I will begin teaching the Music Production 101 course on February 3rd, 2025 at Access 21. As I prepare for this, I would like to reflect on my journey in music production. I actually started to learn how to create my own tracks in 1994, when I was around 18 years old. At the time, I programmed beats on a drum machine. I had just moved to Charlotte, NC from Baltimore, MD, and in Charlotte, I connected with a music producer who was originally from Texas. I showed him a tape of some of the songs that I made the past summer of 1994, where I had some local Baltimore rappers rap over the beats that I had programmed on my drum machine. The producer from Texas listened to my tape, and then said, “I don’t like gangster rap.”
Now, if you know anything about me, then you would know that I am not a gangster rapper. Nothing about me is gangster in any way. I would more accurately define myself as a book nerd. But the fact is, that my experiences in Baltimore, MD, and my reality as expressed through music, could easily be mistaken as something that it was not. In our rap songs, we talked about the realities of living in the inner-city environment of 1990s Baltimore, MD.
Well, I was so upset with the mischaracterization of my music that I decided to learn how to do music production completely on my own. I wanted to creatively express my own truth through music. I purchased a keyboard and started to learn how to flesh out tracks. I also had a friend who showed me some basics of piano, such as chords and scales. But my main focus was developing my sound. So, I hyper-focused on this through the years. I focused so much on music production, that I stopped writing lyrics so that I could get better at music production.
Along the way, I learned other skills such as finger drumming and playing in real-time. Around the year 2009, I felt confident enough in my music production skills, that I started to write lyrics again. I also went to the local music store, and purchased a DAW, an audio interface, and a microphone on the advice of the store clerk, when I asked him to show me what equipment I needed to purchase to record my lyrics over my beats.
I self-published my first album in 2012, called “A Nation of Fatherless Children.” After that, I published two more albums. I published one in 2015, called “Insecurities,” and then another in 2021, called, “No One Cared about Me so I Cared about Myself.” These albums were very cathartic and helped me to process the trauma experienced during my youth. These albums had their time, and I really can’t say that I’m still in the same place that I was in when I published these albums. I’m in a completely different space now.
Again, I’m in a completely different space now. So much so that I didn’t publish all of the albums that I had ready to go. I had four more albums that I could have published, but I didn’t because I had outgrown the topics I discussed in these albums. Currently, I’m looking to collaborate with singer/songwriters and other instrumentalists. I’m currently working on a contemporary jazz album with a local saxophonist, and I’m working on another solo rap album, which will be called, “Growth,” in which I will discuss topics that are more pertinent to my current life experiences.
All of this is to say, that my journey in music production has been interesting and involved. I’m truly honored to teach music production at Access 21, and I hope to be able to relate my experiences in music production to my students. I want the students to have a basic foundation in music production, but also to understand that their voices are unique. I also want them to work together in pairs—there are six students total in the classes—because I believe music is a communal experience. Lastly, I want my students to network with one another and make some friends for organic collaborations. Hopefully, the students will continue to be motivated to search for more fulfillment in their musical journeys and will continue to build a foundation on which to express their authentic voices