BY AIYANYO "YANY" AIBANGBEE AND GERVAIS MBUNKEU
Most people don't know much about Haiti, the beautiful Caribbean island with tranquil beaches, tumbling waterfalls, and pinetree-capped mountains. Haiti remains the only nation in the world where Black people led a successful slave rebellion headed by Toussaint Louverture. Its culture is as rich and diverse as its music is vibrant and soulful.
Wycleff Jean is undoubtedly the most famous songwriter, music producer and activist from Haiti. Together with Laurynn Hill and Pras Michel, Wycleff formed the legendary group "Fugees," their soothing ballads instantly became anthems for young people worldwide throughout the mid-90s and 2000s.
For Michael "Mikey Beatz" Vulcain, moving to the United States from Haiti at 6 years old, music was an integral part of his life, he played the drums, congas, and percussions. He is currently a successful music producer, and one half of the duo The A-Team, a music producer group Gold Certified by the Recording Industry Association of America(RIAA). Together they co-produced Dej Loaf's hit single "Hey There" featuring Future, and have also collaborated on several records with Grammy Award winning producers J.U.S.T.I.C.E League.
We sat down with the talented producer to chat about his passion for music, his inspiration, working with acclaimed producers, business tips, and so much more.
How did you get into music and beat making?
When I was a kid, around 10 years old, my parents bought me a drums set. I started playing drums in high school and that's pretty much as far as it went. When I was about 17 years old, my cousin came from Haiti to stay with us for a while. He attended Full Sail University to learn how to make music and engineering music. His ability to make music fascinated me. He installed the program he used for music production on my laptop, and I basically became obsessed with it. From that point on, all i wanted to do was make beats, I didn't even go out to play or party. Soon after that, I started to really want to become a music producer.
What's your favorite musical instrument and why?
The Guitar! It's my favorite musical instrument, especially the acoustic guitar, I really like it, but I still can't play. You can just make sounds with a guitar, all the instruments are there.
Which artists did you get the most inspiration from growing up?
Growing up my favorite artist was Nas. The music producers that I liked the most was Bangladesh, the guy who put together Lil Wayne's hit song "A Milli." He also produced "You don't want no Drama" by MJG & 8Ball. And of course, the Godfather himself, Pharrell Williams.
Take us through the beat-making process, what goes through your mind at the very beginning?
It all depends, every time is different. Most of the time I like to just start out with a nice sample or maybe some Virtual Studio Technology(VST) plugins that have sounds in them. Sometimes I'd just go through the plugins and find a good sound that I can shape, from there, I'd add some drums and structure the song. Sometimes artists will send you some acapella, which is basically pre-recorded vocals and you just add music on top of that. But for the most part, I just really like to start with the melody or the sample first and then add on from there. My partner, Fastlain and I work closely together, even though he is in Atlanta, GA. I always send him the ideas I come up with for feedback. He's engineered for Young Thug, Dej Loaf and Future. If he is inspired by what he hears, he adds his production and expertise. He's very talented as well.
How hard was it to get your talent and skills out there?
It definitely was a tough road, and there's still more to do. Basically I found a way, because honestly the music industry is really about connections. You can have whack music and still make it if you have the right connections. If you listened to most of the songs on the radio, a good bunch of them are pretty easy to make, as far as beats go. Eighteen-year-old kids are now able to make some crazy hits in like 10 minutes. I found a way by cold-calling certain industry power players. I think shock value is very important when it comes down to making connections in this industry. The music will always speak for itself. But finding creative ways to connect with people that can potentially change your life is key to growth and potential success in the music industry. Music is very much like sales. You have to contact the right people and continue to send quality music so that they may be interested in applying this music to their overall mission.
You collaborated with the talented Grammy Award winning producers, J.U.S.T.I.C.E LEAGUE, how did that happen? What were the results from that?
Four years ago, I was trying to find producers to work with that I looked up to. J.U.S.T.I.C.E League was one of them. I did some research and I found Kenny Bartow who's no longer with JUSTICE League, he's doing his own thing. So I started sending him music, after a couple months he invited me to his house in Atlanta. I went to Atlanta, stayed at his house for a couple of days, we made some music there. At the time JUSTICE League's upfront asking price for music was really high, even compared to what I can ask now, because of their track record. We got paid 20% for each song we produced. As we got better with producing, we started doing an even split with JUSTICE League.
What does it mean to be a ghost producer? What do you think it'd take for you to get more exposure?
Basically, you're producing for artists and other producers, I've been trying to work with Steve Aoki for instance. You'd cook up a beat and an artist would listen to it from another producer, like it and want to put it on their album. It's similar to working for Coca Cola, and you have an idea for Coca Cola, you design the coke can and try your best to make them see the value you're bringing. That's pretty much how a ghost producer works. It takes hard work, relentless networking, diving and figuring out where you're sending your music. You just hope an artist picks your beat for their album, or an artist's producer picks your beat for their artist and the artist likes it.
When it comes to the business aspect of producing, how promising is the career?
Very promising, because there is a lot of money to be made if you do it the right way. You have to find a way to get into the real music industry, as a music producer, you get paid two or three ways. You get paid upfront, you get paid royalties, which is the money that will carry you for the rest of your life, and you get paid if you engineer a song. That's all upfront too, so basically it's very promising, you can get paid up to $30,000 up front depending on your track record, then a percentage of royalties that you collect every three months for the rest of your life. So I would say the best thing to do is either find a way to connect with people that can publish your music, people that can actually get your music to the artist, or connect with the artists and show them your music and keep showing the music. They might not like the song the first few times or even the first couple of years. Then you would get a random phone call after the third year and someone would ask if they can use your beat for their song. You must not give up, because you're going to get 100 NOs before you get a YES. Maintain the relationships you've cultivated and keep sending your music to them. One day one of your songs or beats will catch someone's ear and you'll make a lot of money off of it. There are a few people that I trust and that I am very grateful for that have given me a chance to get my music heard. Kenny Barto, who's produced many Grammy Award Winning Records, along with Mike Brinkley, who has extensive experience in the music industry, his assistant Juju and my partner Fastlain. These are the four people that I trust in this industry. Its all about keeping your circle tight and making as much good music as possible.
Michael "Mike Beatz" Vulcain Bio:
Haitian Born, RIAA Gold Certified Producer Mikey Beatz of The-A-Team
Production credits include but not limited to Future, Dej Loaf, and collaborations with Grammy Nominated Producers J.U.S.T.I.C.E LEAGUE
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mikey_beatz/
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