New York, NY (August 12, 2008) – As the contest has moved forward and evolved, it’s great to see our members aren’t just armchair producers and emcees. Our community is alive with people actively on their grind, moving units, networking at shows and conferences, in the studio, out in the street and above all, turning out good music. A.S.A.P., our Round 2 Producer winner, is no exception.

Working in-house for Studio 7303 in Houston, A.S.A.P. is a rapper’s producer. He’s always looking to make the emcee sound as best as possible, creating a familiar sonic landscape for the artist, be it the crushing, candy-paint sound Houston is known for or the original New York boom-bap he grew up on. Fresh off a trip to the Ozone Awards, A.S.A.P. chopped it up with us about his networking style, discerning truth in entertainment and the shady side of the industry.

Loud.com: What’s the good word, ASAP?

Chillin man, lookin for a disk right now. ‘Bout to ride to the store.

Loud.com: How were the Ozone Awards? Were you up for anything or just promoting?

Wasn’t up for anything, just… basically, two things, like, I work with these folks out here, Prime Time Click, they did a song called “Halle Berry,” two of them guys have it out (SupaSTAAR & Dorrough). I produced most of the songs on the album that the song came off of. So we were out doin there pluggin, performed it. It’s at #87 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Charts right now.

I also spent a little bit attending the seminars; I’m always tryin to network with people, but I looked at it as somethin different this year. I just be out all the time, I like seein people, bein seen, talking to people, all that, so I was there more or less just to go.

Loud.com: I understand there was some drama out there this year…

I ain’t really see anything with my own eyes go down, but yeah, it’s been confirmed that DJ Vlad got beat up by Rick Ross’ entourage cuz he asked about the correctional officer shit, and Mike Jones got punched in the mouth.

Loud.com: Word, probably better off not being around it. So, that Track 002 on your page is dope. Was that made for anyone in particular?

Actually, I had made that for Juelz. When I make tracks, I don’t just start chopping up a beat. I decided in my brain what kind of track I want to make and who to make it for. So if someone says, ‘Yo, I need you to make a track for Yung Joc,’ I’ma make a track that I think he will like and that he’d sound good on.

Loud.com: Your sound is synthy but it’s also a bit soulful. It’s atmospheric but it has that very Houston-oriented sound, too. Who would you list as influences? Do you ever get compared to anyone?

Influences, I listen to music as a whole. If we’re talking about producers, my influences are people like Alchemist, because before I started creating original music, I was a sample-heavy person. I liked orchestrated music, instrumental music. But people as far as influenced my sound, every rapper as a whole that I enjoy. I never really got a comparison thing, I don’t jock other people’s styles, but I mean, people will compare you to other people all the time. Drum patterns or whatever. People usually have given me credibility on my own sound, though. I don’t use traditional keyboards like the Phantom or Triton, I use a lot of modules and VST’s. In 2008, I go more software based.

Loud.com: What’s the difference between the New York and Houston hip-hop scene?

In Houston, no disrespect, like, I hold it down, you know what I mean, but it’s really a controlled market out here. We hear national songs and all that, singles. But you’re not gonna hear anybody but Houston rappers otherwise. Rap-A-lot owns radio out here. It’s a great place to live and to club. But there’s no versatility out here at all. New York is way different.

Loud.com: You’ve gotten some placements for Dipset, Buck, Plies… nothing on albums though, what’s the story there?

My whole thing is, when I network out with people and meet new people or I go to someone directly to talk to them about making money, I just meet the right people. I’ma be arrogant when I say it, but I haven’t met them through doing music projects. I meet them on a real level first. Just because you’re a hot rapper, doesn’t mean I want to work with you. It doesn’t mean I’m not gonna charge you for tracks. It comes down to who you are as a person.

As far as making these placements, I meet hundreds of people, I’m in studios all over the place. It can go either way, them coming at me like they could get it to them, or whatever. I’m an in-house producer for Studio 7303 for Ronnie Bookman, there’s stars in there every week. I don’t have management, I don’t have anyone pushing my beats; I work with real people in real environments. I don’t beg anything from anyone. So those placements… they just happened like that.

To be honest, I don’t know how other people do it. I don’t have management, so I can’t mix that way. I‘m losin money if I don’t meet them face-to-face. To me, if I’m not meeting people, I’m not working.

Loud.com: Are you a full-time producer, like it’s your only 9-5?

I mean, to be honest with you it is, but I don’t consider it a full-time job. I love to do it, I love to work with people, but I can’t pay my medical bills with this. I still have a day job, but music is what I want to do. I work at an electronics store. I know how to make beats and so I know how to mess with computers. I’ve been makin beats for 2 years, but I’ve understood music longer. If a person understands how to make a beat, and they understand all parts of a song, all you need after that is a good set of sounds and drums and if you can build a beat just by knowing what you want it to sound like. It should be a lot easier nowadays. That’s why I assume that for new and young producers, it’s a lot easier to make beats. And they should be better.

Loud.com: What was the studio experience with Plies like? He’s been one of the brightest spots for the South of late, but his credibility has been called into question.

When I met him, for one thing before I even give you my opinion, I don’t ever judge anybody by what other people know them for. Like if someone stole something from someone else, should I believe he’s going to steal from me?

When I met him for the first time, it was like I was meeting a new person. Forget the news and the music. To me, he came off as a real dude. He knows how to rap and he knows what people want to hear. And that’s how you make money. There’s a difference between being a fraud and marketing yourself, and he knows how to market what he says effectively.

Loud.com: Your profile page says that ASAP is more a movement than one producer. Explain that.

Always Strive And Prosper. It was a creative by my man Steve Rodriguez. He don’t do music, like he just on some shit, like a real good man. I took that name, A.S.A.P., and flipped it, he approved it, and we started rollin. He’s an intern at Warner Bros. right now, and he actually shops a lot of my material that I don’t get to. It’s not a group of producers, but I got 2 engineers that I work with, they get my shit soundin the way it sounds.

I look at A.S.A.P. as bigger than myself. It’s more a group of individuals that cover areas of music. Like I said, I got two engineers that play a huge part in my production; in that sense, we are a group that’s tryin to get known throughout the industry. If I had another producer to work with side-by-side, I’d do it, like, however you want it to be, we’d be workin. But at the end of the day, I think we gone do something with what we got how it is. We’ll be able to give history a little bit of what we got to offer. Our movement, our team kind of thing.

Loud.com: Have you been able to connect with other members of Loud.com? How’s your experience been so far?

Actually, I enjoy Loud.com, it reminds me of MySpace. I always enjoy meeting new, real people. When I signed up, I didn’t have any expectations, but the music spoke for me, and people like good music. They extended their hand and I gave mine back. So I enjoyed it.

Loud.com: Anything else before I let you go?

I don’t have anything that concerns the site, the people, or the music. But man, I just want people to know, if you extend your hand to me, I’ll work with you. If you respect me, I’m all about grindin; I don’t take nothin away from no one.

To be honest, I’m tired of these fraud people in the game, though. One thing in my profile, it says I’ve done ghost production. I’m known in Houston for some shit, like… a lot of these people when I’m in the studio, I meet all types of people, man. A lot of platinum, hit-making producers. A lot of these people expect you to bow down to them. I’ve worked with certain producers that expect me to give them my track and not pay me. Because I’m unknown and on the come up. Like they can take advantage of someone that’s not in the same position as them. No. That doesn’t work for me.

That’s the only major issue I have with music right now. I don’t feel like people should take advantage of my talent and sound because they’re in a better position than me; if you like what you hear, do something with it, if not, let it be. Other than that, check me out on Loud.com, get at me!

Tags: asap, berry, Exclusive, halle, hiphop, houston, loud, producer, rap, Video, winner

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 at 11:08 am and is filed under Audio, Culture, Exclusive, Interviews, Loud First, Music, Producers, South, Unsigned, Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.