EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH MUSIC PRODUCER “SELF TAUGHT BEATS”
BROWN EYEZ caught up with one of the UK’s most talented music producers, Justin SELF TAUGHT BEATS. He has produced tracks for Yolanda Brown, Bashy, Shontelle and Street Politiks to name a few. He tells about how he got into producing, how proud he is of Speech Debelle ( who is a member of his FirstLove Music production team) and gives his view on GRIME music plus plenty more!! Check it out!
BROWN EYEZ – How did you get into producing?
SELF TAUGHT BEATS– Basically when I finished my A levels I was going to do a degree in graphic design, but my heart wasn’t really in it and so I decided to study music. I found a course in music at a specialist college. I setup my studio1999 and taught myself, hence the name “Self Taught Beats”.
BROWN EYEZ – Who are your musical influences?
SELF TAUGHT BEATS – When growing up I really loved Reggae and Bashment. I went to Jamaica for the first time when I was 12 and I was a convert, I came back with all my cut up t-shirts and jeans and string vests (laughs). I also grew up listening to Hip Hop artist like Pete Rock, Cl smooth, Gangsta, Dela Soul and Tribe Called Quest.
My main musical influence from the UK is the producer Para Beats. I love the way he cuts up samples, that’s where I draw most of my influences from, but I do make Bashment as well, I got a tune with Mr Midas coming out soon.
BROWN EYEZ – You are the co founder of FirstLove Musik, tell me a little bit about that.
SELFT TAUGHT BEATS – FirstLove Musik primarily is a production team which includes myself, Realism and Draykee and includes artists such as Short Man, Universe (Hugo Urban Rules Winner) and Speech Debelle and a few more people but that’s the core.
The name first love music came about simply because music is my first love. Lots of people get into music just for money and what not but you should really be into music because you love it and because you are passionate about it then you can make proper music…so it made sense to call ourselves FirstLove Musik.
BROWN EYEZ – You must be proud that Speech Debelle, someone from FirstLove Musik has won a Mercury Prize Award?
SELF TAUGHT BEATS – Yes I am bloody proud! I feel like a proud big bro!! Sooo many people sleep on Speech because apparently, they don’t know how to categorize her music… (Duh) MTV Base & Choice FM included! Just because she isn’t spitting on typical Hip Hop production and perpetuating the same miss-educating lyrics that usually makes their playlists! Why do they always support ignorance, & hardly ever support intellect?? But now she’s won the Mercury, MTV have suddenly started playing her video, after rejecting it before the win! Funny that init! Anyway, as I was saying…bloody proud! I remember back at our old studio when she was scared of live performances, now she’s on stage with full band captivating crowds of thousands! …I love progress! She’s done her FirstLove Musik family proud.
BROWN EYEZ – You have worked with many artists such as Terry Walker, Wretch 32, Street Politicks, Yolanda Brown and Shontelle. Who was the most enjoyable person to work with?
SELF TAUGHT BEATS -Bwoy that is a big question and demands some thought!! Well it is always going to be those that are in my FirstLove family but I really enjoyed working with Yolanda Brown, she is just a nice person she is welcome to my studio anytime.
BROWN EYEZ – You have produced a few tracks for Bashy, e.g. ”crying out loud” from his Chupa Chups mix tape and “Copy Cat” From Bashy’s latest album Catch Me If You Can, what was it like working with him?
SELF TAUGHT BEATS – It was fun and made me re address the way I think about Grime music. Simply because at first I was really ignorant about the whole Grime scene, I didn’t really want to know because to me it didn’t really sound like music and my whole view of the Grime MC was that they aren’t versatile kind of thing, all they can do is spit on that tempo. I was being ignorant blatantly, because it’s a new form of music and you know anything new people are going to fight against at first until they get used to it.
So up until that point I didn’t really take Bashy seriously and just wrote him off as just a Grime MC, but he made me think differently. I met him in the studio when he was recording his mix tape and I played him the “crying out loud” beat. I weren’t expecting him to do it like that and you know its all conscious talk he is talking, I weren’t expecting that from the dude at all and that’s a hip hop beat, not a Grime beat…. he killed it! So from that point I kind of looked at Grime MC’s differently, and started doing my research and started finding out about Wretch 32 and Scorcher and various others…equally heavy…. and they all are not just MC’s they are artists…. there is a difference…. they know how to write songs!!!
But yes working with Bashy was a great experience, I owe him allot because “Crying Out Loud” went on his mix tape and the fact that he said my name on the song was the best promotion that I could have had at that point. A lot of people herd my name, and everyone loved that track. I swear if “Black Boys” weren’t on that Mix tape “Crying Out load” would have been the best tune on it (laughs). So working with Bashy opened up a lot of doors for me, I got a lot of respect for him and appreciation for him. I think he is heavy and blatantly one of my favourite UK artists doing their thing at the moment.
BROWN EYEZ – Is there an artist that you want to work with that u haven’t had the chance to?
SELF TAUGHT BEATS – Yeah Skinny Man, Ty, Black Twang, Mica Paris, Omar, Lily Allen, Calvin Harris, Adele, Estelle. I would also like to work with people that may not be considered mainstream such as AKS and Selina Simmone. I just want to work with talented people.
BROWN EYEZ – What was your inspiration behind your debut single “ Where I Wanna To Be” featuring Terri Walker, Short Man and Street Journalist?
SELF TAUGHT BEATS – The inspiration behind the single “Where I Wanna Be” is simply about progress and being positive. On this track every verse is saying something positive and that is what we need. We have enough badness out there, although some of the badness is reality but there has to be a balance.
BROWN EYEZ – What new projects do you have coming up?
SELF TAUGHT BEATS – I got a lot coming up!!!! I’m working on my album, I’m meant to be working on some production for Yolanda Brown, Street Politicks both Charms and Chunks album, J Biggs and Femi from Adult hood and Kidult hood, I’m working on a lot.
BROWN EYEZ – Who do you think is going to be hot this year?
SELF TAUGHT BEATS- Well apart from me (laughs) Bashy and Tinie Tempah. I didn’t used to like Tinie Tempah for some reason, I think it was his voice, but I started to listen to bodies of his work and now I like him. Also, Wretch 32, I think he should be big, but whether he will be is a different thing because you know the industry is fickle, it’s so hard to predict. K young is doing her thing she is heavy and AKS is good too.
BROWN EYEZ – What advice would you give to up and coming music producers?
SELF TAUGHT BEATS – Be open-minded, listen to all types of music. In my album collection you have all types of music, classical, rock, jazz. Don’t think that because you want to make tunes for rappers and MC’s, the only music you have to listen to is Hip-Hop or Grime, because Hip-Hop draws inspiration from every genre of music, so you have to be worldly and thinking big, stay focussed, know the business as well as the music!
Have a listen to a few tracks produced by SELF TAUGHT BEATS.
1. Self Taught Beats and DreadKey, Where I Wanna Be, feat, Realism, shortMAN, Terri Walker and Street Journalist
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
2. Dominique Saint, Work It Out , feat Junior Brat , Produced by Self Taught Beats
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
3. Self Taught Beats, The Link Up , feat Big Cakes, Short Man and Realism
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
4. Self Taught Beats, Just Say, feat Yolanda Brown
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
5. Bashy, Copy Cat, Produced by Self Taught Beats
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.