Yung Shad Talks Connecting With Young Thug, What's On The Horizon For The Rest Of 2019 And More!
We got the chance to connect with producer, Yung Shad. He’s one of the best producers in the game right now he has placements with artists like Young Thug, YNW Melly, and YNW Bslime just to name a few. In this interview we got the chance to talk about how he connected with Young Thug, working with YNW Melly, and much more. Most of you know the song but if you don't check out my favorite Yung Shad production: “Best Friend” by Young Thug. His social media is linked down at the bottom of the page go give him follow and check out his beats!
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 Gifford Florida. But I moved to Atlanta when I was in 10th Grade and I have been in Atlanta ever since. I was about 14 when I started producing. I have been producing for 13 years."
What's your producer tag? How did you create it? What's the importance of having a producer tag?
"My producer tag is “Yung Shad, you killed this track”. I recorded my little cousin saying that and made a tag out of it. Having a tag is essential because if you aren’t credited properly on a record, that’s part of the proof of your contributions to the recording. If you ever need to fight for being properly credited, having your tag on the beat could save you. Trust me it has for me on a couple of occasions."
What was going on in your life when you made your first beat? Was producing always the goal?
"Like so many other producers, I was trying to be a rapper at the time I made my first beat. Lol, I couldn’t find quality beats so I was determined to make my own. It wasn’t always a goal to be a producer but once I picked up those keys, I knew at that moment what my passion was. Being able to get all those melodies and drum patterns out of my head is therapeutic in a way for me."
Did you have any doubts in your mind that you weren’t going to be successful?
"I never really doubted that I would be successful because I refused to let all the years of staying up all night working on my craft, all the years of free work that I did for artist just go to waste... I graduated from Full Sail University back in 2012. I had hundreds of students in my class and literally, only 2 of us are still doing music. Till this day, I bet on myself. I knew if I worked hard enough and networked with enough people that I would eventually be put in the right position. I believe everybody will have a shot at success at least once, in their life, it’s just what you do with that opportunity once it’s given."
How long did it take you roughly to start excelling with your career?
"Honestly, I didn’t see any success until about 7 years into my career. I got a placement with K Camp through singer/songwriter Tasha Catour. We went to high school together that’s how we built that connection... All the years before that situation, I was only working with a local artist from my hometown Gifford and Local artist In Atlanta."
How/when did you first connect with Young Thug? Can you run us through making the "Best Friend" beat with Ricky Racks? How did Thug end up hopping on it? Were you with him in the studio when he recorded it?
"I met Ricky Racks through a mutual friend when he first moved to Atlanta from North Carolina. Racks ended up signing a pub deal with Darp studios, the same studio that birthed Metro, Southside, Young Thug, etc. The engineer that worked At Darp hit up Ricky and said Young Thug needed beats and he sent them a pack of beats we had just collabed on. Best friend was one of the beats Thug selected that night. That beat was the last beat we expected him to select because we made that beat in like 5 minutes... It was simple Racks did a melody I did a counter-melody added a couple of background sounds and drums and that’s it... We never got a chance to work in the studio with Thug when he made the song though. I wish we were it would have been epic."
You've worked with YNW Melly a lot, how/when did you first connect with him?
"Melly is from the same city in Florida as me. I already had a little buzz around town after producing Best Friend. Melly knew who I was before I knew who he was. I was on Facebook one day and I came across an old music video him and J Green did. They barely had any views but I knew when I saw both of them, I knew that they were stars... I reached out to Melly and told him that if anybody from Gifford is going to blow that it would be him... He sounded completely different from anybody down there... He was probably 15 when I gave him the first beat and he been my lil brother ever since."
Can you run us through making the "Butter Pecan" beat? How did Melly end up hopping on it? Were you with him in the studio when he recorded it?
"With Butter pecan, I started on the beat at my house... I sent it to my guy Izzie on the beat to finish it because I was stuck on what else to add to it. He went crazy on it. I knew once he sent it back that I was going to get it placed. Melly recorded the song in Florida so I wasn’t at the session when he recorded it."
Can you run us through making the "Alarm" beat? How did Melly end up hopping on it?
"I did the alarm beat with a young producer name Savion he isn’t even 18 years old yet. He sent me the melody for "Alarm", immediately added my twist to it and sent it to Melly... He recorded it the same night..."
Melly isn't the only YNW affiliate you've worked with. You've had the opportunity with Melly's younger brother, YNW Bslime on his debut single "Slime Dreams". How/when did you first connect with him? Can you run us through making that beat?
"The same situation With Bslime he’s from my city and we all look at each other like family so whenever anybody from YNW has a project I do whatever I can to help that project be successful. Me and producer Foreign Got Em got over 20 collabs, Slime dreams is one of many records that we have with Bslime together. We have a lot more in store I promise."
How did you build up your placements? Any advice to producers who might have a fire sound but not the connections to get in touch with bigger artists?
"It sounds cliche but relationships are the key. These big artists have so many people a part of their team, reach out to someone in their circle, You don’t always have to reach the artist directly.. do some free beats or work for somebody on their team. That relationship may just be the big break you need."
What's on the horizon for your music career in 2019?
"2019 I’m trying to add more plaques to the collection bro. Be on the lookout for the new unreleased Melly music coming that we have in the pipeline, More Bslime music too."
Check him out:
https://www.instagram.com/yungshadbeatz/?hl=en