Str8HipHip

SHH: What's been good with you Boi 1da?

Boi 1da: Man I’ve just been here trying to make 100 beats a day real talk (Laughs).

SHH: Word? Sounds like a crazy work load… So tell us where you make all these beats?

Boi 1da: I live in Toronto, Ontario in a small town called Ajax, really quiet place you know, not much goes on out here that’s why I'm just on the music tip real heavy.

SHH: Tell us a little bit about the Hip Hop scene in Toronto?

Boi 1da: The Hip-Hop scene is real crazy out here in Toronto man, a lot of talent rappers and producers… It’s a small industry out here, but its growing rapidly and a lot of good music is coming from here although sometimes it gets unnoticed, but I notice everything that’s hot from my city.

SHH: So tell us a little more about what you do?

Boi 1da: Well I'm a producer and what I mean by producer is I make “songs.” I'm not just a beat maker. I always like to have my input in on the songs and usually when they are being recorded I like to be there because for every one of my beats I have a vision and the rapper must come correct on the beat. Obviously they have creative control, but I have a lot also.

SHH: When did you get started making beats or should I say “being a producer?”

Boi 1da: I started making beats in the summer of Grade 10. That’s probably about 2002, so it’s been a while. A friend had told me about a computer program called Fruity Loops so I went out and got it and ever since man I’ve been addicted to it like crack. I'm not addicted to crack though.

SHH: Who do you look up to that's in the mainstream?

Boi 1da: I have a lot of influenced, I was heavily influenced by Swizz Beatz when I was younger, because I was a diehard Ruff Ryders fan, but later on I figured out about Dr. Dre and Timbaland. They are an influence to create beats and also an influence toward my attack toward the business side of things because I see how they got an artist that they came up with and then became super producers from the one artist and things just started to move on from there.

SHH: Who have you done work with?

Boi 1da: I've worked with a lot of artists, stemming from Drake, Kardinal Offishall, Saukrates, Trey Songz, Jim Jones, Stack Bundles, Sacario, Mel Matrix, Nickelus F, Keelo, P-Dollaz, Rochester aka Juice, Loaded Lux, The Clipse, Voyce Alexander, Aristo, SG, Young Tony, Richie Sosa, Set2 the list goes on man… (Laughs) I can be sitting here all day.

SHH: Since you’ve produced for so many artists across the board. Who do you feel you have the best chemistry with in the studio or creatively?

Boi 1da: Well I've worked with a lot of artists, but I feel like I get the best chemistry with my homie Drake, every time we're in the studio together it’s like crackvioli, we always come out with something hot.

SHH: So how was it working with Drake & Trey Songz on the "Replacement Girl" single?

Boi 1da: It was crazy man, the way that song actually came about was me and another producer name T.Williams who co-produced the track were actually working on a remix we were trying to submit for Lyfe Jennings, we did the beat real crazy and Drake heard it over the phone and he was like, "DAMN, I NEED THAT!!! I wanna do a song I had in mind with Trey Songz over that!" So we sent him the instrumental, he had everything ready, then me and him flew out to Atlanta, met up with Trey Songz and it was a wrap like condoms.

SHH: So you felt you had a hit? How do you know when you've produced a hit?

Boi 1da: Can't explain it man, you know it’s a hit when its being made and you can’t sit still you just keep getting up off your seat and bobbing your head.

SHH: Your production has been real diverse from deep and dark sounding tracks to R&B and mainstream sounding backdrops. What's your process when you come up with these creations?

Boi 1da: Really it’s not process to me; I just start making a beat and whatever it comes out sounding like it comes out sounding like that. That’s what mostly happens when I'm by myself making a beat or something. It varies because I don’t try to do the same thing every time, I like to explore different angles and try new things.

SHH: What makes your sound different from the next producer?

Boi 1da: Well what makes me different is I never try to make something sound the same always, I hate hearing some people’s beats and they are just like, "Oh that sounds like a such and such beat". Always trying to switch it up and make something different, and come with something brand new.

SHH: Do you prefer just making more beats off the top of your head or working with a concept or a particular sound an artist requests?

Boi 1da: Well I can work with an artist that wants a concept, but I love when the artist just wants me to hit them with something on the spot, because it doesn’t put me in a box I can be open to create something that sounds good, not just like a particular song.

SHH: You said you use Fruity Loops, but what other equipment or software do you use to produce your signature sound?

Boi 1da: Well a lot of my old stuff I was using the old version of Fruity Loops 3.56 because I was really comfortable with it; but recently I’ve upgraded to 7XL, and its crazy! I don’t really use anything else other than Cool Edit Pro to cut my samples.

SHH: What's your outlook as we head into 2008?

Boi 1da: Well 2008 is looking to be a crazy year so far, I'm getting a lot of good looks right now from the Industry in America, my beats are getting a lot of attention out there, a lot of the projects are unsure but the looks are crazy. I’ve been getting beats out to Fabolous, Cashis of Shady Records, Freeway, Sheek Louch and a couple other things you will hear about shortly.

SHH: So what is Boi 1da listening to right now?

Boi 1da: Right now I'm still bumping Graduation and Curtis, by far the 2 of the hottest albums that came out this year, and other than that I'm just on my T-dot ish, Drake and Richie Sosa about to drop some heavy mixtapes oh and my man Nickelus F, he’s killin’ it too.

SHH: Shout outs and anything in closing?

Boi 1da: I wanna give a shout out to the whole team, The Commitment, D10 and Drake, all of the ATF, Mega Man, Dood Staxx, Shane Sterling and The Foundation, SG Straight Grimey, Nickelus F and the Burglaz Squad, Radio B, East Side Scarborough, Rich Kidd, Beat Juggernaut, L Quest, Spinz, Slackah The Beat Child, Zalezy, Esco and all of Toronto, if I forgot you, you already know what it is! It’s late! (Laughs)

Get at Boi 1da on MySpace @ http://www.myspace.com/nofreebeats

Get at Boi 1da on Str8HipHop @ http://www.str8hiphop.com/user/50366