Romeo [00:02:18] No matter how we’re at Stratus media group here. April twenty seventh Saturday. Pretty crazy event going on in Virginia Beach. Something in the water with Farrell’s group but you know here we’ve got Hollywood shills 7 5 7 with Erman Baradi from Entourage so great to have you back and home in Virginia Beach Erman welcome back and you brought some friends with you.

Erman [00:02:43] Yes yes sir I did. I’m very happy to be back home. It’s been six months as I’ve been her last. So. So it’s good to be in the V.A. in the V.A. Did I say that right? Who says the V.A.?

Romeo [00:03:00] What was with us today we’ve got MeLo-X, executive record producer and also Yasmin Tanres.

Yasmin [00:03:10] Yes hello.

Romeo [00:03:12] She has a long list long bio. I could go on and on but I won’t stop it she’s just one of a kind and the beautiful Miss.

Yasmin [00:03:18] Thank you so much. Thank you for having us.

Romeo [00:03:28] Yeah. So Melo you know again thanks for coming down. I know you’ve got a busy schedule you’ve been bouncing around and torn all over the world and doing a lot of different projects. Multitalented multi. Fascinating it’s just great to have you in the V.A. area in the 7 5 7. But first let me before we get off of me just say congratulations on the baby that’s been expected there.

MeLo-X [00:03:49] Yeah. 

Romeo [00:03:51] Having a boy right? What was his name again?

MeLo-X [00:03:54] Not catching me slipping like that.

Romeo [00:03:59] Yeah. So yeah. So we’re looking for the Cuban a session. I know. Yasmin you’ve been doing these for a while now with Erman back in L.A. and we hooked up and one back in February doing your whatever the event was was called outstation station 64 which a good spot. So we’re looking forward to bringing that here to Hampton Roads. So you know so tell us about what you’ve been up to man what’s what’s new and what you got going on.

MeLo-X [00:04:24] I’ve been in preparing for Daddy mode. That’s what I’ve been on that’s been taking care of my girl Corey just you know cooking you know clean and be becoming a cleaner person and cleaning up after myself and shit.

MeLo-X [00:04:40] But yeah I just really focus on that. And the last three years I’ve worked on a lot of music and a lot of this. More of the visual arts side and just kind of figuring out the right time to put it out so starting next month I’ll be releasing more music and more visual stuff more things that I’ve been working on.

Yasmin [00:05:03] Ultimately Has that led you to kind of prepare for the point that when you do become the father so you take it or break off then.

MeLo-X [00:05:09] Yes. Yes. Yes.

MeLo-X [00:05:11] So I have it. You know my plan is that as I’m in Daddy mode I’ll have all of this like content that I could just put out and kind of build the you know suspense for like a show or tour or something in those first few months like six five months or so I could just kind of be this me and my son.

Romeo [00:05:34] Having a baby, Fatherhood changes a man you’re going to be like you’re still going to change a little bit a little bit so I would definitely sort of mellow coming out now.

MeLo-X [00:05:41] I mean I’m a decide Justin I got a corny Dad Dad that asshole some corny dad mode when the baby comes.

Yasmin [00:05:50] You’re Into fashion as well.

Yasmin [00:05:51] So I’d be really enjoying your daddy mode style. Yes.

MeLo-X [00:05:54] He doesn’t know my dad mode is going to be wavy you know. So maybe you can pull up and dad jeans but like making actually.

MeLo-X [00:06:02] I’ve been wearing dad jeans though. But you know like it has a different cut so you don’t feel like dad jeans. But I want to go full on like that mode. Yeah yeah yeah yeah.

Romeo [00:06:13] So we were talking earlier when you first got in. Yeah. I’ve been doing a little bit of research on you go way back in your youtube videos from back in the day they just seeing how well you know you got started we were talking about you know you growing up in you know six years old and how you really found out you got your passion and love for for what you’re doing. Could you take us down that road van when that all started and how you know you you woke up and you just started you know playing with you know music going on the road.

MeLo-X [00:06:42] Well yeah I mean mom my mom she bought me before she bought me just toy recorder I had like a small toy piano which I still have.

MeLo-X [00:06:54] So that was like the first like just as a baby just like bing bing bing bing making noises it’s like I like making noise I was like always running around doing some crazy braking shit braking myself cutting myself all kindve does messing myself up. This being a wild. But a lot of that wild energy turned into like me creating music and loving sound.

MeLo-X [00:07:15] So yeah. So she bought me a toy recorder and I just started recording everything. I record myself I record like I still have the tapes like I have me and my sister doing like your momma so fat jokes like contests like yo mama so fat and I’ll be like boo.

MeLo-X [00:07:35] Yeah. Say I go back and forth. So I was just recording life. You know this is documenting life and like that age. And I got intrigued with my voice being in something outside of myself like being on a tape and I could like record something over that and then just learn this like making my own mixtape but even I was making that at the time I would record the radio. And that’s when I felt like it had a mike and I didn’t know what scratching was. So when you listen back through it you’ll hear me like scratching the mike on the speaker cause I thought that’s what the deejays are doing. They’ll be like you just hear like the music regularity this year. It’s always like learning about sound from like real real young age.

Yasmin [00:08:22] And then ultimately you you got your foundation and sound design you. How had that helped you from the wild days of being a kid trying and whatever trial and error. And then going into some form of a structure that you learned had that morphed you a little bit or amplified some of the like sound settings.

MeLo-X [00:08:41] Oh well with sound design specifically I would say me so me and my friend Little Friday my best friend we we did these mix tapes and what we would do it was like you’d have like deejay Club Mix tapes you have like cut massive see you have all these different you know mix tapes the different deejays and it’s basically the mixtape had all the exclusives right.

MeLo-X [00:09:12] So exclusive music exclusive stuff from like J. Or from whoever is like the illness.

MeLo-X [00:09:18] You know artists at that time on to come up in New York or whatever so we would listen to all of the radio stations all the deejays had their own night.

MeLo-X [00:09:28] So like case lay it was on Thursday deejay clues on Monday Green Lanterns on Sunday and they sometimes they would play the same track as exclusive but dj clue would put his like sound bites and his drop somewhere and you know Green Lantern would put his drops somewhere different so we would record all of them and then line them up and cut out where they put the drops and then we would have like a clean version of this super new track. So that kind of like doing that and learning how to because we were recording it on tape I had to learn how to get the hiss out like you know that noise and different things so that kind of was my first venture into dealing with sound outside of just recording music but like dealing with the other aspects of sound. But then I would say I when I went to the Institute of Audio Research that was a school in New York that’s where I had a class that was like a sound design class.

MeLo-X [00:10:30] So basically they would give us the clip like one of the clips was like with speed we can freeze like when the when the train is going through and it’s about like bus to the wall and go like outside or whatever whatever it is had the bus like it’s like some wild shit happen.

MeLo-X [00:10:47] But anyway they would give it to us with no sound and be like you know create the sound of it create what’s happening. So I had to like you know then they had like a whole sound library that you had to go through so I had to be like I need a bus engine sound and look at that I. The bus is going from left to right. So I have to visually if I’m watching that I need to feel like it’s going from here to there left to right. So how does how do you do that you know sonically. He knows more than just panning because it’s like over there. You’re not hearing all of the low and rumble when it gets close that’s when you hear it. And then as it goes away you hear more high end.

Yasmin [00:11:25] So so you’re going to be very into it. Yeah yeah.

MeLo-X [00:11:27] So that like just doing that over and over and then you know implementing it into my music I would always put like nature sounds in like wind and you know birds and all kind of shit and then watching like 2001 A Space Odyssey shit like that and just like tapping into the visual but then watching it without even just looking at it just hearing everything how this you know how that works. Yeah that’s how I like really got into the sound fascinating.

Yasmin [00:11:55] Are you’re using all the elements and then as well like sounds. It’s just it’s interesting and going back to your journey of having like produced your own music it’s actually from such a young age and then refining as as you go along you know you kind of were discovered in a way but you were fascinated by like platforms like MySpace and you mentioned Lady Gaga at some point when we were conversing earlier on.

Yasmin [00:12:20] So you know for like people who want to have their own unique voice be taken seriously but also you know mixing it with their idols like you did yourself. Like what advice can you give people to produce and and and not feel like they’re taking anything away from anybody.

MeLo-X [00:12:40] Well I mean for me when I first started learning it was all it was all about just just studying the Masters or who I deem the masters for.

MeLo-X [00:12:54] For me personally which was like as producer it was like easy Moby and like J Dilla and like I used to get scratch magazine that was like a lit magazine like I had every scratch magazine and read every article like 10 20 times I just go back to the same article to learn about a sample and you know this like oh these are like you know that hurts that we’re in this kind of like drum machine so I’m using Fruity Loops a laptop but I know how to make it sound like it’s from that you know. So does doing a lot of that and like studying them but also building my own sound and not just trying to replicate what they did but doing it in a way of learning like I am going to learn how to chop how to do certain things so that I could like implement it into my own you know not just copy paste kind of thing.

MeLo-X [00:13:50] I think that’s a good. I feel like that’s a good starting point. Like try to match the shit that you like. You know I didn’t put that music out that that was just like you know just making like 10 beats every day after school just like I did this week. It’s you know my deep week so I listened all my deep albums. Anytime there was a drum that was like solo I just took it like a snare that’s mine Oh it’s a kick. Oh that’s a you know I mean I just like I just had a whole library of like this is from outcasts. This is from you know and just study how them shits sound. And then from there is like now that I have all this basically the colors on my palette now I could start drawing my own shit you know.

Romeo [00:14:36] So you ever go back listen your old tracks you’ve kept you from way back then. What the fuck was I thinking.

MeLo-X [00:14:41] Yes it’s all the time. Yes. Yeah all the time is sometimes Im like oh that sounded fire.

MeLo-X [00:14:47] I got to do that again you know.

MeLo-X [00:14:49] But most of not the voices up here this I hear but it’s like I wasn’t going to school in time for I was just like in the hoods in my on my block in my crib you know between me and my best friend Freddy’s crib like this recording mixing learning as we as we went.

Romeo [00:15:06] Now you’re saying you grew up with a lot of guys you still wrote today who are part of your team or people you grew up with. I mean kids from you said Claude. You go back six years old.

Romeo [00:15:15] Yeah. And that’s so that’s you know visionary there you can call him. He was a deejay back then. Right yeah.

MeLo-X [00:15:21] He D.J. he also produced and like many other artists but he was like the main dj person that I knew as a dj that was doing mix tapes like in high school when he was in high school.

Romeo [00:15:34] So who’s the guy on the block who’s the kid that everyone knew you like.

MeLo-X [00:15:37] Oh well it was it was him I would say as far as like yeah I like mix tapes having mixed tapes out. Like having them circulate throughout Flatbush like in his high school. And when I went to high school me and Freddie I was my my my friend I figure he was the dj one way and I was like the assistant D.j So I would like I would go. Like when we had parties I was set up all the gear you know I was like I could rig anything we call it nigga Reagan like I’m a nigga rig this shit I’m a make it work somehow you know there’s a oh he just set it up set it up boom we’re going down he would D.A. I would pass in the records like you know I was good at like putting the records in a certain sequence like BP and kids like you know these go to get these are good and he’ll like this be able to access you to sign and I know exactly where to go get it in the you know in the crate that was like when he had crates like you know what is crazy dj time is like like now I D.j off a USB stick like this plug that in and this is like all that music on play but when I started is definitely like I still have all of my my vinyl you know yeah but. But yeah. So deejaying he visionary that he definitely was like the main dude. And also like a mentor he put me on to a lot of music you know a lot of different music that wasn’t looking for at that time I was more into like the mixed tapes and stuff like that. And I definitely got into like listening to different styles of things but he was just older this into different music listening to different deejays and you know putting me onto like different spots in the city I was under a sometimes you like Yo this let him in I’m A WATCH HIM HE’S NOT GOING TO DRINK JUST LET HIM IN did it. You was I get it I get to hear like different deejays play music that I never heard before so all of that kind of is help.

Erman [00:17:31]  like a lot of a lot of artist for now young artists who are in the bedroom doing their thing you know. So what technologies and platforms would you recommend for them to take advantage of.

MeLo-X [00:17:47] I would say whatever the latest whatever is the I would say whatever the latest. I mean yes and no because for me like honestly when I first was making music I did not want to put my music online because I was I was on some like I’m not doing this for money man is just for the art. Day to Day Q listed for me did it. Am I my boy Freddie. Friday low Friday forget Freddie if I say those I’m told by the same person. Anyway so little I’m say little Friday nights a little Friday cuz I yell if you wanna make if you want to do this and make music like you gotta put your stuff online I was like you do it. So he just took all my music and made a MySpace he was running it a few months later he like yo yo MySpace Pop Oh well you should just pop this on like come check it out like you could do this day I was like Oh I see now like it made me it click like oh I could just be here and just put it out and then it reached people that was like the Gateway Oh oh my. So for me MySpace was like the newest latest thing you know and we were doing C.D. and mix tapes which is more of like that was also a thing but it still was like a night it wasn’t dated at that time. This is like say like two thousand three you know 2004.

MeLo-X [00:19:10] It wasn’t date is like you know the thing to do like have mixed tapes but MySpace was real new real real and you and I jumped on that quick and put my music out and started meeting people off of MySpace getting D.J. gigs getting shows you know I used to do open mics every week same open mic over and over and over just learned how to be on stage. So I would say you know you as far as getting your music out for me I use like whatever whatever it was like the best to at the time I just utilize it to the max and I stayed consistent I think with whatever you’re doing whatever platform. I think consistency is key. You know if you just like some people do the wacky shit consistently and blow up often doing to whack a shit consistently instead of like one time do some wack shit everybody hates it. OK I’m not gonna do it no more. Some people like fuck them and do this whack at shit over and over and over and then they blow up you know. So the same energy was something that’s dope that’s resonate in this you know making sense of it has some kind of message or whatever it is like as long as you are consistent with it. Like that’s key.

Yasmin [00:20:22] It also kind of sounds like you know you have such a great support structure going back to like growing up with some friends that you still collaborate with and then having your partner pushing forward on MySpace friends and now going onto the topic of dating style like you started this event with Jasmine. Yeah yeah yeah. And so you do you’re like electric finale deejay and that’s just like picked up massively all around and not showcases again when you find that sort of collaborative creative partner. It works so well like you make it like saying how like I mean for example with John. How did you connect with her.

Romeo [00:21:00] Have you or if we’re going to have to explain electric Punahou.

Yasmin [00:21:03] Okay yeah. Know my name. I’m about to. Let’s break it down.

MeLo-X [00:21:06] So there’s still the folklore goes like this. There was once a dark night in downtown Brooklyn. No I’m sorry I see I fucked up right now.

MeLo-X [00:21:14] I was in the city downtown downtown this club called 2 0 5 at the time that was the name of it. And I was there just you know random night I forgot who was deejaying upstairs might have been like D.J. equal and the downstairs was like I don’t know who’s downstairs but anyway upstairs was more like electro at the time that was like the electronic music called electro.

MeLo-X [00:21:42] That was upstairs and then downstairs with dancehall music like just reggae dancehall. So I would just go upstairs downstairs like up down just like you know and all these other parties I went to I would hear you know different kind of music Roxy Collins who was doing a lot of a lot of events around the time that I went to but for this party specifically I was like you know had a lot of drinks you know saying my loving life. And I was upstairs and then it was something playing and then it was like you know so I’m playing like four to the floor and then I was going downstairs and it was a dancehall song playing in the dancehall song was kind of fought to the floor but it had to dancehall elements. But for some reason at that particular point like the songs were blending and I was like just drunk this was everything in between us and it’s like. And on the steps like I was like oh this shit is yo it is fire like Oh. Then I went home It’s I do like remakes it different things like that and I was like yeah it be dope because a party that mixed these two elements that at that time it was like not really mixing like that. I mean Jasmine had been doing a few parties so I was like Yo Jasmine I’ve got an idea for this party right. It’s going to be electro. It’s gonna be dancehall hip hop is going to be all the stuff that we love together that people don’t play is always this kind of party. At this we gonna do it together. It’s gonna be cool electro pompom.

MeLo-X [00:23:15] And she was like I love the idea but yes that. No. So she was like how about electric pu noni or basically electric goes like the electronic music.

MeLo-X [00:23:28] The electronic aspect of it and then Pu Noni is just like a word that you know. It means basically vagina dancehall music you know but it’s also like a masculine feminine you know let’s also in Hawaii pu noni is like a flower.

MeLo-X [00:23:47] Yeah that’s right. So we just started to research a lot it just like the words that we’re using as well you know masculine feminine like the connection between me and her coming out the music. So they had a lot of layers when we. Then it was like really like people were saying and be like Who was that you know. So that aspect definitely worked as well.

MeLo-X [00:24:06] A world opener. Yeah. There was.

MeLo-X [00:24:08] There were there were any parties like that. As far as like you know downtown the parties that we were doing the events that we were doing. So we did that and the first one we did at 2 or 5 it kind of like had a real good turnout and then we started doing them at this club called sway with Roxy cottontail. That was her her event was on Mondays. And that’s when they like really blew. We had like one party with like 300 400 people outside trying to get in and the club only holds like 200 but sway was crazy because outside would be like our party too you know was I like people to come doing to be outside or some like you know just children outside and inside was crazy.

Yasmin [00:24:50] So yeah see here’s the thing that here’s the beauty about your music. Were you your type. It’s like when you listen to your tunes and this is something I was saying earlier on it’s this whole element of surprise. I am listening to one part of it you’re like Okay I get it. And then something just injects and that way you like wait why did this come from. And then it’s like okay let me listen more and it just goes into like different journeys like different chapters of a book where you’re really shocked and I just wonder is that why Beyonce and Jay Z picked up on you like what happened there and with that part.

MeLo-X [00:25:27] Well I would say would be specifically issue. She liked how I just manipulated her voice with my remixes and stuff like she just like they sounded weird but it sounded like on point as well. And you know she’s definitely into like experimentation with her shit.

Romeo [00:25:46] How did that call go?

MeLo-X [00:25:46] I mean was it a call. The e-mail my friend Quincy who works so he’s creative director at work so he’s real dope and I’ve learned a lot from him. He I believe he he’s the one who put it on to my music specifically but it was a a live performance version of a remix I did that she saw and really liked but the project that I did was called Yancey X and it was a remix project and that was basically a series of projects that I’ve been doing since 2006 or so. The first one was Amy Winehouse.

MeLo-X [00:26:25] Back to Black remix that was like MySpace. I mean like a separate MySpace just for that project put it put it up on MySpace a guy like mad followers on MySpace and people like hitting me up you know wanting to download I had to like create like that was like Z Share like yeah they’re like mega upload or something like that download letting people download I sent it to Mark Ronson he was like oh yes it’s fire. So he saw he played it on his East Village radio station and he started just playing my other music that I made as well. So that kind of opened and you know just unlocked the thing like oh like this is something that’s unique to me that people fuckwit. So let me do it again. So after that I did thing I did. I did it. Amy Winehouse when I did it Rafael Saadiq one I did. Then I did a Maxwell went and that one blew up as well and Maxwell hit me up like Yo this is fire and Sony like bought the rights to some of the remixes and they they played it on his tour they still play like that then his tours and stuff. And I still do work with him like I’ll remixed stuff every now and then but just the idea of doing something unique to me that I like that was like I wasn’t necessarily making money off of it because he was just like remixes this other people’s music all the Jack in it basically but doing that dad did to Eric about doing as well. But yeah doing that kind of built energy around my remix projects. So when I did they Yancy X1 the way I did that. So she she released her album the self-titled album and I was like This shit is fire I hear so many elements is like as I’m inspired by it is like my brain. Also when my brain starts to go into producer mode while I’m listening like well a sample that I’m like Oh I gotta do it. So it came out like awesome midnight shit came out. Then by like the end of the day or like the end of the next day I already had the whole thing done like a one time that was quick that quick. And then when I did it was like signals to me like six tracks. Then what I did for her she released a video for each song which was like you know monumental that time for artists of her caliber to put a whole project out like that. So what I did that was back way Instagram had like only 15 second videos. You could put up and that was like brand new like Instagram video. So I hit up all I like. I just hit a different creatives and directors it was like You know here’s a remix prior. The next one that I’m doing and let’s make videos for each song it just put on Instagram with some Instagram shit and I even YouTube like we just got put on Instagram so I like I believe young Jake the one I did like to can remember all the other ones but I put what I did was before I put the music out I just uploaded one video on Instagram. Boom and that shit sort of blown up every hill. What is this what’s going on did a band the next hour like the first one like 11:00 a.m. the next when I put out like 12:00 like boom is the next one. Yo what is this was you know them by like I would say by like 1:00 p.m. I had mad media outlets in my dm’s like you know vice revolt mapping like hell we want to release this year we won’t put this out so I was like I just let you know I mean so I was I I yo you will put out you got the article you got I you got Mention every Director that I worked well in the video shit you got to post videos you got you know like my way station it like yes let’s do it you know how to negotiate.

MeLo-X [00:29:59] Yeah.

MeLo-X [00:30:00] These guys coming out because they’re like you know create the creative currency so I just find the value in my creative currency you know so doing that then I put out the project on Soundcloud and it started blowing up like mad plays I was about to hit like you know in a hundred thousands like that then you know five hundred thousand play. Then like well it was and then is this I get take down like ripped off point where I like dance again take it down you know cause her her label’s taking it down cause obviously I’m some random person with all these different remixes I shit that I’m just posting not you know so but at the same time Quincy who was also a supporter a fan of mine he was like Yo gave it to really listen to this you know and then he hit me like Yo she likes it. The EPA was enough for me I was like Oh let me cause I remember when this happened prior you know with Mark Ronson Amy with Maxwell his company buying some like dope. This has happened again where the artists heard it and fucked with it I. But then after that I was like I let me take this further you know I do a lot of stuff and like the art space. So I was like you know and I do a lot of live remixes. I have a lot of that on my youtube as well making loud beats and shit. So I made a live performance version of my my version of junk and love was called junk in lust. So I did this performance piece that was like basically me performing it live on the drum machine. I didn’t have in like this shadow world behind me that was like my shadow being projected onto a wall. And then this other like intergalactic crazy world on this side that I created myself like I did all the artwork for it and I work with Jason banker. That was a first project we did and I still work with him now just on different things. He’s like my go to Director Photography. But she saw that video and was like oh no this thing is lit. Let’s get him to work on like the intro to the on the run tour. You know like all this work on the intro. So I was like This is dope. I’ma go work on em we’ll work on it. I didn’t get to meet. It was more like here’s what we’re doing. Send us some fast and there’s something so they give me direction I thing like Ed Burke who works there. He was like You gonna follow me talk to me about you know the direction everything my cool so no idea you know the back and forth sending files and then that led to I. We need to have him do the whole tour now like the sound design. All that for the whole tour you know.

Romeo [00:32:50] I mean did you ever think to yourself I’m over my head or this is not now.

Yasmin [00:32:59] So many questions as you’re going through this now.

MeLo-X [00:33:03] I never tell people a lot of these stories like the timeline.

MeLo-X [00:33:06] I like really going through time like then you could go and fact check everything I’m saying online you know so I like to like give you the fact factual actuals you fill me.

Yasmin [00:33:15] Well we were talking about like you know behind the scenes of how long it actually takes into creating yourself you know and and going back to when you first were mixing to then being hit up by Beyonce to that point and even creating the videos with your visuals. How long does it take to put together that say it makes for specifically an artist as he had done for like Amy and Beyonce and the videos were separate. You might have to do that within like a day or so. Or you know what. How long did it take you?

[00:33:49]  

MeLo-X [00:33:50] Each project with each project is different. So I think Amy was like the first one I did visionary dairy clone. He put me on to Amy Winehouse her frank album I believe he had like a black escalate. Huge right around.

MeLo-X [00:34:08] He’s gone somewhere else. What is that though some. Oh I think he was playing he might have been. No he might been playing backs of black and I was like this song like some Old school like oh I want a sample that’s cause I was into Dilla heavy and I was just like sampling all of my old vinyl. So when I heard that I was like this sounds like you know the stuff that I sample. He’s like nah this is Amy Winehouse like yo but this album is but listen to Frank. And I listen to friends I Oh Frank is lit like this. That’s fine. But I kept going back to back as black. So what’s the question. Like how long the person’s Oh so wait that one it was like it took a while because it’s my first time doing it so is was like I how do I do it and make it sound unique to me. And then the Rafael Saadiq one took you know a while like maybe a month or two. Maxwell was like real quick as well. Probably took like three weeks me. The Maxwell one was crazy too because I got the album awesome on the low shit before like two weeks before it came out.

MeLo-X [00:35:06] And I did the whole thing already. So on his album job I dropped it like oh next day shit like my shit right there. So I caught a wave to you know. And yeah. Erykka Badhu that I did. I did it and I never put it out. I was like Oh no I didn’t put out.

MeLo-X [00:35:23] And then like I didn’t feel like it was it was good and I felt I was maybe just like replicating what I was doing and I was pushing myself like that.

MeLo-X [00:35:32] But then I have to sitting and then you know like maybe like a year after theirs son I was I oh no it’s just fine let me upload it so I upload it. And then the beat Beyonce seems like the quickest one I did which was like the majority of it was done in the first day or two.

MeLo-X [00:35:49] And then after that it was like cause her album came out December I think that Beyonce’s self-titled came out like December 20 eighth or something like that and I think Blu Ivy’s birthday is like January 5th. And I was like I’m a chop it on Blu Ivey birthday like Happy Birthday.

Yasmin [00:36:09] Oh my. Tactical.

MeLo-X [00:36:12] You guys just fucking with the internet and then there’s the others like this kind of this big ed has kind of been on some like just doing what I want like you know it would be dope to do that as artists like i fuck with you. Here you go.

Yasmin [00:36:25] You know so yeah yeah I mean that just shows as well from starting point of course it’s gonna take it longer. And then as you do it more and more you get to speed.

Yasmin [00:36:35] So when Beyonce and Jay-Z basically Beyonce they gave you the project of like the outline of of the intro for the toy did they give you a time limit as well. Did you have to like did you have a deadline in order to create something and was there pressure. Did you feel any pressure to live up to a certain standard or you just felt like you know I got this one out next level stuff. Yeah.

MeLo-X [00:36:58] I mean well the thing with me is like I’m going to do it how I want to do it like you know but at the same time not ha I’m hardheaded but I’m also receptive to like creative criticism you know especially with anyone who I respect or just somebody who I think is genuine even if I don’t respect the court to respect you I have to know you to a certain extent. But even if I don’t know you and I just like feel like it’s come from a genuine place and I’m a fuck with it.

MeLo-X [00:37:25] So with that it was like you know sending music back and forth and then it was a point I was like. Did she hear anything I was like. I make her hear what I did already. And then once she heard it was like I’d not come through and do the whole you know the whole tour and everything. And I was just like you know I’m like I’ve been in I’ve been in my bedroom like up for 24 48 hours working on like one snare for some shit that I create and put on Soundcloud and a gets like you know how many amount of plays like to do that for artists our caliber and get paid to do it and get you know the accolades whatever that comes with it. That was like I was already prepared from just being in my room everyday doing that you know. So it kind of is just like for me is like I know that and the thing where every artist you know is like they’re coming to you because you have you have something that they lack in their whole creative realm. So they coming to you for that. So you have to respect your voice in that setting you know. And the same way ways I’m lacking some that she has that I’m getting to go into her world now and work and have eyes on me and you know have people see like OK this kid makes a whole bunch of other dope shit you know giving me the servers and think about that.

MeLo-X [00:38:52] You have to you have to have like you just had respect for the artists and respect for yourselves to be like alright I’m not just like if she gives me direction or sign I’m not gonna just do exact I’m gonna be like I’m going to put my she’s fuck with me because I’m me right. Yeah. I mean she. She fuck with me cause I was doing what I was doing how I was doing it. She specifically said she like how I fucked with her voice you know so I was like I.

MeLo-X [00:39:17] I’ma fuck with your voice crazy right now.

MeLo-X [00:39:20] I would do a whole bunch of other others shit you gone Fuck you know some assumptions you fuck with some shit she didn’t you know and this is the collaborative like especially working with her whole team you know you gotta work with the visual side because you know where her is like you create a song with her and that song is gonna live through different dimensions so as dance in a dance form is gonna let people are going to create their own dances. The dancers are gonna have choreography then the visual side they’re going to shoot certain things they’re gonna work with certain creative certain artists certain visual artists. So it like I’m going to make sure that sonically what I’m doing is a one like hundred percent you know can’t no complaints like it’s fire by the same time it’s gonna be me as well you know.

Erman [00:40:06] So you mentioned you know the accolades the collaborations and you mentioned getting paid for something you love doing so for you.

Erman [00:40:13] How do you define success for Melo.

MeLo-X [00:40:17] It’s is really being happy. I’m saying it’s like what makes me happy right now I’m doing this if I’m not then I’m not gonna do it. You know so it’s like I always wanted to make a living off of my creations you know not specifically music or not specifically art and not specifically creative direction. I just want to make a living off of what I create that makes me happy. That’s what I’m doing now so I’m successful.

Yasmin [00:40:48] You really first for as long as you’re not just you know you’re definitely a multi hyphenated not threat. I want. I don’t want to say threat because I don’t want a negative connotation. It’s actually a beautiful thing too and a powerful thing to be able to do everything or the Realms that you’re in because like you mentioned you created the visual art as well. Like with with going back to the Yancy project and that takes a lot of time as well. And like skill and how did you get into that realm of visual production.

MeLo-X [00:41:20] I would say doing when I was in high school doing that mixed tapes you know I was I created all the covers for our mix tapes and I used to sell them in high school like I used to. Like I was on some shit in high school like Yeah I know that.

MeLo-X [00:41:38] Yeah yeah. My mix like they mentioned my mix tapes in the yearbook like they had like the yearbook like a time capsule.

MeLo-X [00:41:45] Like what would you take from this year.

MeLo-X [00:41:46] And it was like yo dj one way mix tapes and that you know because I was like deejay one way he was the dj the voice on air we would collaborate on the projects together and I did like all the artwork and everything I did I would print the shit out cut you know every cover I would like make shirts you know and I was like you just buy like this this this sheet from like Rite Aid and you print on it and then if you iron it on the shirt they come out so that was like my first time working with Photoshop and shit like that you know me fashion you know like so that visual side came out of necessity to like we didn’t have nobody to go to to do that.

MeLo-X [00:42:26] So I was like I’ma learn how to do it. I’ma make the covers like the first covers I was corny looking at it now like this is so bad. But at that time I was selling like you know in school I had teachers buy my shit I had guards I would do this thing where I was like I would buy so I would buy chips in bulk like different kind of shit I’d buy Pepsis like yeah Pepsis in bulk because the school then had Pepsi and I would do like a you know like five like five dollars like a six dollar mixtape deal you get a chip you get a Pepsi and you get a mixtape you know instead of paying five lunchroom and only get like one thing I was like Yo. So I had my little location in school at lunch time I’m a little corner like well fuck it it’s come on like you can’t get me.

MeLo-X [00:43:14] Oh yeah I mean cause okay.

MeLo-X [00:43:16] He was in Wingate like we lived so close to each other but for some reason that one street was like a different zone. So a lot of my friends that I go with they went to Wingate and I went to the school called Erasmus which was cool its more towards Flatbush Avenue. So yeah.

MeLo-X [00:43:34] So I would like you know met a lot of new friends there and I was this you know I was like the creative like music person in school you know as far at that point like I played in a band I played there my graduation like you know I also I got gotta I got a bike scholarship that paid for my books and college it was based off and me doing I said do poetry to it like a lot of things in the auditorium like a lot of the events they would have I do like you know like I did a poem on like Malcolm X one time and then I did poem on something now and then I would play piano and play drums you know I was there and so it was just like I was like the music person.

Yasmin [00:44:17] Well no no wonder you have your own business Creative creative extra creative extra creative

Yasmin [00:44:28] So how did that come about because that sounds like fruition of your journey coming into a business and you also developed artists you have a special artist development program so a little bit about that aspect.

MeLo-X [00:44:41] Oh well yeah I mean that’s like me working with different creatives and just consistently working with them and build them really like people who I work with that I fuck with. And like we have like a great connection. I just continue to work with them. So like Jason bankers one. He’s like my go to DP. I’ve done maybe like four videos with him and in this recent film I did called duvet night. This opening in San Francisco at the Mossad museum African diaspora. I believe he was the director of photography on that as well you know. So from that first project the Yonsei project with him it was like this came out real dope. It resonated. Let’s continue to work you know and then with another group called integrative visions Brian and Michelle I work with them on a lot of my like projection mapping stuff VR stuff and we started working. I forgot how specifically Oh I think I did a performance at their loft one time and because I wanted to do projections, and this is like two thousand like this 2013 or twelve or so I wanted two projects and I know who to go to.

MeLo-X [00:45:59] I met them I was like Let’s do this party and just like experiment with projection but invite people to come through and see this performance. So that went dope and I was like I just keep working with them.

MeLo-X [00:46:10] So once I compiled a lot of people who I was like Yo I want to work with you know further want to do projects. I just was like you know it just made sense for me to have my own my own platform because everything I wanted to do was not specifically MeLo-X.

MeLo-X [00:46:29]  You know I wanted to do some stuff for other artists as well and not have it just be mellow. So I was like I extra creative. I was like I got a whole crib creatives and I just tap into whoever for each project you know. And then with the artist development kind of same thing. I met Ty bass and he put me onto him and all his friends to do music and I was just like Yo they the next gen like next generation does you know. But also it’s is like the awesome next shit like yo yo yall on some next shit you like music sound different. Yo your mind is so advanced than I was at that age kind of thing. So I started work with them mentoring them you know bringing them in the studio different things and now is like continuing to work with them and getting them distribution getting them platform going through the whole process of being a successful artist. You know the downfalls and the you know the the the game winners and the losing and everything just dealing with that with them you know.

Yasmin [00:47:34] kind of remind me of like well I am like you had a top and definite inspiration. Very inspirational and you even have an app

MeLo-X [00:47:46] That’s another project. Are we Lu a August who I work with. He he’s a developer. And so I came to him saying him I knew for a while too we did just like video stuff. But then I was like I need somebody who does apps absence of ideas like yo Lou I’m like Oh I know Lou like I worked with him before I let me hit him up. He’s done a meet up with me I’m like oh I want people to interact with my music. I feel like at that time it was like for me I was just like Yo everybody. I remember just having to CD’s having covers and being like wow. And and now I just felt like you have a million mp3s on your phone on your device and it’s like the music the physicality of it does a whole as much weight as it did before. Now is just like MP3 amongst a bunch of them mp3s. Sounds I want people to interact with my shit. I want to make an app that has this shape and people can move it around and alter the music. Everybody has a own listening experience for me so I started working with him on that. And you know now in development we have like version 2 that came out where you can upload your own music. You can add effects you can you know I use it to for dislike affirmation I’ll be like you a sexy motherfucker put that shit on repeat sexy sexy.

MeLo-X [00:49:15] You know like this I like that I do. And then also just for sound design. So if I hear something in the street that I like I’ll just record it and Bill my own bank of sounds that I sampled from so I sample from my my own tailored sounds you know so that’s a good app for people to tap in.

MeLo-X [00:49:34] Yeah yeah. Kerry I’ll find one on Apple whatever it will store. Yeah.

Yasmin [00:49:41] I get Siri to call me sexy little shit for affirmation.

MeLo-X [00:49:44] There you go. You have a name right. I saw the word guy use technology for fun for all the all the aspects.

Yasmin [00:49:53] Yeah.

Romeo [00:49:54] Thats good. I mean as an artist or even an entrepreneur or a business person you always have to keep evolving right. You just have to change with the times and create new things and do new things. So you know I know there’s you know for the artists that are out there that aren’t forward thinking and thinking the long game. You know a lot of artists out there where people are trying to think of the quick art away right the quick return where they can get out. So yeah I think that’s very very important now with the social platforms and all the different outlets. I mean it’s really a free landscape it’s it’s it’s a wild west. You can come up with anything your mind can be creative about and go out and do it. But it’s just having the passion and the drive stick with it.

MeLo-X [00:50:33] Yeah yeah definitely time and talent and tenacity. I forgot what teacher told me to institute all your research but it’s like the three T’s time and talented the right talent at the right time and the tenacity to stay consistent until all of those things line up.

Romeo [00:50:50] So anybody who’s listening who hasn’t made it yet got their break don’t get discouraged.

MeLo-X [00:50:53] don’t get discouraged you know this keep going and I figure out what’s for you. You know I’m saying I also I follow my dreams a lot so a lot of my music early on like I would sleep in this had dreams about melodies and ideas and lyrics I did wake up record it like I would go to sleep with the laptop with like my computer it was like a Dell computer i used like a bill computer like oh I have all the best RAM and everything so I would just have it on and then when I woke up I just wake up I played a melody I just heard all that make a whole song Daddy like it’s not just the idea that just came like now what to make a whole thing around is I’m a make a cover a Make a hole right up and I must send it to people and upload it on Sound Cloud like taking my shit serious you know taking the dreams serious like the inspiration serious you know and just find out what I was passionate about and going 100 percent what I’m passionate about so that’s a lot of you’ve got to do is go a hundred percent and hundred percent you know if it’s if it’s a hobby to you it’s not going to work you know it’s you know when I started my company was all or nothing.

Romeo [00:51:56] You know I don’t plan B was it was either gonna survive and make it or become homeless and right figure shit out but yeah yeah you know there was no in-between.

MeLo-X [00:52:03] Yeah my mom was scared one time she was like like after I after Philly after I did then maybe after the lemonade came out you know she called me crying.

MeLo-X [00:52:16] I remember one day she like it one day I actually like what if music don’t work for you did it. And I’m not told like I want to die. I was like you I want to die I don’t care. I’ll be homeless I’ll be OK. I don’t care it’s gonna work. And she was scared because she’s like yo I’d like to pray all the time it’s like I prayed as somebody does here is is is his music flux of him I pray upright like she was praying like please make somebody big or somebody is blocking his shit because if he don’t get this I don’t know what’s gonna happen to him because I was just like I was like Plan B for what like plan A if know when we’re going to plan B I’m not putting 100 in the plan A you like that did mentality you know at that time I’m not saying that that’s the best mentality but that was my specific for what I did.

MeLo-X [00:53:01] You know and that’s how I felt. That’s what I was passionate about so I did that. You know 100 percent. So when anybody is like you don’t have to specifically do that but if you have a game plan you have something that you feel like nah this is gonna work and you have the visions you have. You get the inspiration you see in it 100 percent.

Romeo [00:53:20] You know for me I would say cut your safety net. You don’t have a safety net because it’s going to force you to fall back on something. So it’s got nothing to fall back on. You have nothing to do but climb and grow up.

MeLo-X [00:53:31] Part of that climbing up is falling down to like absolutely no it’s really no losses is only lessons right. You know is winning and lessons. You win and then you learn how you know how not to lose. Yeah you learn how. OK. Next time I’m not gonna do that imma do this. So is like always see the winning aspect. You know sometimes I would push it up and get like 10 plays 100 plays and then I plus I know something I like a thousand plays. You know I didn’t keep recreating it and I was like what was the energy I put into that that made that. OK. This is what I did. I had all these different things lined up. Let me do that again with this. All I see is resonating again. OK let me do it another way. Let me expound on that idea.

Erman [00:54:15] You know so if you don’t mind touching on what was your biggest fall and how’d you climb your way back up.

MeLo-X [00:54:22] I think as far as like I think just the constant like independent artists type mind frame of like people not fucking with you the way you want them to.

MeLo-X [00:54:37] People not you know people not being as receptive to the music the way you want. You know having not being able to pay a bill or some when you know you’re putting music out for sale and nobody really buying it or is a bunch of people buying it but it’s not enough.

MeLo-X [00:54:53] You know sometimes you gotta. Sometimes the plays have to be over a certain amount before they deposit the money tapes. You know different things so I think the downfall was just the fear of that. Is it the fear of being you know fearful of that. Does being like damn like if this doesn’t happen like you know I might just have to go get it get a job like I am just you know having those ideas and then for me specifically is like having my sister around having my best friends around you know having my girl around who’s like Nah keep going. Like not do it like this ice or switch it out do that. Now you talk like my sister would be like oh what do you tell you something crazy like trying to quit like what she like. Like Danny beat me up. Like when you talk about you know so I think that was probably like the main thing just like self-doubt and night drought like going into that cocoon of self-doubt and dislike hi and I’m not going to do anything because nobody’s fucking with it I don’t care.

Romeo [00:55:51] But on the flip side of any friends grown up and said Oh you’re not gonna make it. Why do you do it that way. We really don’t fuck with us.

MeLo-X [00:55:59] I think it was more so yo you got to do one thing you can’t do everything. That was that they like. You can’t do everything right. You got to focus I was like but I’m focused on doing everything and not just doing everything it is like.

MeLo-X [00:56:15] I love all the actors like I’m looking at the album cover I’m looking at who’s that the album. I keep seeing Jonathan Mannion name for photography so I’m like OK he’s doing a lot of these covers that iconic dope let me study some of his stuff. Who’s doing the production. Oh these producer let me study that. OK.

MeLo-X [00:56:32] When I when I go to get music like when I was like a tower records or whatever you go you see the album cover. Like I’ll go for one thing and I’ll see a cover like what’s that. So I’m so I’m not hearing the music yet but I’m looking at the artwork. So my own essay aspect of it. Yeah I’m saying then. Oh I liked that.

MeLo-X [00:56:50] Then I see the music video.

 [00:56:51] Damn I got to keep watching this music video over and over. Why am I watching it over and over all because there’s a director involved there’s a you know there’s there’s choreography involved. You know there’s cinematography there’s you know color correction of all these all these things I’m like OK that’s why I like this.

MeLo-X [00:57:09] So just for me I was I I’m a learn you know I would never try to be like that then I’m not trying to be the best but it’s more so learning enough to execute what I want to execute for me you know and doing that was just like I just loved creating like whatever it is I just I create like I like cooking you know I like I solve Rubik’s Cube and then like I’ll solve them and then I’ll just create different patterns like oh boo so my God look at this pattern I just made it’s crazy right. Like I just like creating so there’s this like you know I never wanted to box myself in it just this is just a dance like I just want to create whatever you know.

Yasmin [00:57:49] So if you could collaborate with someone they have collaborated with who would it be.

Yasmin [00:58:01] Oh no. They could be dead. Dead or alive.

Yasmin [00:58:06] Okay I’ll let you sit on that.

MeLo-X [00:58:08] Let me say because like that I’ve worked with everybody I wanna see what is like.

MeLo-X [00:58:13] I really feel blessed when you know I get those opportunities but for the most part I’m always just like focused on like what I have going on right now. Like right now I mean like Daddy Melissa so I’m just like you know me and my girl like we’ve been having dreams like crazy like we have. Like the other night I swear our son was talking to us because we both had the exact same dream. He was around like this. That same dream that Zach same setting people same people in the dream I’m like what happened to you. That happened to me.

MeLo-X [00:58:43] I’m like wow. I want to tap into this baby telekinesis.

MeLo-X [00:58:48] like that’s the new wave. So whatever.

MeLo-X [00:58:53] It’s like you know I just kind of go 100 percent you know and I dive into like all the different aspects of how it works.

MeLo-X [00:59:01] You know what makes it stay in motion you know creatively or in life or spiritually or you know so really don’t force anything and kind of just comes to you know yeah and there’s some things I’d do I’m like you know like with the film duvet night it’s coming out next month. I was like You know I could guess I might do the color correction but I want to learn color correction you know so all my YouTube’s boom you know talking to the director of photography like how so how do you do this are you.

MeLo-X [00:59:33] I will study and like belly you know like the movie belly like when they went to Jamaica and the first time they went Jamaican I’m just like oh hi WILLIAMS Like he’s like who the his you know who’s the director photographer for his shit like you know this studying that scene overall I would watch that scene like I’d have a day dedicated to watching that scene over and over and over and then I go to my film turn like one like shadow like down minus three.

MeLo-X [01:00:02] Okay now watch the film look at my film like okay color red up 2 percent. Okay boy until I was like alright. Now I kind of see why this work I see how he captured black skin in a dark setting.

MeLo-X [01:00:19] So I’m like I lit.

MeLo-X [01:00:20] Now I know how to like fully go in on my film so I didn’t have to just say my day of like sample I didn’t have to go and just copy that and now I could create my own way of how it looks for my film you know.

MeLo-X [01:00:32] So on of that answer you know said I mean I feel like that’s telling a love like as a creator you’re not just creating you’re really learning and oh yeah is more so learning that that’s a process of creating tools like learning being the student you know I’m saying being to be in a student at all times like especially in certain rooms with certain artists I’ll just be soaking up mash. They don’t even know they teach it. I’m just like i see that Like you know seeing like GM be like how they worked together how he was you know every me and we had he was there you know I’m saying support and you know I mean like she’d be talking acts you know everybody thought I know what do you think. You know I think there’s a cool next person. What do you think about that with each other. What do you like collaborative effort. And then you know taking in information you know not being not being like you know not being so on hand is still on dictate.

MeLo-X [01:01:36] Yeah. Whereas I gotta be right. You know. But that’s the thing. If it is something that you’re passionate about that you has to be like that because maybe culturally it means something or conceptually it means something then yeah. But if it’s something that is like it’s just an idea as dope and somebody has a better one let’s go with a better one. Not now. We got to love my idea because it’s mine.

MeLo-X [01:02:01] You know it’s more like what’s going to make the execution of this be 100 percent top level you know. And for me the reason why I do a lot of this stuff that I do because I’ve seen with my work specifically when I do a lot of you know when I’m kind of like the creative director in a sense of my ship it resonates with people a lot with my audience. So I just continue to do that. Here’s a film that I did that I did a sound design I did you know I edited the color correction I did this is conceptually about this like there’s a body of work that’s you know about something specific and you know from me and it’s authentic to what I do. Here you go. That’s what has worked for me you know from day one.

Yasmin [01:02:47] So I know you’re in Daddy mode right now.

Yasmin [01:02:50] And I’m curious like like what project you would like to work on next. Like whether it’s more music or visual.

Yasmin [01:02:57] Or are you going to set up a stage for your baby haha

Yasmin [01:03:06] I think I’m curious to know what the baby’s room is gonna look like and be amazing like well you know what a forest effect.

MeLo-X [01:03:13] It may sound corny like I said I’m about to be like the dad more like I might be real regular you know you never know sometimes simplicity is key you know sometimes simplicity in a world with so much like all over the place the city could like stick out you know it’s like when Lady Gaga was wearing mad wow shit and then she just wore like a suit it was like Oh my God she is in a suit because they used to see you know we like meet they meet me a little bit yeah I was there so it is really like finding the kind of balance in that so yeah yeah yeah.

Romeo [01:03:49] Well you know I appreciate you coming out you know down to Virginia Beach or you know for the for the event for the Hollywood chills how are you.

MeLo-X [01:03:55] Thanks for having me on.

Romeo [01:03:57] Yeah no it means a lot. You know I really appreciate you always wanting to give back.

MeLo-X [01:04:00] Yeah. Giving back in information you know information is key.

Romeo [01:04:04] That’s all about helping us getting a hand and helping the next person up in here.

MeLo-X [01:04:08] And inspiring those who inspire me.

Romeo [01:04:10] Yeah absolutely man.

Romeo [01:04:11] So I appreciate you coming out. Erman as always.

Erman [01:04:13] Of course. Yeah. Love being back home.

Romeo [01:04:16] Thanks for helping me set up in Miss Yasmin. Thank you for everything too as well. Thank you. So yeah I’m looking forward to the event tomorrow. Yeah. So that’s it.

MeLo-X [01:04:26]  I hope I aint talk too much. I like talking more than less though because I won’t really be giving mad gems on I feel like I have a lot of gems to give ourselves like time to just give it out more and more you know and for me there’s a information currency as well as creative currency you know.

Romeo [01:04:44] So for everybody listening where should they follow you out for not following you.

MeLo-X [01:04:47] Meloxtra extra everywhere. Instagram mellow extra Facebook Twitter everything. Meloxtra that’s on social media. Google Melo dash X gets you Google’s up for me. So you know I always got some shit on Google.

MeLo-X [01:05:05] You ain’t Gonna go wrong doing a Google search. So here you go.

Romeo [01:05:08] Yeah miss Yasmin and everyone who wants to follow you who’s not following you.

Yasmin [01:05:12] If you want to know my name is at Yasmin Tanres you can Google that as well. But you can also Google Yasmin Tam with jars if you can remember that.

Romeo [01:05:23] Good luck with that.

 [01:05:27] I’m Erman you’ll find me at  Erman underscore LA.

 [01:05:37] And of course you can follow me here just at Romeo’s Spino. That’s it. Thank you. Peace thanks Melo.