Steelo Foreign On The Beat
We got the chance to talk with Steelo Foreign. He's worked with artists like Thouxanbanfauni, and OMB Peezy. Steelo has some fire coming your way 2019 so keep him on your radars. He's got a banger out with Fauni, "Billionaires". If you haven't heard it yet definitely go check it out.
Where are you from and what age did you first make a connection to producing music? And how long have you been producing music?
I'm from Austin, Texas, and I started producing beats and engineering in early 2015. I would go to say I've really been producing records since 2012 (putting artists together, picking the beat, overseeing the quality control of the song and what to do after the record is done.
What's your producer tag? How did you create it? What's the importance of having a producer tag?
"Steelo Foreign On The Beat" and that was created in 2015 when I first started producing, just felt for branding it was super important. Every producer should have one, but I also don't think every song needs a tag.
What's your scene? Would you rather be at the crib cooking up beats solo? Or be in the studio collaborating with other producers?
There's a time and a place for everything. I often find myself in both environments daily, at home catching up on mixes and beats, but also having sessions where everyone's pulling up and collaborating on new vibes, it really just depends on the moment.
You can really make either one as productive as you want.
Who are some of the producers that inspired you to want to pursue music as a career?
Big Krit, J Cole, Timbaland, Pharrell, Harry Fraud, Dr. Dre, Kanye, I mean the list goes on.
Can you run us through the process of making the "Billionaires" beat? How did Fauni end up hopping on it?
One of my producers I work with closely Roy Smith, had Fauni pull up the Airbnb in LA, I had a little rough loop from earlier that day, and so when he got there I played a few beats and Roy played a few beats and then I pulled that loop up not thinking much of it, and he said pull it up. I engineer like 90% of songs on my beats so, in the process of going from Abelton to logic to record, I had to add the bass and arrange it, which I did real quick. He's a pretty easy artist record, so I pieced together the song and had him adlib it and there you have it.
How did you build up your connections with artists and other producers? What's the best way for a new producer to get their beats out to artists?
Being available and accessible is really your biggest asset. Not every session is the going to be the greatest session but pulling up and playing something and seeing it thru is a lot more rewarding than waiting to hear back from an artist after sending beats via email. A lot of my connections came from word of mouth and artists and peoples belief in the work-flow in the studio.
Is it hard for you to get placements? How did you get your placements? What would you recommend to a producer trying to get placements?
Making songs isn't the hard part for me anymore, now it's about seeing that song thru and validated, doing the videos, putting projects together, adding a bigger picture behind records which isn't the conventional way of producers moving records.
What do you think of producers rapping? Would you ever drop something yourself?
I started music thru rapping, and who knows I've written a few records for artists I've worked with, but really fire music is fire music, I don't see one bias or the other.
Favorite song you've produced?
This record with Sadababy & OMB Peezy that should be dropping soon. The studio session that day was EPIC.
What's on the horizon for your music career in 2019?
Excited about the relationships with a few companies and brands I'll be partnering with for different kinds of deals, and looking forward to the sessions dedicated to my project I'll be dropping this year featuring some of my friends and favorite artists.
Check Him Out!