At a time when the making of a hit record seems to be more of an overused formula than a creative process, Nappy Boy Entertainment-signed platinum producer Young Fyre bridges genres and delivers fresh, timeless anthems. Whether it’s in T-Pain’s symphonic, high-energy hit single “Best Love Song” featuring Chris Brown, Ace Hood’s heavy hitting, or self-crowning “King of the Streets” featuring T-Pain, Young Fyre’s mark undoubtedly has already been left – and the 25-year-old super producer is just getting warmed up.
“I try not to be in any kind of box when I’m making music,” says Fyre, who also produced “How to Hate,” a fan favorite featuring T-Pain on Lil’ Wayne’s Tha Carter IV, released on August 29, 2011.
The Hype Magazine spoke with Young Fyre about his beginnings and motivation which drove him to become a producer. With new projects in the works seemingly on a daily basis, we were blessed to get some time from this busy producer.
Hailing from Des Moines, Iowa Fyre told us that the music scene in his area was almost nonexistent: “Coming from Iowa there wasn’t a lot of music in the area, but I always enjoyed music and enjoyed working with it.” he says
Fyre continued, “I started out as a writer/singer/rapper and needed beats.” “I couldn’t find any really good beats, so I decided to start producing and ended up liking it more than being an artist.”
“From that point on I just focused on producing.” Fyre declared
I asked Fyre about what keeps the “Fyre” burning hot as regards his music creativity and he stated, “Simple, I can stay within the mainstream box while still being creative by not overt thinking the music and not trying to do too much. I do what feels right and what comes naturally to me. “Out of the box” is what’s always in my brain, so I go where my brain goes without getting too crazy (My brain gets really crazy sometimes).”
He continued “I don’t have the same creative process with every track. I usually start off with whatever comes to me first and build on that as if I were writing a song. I think that’s also helps me keep things mainstream.”
One of the key items that seemed to be on the mind of Young Fyre was the advise to up-and-coming artists and producers specifically is the need to learn the business. He pointed out several books that he felt were important for guidance to newbies in the music game … one of those being the industry standard by Donald Passman, Esq., “All You need to Know about the Music Business.” (Freepress, 2009)
Learning the craft from established producers is another key it appears from our conversation, because it helps avoid some of the recurring mistakes that run industrywide.
Fyre says “My advice to up and coming producers would be hone in on your own sound. To make your stuff stand out from other producers, and as with anything else, just work really hard it at.”
We also touched on the difference between a beat maker and a producer. It seems there is a huge divide between the two and a constant statement within the producer’s community. Real producers handle a music piece from A-to-Z, not only with the composition and arrangement of the music but also guiding the artist through the completion of the producer’s vision for a song.
One of the interesting parts of our conversation surrounded Young Fyre’s production for Busta Rhymes. According to Fyre, he would send 20-30 beats over and Busta may choose only 1 or 2 and on occasion he would reject them all. He said during his telephone conversations with Busta, he would tell him not to get discouraged, he was challenging Fyre to bring his best work to the table and this motivated him even further. He made mention of Busta as something of a mentor as well as an inspiration.
In the nature of professional challenges, during a Billboard Magazine interview, Young Fyre indicated he wants to work with country stars LeAnn Rimes and Taylor Swift. (M. Depland, Billboard.com, 2011) We asked him, “what about them makes them stand out” in his mind as artists he wanted to work with and he said, “Basically, working with whomever people don’t expect me to work with.”
Fyre told me that he respects the musicality of country music and their use of instrumentation, it sets the genre apart from other music styles in that aspect.
In his list of influences Young Fyre includes some undeniable heavyweights like Timbaland for his “Creativity,” and “the musicality and compositions” of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. He also added The Neptunes as a strong influence in the development of his craft.
For a man who prides himself on innovation and originality, Young Fyre has seen and will continue to see astronomical mainstream success.
While many young producers imitate and recreate the cookie-cutter sound of overplayed radio hits, Fyre models both his approach to making music and vision for career development after groundbreaking cultural icons like Missy Elliott, Timbaland and Busta Rhymes.
Like his influences, Young Fyre will define his era and help his era’s artists define themselves. He will constantly raise the bar for his competitors and inspire the greatest of future generations.
“I think it’s about time real music makes a comeback,” says the already accomplished but forever motivated Young Fyre, a committed professional who is already many epic tracks into bringing real music back.
I totally agree…!
Young Fyre earned is first national magazine cover story with The Hype Magazine and will appear in its December 2, 2012 issue.
Reference:
(M. Depland,NY, December 7, 2011) Young Fyre Talks T-Pain’s ‘rEVOLVEr,’ Working with Busta Rhymes & More Retrieved from: http://www.billboard.com/column/the-juice/young-fyre-talks-t-pain-s-revolver-working-1005560152.story#/column/the-juice/young-fyre-talks-t-pain-s-revolver-working-1005560152.story November 28, 2012
“All You Need to Know About the Music Business” By Donald S. Passman – Free Press – 2009 – Hardback – 480 pages – ISBN 1439153019
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