Producing with Disabilities & Getting Brand Deals ft. Mini Producer

I mean when people look at me and they're like, dang, that guy's short. Like, what kind of beats did he make? I've had people tell me, like, I didn't expect you to make beats like that. I'm Like, what kind of beats did you think I was gonna make? Like a Fisher Price toy, like over there. The one more time music podcast. Genuine conversations with genuine people about music. Hosted by Henry with a three and playback Ben. We're from Bemo Coops to Piss off. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back for another episode of the One More Time Podcast. I am excited about this one. I'm playback Ben here with my co-host, Henry with a three, baby. How we doing? We doing good, man. Henry, who do we have on the podcast today, my friend? Welcoming in on episode number 34. 34. Episode 34. You know him as the star of Family Matter, Steve Urkel. Did I do that? Steve. Steve.

Steve. No, in all seriousness, we are honored to have the legendary producer. I think you do some engineering still. Voice actor. Voice actor, content creator. Swagged out from Sheen. Shout out, Sheen. Mini producer. Mini producer. Mini producer. We appreciate you coming on the show, man. I appreciate you having me. Yeah. You guys had actually collabed on a beat, I think. Never met. And you know, Henry had recommended we get you on. Someone else that I knew had like shared one of your posts. So I was like, it's one of those things where if both he and I see someone that we want to have on, it's almost just a it's a no-brainer. So gotta have it. Yep. So yeah, we're gonna dive right in. So it was International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I think December third. Yeah, if I remember correctly. So just wanted to start off with what what disabilities do you have um because I know you want to I have I have a grab bag out here. Uh no, um, so I have osteogenesis imperfected type three, which is a very long name for no reason. You can just call it OI.

But it's a brittle bone disorder, and I happen to be, you know, tall as ever, you know what I mean? Um I'm on three foot four NBA player status. Yeah, I know I'm balling, you know. Uh I can't walk, so I utilize a power wheelchair to get around. And I also break easily, so I've broken over like 200 bones, Wow. I had 20 something surgeries. It is what it is, you know. When after you're like 20 of surgery, you're like, ah, that's whatever. So uh but wow surgery's nothing. He's a champ. And then I also I have autism, and I'm hard of hearing. I utilize hearing aids, but I have to get them fixed, but I do utilize hearing aids on a few. Which is interesting as a producer. Yeah, right. How does that work? Uh but uh yeah, those are but Mozart was hard of hearing, right? So There you go. Look where the fuck he got himself. Yeah, exactly. You're in good company, yeah. So so what's been you know, obviously your your attitude towards it now is hey, comes with the territory, been there, done that. You have a very, I would say, you know, uh open attitude towards it, and you know, you don't have any sort of like hard feelings about it, it seems, but like has that always been the case?

Or like what's been your attitude towards your disabilities, like starting from the you know, early ages, would you say? Oh yeah, I mean, I I've pretty I've been pretty easygoing, honestly, for my whole life about that kind of thing. I mean, because it is what it is, I don't have any control. I mean, I was born like this, you know. Um now I recently got diagnosed with autism, uh, and that really happened once I got into a relationship. Because you don't realize the things that you kind of do when you're just you, you know what I mean? You're like, well, that's just kind of what I do, that's how I am. And then I guess you realize, like, oh, that's probably not as normal as as I've normalized this, you know what I mean? Oh, and you know, I shout out to my girlfriend. She's worked around people that have um autism, and she's like, Hey, you know, have you ever gotten diagnosed? I was like, you know, I never I never thought I just thought I was like this, and come to find out psychologists, you have autism. I was like, Oh, okay, yeah, yeah, that makes more sense about all the things that you know have gone on my whole life. But uh, you know, the autism diagnosis is really the hardest thing for me to kind of get used to, though.

Because like with this, this is like in your face. I mean, you can't walk. I mean, what are you gonna do about that? But I think the autism thing as an adult is a lot harder because like as a kid, they you know, provide a lot of services for you as a kid to like help you with certain things, and as an adult, I mean it's it's it's just really hard to kind of navigate through that when you've kind of been that way your whole life. So, what's changed as a result of the diagnosis? Um, just being more self-aware. I mean, and like understanding certain things and like why I do it, and how do people that are adults like how do they navigate through that? You know what I mean? Um, but other than that, I think I've just had more self-awareness more than anything, and like really understanding like myself and like why I do things because when you don't understand why you're doing something, you feel like more weird, at least for me, I you feel like more of an outsider, but when you understand, it's like you can tell someone else, like, hey, I'm I have autism, is why I do this. This is why, yeah, like you know what I mean.

But if you can't, you just seem like an asshole sometimes. Like, you know, you know, and not only have you had like a super positive uh attitude about it since super early, but you literally made it your brand. Yeah. Which is the most incredible thing to me. Like it's a perfect brand. I mean, it just gets the point right across. People kind of, you know, understand where you're coming from, and then I think it it makes everyone more comfortable. I think it's super dope. Yeah, because people have questions. I feel like calling myself mini producer is like it puts it in people's face so they can laugh about it and not feel weird. Because I feel like when people see me, they're like, oh, you're short as shit. And like, how do I how do I approach this? And it's like, yo, my name's Mini Producer. Like, I know I'm short. Like, let's have fun with this. You know what I mean? As long as you're not an ass towards me, I'm pretty easygoing when it comes to you know, comments and stuff like that. I guess I try to be, you know, yeah. I mean, so you mentioned that it is obviously something that is in your face. Like, do you struggle with people like not seeing like the talent that you bring to the table first? Yeah.

Versus seeing physically what they're seeing? Yeah, I definitely feel like people don't always take me as serious. Yeah. Um, I've noticed that having management is kind of my like strong point because having I mean, I hate to say this, it shouldn't be like this, but having able-bodied management is better, at least for a person like myself, because more times than not, I'm taking more seriously when they're having a conversation. I can have the same exact conversation, say the same exact thing to them. But if my management said that it's like, oh yeah, whatever, whatever, no problem. It's different. But like people will haggle you or not take you as serious. And you know, at least for me, I feel like I've had to prove myself like ten times more than the average producer typically does. Because like I have credits, I have you know, I got big artists on my stuff. you know what I mean. Bro, and your beats slap. Hey. Thank you. Your beats do slap. Thank you. if I was an artist, that would say enough for me. But it it sometimes it doesn't, and you know, people I I still believe that we're in a society where we do base a lot of things on like how people look.

I mean, it's just it's a natural thing. Like if you look at someone, you make a lot of assumptions about you know how they are. And it shouldn't be like that, but it just that's how we are. Yeah, that's where we're at. So I mean when people look at me and they're like, dang, that guy's short. Like, what kind of beats did he make? I've had beat people tell me like I didn't expect you to make beats like that. I'm like, what kind of beats did you think I was gonna make? Like a Fisher Price toy, like over there. You know what I mean? Like that's ridiculous. It's amazing. But like it is what it is. I mean, I I I like I think sometimes I like to throw people off though, because when people do meet me and they hear my stuff and they know, you know, who I work with, it does kind of change that like dynamic and conversation because you're like, dang, like this guy's done this and this, and you know, but at times I do feel like I have to work ten times harder just to get like one step ahead. You know, when I see other producers, they get you know, you you've seen it, If they get one hit, it's not even that hit, and it's like everybody wants their beats. And I'm like, how many people I gotta work with for y'all to take me serious.

Yeah, right. It is what it is. Um so you end up going to college, like right outside Atlanta. Yeah. Um, I think Kennesaw State, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And and so KSU, how did music start to play a role in your college life? Oh man, I feel like everybody's a rapper once in college. Like at least one time you can find a rapper and somebody's trying to be a singer or something like that. For sure. And so uh it was actually really easy because I had my dad, shout out to my dad. He got me uh, shout out pops. He got me studio monitors, um you remember which which ones? Oh, I still have or no, I don't actually just got new ones. I take that back to the city. KRKs? No, they're the uh M Audio BX5s. M Audio. Yeah, so I I got those, those were my first studio monitors. Um I had the M track. Um, I still have that interface. And then I had uh an Akai MPK Mini MK2 mini keyboard or whatever it's called, um, and you know, my software and um a microphone setup. Like I had I my dad and I went to guitar center, it was a great day.

Uh so I had like the whole setup, you know, and in college, that's big. Like there's not a lot of like college students that have a setup in their dorm room, you know. I bet you got real popular. It was in the dorm room. Yeah, yeah, it was in my dorm room. That's hard. I was like, bro, I was jogging my memory of like college. I was like, I didn't know anyone that was recording rappers in their dorm room. Yeah, so there were only there was only one other guy I knew that did that. One rival. Yeah, we were actually cool. I went over to his uh dorm and like he was cool, he makes really great beats. Um, and so uh But you were trying to take him out on the low. Oh no, no, stop trying to start beefin' the past. I have my own clientele, you know? No, uh so they would come through and I'd have people record and like buy beats for me, and that's when it was like, oh shoot, like you can really do something with this. Like I didn't really realize you could make a career out of like producing, you know what I mean? I just thought it was something that I was gonna do for fun, and then I just navigated through that whole like online space because that's when I got started doing beats, selling beats online. Uh so yeah.

Yeah, so what was your beat selling like strategy? And like you you know what I mean like because coming into it, I'm not sure what year it was, but like what what was what was going on in the beat selling like landscape? Like was Beat Stars out yet, or was it SoundClick? Yeah, I was I was everywhere. Anywhere you could sell beats on, I was like signed up. I started out on SoundCloud, like messaging a whole bunch of people, like, hey, I'm mini producer and I'd like to send you some beats, blah blah blah? Like I I still have messages from like 2000 and who knows when, uh, from like messaging artists like six years ago, just messaging them. So um, you know, I would message them, and then once I found these platforms, I mean I was on Rap Battle.com, which was a whole nother topic, but like I was on Rap Battle. Yeah, I remember a beat like sold for two dollars on there because they used to have these like flash sales, and like every beat was two dollars, and I sold a beat for two dollars, and I was like I made it. I was like, Yeah, let's get it. It's going to take a lot of $2 beats to make a living.

Uh, but I was on every platform. I was on beat stars before they were really like popping. Like I was on Airbit, I'm still on Airbit. So I was on track train, I was one of the in that first group of invites and stuff like that. So I was on every platform I feel like that you could sell beats, even the unpopular ones, like that you could sell beats on, um, because I was just so motivated to like put my beats everywhere. Um, and so that was kind of my strategy is just to be everywhere. And I would sell beats in person, like people would pay me in cash for beats and stuff like that. Um I still remember someone gave me my first a hundred dollar bill in person, and I was like, yo, this is what life is this is what life is about. This is it. Uh I'm dropping out of college. Yeah, I'm out of here, so I I got my $100 bill, and on campus they have like the uh like ATM thing, so I like cashed it in. I was like, Yeah, you know what I mean. That had to feel good for sure. Yeah, it was it was a great feeling.

So I would sell beats like in person and then also online and stuff like that. So I got to experience like that first beat selling feeling like in 2014 and stuff like that. So but so now that you've been selling beats for seven years almost. Right? Like what? Yeah, don't get me started, man. These gray hairs are staring you in the face probably. What are some of your observations like about the online beat selling world? Because people feel very strongly about it either like it's oversaturated. Yeah, fuck that. Or people were like, I've made so much money selling beats online. Yeah. And like, you know, you just don't know how to do it right. Like kind of what are your observations? And let me let me throw, let me throw YouTube type beats into that. I'm gonna shake things up around here. Let's go. We're here for it, man. We're here for it. Uh so when I speaking of YouTube type beats, so I'll start out with that. So on YouTube, I was uploading beats. I mean I would upload beats consistently. And I think I was doing type beats, but not artist type beats.

I think it was more like a genre type because that really hadn't become as popular with the whole like Drake type beat type thing. So I think I was like dark piano. Yeah, dark piano R&B. like you know slap your mom drill beats whatever like I don't know type, you know I did see you ranking with the slap your mom type beats. Yeah like he's crushing that hashtag I am ranking number one. Uh so you know but I was doing those type of like because it wasn't as popular to do like artist type beats per se. Um and then when that kind of moved I guess I just navigated with that. So I think the first beat that I did was like a Drake type beat. That was one of the beats that like really did well I mean well for my channel at that time. And so I put like a Drake type beat and then I would just do different type beats like Lil Yachty type beat and stuff like that. So I kind of got into that, and it was more so because that was becoming a thing. I wish I would have been more consistent with it though when it came to uploading, because I think I really could have crushed a lot of the YouTube space had I stayed consistent.

I kind of fell off from doing YouTube and now here we are. So that's one thing I don't want to say I regret, but I, I wish I would have stayed up on doing cause I was getting pretty good views for my. It's tough, man. Yeah. So I I I wish I would have stayed consistent with that because it could have been a different conversation. Bro, the YouTube consistency has been like a theme amongst people that have come on because I mean it's long form. It's tight beats are a little easier. Yeah, but I mean but like easier to who? Yeah. I was trying to do one a week and I lasted you know a year. Maybe it's better to start out early. Like I think if I like I said, if I would have started in 2014 and just kept going, that's how you crush it. Like that's how a lot of I feel like a lot of these people out here that are selling beats online when you start early and you establish yourself. I mean, for me, that's how I feel like I've stayed so relevant because I've been in the online space, you know, really starting out in 2014. And I mean it's seven years later, I'm still relevant and still growing. So um the online space has changed a lot. I mean, I was just telling y'all like the pricing. I remember people would sell beats for a hundred dollars or like it not everybody was selling a hundred dollar beats, but I mean it was just a little more common to sell your beats for a little higher. The floor was higher, yeah.

Because you had Johnny Giuliano, you had vibe vibe hits, you had you know a lot of these bigger guys on these platforms that were crushing it. I mean, and you know, even DJ Payne1, shout out to him. Shout out Payne1. Yo, he was Payne1, we'd love to have you on the podcast, my guy. Sure. Yes, he's uh he's incredible. So, you know, he these were some of the guys that I was looking up to at that time, and their price points were different, you know, and not necessarily Payne1, I don't remember what his price point was, but I'm saying these other guys like Johnny Giuliano, Vibe, and stuff like that, um, Superstar O and those guys, those were the guys that were really taking over at that time, especially on the SoundClick days. The dynamic between like producers and artists has changed a lot, and I feel like people say it's saturated, but I don't believe that narrative, to be honest with you. I think it's what you make it. I mean, if you're if you can make a way to stand out, you'll find a way. I I don't believe in the whole saturation thing because there are more players in the game. There's more players in the game, For sure.

You can't deny that. There no, and definitely not. But I think if you are a true true player, you're gonna find a way to still win. I mean, there's still you know what I mean. Like, that's that's the thing, and I feel like that's why I'm still winning in my own way, because I have one adapted to a lot of the changes that have happened in the online market. So I mean, I know y'all probably heard about like ClickFunnels and doing like funnels, and I did that actually. Um Brunson, Russell Brunson, right? He's like the the godfather of ClickFunnels. Yeah, so I did that last year, and it blew up. I mean, I did really well actually really well with that. Uh but um, and that was a cool thing to you know test out, uh not doing it anymore. But you know, I think for people that I'm seeing that have stayed in the game long enough, they learn how to adapt. And I think that people that are like, I'm not gonna do that, you know, not try it out, whatever. Um, I think that's where people start to fizzle out because you're not at least willing to try it. If you don't want to ever do it again.

Like, like I don't plan on doing beat packs again. Cause I, you know, it was cool, but like just not gonna be for me along. You had to try it though. Yeah, but I tried it and I said, okay, you see the money, but then there's things that come with that, you know what I mean? Because the price point that you're giving is a very low price point for the amount of beats that you're giving, and that also comes with a certain territory. So um, you know, but I think you have to be willing to adapt. And that's why I feel like guys like DJ Pain 1 has done so well because he's learned to adapt. You know what I mean? And so that's one thing I would say for like younger producers, is learning to adapt and not writing everything off because you're like, oh, I'm just not gonna try it. I don't know. You never know. It might be the best thing you've ever done. So your content game is strong. A1. It's A1 content. I think that you have a really engaged like social media following. Thank you. Um, and you know, I'm just kind of curious. Like, what's your content, you know, what's your content strategy like? Oh man, so I'm gonna say this prior to my management, and then I'll say what I've done with my management now.

So prior to my management, because again, I've been many producer online since like 2016. I started my first Instagram post. Like, that's the first time I got on Instagram now. Like, oh wow. Uh so um I definitely just wanted to be authentic. That was my biggest thing and has been my theme for like all of the contents that I do is really it's just me. You know, um, so I did go through different like stages of like just posting beat videos, and I was like, mmm, this doesn't really feel good to me. You know what I mean? Like, I'm more than a beat video. Uh so I stopped doing that, and then I started putting videos with my face in it, and that's when things just changed so much. And again, I think Were you nervous about that? Um, yes. I actually wasn't It's shocking to some people. I really wasn't actually excited about showing my face on camera like that. Because you seem comfortable as fuck now.

Yeah, it's on a podcast. It's interesting, but it's like four iPhones going. Yeah, and and I mean, you even I feel like at first maybe were I think every artist and like producer or whatever goes through that like doubt of like, man, like am I good enough to be putting myself out there like that? So I just didn't know if that was something Yeah. I think it's more like a who am I? I think people are afraid to like commit to who they think they are. Yeah, like yeah, exactly. And when you put yourself on social media, I mean that's huge. Yeah, that is the world looking at you public statement, like this. is me. Yeah, you know, so I think like trying to, like you said, figure out like who am I and what kind of persona or whatever am I gonna be for social media, um, and how much do I want to share? You know what I mean? Because the balance of that is like if you share too much, then people feel like they know you so well where they're way too comfortable talking to you. And that's had to be a balance for me, which is why I appreciate having management now. Because shout out to I like I said, I have two managers, uh, Kim and Patrick Shout out Kim and Patrick. Shout out Kim and Patrick.

Shout out Kim and Patrick. Now, Kim is my business manager, Patrick's my music manager, which like they work together, so really they're just my managers. I don't like to separate titles, but you know, whatever. Um, so Kim though, her biggest thing is she really focuses on strategy. So when she came into my life, um, you know, I was already doing what I was doing, creating content, skits, and stuff like that, but she really put more of a strategic thing behind it. Uh so y'all see on my page, like I do pictures of myself now. I was not doing pictures of myself. Like, like I'm not like, you know, model, I wasn't trying to be Structured about the year, like, hey, what's going on, y'all? But now, you know, I'm including that more into my content, and that invites you know, brands to like, hey, we want you to wear our clothes, and I'm like, What? You want me to wear your clothes? Like, I wasn't doing that when I was doing that myself, you know. I'm getting free clothes and my, you know, and I mean, and building relationships with these brands and stuff like that. So it's interesting how even a strategy, even if you're already doing things, how you can tweak certain things and other opportunities can like come from that.

So I'm still creating the same content, I'm still creating skits and doing like things like that, but there's like a strategy behind it. So I would say for artists and producers, like really sit down and one find out like how do I want to show the world who I am, like what is authentic to me. Because I found that a lot of times when I watch certain content, it feels forced. Like when people try to be funny, but they're not really funny. It's like I feel like you're trying to be funny. Like, I don't try to be funny, I just that my brain literally comes up with an idea, I press record, and that's what you get. Like, I typically do stuff in one take. Yes, and that's just how it works. Like, I'm not like writing down in my notebook like today. I'm gonna do this and uh step one. Like, that's that doesn't work for me because it feels forced. Like, I want it to feel natural when you watch my content. I want you to be like, Okay, I can relate, or you know, I feel like this is authentic, and it is like I like I said, I turn on my camera, and you know, that that's my content. So, um, I would say for any artists and producers, just be authentic to who you are.

If you're not someone who wants to show up on camera, you know, I know a lot of people say, Oh, show up on camera, and you gotta show your face. Find a way that at least you can be unique if you're not gonna show yourself, you know what I mean? Because that's the thing about social media is finding a way to kind of be unique and differentiate yourself amongst a crowd of people who are trying to do the same thing as you. You know what I mean? Um, so I I think that's what's been the biggest winner for me is being authentic and then now having a strategy of like when I'm gonna post, and you know, I have a calendar, y'all. I didn't have a calendar, content calendar. Yeah, I have a content, I have a well, the calendar really is like content and then just everything I have to do for the week. Um, and so that's been actually really nice for me because I know, like, hey, I'm gonna do my podcast on Friday, I'm gonna do you know, this type of content for Monday and all these different things, and so and also sticking to something. That's something Kim has really gotten into my head is sticking to something.

I'm kind of impulsive. That's part of my autistic nature. But uh, I I make really impulsive decisions. I have a hard time of like sticking to things. Uh so like giving something a fair shot. Yes, I have a really hard time. Yes, really hard time. Bro, we've talked about it. Open your fucking ears. Yeah, I have a really hard time. Because this is something we talk about, man. Is that like, dude, nothing new is going to work overnight. It just literally won't happen. I have a hard time with it. So, like, we've we've talked about a lot of different things. I'm not gonna get into like what they are necessarily, but just like if if we want to give something a shot, like we gotta give something a shot. That's what Kim tells me all the time. Because like it's not very much like yo, this week it I we tried it for a week. Let's do something. more. Yeah. Didn't see immediate results. Actually, I'm feeling more like this this week. It's like, okay, like I I wanna, you know, allow for you to feel excited about stuff because you know, to your point, things you can read it when it's forced. So even activity that's offline, yeah. If it's forced, how y'all are gonna wake up every day and want to do it.

Right. You're not. So it does have to be something that you want to do, but you also need to try and give yourself like the time to let it like to let the seeds that you're freaking, you know, planting grow into some shit. You know what I mean? So you mentioned people starting to partner with you, like brands, right? So I think you know, we're not gonna go through the whole list, but I think there's been a couple of yeah, it's long, yeah, yeah. Yeah, there's been a couple of really cool ones in in my mind. I mean, fuck, most recently you posted about a Snapchat documentary? Yeah, I did. what was that? I did a I got to reunite with my grandparents. So I did a Snapchat documentary. They had this whole big thing about doing uh a Snapchat, and they reached out to me because of a hashtag. I uh Kim, she had given me hashtags to use for my post. And I ended up asking the guy who reached out to me, he's like, Hey, you know, do you wanna be a part of this like documentary thing? And I was like, Oh, you know, what is it about? And he's giving me the details, and I was like, by the way, like how'd you find out? How'd you find me?

Yeah, and he was like, Oh, I found you through a hashtag. I was like, What? Like that's wild. Do you know what the hashtag was? Jim. No, it's a super chat. Asking people how they find you. I talk to my artists about this all the time. Ask your fucking fans how they even heard about you. Yeah, so you know what's working. It can give you insights into things to maybe double down on. Yeah, you know what I mean? Because if you just don't know what's working, then you're just shooting from the hip every fucking go at anything, right? Exactly. So that's huge. By the way, uh, James Worthy, who um his manager uh reached out to us to get on the podcast. I asked, I asked them how they found us. Yeah, do you take a guess? You would never guess. I have no idea. The explore page. Shout out the explore page. Shout out. It's wild because it just says, like, keep putting out content. You know what I mean? Like keep putting it out. You never know. I mean, if I would have quit like a year ago, it just would have never happened. So I'm I'm super grateful even to work with like big companies like that. And you know, they're flying Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola.

Was another one. Tell us about that. Because this is the Atlanta soda capital of the world. Yo, first of all, I love Coca-Cola. I literally have. Coke Zero? I have. We'd love to have a sponsorship. Yeah, I don't know. I have a whole bunch of Coca-Cola. Maybe Mini Producer could hook us up. I have a whole bunch of Coca-Cola right now at my house. Like I drink one like every day. Me too, man. I wouldn't say it's you know part of a healthy diet, but it's part of my diet. So you know, but uh, you know, how that started was actually shout out to my friend Austin. Um we went to college together, and he's a photographer, videographer. He might be doing directing. I he's doing a lot. So um, and he hit me up and he was like, hey, you know, we have this like campaign that we're gonna be doing for the 50th anniversary of the Hilltop commercial, and we're looking for influencers, and I thought about you, and it's not guaranteed that you know you're gonna be picked, but like I figured I'd reach out and I'll give you more information. I said, Okay, cool. I didn't think much about it because I was like, I don't know how many people they're reaching out to, I don't know who they're reaching out to, you know, whatever.

So he reaches out back to me and he's like, hey, yeah, you're gonna be a part of this, and I'm like, okay, you know, so I get the email, and I'm like, I'm trying to condition myself to like, yes, you should be getting great things, and like these opportunities, of course they're happening to you. But I'm like, y'all gonna be working with Coca-Cola, like that's crazy, you know what I mean? Like, so yeah, I could not keep my cool. There's no way. Yeah, so they're like giving you the they send you the email, they give you the information. So I shoot my content, and you know, my my girlfriend helped shoot a lot of my content too. My my parents gave me the Coca-Cola that they've had for like years now. Oh, in like the classic bottle. Yeah, in a classic bottle, so every parent in Atlanta has that. Exactly. They've never opened it, and so I got to use it for like so it was really a collaborative effort you know um which really speaks to like the support system I have so I did that sent in the content now here's the funny part and shout out to Coca-Cola. I'm really thankful for the opportunity I didn't find out that the commercial came out until like October it had come out in like March. What they forgot to add me to the email list.

Oh and I still. Some intern fucked up and forgot to put mini producer on the. Were you just watching TV one day, like, wait a minute, no, so it's not on TV, is that me? It wasn't on TV. Social? yeah It's like social, I reached out and I was like hey I just wanted to know like did that ever come out and and the lady was like oh sorry uh I forgot to add you to the email it came out like months ago and I was like okay uh she's like oh well here's here's the where you can view the ad and it's gonna be in the Coca-Cola uh like factory thing whatever location and I was like okay thanks and so I'm like on the site you know I'm on I like searching the Coca-Cola website and I just see myself in the little like commercial thing and I'm like so I'd just been here for months and didn't know but it actually worked out because it was it was the perfect timing because I was starting to do more anyway. So it would have been kind of probably a lost cause if I started promoting it even back then because there wasn't really much popping. So it it helped that like things were moving and it it just was better to talk about it then. But it is a funny story that like yeah I got left off the email.

That's Hilarious incredible. So it had come out like months ago and I didn't know. That's hilarious. So, you know, you don't consider yourself like the poster child for disabilities by any means. But you have done some cool partnerships with like within the space. Yeah. Right? Like just tell us a couple of the of the things you've gotten involved with. Um in the disabilities world. I did a TikTok campaign for this game called the Pegasus Dream Tour, which was alongside the Paralympics, which is still really cool to say. Uh so it's the first official mobile game. Um, and it features like all the characters and stuff, like people that you can create um have some sort of disability. So, like my guy, he had a you have a character? Yeah, he had a prosthetic leg. like and so it was dope because I I'd never seen that, you know. Yeah, as someone with a disability, um, I didn't get to I've never seen that. So it was cool to like play a game outside of the campaign, like even if I wasn't getting anything for it. Like, it was just really cool to see that kind of representation in a video game.

I am getting more involved in that space, yeah um, and talking more about it, uh, which is you know why I made that video. Uh so I think that that's been like a journey for myself to get to that point to be okay of like talking about disability in this space because I realized that there really aren't a lot of other people that look like me that are like doing music, yeah. They're doing me. I mean, because obviously there's people that are doing music that have disabilities, whatever, you know, I'm not the only one, but it's like it's still growing, you know what I mean? Where people respect it and they see it and they're used to it, you know what I mean. Um, so that's been the the biggest thing, I guess, for me that I've I've been wanting to just show more representation and get more involved in the community because I'd feel more like a hypocrite if I'm like I have this disability and I'm acting not acting like I don't have one. I mean it's you can't act like I don't have one, but um like but not being, being involved in the community and kind of just separating myself like I'm not one of those you know people like no so I've really gotten more into being involved and showing representation how I can you know um and so you know I'm doing it with different brands. Yeah for sure so you mentioned like the online beat selling and you know how you've wanted to kind of evolve to start working more directly with artists.

Like how how do you balance that? So um I'm just really getting into it because I like I said I've been in the online space for so long that this is such a new thing I mean I know y'all probably saw I went to the studio recently and the one time I get out of my like house to go to a studio Metro meet Metro Boomin. I was gonna ask about that. Yo I did. Which studio was that at this was at Astro. So um you know and I was like dang is this what can happen when I get out of my house I just meet Metro Boomin every time. Did it once and I met Metro. Yo, I see him once. what a close ratio this guy literally bats one time. Home run Grand Slam meets Metro Boomin. Yo, so um but in regards to kind of navigating into like I guess the more industry space it's it's been weird for me. I think like I like being online and working with artists and having people all over the world buy your beats is really dope. Like they you know having someone from another I remember the first time someone bought something from Canada, and I mean I know Canada is like closer than a lot of people.

Hey, it counts, it's still international, It doesn't. But I remember someone bought a beat from Canada for me, and I was like, yo, I am in it. Mr. Worldwide, mini producer. Yeah. you know I'm out of here. I'm global. I'm global, like, don't call me, you know, do number. Prices went up, man. Yesterday's price is not today's price. You know, so I was just like, man, it it's it's an it's a nice thing to be able to work with artists all over the world, which is why I've liked the online space. Yeah, but I can appreciate working with people in person too, you know. Um, so I think that in regards to a balance, I'm still kind of navigating that. I like I don't know if I'm gonna be the guy that says, you know, a year from now, I'm not selling beats online anymore. I don't know because I see I don't want to make this all about money, but people got bills to pay. Uh but like there is money in the online space. You know what I mean?

And it's a lot more passive to your point earlier. It's a lot more passive. I mean, you can go to sleep. You put one beat up. Yeah. And you can wake up and, you know, someone buys it and you can sell that beat over and over and over Depending on you know the license types and stuff like that. Sure. Well, you land a major placement. That's that's passive as well. You start catching these royalty, it just takes longer, I think to Yeah, but it's way more of an outbound approach. Yeah, right. Like he's just slapping beats up on an online store and he's bringing people into his world with the artist placements. You're having to send them the beats, you or you have to be in the studio, you gotta drive up to fucking Astro to meet with them. you know, it's it just depends. Yeah, it's definitely pros and cons. And I think that like for the industry space, it depends on where you are too. Like, if I'm Metro Boomin, I'm not selling my beats online. Like, like because if you're at that caliber of brand, because I don't even want to say of talent, because Metro Boomin is always talented, but what I'm saying is brand. I think the biggest thing that a lot of these guys, like you know, the TM88 Southside, you know, they have brands.

You can't just go get a TM88. beat. You can't just go. Yeah. So I think If you have the brand, then those are the types of decisions you make. Okay, maybe I'm not gonna sell my beats online. You know what I mean? I think it just depends on what your end goal is. You know what I mean? Like, so if you want to sell beats online, there's things that come with selling beats online. If you want to sell just industry, I feel like there's things that come with just doing industry. But I personally, you know, and I feel like my management's gonna watch this. I would like to do both as long as I can. So who are some of your success success models, would you say? Definitely DJ Pain 1 because I literally have watched that guy since I first started making beats. Yeah. Um, and he's doing both. He's doing both, you know. And honestly, I mean, I hate to say that's kind of my biggest one, but that really is my it's a great answer. You don't need to yeah, we love Pain 1. Yeah, that's my biggest guy. Like that I watched navigate through the industry and do you know, get placements, but at the same time turn around and sell you know, beats online and do six figures, or I mean I'm not in his pockets, but I would assume by now he's doing six figures or more. You know what I mean?

So it's really dope to see people like that who are navigating through both spaces and successful at it. You know what I mean? So, what's next for you? Man, so a lot more getting into my influencer side of mini producer, um, because like the production side is great, uh, you know, but I definitely plan on doing like more brand deals and just networking with more companies and really showing that like influencer side of mini producing creating content and stuff for different brands. So that I would say on a high level is my biggest thing that I'm looking to do. And then a production side, I'd love to get placements with like the actual artist because it it's been cool, like when I have gotten placements, it's typically the independent artist like buys a feature from you know from that artist, which is still cool because the artist does have to like the beat. Like I'd like it to be the main artist, and they have that push and that budget and the marketing strategy, and it's marketed correctly so that you know, um, because a lot of times what I've found is that sometimes you have these independent artists who get these major features, and that's kind of where it stops.

They get the major features, but they don't know how to market it. You know, so speaking our language, man. Speaking our language, it's like so painful to watch artists release music sometimes. Yeah, I mean, because I'm sorry, guys. Sorry. But step your fucking games up. Like that's part of why we're starting our our label with with the artist that I manage, Gabriel Averitt, because it's like, shout out to him. I gotta work with him. I know Gabe. I've been wanting to say that he's been on the wall since the release party, but I've been wanting to say that, but I want to work with him. So please Easy. Now that we're in person, easy. I'm saying that I've been wanting to work with him. Okay. That's on the record. For sure, but it's gonna happen. Yeah, okay. No, no, we have to because We're working together. It's it's one of those things. The reason why we like to be hands-on with releases is because we do see so many great records that he maybe produced, and then you just see them rolled out and you're like I hope they market it and hope they do it correctly. Yo, I have a song. I'm not gonna call out the artist, but I have a song that has young blue on it. Yeah. I'm still hurt by that record. I feel like he just called out the artist because now we could just look up the young blue uh feature.

Look at his least streamed song. Yeah, but like, no, you actually won't even see it because the way that it was set up, it won't even show that it was like young blue. Young Blue's not even a primary artist on it. No, he's not even featured on it because of how it was set up, but either way. But like That's just exhibit A. Yo, these are the things that pain you because Young Blue, as y'all know, is a big popping popping. Yeah, of course. That could have been a anyway, you know, but you know it just it is what it is. A feature is not a strategy. It's not a strategy. folks like it's not a strategy, it's really about marketing because the features are great. Like, as y'all know, y'all probably know. I got the song that came out with Almighty J wifisfuneral, and then the main artist is Buggy Blue. And they've been taking a more like active approach um into uh like Buggy and his manager have taken a more active approach into like marketing and getting that. So that really makes me happy because I was like, come on, somebody has to get this right. Like these are big features, like you know, um, and it's not all about me, because that's the thing. Like, as a producer, I know that there are some producers out there who are counting on that one placement that's gonna, you know, take them to this level.

And I don't really try to think that way. I I want it to be like a holistic approach of like everybody that's involved. So if you're failing and I want and now I'm down and or I'm down and you're down, like we're all in this together. So if you market it and it's not marketed correctly, that hurts everybody that's involved. Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? So that's really what pains me. It's not because many producer, you know, doesn't get the spotlight. I'm gonna get spotlight regardless, because I know how to carry my brand with or without that record. That record. But it just hurts it, hurts me more for them. It's almost for the love of the music. You're like, fuck, more people need to hear this. Yeah, like, man. this beat in this in this song, not even this beat, this song. The song. So it's it's a it's a couple of things. Have you thought about being more involved in the in the rollout side of things? Has that ever been like uh you know what? I have been. I have been in a position where I've been super involved. Um, and it's a catch 22. Because some people will take advantage of that because you are involved and you do want to help, and then you know, and then at times you know, people don't want to listen to you, and then when you're right, when you're right, it's like, oh, I'm right.

Yeah, I know what I was talking about. I mean, you know, um, I remember the first time I was really heavily involved with an artist, and our song got like 20,000 streams in like a short amount of time, and I was so proud of it because I was super involved, but it also was a little bit exhausting because you get people that get involved into maybe that artist's career, so maybe they get management, and now you know, all the stuff that you did, you know, like hey, I I got you here, you know what I mean? And then you get management, like I can't listen to you anymore. It's like, oh, okay, you know, so it it does people in their ear, it gets tiring, you know, at a short at a certain point. It gets exhausting, so it's like you have to find that artist, and thankfully I'm I'm really grateful for the artists that I do work with. Um, you know, that not listen to everything I say as like the gospel, but at least yeah, they're open to like, hey, this is what I would do if I were you, and kind of and when you see people actually take that advice and it works for them, oh that that makes me happy, you know what I mean? I think more artists should just be ready to, you know, because I'll I'll hear artists be like, Oh, I'm not gonna release a song or drop a hundred comments.

Like, like yo, you might not get a hundred comments. Like, I'm gonna just be real. You have to delete that post. Is your engagement high enough to get a hundred comments? Keep it real. Like, you know, and just put out the music, and I I know that's probably an um um unpopular opinion, but I think when you're just starting out, you don't really have room to be super like perfectionist. Like, oh man, I'm not, I'm not gonna put the song on until I get 50 comments. Like, you can't get five. Like, you drop the first five comments. I just love it when I just love it when artists think that like when you know, when they do a bunch of pre-release hype, yeah, it kills me. No one's waiting for you to drop the song. No one gives a flying fuck. They don't that your song's coming out in a month. They really don't. I'm sorry. I hate to put it to you like that, but yes. I I it just kills me to see pre-release. content. Just put the music out, man. And then push it. Yeah. And then push it. They need a place to go because you're only gonna get one shot sometimes, maybe two, for them to be like, okay, that was cool. Where can I go consume this thing?

Yes, they're not going to listen to you post about it for a month straight, and then once it's finally out, they're not gonna be like, Yes, I'm so fucking excited that this song is finally out by this artist that has less than a thousand monthly listeners. Like, I don't know, man. Yo, and stop for the love of everything that's good. Stop buying your stream, stop buying your likes, followers, all of it. Oh, it's the worst. Stop it. It's it's disgusting. Every time I look on someone's page and I see they have a hundred K followers and they're verified, and they have two comments, and they got two comments, or like they got you know, like a thousand likes, and all of them are from like places that I've never heard of, and they got two followers on each account. I'm like, who are you fooling? Yeah, it's literally making it harder. It makes it harder to find real fans. So it's like, yo, if you have a thousand real followers, yo, embrace that. And I I can say it for myself. When I first started growing, my following, I didn't buy likes or anything, but I did like the on the follow on a follow strategy, which really was not really a strategy, but you know, we uh that's what I started out with, and it can really hurt your account in the long term. Yeah, you know, and so 100% people.

I think the thing is though we're in such a social media type of world that we sometimes it's hard not to get caught up in like, well, I don't have this many likes, or I don't have this many likes. The metrics game, you know, the metrics game. So I think once you get away from that, and I've had to do that for myself because I do get to that point, like I don't have a thousand likes per post, and I shouldn't because of my percentage and all these things. It's it's easy to get caught up in that, but just focus on being authentic and putting out the content. Just be real, just be a real person, and it's gonna end up. If you're good and you got the marketing behind it, something's gonna come to you. Like, you'll be all right. Well, mini producer, you know it's about to come to you, right? Uh uh. You're about to be on the rapid fire rampage with the one more time podcast. Oh man. Everyone's favorite segment. Let's get it. It's most people's, I'd say. Yeah. Most people's favorite. I'm going with everyone because it's my segment. Buckle up, my friend. So this is the rapid fire rampage. Okay. It's gonna be in three parts.

Okay. And hit you with some short answer questions. We're gonna do some this or that. I'll give you two choices, and then a word association. Wait. give you one word, spit back whatever, right back at me. So are you buckled up? Are you ready for this rampage? I don't know, but we're gonna get it right. Okay, we're gonna do it. Episode 34, mini producers starting with the short answers. What percent of your life is work? What's your ratio? 50 50, 70 30 kind of guy. Uh I'd say like 40 60. 40% work? Yeah. That's a lot of play. Yeah, decent amount of play. I've learned to I've learned to live a little because just a quick thing. I had a um I had a surgery not too long ago, and I almost died. And after that experience, so casual about that, by the way. I almost died. But anyways. Yeah, like I almost died, and that really taught me about living a little more. Because if you would have asked me that before, it definitely wasn't 50-50. It was probably like 80% work, 20% work you know, fun.

So that's why my perspective has definitely changed. But if you would have asked me before that, I would have told you I'm working all day and not doing anything. So that's why it's changed. Yeah. Great answer. Yeah. You have to get rid of three states. What do you what do you get rid of? I don't know, man. We're starting beef with some states right now. I don't know. Better pick three states to get rid of. Yo, uh, I'm sorry. He loves all 50. Yeah. We'll take away Florida. All right. Just Florida. What's it like? Just Florida. I love it. It was a great answer. That's like. It would have actually been less offensive if he gave two more to get rid of. Florida, it's like, no, you're the only one I want to get rid of. Just Florida. You're the only one that's gotta go. Donate it. If you could speak to one animal, what would you choose? Oh man.

Yo, I want to speak to birds. I know that's like really random, but they're up in the sky. I want to know what they're seeing. You could like relay messages. Yeah, I want to know what they're seeing. I'm like, yo, what are you seeing out there? Like fair. It's actually a really good one. It's a fair point. I don't want to know what y'all seeing. So I talked to some birds. Joe Biden exiles you from America. I'm sorry. For undisclosed reasons. Okay, got you. Where do you go live? From America. Yo, I'm gonna live on some kind of island. I'm gonna make it. I'm gonna make it fire and I'm gonna make some beats. You're gonna find your own island? I'm gonna find my own island. Mini Producer Island. Yeah, exactly. Love it. Sounds like a really fun place. Yeah. You're hosting a dinner party and can invite any three people, alive or dead. Who do you invite? I'm inviting Kehlani because I want to work with her. So Kevin Gates, I gotta have something with him. And I'm gonna invite Drake because if I have Drake. He's trying to catch placements, bro, at this dinner. Yo, am I having Drake at my party?

It won't matter what they're there for. I'm having He's gonna be playing beats before the appetizer Probably like, yo. This is my party. No. Bro, that is funny, man. Great answer. Great answer. Okay. If we plug you into the matrix and you could learn any one skill instantly, what would you learn? I wish I could like just know any language, like naturally. Like if I could be fluent in any language, that'd be pretty dope. Just anywhere you went. Yeah, anywhere I went, I'd just be able to. Go to Russia, no problem. Speaking Russian. Yeah. That would be dope. Like, I'd like to be able to be fluent. So that'd be Sure. Sure. Good one. What advice would you give 13 year old you? Ooh, man, that's a good one. 13 year old me. I would say keep going. Because like things are gonna seem tough, and it's gonna be like, what? How the fuck am I gonna get out of here with this shit?

But uh, you know, just keep going. Like things are gonna get better. Gets better. How many jelly beans would fit in a hot tub? Yo, I'm gonna say, like, I'm gonna say I'm gonna just say like hot tub. Oh, those are kind of smaller, I guess, right? Okay. No, not a full pool here. But it's gonna, but hot tubs are kind of deep. They are at the depth. He's doing the Yeah, the calculus. The math. I love it. Yo, what if uh maybe like 40,000? I'm gonna put like 40,000 jelly beans in there. And then go for it. Go for a tap. I don't know. I think that would only get to like your feet, bro. I don't know. Yo, Well, see, I'm short, so maybe that's not helpful. He's thinking of a kiddie pool, you know what I'm saying? Mini hot tub, right? Okay, now I get it. Now I get it. I'm thinking of the sink at home, you know what I mean? Run some hot water.

Yeah, exactly. Like, that's my hot tub, right? Oh my god. It's terrible. It's terrible. On a scale of one to 10, How would you rate Ben as an interviewer? Oh man, 10 out of 10. Recommend. Way too high. Way too high. I love that. I'm gonna save that one for the archives. Way too fast of an answer, too. Like, that was your fastest answer. He didn't even think. He was just perfect interviewer. Yo, I loved it. No, for real. How do you want people to remember you? Oh man. Oh, I just hope that people remember me as someone that was just being themselves and created a positive impact on the world. Awesome. Beautiful. Part one of the rampage. Part one, Henry. How do you think he's doing pretty good? I'd say slightly above average so far. We got a couple snacks. Couple snacks. Did he lose points for giving me points? Yeah, a lot. Oh man, yeah. Sorry, man. You know, what I mean? No, that was plus point. We thought that was hilarious. That was your best answer. That was hilarious.

Okay. Moving on to the this or that episode 34 with Mini producer. I'm gonna give you two choices. Great. Whichever one sticks out to you. Yeah, it looks good. Here we go. Rampage! Snares or claps. I I use claps a lot. I'm a clap man myself. I love claps. Clap man. Silly hats or silly socks. Ooh, I have a texture thing, so I'd probably wear a silly hat. Netflix or YouTube? YouTube. I like YouTube. I can find anything on YouTube. Netflix is like very specific for me, like shows, but YouTube. Anything. Anything. And then you we might have gotten the answer to this in the interview, but I want to make sure. Sending out packs or being in the studio. I'd actually want to be in the studio. If I like if I could if it was like my ideal, I'd be in the studio. Right now, I I send out packs, but I want to be in the studio with people. FaceTime or voice message.

Uh it depends on who the person is. So I'd probably say voice message because a lot of times I don't want to FaceTime with people. Battling against one bear-sized chihuahua or 25 chihuahua-sized bears. That's a good one. Yo, uh, I'm short as fuck, so it's gonna be terrible either way, you know. Like, um, nah, I don't I don't want to do nothing with bears. I don't care if they're small or not, they're probably gonna be the same size as me. So uh let's just go with the the bear-sized chihuahua. Yeah, let's go with that. At least it's one thing, you know. We can focus on one thing, yeah. And hope that it has the personality of that chihuahua size chihuahua. France or Japan? Ooh. Yo, Japan is actually like very innovative, I feel like. In regards to my cousin knows Japanese, so I feel like for him, I'll pick Japan. Shout out, cuz.

Yeah. Software or hardware? Ooh. Mm-hmm. Shoot. It's easier for me to use software. But I do like hardware, but I would probably pick software just out of convenience for me. Breakfast or dessert. Oh man. I love dessert. Now I'm picking it too. Song placement or sync placement? Oh, definitely. I feel like sync placements are slept on Slept. Like I have a um sync placement that I got with um another producer that I collaborate with, and we got it for a total divas. And you still get paid off of that. So sync placements can be really great. I knew you'd be the perfect. one. Yeah. So sync placements. Yeah, sync placements. Big gem. Marvel wants you in their next movie. Oh, okay. Do you play the hero or the villain? Oh, I'm playing the hero. Producing early AM or late at night?

Late at night. Money or fame. I don't want the money. I mean, if you don't know me and I still got money, shoot. I still got money. Part two of the rampage. Part two. What a great way to wrap that part up. That was an improvement. That's big facts. That was better. That was better than part one. It's all gonna come down to part three to see where mini producer lands in the rapid fire rampage hall of fame. All right. This is the word association. Okay. Shoot one word at you, you shoot one right back at me. First thing off the top of your head. Okay. There are no wrong answers. All right. Well, sometimes. Sometimes it's wrong answers. Well, we'll be the judge of that. Pizza. Pockets. Pizza pockets. I don't know. What are those? Hot pocket. Like a hot pocket. Yeah, I know. He's never heard of them called pizza pockets. He prefers his pizza in pocket form. Yeah. I'm already starting off green.

It's amazing. Omnisphere. I don't have it. Like, but I know that's not one word. No, that works. That's it. No, it doesn't have to be one word. It could be one concept. We're very lenient on the rules here. We are. That works. Don't have it. Jupiter. Planet. I think planet. It's pretty basic, I know, but like a planet. Anxiety. Ooh, depression, because I have both. OnlyFans. Get your money. That was an incredible answer. Thanks. 808. Mafia. No, I had to say that. Okay. That works. Yeah, I'm going to say mafia. Hell yeah. Atlanta shit. Police. Ooh. Uh. Um. Ooh.

Yeah. I would just say, ooh, it cannot just be my response. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Ooh. Fair enough. Yeah, that works. Like, I don't know how to respond to that one either way. You did. You did. Social media. Um. I'm going to say clout. Clout? Yeah. Lil. Lil. Lil like L I O. Yeah. Oh. I would say Lil Wayne. Good. Good. Good answer. Any other answer is not acceptable. Yes. That was the only correct answer to that one. Garbage. Ooh, liars. Mm. People are liars or garbage. Agreed. Fair enough. Piano. My favorite instrument. Broccoli. With cheese. Ooh. Made a terrible thing. Awesome. Yeah. Microphone.

Important. Politics. That's my response. No comment. No comment. Like. Mini. Producer. Let's get it. Part three. Part three of the rampage. Pretty solid. Very good. Yeah. Brought it home. Well done, man. Solid rampage. No, this was an honor. Uh, really appreciate you coming on the show. It's just nice. Yeah, I think that a lot of people are gonna learn a lot of uh of you know important lessons and a really great perspective. Uh, you know, coming from someone who has not, you know, thrown themselves a pity party, you know, with the you know, with the challenges that you faced over the years. Uh, you do it with a smile on your face, you have an infectious, like positive attitude, which is like half the battle on this shit, man. Like, people want to work with people that are gonna be pleasant to work with, and obviously that are super dope as well. So can't wait to see what you do in 2022, man. Yes, sir. Thank you all.

This has been a big year for you already in 2021. I know. So, you know, sky's the limit for you, man. Once again, appreciate you coming on. Until next week, Henry. What are we doing? We out, we're getting the fuck out. Peace. Bye bye.