Aug 20, 2026 · 2 hr 12 min · 21 segments
Amazing episode today with a very well travelled man! Big salute to Friyie for such a great conversation! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@WeLoveHipHopNetwork416 Intro Music…
Friday Ricky DredHost
DJ Natural WavHost
DJ CzarHost
One Take JakePanelistI think when it comes to the beats, the hotter the people that you've connected with, it's kind of like branding, right? Like, oh, I got this person wearing my shit and that person wearing my shit.
So it's like if you have your beats with like the hottest Toronto rappers or just rappers, period.
yeah i think you have to do a balance like you still as a beat maker like you still want to make some money off your beats and like there are often times you'll give someone a beat for free and you don't make that money that you would have made up front i think it's good to have a balance of both like upfront payment as well as like publishing uh to ensure that in the case that the song does blow up uh you're still able to capitalize
But because it blew up now, you still want to circle back and get some more? Mm-hmm.
that it does work like that because you can lease a beat there are a lot of producers that sell their beats and then they still get percentages on publishing okay that's like
when you're saying selling attachment like oh you like here you own this now because when i bought the beat that i made the track with father phyllis like when i bought it it wasn't at least it was like i own that beat now you know
okay so you got the exclusive rights like exactly yeah because usually there's tiers right when you purchase a beat there's like a standard lease a premium lease and then like an exclusive yeah
are you talking about like when you go on youtube and get the beat stars and stuff okay yeah yeah yeah i remember enough of those
okay so what if somebody like really famous like the weekend or i don't know travis scott wanted to get a beat Would you give it just for the free? And I can't.
And it's there when people go look up the name on or look up the credits they can see produced by DJs are like that can go a long fucking way that the money that you didn't get
But if you're, you know, respectfully, you know, a producer on the come up and somebody makes you that offer, like, I'm going to do it for the look.
You got to say, fuck the look, but sometimes you got to say, I got to do that look.
And the only reason why, because earlier off mic, before we started, I said that you should just like, just give away the beats for free.
You know what I mean? But because like, I seen your process and you're very good at making beats and you make beats very like efficiently, you know, like you can make enough beats like one day, you know what I mean? So I feel like you'll be able to like, I guess spam the market like give beer beats to beer artists and like allow them to like and then you can even find the people that you like to work with you can find the artists that you don't really want to work with and like I feel like it allows you more room to grow rather than just saying like oh every beat I have to make a 350 on it or else or else it's not leaving the boat You know what I mean? No, for
Another point, because you're looking for like a name brand artist to go on your beats.
You don't think that like artists are looking for like name brand producers to get beats from? True.
Are you sure? In these days and times? Because producers be carrying a lot of these songs.
You know what I'm saying? But just because a producer works with an artist doesn't mean that song's going to blow.
Do you think that kind of diminishes the producer then? Where it's like, I could just find any beat anywhere type shit.
But, and I got mad, but I didn't understand the business completely in that, because it was moving to that, right? I didn't understand that.
I don't want to say it diminishes the value of producers, but it makes it more commonplace to be a producer.
But it increases the value of good producers because there's so many that if you're amongst the good ones, then you're in the 1% or whatever, you know?
So I know back in the days, and I have a pre-topic that we'll get to in a second, but I know back in the days... we had producer prices for Timberland, Swiss Beats, guys like that, that were upward of $200,000.
In these days and times, have you guys been keeping up with what the average producer is getting paid? Like a Tay Keith? Because I haven't kept up with the producer prices.
I feel like it's the same thing because like, Take Keith, Metro Boomin, Pierre Bourne.
So I feel like people are paying for like the stamp of approval, you know? The branding.
Even Russian, the Jamaican producer, when he released his rhythm, a lot of people were trying to like get on his rhythm because it was a Russian rhythm, you know? So I feel like the super producers still get their big bags because there's like an audience that comes with it.
But the average producer is probably getting like three bills you know for a beat
yeah I would say that's even on the high end because there's so many like internet producers that make tight beats that like a thousand people leased at 75 bucks
one beat and they have like a hundred of those so and like they live somewhere in Czech Republic or something like yeah and the 75 bucks is like a ban to them I've paid a couple of those
Yeah, so, and now you're competing with people who are selling like $30 beats, $20 beats, $25 beats.
Because I had a bedroom whose bedroom was, like, family with him, you know? So, like, he was, like, coming out here.
because you know why I'm thinking this, right? Almost every Toronto beat through, like, the 2018 to, like, 2020 times, cash money AP.
they were smart because at first, every producer on YouTube was trying to get as much money for their beats as possible.
You know, like, if you want the exclusive, obviously, then you could, like, buy the exclusive.
If you just want a leased beat and, like, put it on, like, Instagram or YouTube or some shit, yeah, use these beats.
And, like, you got kind of, like, used to hearing that Cash Money AAP, and then that becomes, like, a name brand.
Like there's some of those ones like, OK, you can get the ones on YouTube where, OK, I download the beat and that's the freebie.
But now when somebody leases it because it's the next level, OK, at least it for 300, I can use this beat.
But like after a certain if I don't own it exclusively, which is a whole other tier of price.
You know what I'm saying? I've done this for my own music, right? And then there's the third tier where it's like, okay.
You know what I'm saying? So there's different ways that these producers can make money from that shit.
Last thing on the beat thing, because I find this a very interesting conversation.
What do you suggest for artists when it comes to that process? Because, you know, you got a budget making beats, making the songs if you have to go out to a studio or whatever.
So do you suggest doing the free YouTube beats, exclusive outright buying of the beats, or doing a lease type of thing?
I don't recommend any of those because my primary recommendation is to work with a producer.
So, you know, you could try to do that a couple of times if you want at least to be here and there and just to have something to post.
I feel like a lot of people just go on any type of beat so you can't really develop a signature sound.
But all the... like major artists that we witnessed in our generation typically worked with the same group of producers and it gave them like an iconic sound.
everyone's going on tight beats, how do you find your own sound? If like, Oh, I want to do a Kodak type bleep.
And then I'm going to do like a G Herbo was like, okay, like what's, what's your sound though, bro.
And even like when we were working together on like our beats and shit, what like I appreciated about that process was like there's certain ideas that I wanted to like come to fruition that I wasn't able to do myself and I know that you're trying to get more into the dance hall but like of course I'm much more experienced and like I live in it you know so I was able to like help you realize certain ideas as well so I feel like us like actually working together we're able to get like a better product than if i was just searching on youtube and trying to like find something that aligned with my vision rather than actually creating the vision you know
yeah for sure i i always think that production should be like a collaborative process because like my favorite part about working with someone is that like they can tell you something sounds trash
I feel like when you're just in, like, your own bubble, like, you could convince yourself that it's good because, like, your ego and you're like, yeah, whatever.
And, like, I trust Natural's, like, sense where it's, like, he knows what's going to sound good because we're both DJs and I know, like, with the dance hall stuff, like, he knows, he's thinking about, like, when he would play this, like, what type of set, you know?
There's certain intricacies that, like, the general person wouldn't really take in.
But like, if you're deep in it, you'll be like, wait, that doesn't sound exactly right.
Yeah, that's why I fuck with y'all, fam, because you guys, you're DJs, one, but you also understand the algorithm.
You know what I'm saying? There's a combination of things that, and this is not just for DJs, for artists, period.
If you don't know how to have a balance of both, I'm good at what I do, but I also know that if I don't do these certain things, nobody's going to be able to see it.
You know what I'm saying? Can I ask you guys a question? Have you guys ever heard about...
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