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Two longtime music pros (Sensei & Fatboi) go deep on what makes music great. A podcast for music producers, artists, and fans.
Fatboi is a Multi-platinum, Grammy nominated, award winning producer whose credits include: Camoflauge, YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Gucci Mane, Young Jeezy, Rocko, Shawty Redd, Flo Rida, Bow Wow, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Juvenile, Yung Joc, Gorilla Zoe, OJ Da Juiceman, 8Ball & MJG, Jeremih, 2 Chainz, Nicki Minaj, Bobby V, Ludacris and Yo Gotti, Monica, Zay Smith, TK Kravitz, Future.
Sensei Hollywood (a.k.a. Dan Marshall) formerly an instructor and chair of the Audio Production program at the Art Institute of Atlanta, is an accomplished musician, producer, engineer who's performed on and engineered multi--platinum records with Big Boi, Outkast, Killer Mike, Chamillionaire, Carlos Santana, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg, Ron Isley, Lil Wayne, Trillville, Monica, and more...
Speaker 3 (00:00.142)
No matter what genre I try to dip my toes in, I try to push it a little further than what it is. When I was working with Blanco, at the time there was like pop country. And I went to him and I was like, why don't we try to do country in Atlanta? Like trap country. And that's how his whole sound and image came about. When I was interning at Icon, they were like, just sit at the desk, ass at the desk.
And then like five minutes later, Mace called down and was like, someone bring me a Pepsi. And so I got a Pepsi, walked upstairs and I met Mace, who I engineered for for like four years. So that was my first time meeting him. And then they asked me like, what do you do? I was like, I produce and I engineer. And Mace was like, how good are you? I was like, I'm dope as ****. And funny thing is, I was just in like the beginning, like produce.
You know what was crazy to me is you're always like the quietest dude in class, but you were hiding this amazing confidence.
He knows when to turn it on and turn it off.
listening to the show where music industry pros Sensei and Fatboy go deep on what makes music great. On this episode Sensei's old student, producer Libby V, talks about his journey from intern to the top of the charts, networking, creativity, gear selection, and much more. Get ready, because it's levels to this.
Speaker 2 (01:37.836)
Libby, man, good to see ya.
Good to see you too.
man, yeah.
We are here with Libby V, who I have known for longer than I care to admit, one of my OG students from back at the Art Institute of Atlanta, one of my star students. And man, Libby, I'm so glad you'd come visit with us, especially on the heels of your success with Siren and the number one billboard chart for adult R &B airplay and all the good stuff you're doing,
Yeah, thank you. Thank you for the invitation.
Speaker 2 (02:09.426)
man. Yeah. You're our first special guest. you're extra special. Yep. No pressure. you know, Hey, this is fat boy. I don't know if you know each other from around town. I know he came by our Institute to do a few panels and whatnot. producer Gucci main, camouflage Monica, a bunch of other folks. he, he rounded me up for some guitar stuff along the way. And we just started doing these chats at the studio.
We'd like kind of hold court up at Patchwork and we'd be like the only two people talk and we notice all the young people listening to us talk about PM Dawn and chorus and guitars and crap like that. So it's just an outgrowth of that, man. So, where are you now? Are you still in Atlanta? Are you out in LA? What are you doing?
I'm still in Atlanta. I'm all the way down to Stockbridge.
Stockbridge, okay. That's cool. How is it down there? You get people coming from the city and everything and come visit you or?
Pretty much, I people coming in from even like out of the country, I have clients from Canada, Australia, they come into town to record.
Speaker 2 (03:18.674)
man, well how you networking with these clients from overseas? How are you finding clients?
Well, that is mainly word of mouth. Surprisingly, I haven't done much marketing on that side of things. I usually get my clients through word of mouth from other clients that's been with me for a long time.
I mean, that's the best way, right? Once someone's marked you as quality, you know, you don't have to advertise it, right?
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:47.959)
Yeah.
Yeah, they kind of just find you. Yeah. Your song, Siren, you got with Candy Burris, how did that opportunity come about? Where did it come from? And how did you link with Candy?
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:06.834)
so I know candy thrower engineer J.O. and I met J.O. through like some other mutual friends off of Silicon Media and he would always reach out to me wanting to link and work. And, a few years later we eventually did and we started just cooking up here and there. And then, right before COVID, I made the track and then I wrote it at Icon Studios with, my writer Steph.
and Natalie and after that I showed J-O the record and at the time he fell in love with it and he was like I have the perfect placement for this record so he got Siren Candy's group to record to it and they sat on it for a few years and then they recently released it like last year and from there it just took off.
It peaked at number one on the R &B adult Airplay chart, yeah?
Yeah, peak number one on adult R &B airplay and it's, I think it's currently number 17 on hip-hop and R &B.
That's pretty good, man. but this is years in the making. This song you're talking about before COVID. So it's like five years and the guy you hooked up with, how long you know that guy.
Speaker 3 (05:16.609)
Yeah
Speaker 3 (05:25.427)
about I would say like six seven years
Yeah. So like six or seven years of like networking, doing the production, wait until the opportunity. So it's old to you and it's new to everybody else. Right.
That's how a lot of stuff has happened. Like even the record I did on Blanco Brown's project when he released that thing was like right before COVID or something. We had that record for like five years. Like the whole thing was done five years prior to him releasing it.
Sometimes the times have to catch up to the music. Because sometimes, you may put, if you put the song out when you actually recorded it, it may not be the song of the time just yet. I mean, sometimes we do songs that are, you know, we purposely made it for the time. And sometimes we just make great music, but it might not be for the time right now. One year goes by, two years goes by.
five years go by and all of sudden time catches up with you on this or they're just ready for that pivot. When you're creating, where does the inspiration come from? Is it something that you're looking for or is it just coming from within? Are you just feeling that in that moment?
Speaker 3 (06:46.794)
For me, when I get into my creative mode, I like to push the boundaries. So I don't, I tend to try to like stay away from listening to what's current on radio. Instead, I focus on trying to blend different genres in a way where it's tasteful.
We've been talking about that issue where there's a lot of pressure from record labels and A &Rs to carbon copy the last greatest thing.
Yes
So you're purposefully avoiding chasing the last greatest thing, it sounds like.
Yeah, for me, like, no matter what genre I try to dip my toes in, I try to push it a little further than what it is. Like when I worked with Lil Dono, think like eight years ago, he was like recording, you know, the typical Atlanta rap stuff and I was recording for like two years and we had like 4,800 plus records, And at one point I was just like, we got to do something different.
Speaker 2 (07:50.51)
We
You can't try to send a scene.
Maybe number 301 will break out.
Yeah, and then, you know, we changed the whole topic of what he was rapping about. We were more melodic at the time. And he allowed me to... Yeah, more melodic.
Peace.
Speaker 2 (08:09.678)
started that one, okay that's good.
There's a lot of tunes, you know.
I think you just caught a new genre
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
So you pushed him in a different direction by genre bending kind of.
Speaker 3 (08:29.344)
Yeah, yeah, like when I was working with Blanco, at the time, like there was like pop country. And I went to him, I was like, why don't we try to do like country in Atlanta, like trap country. And that's how his whole like sound and image came about. We just experimented with it and we sat on it for the longest time. And then it was when Lil Nas popped up with that one record, he decided to drop his single. And then he took off from that, like it just the right time for that one.
Yeah, no, definitely.
just, just, just hit the get goes back to that, that, that perfect, not perfect timing of dropping, of dropping a record, you know, COVID coming around, you know, that, that was something different for the time and we needed it. your, the core progression on, sober record.
Yes.
It reminds me of like vintage, I have an issue with this. A lot of modern music, it's like the melodies and chords structure, they're fighting each other. Instead of just sitting in a pocket, find those, you know, and it could be a two chord progression. But you're in pocket with those two chords. It just feels good and it hits you in your soul.
Speaker 1 (09:51.116)
That's the vibe I got from that record right there. Like it just felt really good. And it took me back to, even though it's current, it's a current sound of today's R &B, it still took me to a place where it felt like I've been there before I've heard this record before. It feels good. Is that something that you purposely try to do or?
When you come up with melodies, do you have a core principle that you stay in line with, with a, you know, not trying to get to, you know, like how weird can I get? And let me just keep it with, with, with nice melody chord structure.
Well from that I usually approach it with a thing that Dan actually taught us, keep it super simple. You can't!
hell is wrong with Kiss? He changed it a little bit. I learned it as keep it simple, stupid.
think Libby edited it it sounded nicer, but yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:00.416)
Okay, cuz knowing knowing then the way I know then he didn't change that last
Libby's too polite to tell you what I really said. No, simplicity isn't necessarily indicative of lack of sophistication, is it?
So like what, what, what is the goal of simplifying chords and melodies, but not, not losing the, the interest factor. What's the technique or what's, what's your approach, I guess.
So for me, whenever I make a track, I try to envision like if the artist or writer who's writing to it gets on it, what would they sound like? And if I do too much, it doesn't leave enough room for them to do anything. It kind of boxes them in to a certain pocket, per se. So I tend to like, I like to like leave it open that way. If I do need to add more stuff, I can always go back in post-production and do it.
Hey, that's it right there, man. that's something that I have always kind of followed in production because as producers, we, we will tend to over do it sometimes. And those are, are lessons learned in the beginning. Uh, sometimes, you know, Dan will give me a thousand, uh, guitar melodies and I have to go through all 1000.
Speaker 2 (12:30.574)
I'm sure I've done that to Libby too. I have a problem. I have like an OCD tracking problem.
As producers, we can do that, but it's a lesson learned where we learn how to scale back. And, you know, me and Dan have talked about this before. Prince, the song, When Doves Cry, had a bass line in it. It had a few other elements in it. And right before it came into mixing, Prince stripped down, took the bass line out and left it super raw. And that just opened up more space for him.
as a vocalist to do the things that he did. that's a pretty, you know, for all producers out there, the last instrument that you want to put on the record is the vocal. The vocal is an instrument. It's not just the voice. It's the final instrument. So that right there, your process, know, what equipment do you, what's your go-tos, what's your acts?
man, my Yamaha motif. Motif? Yeah, I'm still on the motif. Yeah, it sounds great. then sometimes I'll go to my Gibson or my Fender for guitars, or my Fender amp. And then I got my Moog for my analog bass.
Still on the motif. still sounds great.
Speaker 1 (13:56.462)
What's- what's mo-
the grandmother... Okay. One. Yeah.
I have a Model D. Yeah, the 2020, what was it, 22 remake. Now it has spring on the, the bend, on the pitch bend. As spring, it springs back in place now. The old ones didn't. So yeah, man.
Night.
Speaker 2 (14:24.044)
You use an actual physical hardware synth.
Yeah, I slowly converted over to it.
What do you find is different between doing that or like VSTs or FL Studio and all that kind of jazz? What does that give you?
So with like, even like the analog bass that I usually use off my Blue, it's like that warmth that you don't get from a plugin. I've tried so many plugins and I could never capture that sound. And like even like with my outboard gear for like recording vocals, like I was using like the UAD, Neve and Waze plugin and I could never capture the sound I wanted.
And I went out and bought like the actual Neve 1073 and like an actual compressor and EQ and it just makes it sound more cool.
Speaker 1 (15:14.638)
It puts it right there in your face. Are you still tracking the move or the analog gear into Pro Tools? When I got my move, I noticed this. The waveform even looks different. Is that something that you've noticed?
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (15:37.603)
Yeah.
Yes.
Yeah. So there's something about something going on with the harmonics in analog gear, recording analog into a DAW versus just playing that same, you can take that same sound from that same copy plugin of that particular instrument and the waveform looks like any other plugin waveform, but that analog waveform just looks
different and I've run this test myself with the UAD model D and the actual Moog model D analog gear and sounds to the naked ear to the average casual fan, they're not going to really hear the difference. But us, we do this every day. I can hear it. It's subtle, but it's bigger, taller, wider.
Hmm.
Speaker 1 (16:42.958)
is what made you want to start using analog, incorporate analog gear into your productions?
For me, I wasn't I was just like getting the sound I wanted like when I was using all these plugins I was like it sounds good like the ID sounds good, but it doesn't it doesn't sound full It just sound it always sound like something was missing
There's something you guys were talking about this just a second ago, like the physical feel of the keyboard is different than using a mouse or a trackpad to like turn knobs and stuff, right? The spring gives you resistance when you do a pitch bend or something. Is that factor in at all?
It gives it more life. Like when you actually like play it, it'll capture like the dynamic of how you hit the keys, how hard you hit it, how soft you hit it. So it gives like a different tone to the sound. Yeah, compared to like just clicking in the notes, everything is just linear.
Aftertouch.
Speaker 1 (17:42.958)
across the board.
Or do you quantize or you just let it go with the groove as you play or it depends I guess maybe
It depends. Sometimes I'll quantize just certain little things instead of the whole thing because when you quantize the whole thing it loses a swing if you put a swing on it. So some stuff I'll quantize certain notes maybe on the 1 and the 3 or not just to give it on beat.
Yep. Good strategy. Good strategy.
So we were talking about this and maybe you can shed your opinion, light on your opinion on this, like, you make beats and you're a producer. Yes. Where do you draw the line between what a beat maker does and what a producer is?
Speaker 3 (18:27.843)
A beat maker makes the track a producer produces the record
Hey!
Hey, hey, that is my answer, right there.
Dead.
Libby always did his homework, man.
Speaker 1 (18:42.168)
That's the, that's the answer, man. You know, I simplify it in beat maker is a composer. He composes and the producer, we turn it into a record. That's, that's, know, and, and, and, and it's not mutually exclusive. The beat maker and the producer can be one in the same, but once he gets past the beat making process, he puts on the producer hat and he finishes this record, you know, so.
So I wonder too, we're talking about keeping things simple. If some beat makers that aren't producers overproduce their beats and not leave room for the artists because they want it to sound more like a record and they're hoping this connects and maybe that's not a, that strategy that pays off into getting record deals or making a, getting a record placement. What do you think about that?
most of the time when I've recorded artists on other people's beats, I tend to get the track out and then most of the time I rearrange stuff and I'll take some stuff out just to open it up a bit more. And if I do need to put it back in, I can always put it back in later.
But you find yourself stripping out elements to make room for the song arrangement.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:59.084)
Yeah, that's the right course of action to take because one thing about it, I would rather have it and not need it or use it then after the record is done, want it and can't put it in, you know, so it's always good to outbuild the track, put everything I can think of there.
And then when it comes down to a strip away, what's probably not necessary or needed. I want to go back to pivot back to the analog situation right now for a second. Me and Dan have brought this up. This has been my new.
is that the space echo issue?
This has been my my new, what's the word I'm looking for?
Speaker 1 (21:01.186)
Period. You know, because, because I also have this one as well. So I've been getting into, the guitar pedals with analog, running the analog gear through the pedals and getting the different sounds through, through analog. Analog is already giving you a bigger, deeper, wider sound. But when you actually, you know, because
All this stuff is in plugin form. I have this in plugin form as well. But running it actually through another analog piece of gear, the effects even come out different than what the plugin sounds like. Is this something that you tried to incorporate in any of your productions yet? Have you gone that far with it in the analog world?
I haven't tried plugging it into guitar yet, but I might actually try it. It sounds pretty cool.
Yeah, I yeah, like if take it like a Moog synth and maybe having a side track running through a guitar amp with just a world eyes it, you know, I guess some room tone, who knows, you know, but I think the people that step out of the easy lane and throw some new color in, I think that's what everyone's looking for, like the new thing, a new combination balanced with familiarity, right?
Yeah. You know, we're talking about how maybe that chord sequence in that song brings back familiarity, but it's not copyright infringement or anything. It's just, know, you're looking for a vibe, right? Where do you draw the line about that? Cause this is another topic we talked about. There's influence and then there's plagiarism, right? You know, where do you draw the line with your inspiration when you're creating new beats and new songs?
Speaker 3 (22:55.374)
that's a hard one. cause I draw a lot of inspiration, from the music I've listened to growing up. that's where I got a lot of my core progressions from and I'll tend to like change it up here and there. that way I don't get plagiarism. but if I do choose to rework a melody or core progression, I'll try to, unlike the writing side of stuff, make it feel like a whole different song rather than.
throwing it back to what it was originally took it from.
It's like you're getting in character. Talk to us about your influences.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:33.714)
Sure, Michael Jackson, lot of Quincy Joe stuff. And then all like the more like digital and analog stuff. Scott Storch's production, Dr. Dre.
Some of your records that you've worked on or artists that you work with, who some of the people that you've had the pleasure to grace with your talents?
Little Donald, The Rest of Sean Little Donald had a collab with Ludacris and I did that one Amaretta, Blanco Brown, Siren Right now I'm working with Ian's Ian Burks group. He's also my manager, Peach3
Ian's your manager? Okay. The girl group? Yep. Okay. Yeah, that's what's up.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:32.364)
Ian Burke is a Atlanta legend. How'd you hook up with him?
Yeah.
So, when I was interning at Icon, it's a funny story. So, I went in there for training that day and I guess the interns or the managers that were there at time, they didn't want to bother with me. So, they were like, just sit at the desk, I sat at the desk and then like five minutes later, Mace called down and was like, someone bring me a Pepsi and everybody just looked at me. I was like, what am supposed to do? They were like, go get a Pepsi. I was like, okay.
So I got a taxi, walked upstairs and I met Mace, who I engineered for for like four years. And then at the time, Ian was upstairs too. So that was my first time meeting him. And then they asked me like, what do you do? I was like, I produce and I engineer. And Mace was like, how good are you? I was like, I'm dope as shit. And what it takes, I was just in like the beginning, like produce.
You know what was crazy to me is you're always like the quietest dude in class, but you were hiding this amazing confidence.
Speaker 1 (25:43.458)
He knows when to turn it on and turn it off. Yeah, man.
I'm learning stuff about Libby
I'm trying to, me and Dan, I was telling Dan earlier, I know you from somewhere in Atlanta. We run across and you saying that because when Mace was working at Icon, I worked with Mace during that time at Icon. So maybe that's, what year was this?
Matt,
This could be like 2014? Somewhere in there.
Speaker 1 (26:18.382)
12 13 14
I like 14 to like 18 I was like engineering for him in the the scene upstairs
That's what it is, Dan.
Is that the one that still has the control 24?
Yeah, that's the room. That's the room I work with them in.
Speaker 2 (26:38.173)
I'm still rocking mine, I still got this thing working. I don't like to throw old stuff out man. It's gonna come back in style one day.
man, I think, I think a lot of us, that's a great question. Are you a hoarder? Are you, are you an equipment hoarder? Do you hold on to vintage stuff that you, it's on one leg now, but you just can't let it go.
We all are. And like the one or two things I've unloaded, instantly regretted the day after. And then it became like this, like I had, I'm so old school, you guys have no idea what this is. An Atari ST computer. Okay. In the early days, Macs were still kind of new. Like this is like in the eighties, like early eighties. It's an Atari ST. it's one of first.
I think we all are.
Speaker 1 (27:34.575)
What was it?
Yeah, it was sort of like a Mac. They made game consoles, you with the joystick, they were the one of the first big game consoles, but they made a real computer and had MIDI ports built into it. So a lot of composers and MIDI producers got into these computers and they had this software called Dr. T's, I forget what it's called, Dr. T's Studio or whatever. And it was one of first things you could do sequencing on a laptop.
So anyway, it was this classic thing, then, you know, years go by, I've never used it. Oh, no, not a laptop. I'm sorry. Not like a desktop in my bed. But I moved on and like, I haven't used this thing in forever. And then I sold it to a guy for like a hundred bucks or something. And then like, I'm like, God, I didn't need the a hundred bucks that bad. I could have held onto it. And then I look up what they go for now for working Atari STs. I'm like, not bad. I'm an idiot. You know?
I was back then.
Speaker 2 (28:36.43)
But yeah, no, I, people talk about the box of wires. literally have like eight crates full of wires that I can't let go. Cause it'll be the one specialty thing I'll need. And I have a problem.
Yeah, the, the Roland W-30 was probably is my regret. It's my first piece of gear, gear. It was a, a keyboard with a sampler on it and a sequencer. and, and I found out one of my inspirations as a producer. And when I was, you know, thinking about doing this one day, Eric Sermon.
That's what he used. So I got one when I upgraded to the MPC. Well, I wouldn't say necessarily upgrade, but you know, as far as drumming and sampling, that was an upgrade over that. And I got rid of it. And now I wish I'd never, because it's a story behind that, you know, that thing was getting me, you know, attention. Do you have?
A piece of gear that, you know, when you first started that you may or may not have anymore, but where you developed your sound and you still have something in your heart for it, like you just can't let it go. What piece of gear is that for you?
Surprisingly the gear for me would be my Neumann U87
Speaker 2 (30:15.96)
Well, that's a time with classic.
Yeah
When'd you, when'd you come across that guy and what's special about it to you?
I had a back when I was still at AI and I re-
I I wondered where that went. No, just kidding. I've been missing for 15 years. guess the statute of limitations is up. You're cool.
Speaker 1 (30:39.15)
Yeah, it's over with now. He's in the clear.
Hahaha
But I just had a lot of memories recording a lot of special people with it. Like I recorded Monica with it. Chris R. Kelly recorded on it and a lot of other people. And I let it go because for me that mic didn't sound good on everyone. So I downgraded from that to a 103 and then I that for a while and that worked for a good amount of people.
But it was missing the warmth and then after like six seven years of using that mic I bought the telefunken a 251 to replace what I was missing
excellent mike excellent mike
Speaker 3 (31:29.838)
Yeah, that's that's my favorite mic
Still using it?
Yeah.
So that segues into a great question. Cause I'm a firm believer that every producer should have some engineering. What are you, are you a producer by trade that can engineer or did you start engineering and move into production or how does it tie in for you?
I started out as a musician. So I played keyboard back then and then I started recording my friends for fun. And then from there I went to school for it. And then I was an engineer by trade at these studios. And then eventually I started slowly shifting over to the production side of things where I was engineering on other people's beats, but I was producing at the same time.
Speaker 3 (32:28.334)
And then it got to the point where I was like, let me just start making my own tracks too. Cause I feel like I have an ear for it. So I started making my own tracks. And now I'm just producing on tracks that I've made with artists that I want to work with and build off of.
Yeah, that's, that's, yeah, that, that's a, because it, and you can kind of see this in the generations a little bit because when I first started, coming into my own, I DJed first and DJing segwayed me into production because when I was a kid, one thing that I realized was most of the rappers DJs were their producers. So that I, I thought that was the.
progression that I needed to follow. So DJing got me into, production and at that time artists needed producers to, to, engineer for them or, they needed, they, they needed that whole package right there. So because of that, where was I going to find somebody to record, you know, and, and, and didn't have pro tools and all this stuff at the time yet. So.
And you didn't have money as a kid like that. So you weren't going out renting time and going in these studios. So I had to get like a little four track that my uncle, co-signed on me, to get a Tascam four track. What was your first recording tool when you first started getting into recording your, either your beats or recording artists?
My first recording too was an M-Audio interface and this Kate MXL $100 mic and I was using that religiously.
Speaker 1 (34:19.383)
in my audi-
Speaker 1 (34:29.23)
How did it sound to you? I know it sounded great to you at the
Religiously religiously means he prays no one would notice
Sounded bad. It sounded really bad. Like there was no clarity in the audio recorded off of that microphone at all.
But you were doing it. You were doing it. that's all you need. That gets you started.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:54.03)
You know, I started as a guitar player and I still am a guitar player. And like all throughout my career, the things that I connected with most of the time, I was like, that was my value add to the whole thing. Like I ran a studio for about 15 years and I was an engineering, but I would serve all these producers that were like, oh yeah, he can play guitar. Can you do this? And I was like, I don't know. Let me try it. You know, and it like, so there's like three different hats. I've worn many, many more.
But like getting in that door and being in the room and just offering what you have to offer to people, it unlocks other doors, doesn't it?
Yeah.
Like how did you parlay that from with some friends or you made a connection at ICOM when you're the intern? How does that process unfolded for you?
When I was interning at Icon, was there almost every day engineering for Mace and he gave me the opportunity to kind of put my producer hat on because like when we would record, he would ask me like, how you feel about this line? How I feel about this track? Like, how could we make this better? So he gave me the opportunity to expand further than just being an engineer who presses record.
Speaker 2 (36:15.438)
Well that's like a trust you earn with people, isn't it? How hard do you think that is to earn in the current environment?
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (36:23.574)
I don't think it's hard. I think you just gotta be confident even though if even if you're not as good as they want you to be as long as you're confident and have the drive to get there. I feel like anyone can make it happen. Because like for me, I didn't have any like connects or any background in music when I first started. So I built
everything that I have at the moment from bottom up basically.
That's the way we get a secure foundation, isn't it?
Yeah.
And now you've got this network of relationships and you've built your brand up and look at you now. And you're not grabbing Pepsi's for people now. It's Atlanta, too. Who's drinking Pepsi in Atlanta? Mace. What the hell? What? I don't even know what to say about that.
Speaker 1 (37:26.52)
So when I first started coming, I'm old enough to have worked on two inch tape. It was phasing out and ADAT was the go-to and then obviously Pro Tools came in and took over. What is the earliest form of a recording medium that you worked on and what different
mediums. What's your favorite medium and what other ones have you worked on that you can navigate you like pretty good?
I think the earliest one I think it was called audacity
yeah. was like a real simple little freeware kind of deal. Right.
Yeah, I was recording my friends off of Audacity.
Speaker 2 (38:19.618)
Yeah, I think I have that. Um, I don't have any more, but I use it for like, was good for like converting audio files from one weird thing to like an MP3 or a wave, but you could do multi-track on that. I don't know if I ever used it for that.
I was able to record vocals on it.
Okay.
I have Audacity but have never used it.
He had the audacity to admit that. But, know, at the end of the day, though, I mean, this is kind of where what I think it's not even relevant as long as the content is good, is it? What you're recording on.
Speaker 3 (38:58.242)
would agree. For me, look at all DAWs, they're just workstations at the end of the day. Some do process audio different, but at the end of the day, if you can make it work in your hands, then that's all that matters.
We've been talking about where we think music is going. And the, course, the big conversation is all about AI and what that's going to do to music production. Have you had experience with AI in music production or is that affected you anyway? Or what do you think?
I haven't had the chance to use AI yet to experiment with music, but, from my branding wise, I've been using AI with that.
How so? Talk to me about how that's working.
like for me, I've used AI to just get all these like images where I could just post up here and there and whatnot, just to put on my reels. And that has allowed me to not go book like photo shoots. Instead, I could just stay in the studio, work on my music, my reel.
Speaker 2 (40:15.554)
Is that the one with the gold suit? that? Well, here's my concern. Like, and it was kind of a scandal. There was all these bot accounts on Spotify playing AI generated music. it's taken money out of the hands of actual artists. How concerned are you about that with music as a business?
Like that trend, like it's actually happening on Spotify, right? It's like, accounts are making fake music. You know, is that going to eat into the pie or am I wrong to be worried about that?
For me, I think streaming counts, but I don't feel like it counts as a big part when it comes to the business side of things because you get paid so little off of streams regardless.
So streaming is more like a promotional tool almost than for the modern artist. Yeah, More than a revenue tool.
Yeah, because there's like you still got to think of like, okay, the artist needs to go perform. They got to sell merch. They got to have these brand deals, this, that and third and all that comes into play. So streaming is like almost in the bottom end for me.
Speaker 1 (41:41.72)
Definitely in the bottom-in for me.
I mean, who's making the money off it? I guess the guy that owns Spotify. That's pretty much it, right? That's the problem I see about AI and, you to me, it's just a plagiarism machine. And if you get to the point where it's bots doing fake music and maybe there's fake bots that are listening to it to pump up the numbers, like, well, who the hell is listening to it? We're just making music for four computers with computers, by computers, you know, it's crazy.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (42:14.062)
Yeah. I know. I'm sorry. That was my old man yelling a cloud moment for the cast, but I don't know. I, I, think it's affected all manners of measures of society in general. Um, but I think it's important that we remain authentic, you know, um, at the end of the day, man, cause I don't think a computer can do the things that we do, you know? Um, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (42:47.694)
It can't account for human emotion. Simulate it, you can simulate it, but it can't, know, our emotion can change at the drop of a dime. you know, and it's something, it comes from something which is why Libby's music sounds how it sounds because he's able to evoke an emotion in what he's doing. You know, he may be feeling a certain way when he hits a certain chord, like,
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (43:17.13)
my God, I'm feeling Quincy Jones-ish, you know, so I don't think they'll ever be able to master human emotion in the digital realm.
So how does that manifest for you when you're working with an artist? How do you guide them through emotional states when they're recording?
So I go through this whole process of like spending time with the artists like we'll go grab lunch or go do something and I'll ask them all these questions to see like where their mindset is at at that time in their life before even asking them like okay what you want your project to sound like. I try to figure out the person, the artist, or herself before we even get to that stage.
I say you always have to put a little bit of your personal life in these records. And that's how you get songs that resonate with people universally because people have gone through that kind of stuff. When you're creating this stuff right here, do you have an idea at onset of the melody? You don't have an artist around yet. Is there a concept that you're already having? So when you do...
come across the artist that you think it'll fit, you already have a bridge going somewhere.
Speaker 3 (44:35.118)
Um, yeah, most of the time when I make my tracks, I kind of have like, uh, idea of like, okay, I want it to feel this way to emote this emotion. So most of the time, like I'll, make the track and I'll hop in the booth, lay down a melody structure, a top on melody structure. They just structure that all out and I'll bring in my writers and we'll just start writing to at least like the hook. And from there.
When I shop these records around and meet with other artists, whenever I run into the right artist for the right song, I'll show them the demo for it.
What got you into writing and is that something that you incorporate in all your productions? You have a top line to get started.
that is something I incorporate in all my productions. and with writing, I would say that stemmed off from working with Mace, just seeing like his, writing process, his, his, his thing about like being in pocket cadences, making it feel right. So I incorporate a lot of stuff I love from being in that room to what I'm doing now.
So you weren't always a writer when you, know, it was something that pushed you into that from working with a known legend and you picked it up from there. That's dope.
Speaker 3 (45:57.389)
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:01.198)
Well, I mean, that's, sort of what we're talking about. Like the being in the room opens more doors, doesn't it? see what the needs are and like, well, I can do that.
There's a lot of, there's a lot of producers, you know, they're, they're strictly trapped. They don't try to get into anything else. Or you got guys that's strictly R and B. They don't try to get into anything else. What are some of the different genres that, that, that you work in? And, and if there is something that you haven't done yet, are you the type of guy that pushes yourself into that genre and, and how do you get into it?
I've done trap, R &B, country, drill, afro and then I'm currently doing some production work for K-pop related stuff.
and then mumble a lotic.
mobile attic.
Speaker 2 (46:57.87)
We're going to launch that. mean, maybe it just needed a trademark term, whatever. Um, but yeah, man, like genres, they're like clothing styles almost, right? As long as you're putting quality in them, they're going to have their moment in the sun and maybe they got to get remixed some other way down the line. But you know, you're beyond genre really, right?
Yeah.
Give us some parting thoughts, man, because I feel like we've touched on a lot of things. What do you want people to know that are listening? Or what should people be thinking about about music?
I always say just make what you love because at the end of the day if you don't love what you're doing, you're never gonna be satisfied. Like for me, being in Atlanta, I thought I had to make a lot of trap music and that's not really my big forte. I like more melodic stuff like R &B and pop and I was doing that for a while and the manager I had at the time, they were like, well, no one's gonna buy your stuff. And I was just like, okay.
Yeah, I just kept on making R &B and pop. I just stuck to my lane, even though a lot of my colleagues around me, were getting all these placements. at the end of the day, I was happy for them. But I knew that when my time does come, it's going to be big and it's going to be impactful for my life. Because at the end of the day, I'm doing it for myself.
Speaker 1 (48:21.332)
That's a good question. What was your first placement?
Uhhh
uncredited it was a Chris Bell record. Wow.
Uncredited?
Yeah, yeah, the whole business and on that was what's a little weird
Speaker 1 (48:42.905)
man.
You gotta come back and we'll do a special about shady business practices. I got at least two hours on that.
Yes. Great segue.
man. Fappu, you got anything else you want to make sure we talk about when we got Libby here?
there's a couple of, there was a couple of, quick fire questions that I wanted to ask him just to get him to, you know, this or that. I wanted to have 10 questions, but I only have a couple for you. So you ready? Okay. Here we go. Analog or digital.
Speaker 3 (49:23.053)
I'm ready.
Speaker 3 (49:27.928)
analog.
MJ O'Prince.
Enjoy.
Radio or streaming.
Radio.
Speaker 1 (49:37.208)
Fat Boy or Dan?
Speaker 2 (49:42.51)
That's what's up. That's what's up.
That's a good one!
Trying to make a descent happen over here. Gibson or Fender?
That's good, chart.
Speaker 2 (50:05.134)
man, Libby, it's so good to see you again, brother. I'm so proud of everything you've been doing. And I take complete credit for it since I taught you 15 years ago, but no, you have been making moves. You've been working hard. I'm so happy to see you getting the kind of success and recognition you deserve, And I want to thank you, Libby V, our first special guest.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (50:33.57)
here with me and Fatboy on its levels to this.
This level to this man!
Speaker 2 (50:48.716)
Hey, just real quick, we need your support. If you like seeing discussions like this, we need you to like, comment, and subscribe to the channel. Thanks for watching.
levels to hit.