mixing the vocals themselves then they can not call themselves a true artists. The problem isn’t so much on the producer’s fault as he/she has been presented with imagery of Ryan Leslie crafting an entire song from scratch in a 7 minute video, Southside making a beat in 5 minutes and then cutting vocals from 1 take, or even Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons on Twitch doing the same. What they are looking at isn’t the majority but rather the exceptions to the rule. Producers today should focus more now than ever on collaboration and team building.
Drake’s diamond selling album “God’s Plan” features Cardo, Boi-1da, Noah “40' Shebib, Yung Exclusive, Ronald LaTour, Daveon Jackson. Matthew Samuels, Brock Korsan, and then Drake. Most music listeners aren’t looking for this information, or even care nor should they, when they are playing this smash hit record. As producers, this is something that should not only be studied but actually implemented. Rico Love who’s produced records for Beyonce, Usher, and K. Michelle just to name a few has his own production company called Division 1. Its a crew of musicians and producers who are each tasked with only one part of making the track. For instance, Earl Hood who’s an instrumentalist would only come up with melodies. Dwayne Nesmith, aka D Town, would then build on top of the melodies with drum programing. After that Eric Goudy would solely focus on arrangement and nothing else. Finally, Rico would develop the top lines and the team would help fill in with lyrics. Total collaborative effort, yet Rico Love who is the face and founder of the label is the one that most people remember.
Every producer should find the one thing that they are really good at, or enjoy, and partner with other producers to create even better music. Myself, I’ve always had a knack for creating weird drum sounds and making them fit within the context of the beat. The top line may be a bit weird and the chord progressions may not be the best, but the one thing I’m always confident in is my drum programming. Referencing my previous blog How Producers Can Control the Room I talk about how I let the songwriters do what they’re best at and I focus on doing what I was good at and we made great records. Professionals in the industry have always known this hence why the production credits are getting longer. It won’t be surprising that more and more songwriters and musicians become part of the equation as well. The focus should always be to make a great record and playing just part of that can be advantageous.
Remember, Robert Horry has 7 rings because he could hit a corner 3 not for being in the spotlight.
