Rawbone Talks Working With Warhol.SS, How To Get Your First Placement & More
I got the chance to connect with producer Rawbone. He's a new producer to this game and has been able to move fast and gain placements through hard work and his unique sound.
Where are you from? And what was your upbringing like?
I'm from Covina, CA. It's a suburb 30 mins from Downtown LA. I was raised by a single mom who worked all the time. All I would do for most of my youth was go skate with the homies. There wasn't a music scene going on to my knowledge growing up.
When did you first get into producing music? Any producers that have had any influence on your sound or production style?
Late 2016, I got in trouble and put on house arrest, I was 17 at the time. My homie Kyle showed me Fruity Loops, and that's all I did for the three months I was on it. Producers that have had an influence on me for sure would have to be CHASETHEMONEY, Southside, and all my producer friends. Another influence for sure would have to be 80s music and all the music my mom would play when she was younger.
Who was your first placement, and how did you get it?
I think my first placement was with Warhol, but I think I can explain "how" in the questions following. I know some producers count placements as getting the artist to record on their beat, but I don't count it as a placement until the song releases officially. If that was the case, I got placements with Offset and Gunna.
You produced "Suicide Squad" by Montana of 300 featured on his most recent album "Views From The Generals Helmet" released earlier this year. How did you end up linking with Montana?
One of Montana's artists found my beats on YouTube and inquired about purchasing the exclusive rights for it. Then Montana hit me on Instagram, and we hopped on a phone call. He asked me to send similar vibes as the beat his artist liked. I just sent him the beat through email; we never met in person.
You and Warhol.SS collaborated on "Options" featured on "Chest Pains" released in 2018. How did you end up first connecting with Warhol.SS?
A pimp put me on lowkey (I'll call him Rich). I went to school with his bottom girl's little brother; that's how I met Rich. But Rich made music too that's why he fucked with me, he would always bring me around and introduce me to people. One day he hosted a party/show at the kush factory, Warhol pulled up, I walked up to him and introduced myself, got his email and sent him beats. I would send him hella shit but he never opened any of em pretty sure. Then one day Rich hit me up to pull up to the studio, Warhol was there. Other producers were there already playing beats for him. Three producers played like ten beats for him each; every beat they played, he said: "next, next, next". Then I asked if I could pull up some beats. The first one I played, he said: "this the one." But that first beat he got on wasn't the beat for "Options", it was the "Send Em To Hell" track I posted on my SoundCloud. Then the next day, he went through his email and discovered all the beats I had sent him. The Options beat was in one of the packs I sent.
One of my favorite songs off of Warhol.SS most recent EP "M.I.A" is a song you produced, "WYO" and as soon as I heard the beat, it immediately stuck out to me. Can you run us through making that beat? How did your beat get into Warhol.SS hands?
The 80's inspired that beat! I just like things that sound vintage and I just threw some basic drums on it. Warhol hit me up to pull up to the studio. He said I'm like a secret weapon when it comes to production. I just played the beat and he fucked with it instantly. The original version of the song was recorded by ADHD (French Montana's Engineer), the way he mixed it initially sounded perfect and raw as fuck. Warhol didn't want any autotune on his voice originally. Then someone remixed the song and put autotune on his voice, added a little too much reverb to the intro and chopped the beat up. I prefer the original version, but if people still fuck with it, that's all that matters.
You've been able to get a bunch of placements from a variety of different artists? How have you done so? Any advice to the producers out there trying to get their first placement?
Just making what I think sounds good. Working with everyone, you never know who knows who. My advice is to follow the wave at first just to get in the door then start crafting what you think sounds good.
What's the best piece of advice you could give to all the producers out there?
Stay down and be patient. Take everything with a grain of salt.
What can we expect from Rawbone in 2020? Any upcoming projects you're a part of or working on that we should be aware of?
I'm trying to drop an instrumental album before the year ends. A Compilation of all my favorite beats I've produced and beats I've made with my friends. It's going to be called "Two-Sided." And a little 5 song collab EP with CRASH RARRI. The name of that is going to be "BEFORETHESTORM." The reason for that title is because after this little ep comes out, Rarri is going to drop all our best songs on his next album. I think Rarri and I are going to be like the next Future and Metro. We got this one song called lost my mind, whew that song is fucken crazy. We both put so much heart into our music. That's why we work so good together. Stay tuned.