Every month, we will be posting a new article called the iStandard Member iD. This article will showcase one of our producers on the site’s homepage that is active within the iStandard community and most of all has bangin’ tracks! To be considered for next month’s Member iD, check out the blog HERE. This month’s Member iD is Malek of Hitmakers Prod. – www.istandardproducers.com/malek

I started taking piano lessons when I was about 6 and continued until I was about 11. To be honest, I hated practicing and did not look forward to my lessons. It wasn’t until I started making music on my own that I realized the limitless possibilities music provides a composer, or producer. It all started for me in December of 2000 after my dad purchased a Yamaha keyboard for the family. I found the red ‘Record’ button on the keyboard and never looked back. Unfortunately, I was only able to record and save 5 channels for each song and a total of 5 songs into the keyboard’s memory, so I knew that I would have to upgrade sometime in the future. As I would sell beats I would put that money back into my studio. My first upgrade was a Korg TR-61 keyboard and a M-Audio Firewire recording interface and I have continued to upgrade my equipment ever since.

Before I get into music producers, the first person that comes to mind is John Lennon. He was a musical genius and has had a huge impact on not only music but also the world. As for music producers, I think J.R. Rotem is crazy because he can make practically anything. He can work with Rihanna one day and then jump in the studio with Rick Ross or The Game the next. Versatility is key for a successful music producer so I try to make a mix of everything from hip-hop, r&b, pop and dance. Some other music producers that come to mind are of course Timbaland, Dr. Dre, Neptunes and Darkchild.

My style is primarily very synthesized but lately I’ve been getting more intro rugged hip-hop. This past November I released my debut production album “Life In 3D” on iTunes which I think does the best job of explaining my style. “Life In 3D” really displays a lot of what I can do – hip-hop, r&b, pop, dance. I worked with many rappers and singers all over the United States and beyond on my album and it ended up exactly how I first imagined it. Overall I focus on fully composed (non-sampled) production, but I have started crate digging recently.

I’m pretty proud of my current setup, especially compared to the Yamaha keyboard I started out with eight years ago. I program all of my drums with Reason and have Komplete 5 (after Sha Money XL’s recommendation) and some other vsts. However, I much prefer to use hardware, so I have my Korg TR-61, Roland Fantom X6. Yamaha Motif Rack, Mo’Phatt Rack.

I think it would be crazy to work with someone like Prince. I know I’d learn so much from him and I admire how he has never been afraid of being himself. I would also love to work John Mayer, who I think is a musical genius and seems to be a real cool guy and hang out with as well.

I just graduated from college and I plan on really getting on my grind now. For the last four years I’ve been balancing school, three jobs and music and its been tough, but I can’t even imagine what the next 5 years are going to be like. All I can say is look out for me!

www.malekmusic.com

Check out my album on iTunes (”Life In 3D”) – http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=294319864

Tags: frankie p, istandard, iStandard Blog, istandard producer showcase, istandardproducers, istandardproducers.com, Malek, track

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 at 5:36 am and is filed under iStandard Member i.D.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.