NEEDLZ INTERVIEW
Needlz is a young cat from Lansing, Michigan, a real humble dude from the Midwest that’s just lucked up. Producing wasn’t something he had planned on doing, it just kind of happened. Here is a brief Q & A, with the man himself.
Growing up, is there anything you learnt from other producers when you listened to their music?
Oh yeah, big time. Like Game, he started rapping not too long ago. He studied a lot of albums and developed his own style. I kind of did that for myself, listening to Premier; studied a little bit from Rza, Timbaland, and listened to a lot of other producers to see what they do. I don’t bite, I just make an effort to develop my own sound. You kind of have to listen to what the trends are, but I think all producers have that influence. No one can sit up here and say that they are totally original and are one of a kind. For the most part, I learn from other producers.
What did you grow up listening to?
Well, I grew up listening to a little bit of everything. My dad was a Jazz and Blues fan, so he had thousands of records in the basement. On top of that I took piano lessons and played the saxophone during middle school and some of high school, even though I never really liked it. I mean, I liked the saxophone at first but piano, I was just forced by my parents, so I didn’t like it at all. Then one day, I put a note on the garage that I was going to boycott piano lessons. My parents said “you better take the chance now or you will regret it later.” Now, when I think about it, I wish I had kept taking those piano lessons. I’ve also been to the west coast, east coast, and five years in Florida while I was doing my undergrad. I guess all of those experiences put together kind of make my sound.
You mentioned you went to Florida to do your undergrad, what did you study?
I went to school for marketing and still didn’t know what I wanted to do. I had dj’d in high school for a little time and all throughout college, but I knew I couldn’t make a living out of it. So, I sold my turntables, and got an MPC, but I didn’t figure it out until my senior year of college that this is something I wanted to do. At least I knew I wanted to get into the music industry, so I ended up going to NYU for grad school and took a music business course. I went to school to become an A&R, work at a label or something, but once I was at my first internship, I realized I wasn’t going to do that either. It was crazy. At the same time, a couple of people heard my music and started passing it around. Once I sold my first beat, it was over, because I realized I could do this.
You got your first internship at Bad Boy. Were you able to pass your material around or did you just see how the A&R position worked?
I worked in the department that managed Bad Boy’s producers, so I had the chance to see them get their music out there to different artists and labels. I once passed my stuff to one of the assistants who kind of got my stuff around for a little while, a guy by the name of Damon Eden, now an A&R at Atlantic. Nothing really came out of it, but the music actually went to my current manager who liked the stuff and things took off from there.
What would you say is the beat that made your name for you, or started making people look for you?
I think the first beat I did that caught people’s attention was a mixtape joint I did for Fabolous. Even though the mixtape didn’t sell a lot of copies, it opened a lot of people’s eyes a little bit because the beat was something different. Of course the Let Me In single coupled with Bang Bang also helped a lot. A combination of those three records is what kind of put me out there.
You are not a producer who is out there having his name shouted out at the beginning of a song. If somebody didn’t know who Needlz was, what track would you tell them to listen to, that best illustrates who you are?
I would say the Let Me In track is a good representation of me. It’s a hard record but most of my beats still have a catchy melody to hold on too. I have thousands of tracks just sitting here waiting because when you haven’t been on, you are still trying to develop your sound. I mean, even though that’s a good representation of me, I don’t have a lot of stuff out there. If you look, most cats have a recycled sound and I don’t really have anything that’s like that because I get bored doing the same thing over and over again. 
What’s your beat making process like? Do you just go in there and hammer it out or do you need the drums first?
I am trying to get into more of a schedule now. Even though I am getting paid for it, I try not to take it too seriously. When you have other pressures on you, like I have to feed my family and all that, it’s kind of too much. You know when I feel it, I get down there, and it usually just takes me one keyboard sound or a snare to get inspired. You might hear something because I have a lot of old beats down here but I don’t sample anymore, so it really comes down to drums. So I guess there isn’t so much of a process.
What do you mean you don’t sample anymore?
I don’t sample in the sense where it’s basically a loop of a record. Even though Bang Bang is hot, I don’t really do stuff like that anymore because you are basically paying someone else. I am just trying to make my music my own. I also don’t do it anymore because I kind of want our generation to be the originators. That’s the route I want to go.
Out of the new artists you have worked with, who do you think is going to make it big this year?
The Game blew up. I think it’s cool that he just started rapping and he let’s people know that. Rich Boy and Lupe Fiasco, they kind of have their own draw. Rich Boy has a real southern draw but the beats I did for him aren’t southern at all. Lupe Fiasco, out of Chicago, is one of the best lyricists I have ever heard. I really hope people get it because he’s really dope. In this age of everything being a beat, people don’t really pay attention to the lyrics, and I hope people really embrace his lyrics and his music.
Have you ever thought of moving to the role of executive producer or do you feel that you are going to grow into that role?
Well, I am actually in the process of looking for an artist right now even though I am really picky; somebody that could compliment my style and bring something to the game. The one thing I want to accomplish in my career is do a whole album so people can know that I am not a guy that just does one or two beats. I think the best way to do it is like Kanye; let people know that I am not a one hit wonder.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Shout outs to everybody from Lansing, Michigan! I am just fortunate that I get to do beats for a living.
EL FIN
Online:
mypsace.com/needlz
needlz.net
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