Music
As a group of unsigned artists and producers are thrust together in a new series of Red Bull TV's The Cut US, we meet its host OG Parker to discuss how working together leads to musical innovation.
Rap has been a collaborative genre since its inception. Without DJs, b-boys wouldn’t have had drum breaks to inspire headspins and jackhammers. Without rap’s earliest producers, rappers wouldn’t have had beats to score rhymes about the realities of their neighbourhoods. Today, it’s not uncommon to see the number of credited songwriters and producers for any given rap song hit double digits.
Watch episode one of series two of The Cut US:
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Over four intense episodes, the 26-year-old Atlanta native guides 18 aspiring songwriters and producers, as they're randomly paired and asked to create an original song from scratch. In every round, participants cast their vote for the winning song. Parker might not vote in the series, but he's clearly invested in every moment of the contestants’ creative challenge.
“It was dope to see some people that never met each other [collaborate],” says Parker, citing New York producer Jermaine Elliott and Missouri-bred singer Adonis The Greek as two of the most impressive contestants and fortuitous pairings. “I love seeing people come together who have honed their talent and worked hard on it.”
Listen to Ramii & Desta's Pass The Aux takeover:
Long before he co-produced gold and platinum hits for artists like Migos (Slippery, Walk It Talk It), Chris Brown (Pills And Automobiles), and Tory Lanez (B.I.D.), Parker was a 10th grader alone in his bedroom with tiny computer speakers, teaching himself how to produce with a MIDI keyboard and a copy of FL Studio. His grandfather, once a music professor at Atlanta’s Morehouse College, taught him the basics of piano, but Parker essentially learned to produce alone. Still, he understood the importance of collaboration even at that age. As a high school athlete who also played percussion in the marching band, he knew how to work with others toward a common goal both on the basketball court and the soccer field.
Get to know the artists and producers taking part in The Cut US:
I always say that team sports help with collaboration. It helps you learn how to be a team player
Parker carried that team-first attitude into his career as a producer. Just before he dropped out of Georgia State University to pursue music full-time, he became a close collaborator with Atlanta rapper OG Maco (U Guessed It). Once part of Maco’s OGG collective, Parker quickly befriended one of his most respected and recurring in-studio partners – fellow Atlanta producer Deko. Parker and Deko soon discovered that, paired together, their different styles conjured even richer, more dynamic instrumentals. In their lab (often one another’s bedrooms), the pair cooked up heterogeneous beats that stood out from homogenous competition.
“He was very into trap music,” explains Parker. “He was really with the trap drums and the trap melodies. I was more into the R’n’B, the synth basses and the melodies with different chords and stuff like that. When we put it together, it came together seamlessly. I think when you have two opposites, you come up with a more unique sound.”
Get to know the artists and producers taking part in The Cut US
Together, the two developed an organic, nearly telepathic workflow. Parker and Deko’s creative synergy resulted in countless beats, including those two high-charting Migos singles, Slippery and Walk It Talk It. Both RIAA-certified hits spotlighted Parker’s penchant for ambient melodies and Deko’s affinity for thundering trap drums, in addition to underscoring the power of the duo’s chemistry. Slippery, in fact, was made on the same night as three other beats the pair later placed.
“It really got to a point where there was nothing to say. [Deko] would start a beat, then I’d finish it. I’d start a beat, then he’d finish it,” Parker says. “Sometimes you make beats with people and the chemistry just isn’t there [like it is with us].”
When filming The Cut US with the series’ competing producers and songwriters at Red Bull Studios in Los Angeles, Parker imparted the collaborative wisdom he accrued working with Deko and producers like Scott Storch, who he worked with on Chris Brown’s Indigo. In his mind, the best way to foster chemistry is to allow everyone in the room a chance to voice and work out their ideas.
I always tell my co-producers that my rule is to never stop somebody when they’re trying to fit their idea into a beat
"I’ll always let you get your idea out,” says Parker. “If I don’t like it, I’ll say: ‘Maybe you should play it like this’, or, ‘Do this’. But I’ll never interrupt someone when they’re getting out an idea. You never know where that idea is going to end.”
Part of Parker’s judgment-free approach to production stems from his years working at Quality Control Music (QC), the juggernaut Atlanta label behind rappers like Migos, Lil Baby, and City Girls. An in-house producer at QC since 2015, Parker works out of their studio constantly. Each day, there’s a rotating cast of rappers and fellow producers who might ask for Parker’s assistance on one track or several. He has to be ready to collaborate at any hour of the day. Fortunately, the atmosphere at QC is conducive to that kind of spontaneous creativity.
Get to know the artists and producers taking part in The Cut US
“I feel like people would think that it’s strict, but it’s probably one of the freest work environments that you’ll ever see. There’s absolutely no pressure. It’s just a bunch of us walking around, goofing off, making great music and having fun. I think that’s probably why it's so amazing,” Parker says. “There’s nobody saying that you have to leave at this time. You can stay and make music all night. Being free and open and not feeling restricted is probably one of the best feelings when making music.”
The relaxed working environment at QC enables Parker to follow every artistic impulse, to avoid the redundancy that might come from a more rigid, assembly-line approach. Each beat is a new opportunity to explore previously uncharted sonic territory. When he’s behind the keys, Parker acts as a conduit for whatever direction the vibe takes him.
“A lot of times, when producers go to make a beat, they stick to the chord progressions that they know. A lot of their beats are in the same key with the same vibe. When I cook up, I kind of let my fingers go where they go. Sometimes, I make a terrible beat doing that. Sometimes, I make something amazing that I never would’ve made if I kept in the same spectrum of chords that I already know.”
The songwriters and producers on The Cut US, however, didn’t have time for missteps. To win, they needed to make a hit in ten hours or less. As someone who’s also worked in abbreviated, high-pressure scenarios, Parker offered the contestants – Adonis The Greek, Charlie Shuffler, Cryssy Bandz, Desta Dawn, Errol Bangz, Jeleel!, Jermaine Elliott, Jess Carp, Jon Swaii, Kid Lennon, Mother Wata, Ramii, Relaye, Ta$ha Catour, Versus.XX, Xian Bell, Ye Ali and Zil – his best advice for creating while racing against the clock.
“I told them: don’t overthink it or try to do too many ideas. I know a couple of people were trying to do multiple songs and then pick from that one. I was like, start a couple of ideas, but whatever idea that you really think highly of, go with that one. Then go all of the way with it. Instead of knocking out five incomplete ideas and rushing them and trying to pick from it.”
Parker’s time on The Cut US gave him a life-altering insight: his knowledge of the challenges and nuances of the music industry are valuable to those just emerging. Now, Parker is looking forward to sharing his industry acumen with future hitmakers. He hopes to mentor them in the way he did the contestants on The Cut US.
“Honestly, the show made me realise that [being a mentor] is something that I really enjoy. I want to start mentoring more producers… I didn’t [have a mentor], and that’s probably why I made a lot of the mistakes I made. I could expedite a lot of producers’ processes by helping them with mixing, helping them with networking and how to collaborate with others. You never know if you’ll wind up helping one of the next big producers in the game.”
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