The day of the producer

Music is always changing and molding into what people want and need. Being a producer means that you have to recognise those changes and be a trend setter rather than a follower. I've had a chance to follow one man, who is setting the trends.

Me: Who are you and where are you from? 

Pusha: My name is Shawn Mullings. I go by The Pusha (Beatz). I'm also known by my rap moniker Micah Don. I was born in Jamaica and raised in The Bronx, New York & South Florida. 

Me: How did you get into the music business? 

Pusha: I grew up in The Bronx and as a kid my older brother was involved with the rap group Fresh Mc's. They had a song called "F.R.E.S.H." that took off. As a kid from the neighborhood seeing limousines come through  with acts like Run- Dmc  to pick your people up to perform that feeling resonated with me. From that point on I think I've been involved with music to some degree. I started out as a rapper. Then it got to the point I started making my own beats.

Me: Tell me who inspires you? 

Pusha: I'm really inspired by artists and producers as well as businessmen. Top of that list would be Jay-Z for his mastery of the art and his  consistency. Nas for keeping hip-hop grounded with some sort of message and 50 Cent for his business savvy and sense to do it that much better. Producer pioneers like Dr. Dre, Dj Premier, Dj Scratch, Eric Sermon, Timbaland and the list goes on. Other than Teddy Riley those would be my top five producers. As far as executives I would say Lyor Cohen and Jimmy Iovine.

Me: What does Pliny Artists do?

Pusha:Pliny Society Foundation (Pliny Marketing)  is basically a marketing company and branding agency a couple of my colleagues and I created to help push artists and ventures we're affiliated with. We pretty much start with a artist through the first phase  of their career and together we develop a overview and then the product. PLINY gets its name from a song called "Party Like It's New Year" from an artist we brand and do marketing for, Chitty Bang. Make sure you hit us up on facebook/plinyartist on soundcloud/pliny-marketing and youtube/plinymarketing

Me: Who have you been working with (big names) and what is coming on in the future?

Pusha: I've did production for LL Cool J on the track "NY Gangsta'z" that ran as a single and got substantial airplay on Hot 97, Kiss FM, Sirius/XM radio and dozens of other radio stations across the globe. I did production on the Rick Ross feat. Sleepy Brown "Neverland Ranch". My camp did the Jay-Z feat. Lil Wayne "Hello Brooklyn". I'm currently shopping music to Wiz Khalifa, Wale and some other surprises. Right now check out Mike Dub, Chitty Bang, Jinx Cruz and Micah Don for consistent bangers from me.. 

Me: So many people want to be a part of the music business now a days, what advise would you give to them? 

Pusha: My advice would be pick something about the game you're most passionate with. Once you find out what that is, like every storm you have to ride it out. If you have a regular job you might have to keep that for a while to help you finance  that studio time to make quality music.

Me: Where do you see the industry going? There is a lot of talk about the morality of the music industry, and how does it influence on the youth. what are your thoughts about it?

Pusha: I think that everything has it's time. I believe rap music and in particular the hip-hop culture itself has a good pulse on what's going on in that current day to day environment. Artists I believe are kind of programed by that environment and to me  that's how a song  or particular artist can resonate with so many people at the same time. As for the content. It's easy to push aside real issues and have some fun. But with all the drinks you put down, tomorrow you're sure to wake up with a hangover. 

Me: What in your opinion does a good artist have? 

Pusha: I would say Wordplay, Delivery, Stage Performance and Consistency make a great artist. Now a days its a plus to work with someone with a little business sense or willingness to learn,

Me: Tell me about the high light of your carer so far? 

Pusha: To me every opportunity to work with different people is my highlight. When a artist embraces your work and adds their poetry to it it feels like the universe put that together. I do this for that feeling.

Me: How do you relax? music is all around you, all the time, how do you take the time off? 

Pusha: I never really took time off. I'm consumed by music. I'm fortunate to be doing what I love to do all the time.

Me: So you seem to be very busy, why don't you tell me about your regular day?

Pusha: I sleep for maybe four hours. I'm usually up like 4:30- 5... Some days I go jogging then get a little reading and meditation in. Then I'm on line following up on posts, checking analytics and stats. Usually someone I work with is finishing up a session so I head to the studio to help sort out the mixes. (Smoke break). Make sure all my equipment and hard-drives make it to studio on time if I have a session that day. If not I'm networking. Matter of fact, I'm always networking!!

Star In The Hood Ent offers artist developing and managing, beats and is a full house package to any artist to consider. If you have a professional interest to their work, you can reach from these links:-

 facebook/plinyartist 

soundcloud/pliny-marketing

youtube/plinymarketing