Behind every great artist is an equally great producer, who’s an integral part of their come-up. In Yelawolf’s case, that beatsmith was and still is WillPower. As a behind-the-scenes asset to the Shady Records star for over a decade, this humbled hitmaker has not only produced the majority of your favorite ‘Wolf songs, but helped guide his overall sound into the brand of speaker-abusing Trunk Muzik you’ve come to know and love.
To find out what makes Will’s production palette so applicable to an artist as versatile as Yelawolf, and to get a scoop behind the scenes of their upcoming Trunk Muzik Returns project, TSS Crew’s BEWARE chopped it up with the brains behind the boards. Speaking on everything from preferred recording techniques to the repercussions of having a 21-inch subwoofer in his studio, WillPower lays it all out for Slumerican fans.
TSS: You and YelaWolf just dropped “F.A.S.T. Ride,” which is the second song released off Trunk Muzik Returns. Both feature the same heavy-hitting, yet lush production that made the original Trunk Muzik a classic mixtape. Were you trying to recreate a winning formula or did your joint chemistry just pick up where it left off?
WillPower: We just picked up where we left off. When we go in the studio, we don’t ever really try to have a blueprint. We just vibe and we do what we love to do. Trunk Muzik is a brand that we started, which did so well the first time we just titled [the project] that afterwards. But, truth is, we just went in and vibed and that’s just what we do. We just picked up where we left off. And we’re happy with it [LAUGHS].
TSS: And I’m assuming the fans will be, as well. However, while I understand the Trunk Muzik name is more from a strategic-branding approach, did you two find yourself falling into any of the same patterns recording-wise as the previous project?
WillPower: Somewhat. You know, Yela and I have been recording together for over a decade now. We started in 2002. So, it’s just a cultivated relationship, man. It’s kind of like being on a basketball court. He knows what my move is. I know what his move is and together we just make good music.
So, when we get together and put ourselves in these situations, we just vibe out and look for good energy. If we’re both jumping around when we’re done with the record and all our energy is gone from the session, then we know we did a really good thing. That’s just how we approach it.
TSS: Well, obviously the chemistry is there, especially if you’ve been working together since 2002. Good Lord.
WillPower: [LAUGHS]
TSS: Since the original Trunk Muzik project basically put Yela on the map, how much has he changed in the studio since recording the first project?
WillPower: Honestly, it didn’t change him much, man. From day one, he’s been a perfectionist. So, when he’s in the studio, he’s just about perfecting what he’s working on. So, since the record deal and the first Trunk Muzik, I think that his focus has broadened, but his work ethic has remained the same. He’s always been that guy that you almost have to drag him out of the studio, when he’s in recording mode. He’s focused.
When he gets in the booth, you’ve got to have a really good engineer in there, that understands how to work the session, because he’s very fast and detailed about what he wants. And he’s been that way from the beginning. I remember when I used to engineer his sessions and do his beats. He used to aggravate me sometimes, because he’s so dedicated to getting it right.
TSS: So you’re saying he’s still going to work you, until the song is perfect. The amounts of tracks he’s taking to record might just be fewer.
WillPower: Yeah. He’s been known to cut a record, walk out, then come back in and say, “listen, let’s trash this one. This ain’t it.” I’ve seen him do it hundreds of times. So, if something makes it to the public, it’s been really thought out. One thing I know about ‘Wolf is that if something hits the street, he’s 99 percent proud of it. I don’t know about things that got out he maybe didn’t approve, but if he approved it, he was happy about it.
TSS: And that’s the sign of a good artist, to have that foresight to know what your fans want and delivering, opposed to just working the law of averages and trying to just appease the masses.
WillPower: Yeah, that to me is one thing I have seen him grow with, that I admire, is his connection with his fans. At first, when we first did Trunk Muzik, we were looking for fans. You just throw it out there and kind of see what sticks.
He started to realize who his fan base was and who these people are and how to connect with them and I give him props for really continuing to cultivate that relationship with his fans, because that’s important to him. That’s why he doesn’t do the whole, let me try and do a record like everybody else thing. He’s always trying to be different, to be innovative. And I think his fans appreciate that and I hope that new fans will start to appreciate that as well.
TSS: Well I can definitely tell he tries to stay off the beaten path. But, before I move forward, I asked how he’s changed since Trunk Muzik. How have you changed?
WillPower: I’ve changed a lot, man. Growth has been my biggest venture. When ‘Wolf got his deal, being the homeboy producer that was doing his beats before he got signed, I just felt like I had so much to prove. Because, immediately, once a record deal’s done and the budget opens up, then all of a sudden you’ve got all these [producers] who have this history, these hits and all these things you don’t have – including equipment and engineers and this stuff you don’t have. All you have is your computer and your beat machine you’ve been working on your whole career. Now, you’re up against guys that can do things amazingly.
TSS: You’re up against your idols, to a certain extent.
WillPower: Absolutely. And, I think that for me, that’s my biggest challenge and one of the things I’ve come to adapt to. I had to step it up, man. I do this every day. I’m of those guys who truly works on their kick drums and truly works on his snares. I really take the time to work on my mixes. I finally have my own engineer. We’re one now, you know what I mean? It’s been years of trying to put together a system that can compete and put me on the level that I need to be on.
TSS: Back to the Trunk Muzik Returns, I’ve read you and Yela basically blocked out a month to knock out the project. What’s a typical daily schedule consist of? I know you were going super hard, but I’m curious as to what extent.
WillPower: Well, we got the phone call in December that ‘Wolf wanted to finish Trunk Muzik Returns, so we blocked out a month in his basement. We could’ve easily gone to a label studio and done all the bells and whistles, but he was really adamant about capturing the same vibe we had on the original Trunk Muzik. So we basically put a studio together in his basement, at his house.
And we would wake up in the morning, get breakfast and get to the studio about 1 pm and not leave, until about 1 to 2 in the morning. The only break we would really take would be dinner. And since we’ve got some really great management, they would make sure we’d have home-cooked meals. So, for a month, we had home-cooked meals and ‘Wolf would request we all sat down and had dinner together. So, it’s really about feeling at home and and having a real comfortable atmosphere.
From our past experiences, not having comfort will have you doing something you didn’t want to do or kind of be forced into a situation you aren’t comfortable in. So, he’s big about that now.
TSS: I can imagine. Shit, after ten years of grinding, being comfortable has got to be at the top of the list. Lastly, in regard to the project, are there surprises fans can expect or anticipate?
WillPower: We’ve got some really good surprises. The truth is, though, I can’t be the one to tell, because I don’t want that problem [LAUGHS]. I will say this, though: he’s doing a lot of the project himself. I think that he’s going away from the norm. Everyone’s got a whole lot of features and got a whole bunch of people on their projects, it’s almost hard to tell whose project it is sometimes. So, he was very careful about making sure this album is another piece of artwork from him. But, we do have a few features that are incredible. Without me giving up any names, I would say fans and other people will be excited about who we’ve got on this project.
TSS: We’re looking forward to it, man. Aside from just Yela, you produce for a variety of artists, working with everyone from Nikkiya & Rittz to Jackie Chain and Tech N9ne. You’re all over the board. How do you cater your production to such different styles?
WillPower: I approach everything differently. One of my techniques is that I normally sit down with an artist for a few hours. Or, if I can hang out with him the day before we work, I usually do. Just to hang out, talk and try to get to know each other. It’s about getting comfortable, making sure projects fit their personalities and seeing what they expect and where they want to go.
I never play pre-made beats. Well, I won’t say never. I try to avoid going into pre-made beats, until I’ve produced three or four songs for the client, with a few days of making beats on site specifically for them. That way I know what to go in my catalogue to look for and find out what’s similar to that.
TSS: That’s interesting.
WillPower: Yeah, I normally start from scratch. I’ll get them to come in and we’ll just vibe. If I can get them standing up in the studio, then I know we’re getting somewhere.
TSS: I find it cool to hear that you’re not playing them the catalogue, as you put it, because I can imagine that would probably be pretty easy to do, considering you’ve done this for ten years. You’ve probably got some heaters on deck.
WillPower: Oh yeah. I’ve got an extensive catalogue of music, so I could very easily do that. But, I like to feel people out. It wouldn’t be fair for me to give Tech N9ne a beat that sounded Trunk Muzik-ish. It’s not fair for ‘Wolf and it’s not fair for Tech N9ne. So, for me, I would like to know what Tech N9ne wants. If he would like some element of that style of music, then I would still have to design that to fit what I’m working on, you know?
TSS: Yeah. But, before you had the relationships established, how did you start reaching out to artists and letting them know you were even nice enough to tailor-make music for them?
WillPower: Well, honestly, I’ve been blessed. My workload and workflow come from word of mouth. My actual situation started with Yelawolf, of course. That was my first debut to the public on a large scale and people liked it. It just so turns out one of Tech N9ne’s managers called me and set that up, then it just kept going. As far as getting on people’s projects I don’t know, I just wait. I’m very patient. I wait. I think that you’ll accomplish something when people are seeking you, opposed to you trying to be on everyone’s album. I would love to work with lots of artists, man. I really would. But, the truth is, I don’t want to force myself on people.
But, I do have a great manager and she does call and attempt to solicit work for me, trying to meet people and build relationships. So, I want to make it seem like I’m just sitting around, meditating, waiting for something to happen. I do have a great team. But, even in that, we’re really selective in who we approach. We approach people we know have a similar taste in what we do.
TSS: That’s the key.
WillPower: Yeah, once your team knows what you want and who you are, you can put them out there and have them get what you need. I’ve been blessed, man. I’ve worked with everyone from the homie, trying to start his rap career, to some of the greatest artists: Tech N9ne, Wiz Khalifa and Yelawolf. And Eminem, I mean, I’ve been there.
TSS: Who would you like work with and haven’t?
WillPower: I want to work with Andre 3000, man [LAUGHS]. I think that’s really what I want to do here, before my time is up. You know, I’d really love to get it in with someone that classic, that refined, you know? I just want to continue to be a part of something great. And I really like Kendrick Lamar and what he’s doing musically. I just want to be around people that want something super magic, you know?
TSS: I mean, it seems like it’s less about the money to you and more about just working with the right people and putting out the right music. Plus, I think Andre’s a pretty good, choice. Let me know when that’s happening.
WillPower: Oh man! I’ll let the world know when that’s happens! But, you know what, I’m blessed and I certainly don’t think that it won’t happen. I certainly think it will, because being through Yelawolf and my experiences here, man… I’ve gotten to work with Eminem. And, to me, growing up in hip-hop and being a fan of that, then being able to touch it, man… It was so real.
TSS: Switching gears here, rap is such a marketable art form these days. And, subsequently, a lot of Hip-Hop producers are inadvertently turning into pop producers. For instance, Mike WiLL Made It is working on Miley Cyrus’ next album. What are your feelings on crossing over as a producer and is taking that leap a goal of yours personally?
WillPower: I’ll take the leap, if I can continue to do what I do, you know? I think that it’s a blessing that those guys are getting those opportunities. I think that they should most definitely take them. But, my only concern in most of those situations is that they’re not stifled in their creativity and being asked to do things they wouldn’t normally do. Like, I will be totally bugged out if we finally hear a Miley Cyrus track over a true Mike WiLL Made It record. That’s going to be incredible.
TSS: Yeah, it’s hard to imagine even. I wonder what they’re asking from him.
WillPower: Right, exactly. So, I hope that’s the case and if not, that’s good anyways. I know for me, I would certainly do it, but only as long as I could do it in the creative form I would need to work in – which is to just open up and let freedom reign on that thing, you know what I’m saying? That was kind of cheesy, but… [LAUGHS].
TSS: [LAUGHS] But it correlates with everything else you’re saying. And, if Miley Cyrus is asking for something you don’t believe in, then maybe that’s not a go. That said, how did you get your start in producing?
WillPower: I’ve always been into music. When I was a kid, I was in a group and we would sing, rap and do all kinds of stuff. But, I had one of my group members, his mother was a lawyer. And of course, she was all business and she knew a real producer who was one of her clients. And so he came in and started producing records with us. And almost immediately after going to his studio and seeing all his equipment and seeing him working there like a damn scientist, I was like, Aw man, I don’t wanna do this rapping and singing shit no more, I wanna do what he’s doin’. And, bro, literally, that was ‘98.
TSS: Wow.
WillPower: Yeah. It’s been a minute, man. That’s the thing, I just took to it. And, probably the first two or three sessions and some of the terms he used then, I still use to this day. And that was years ago. And I can still remember him telling me, “you have to create a pocket with your music and to you have to give every instrument room to breathe, so you should be able to hear every single instrument in the song.”
TSS: What does your studio consist of?
WillPower: An Universal Apollo, with a new sound card, which is really dope. Um… Are you speaking on my studio back home or the one I’m working in now?
TSS: You’re right. I forgot the question is relative. How about the studio you would call home?
WillPower: Yeah, man. Well, basically, I just have the Apollo with the sound card like I said. That’s really dope. Of course, I have Logic. I use Logic as my production piece. I just got the new MPC.
TSS: How do you like it?
WillPower: I love it, man. The action on it is crazy. I’m able to get back to the feel of the pads. Of course, I started on the MPC, so to get back to it was incredible. But, that’s not to discredit the Maschine, which is really dope, too. I use the Maschine, too. I use each of the drum machines for different things. I’m probably one of the few people who have them hooked up at the same time. So, I’m going back and forth between the Maschine and the MPC. I’m just a sound freak, man. I go so hard on sounds. I put sounds in Hip-Hop records most producers aren’t on. And I’ve got some secrets about the low-end in my records. So, that’s something I pride myself on.
Oh, one of the things that I’ve got in my studio that people will probably think I’m crazy for is a 21” subwoofer, bro. It’s crazy. It’s so crazy, sometimes it will make you nauseous. That’s how loud it is.
TSS: [LAUGHS] That cracks me up, man. That sounds ridiculous.
WillPower: [LAUGHS] Yeah, it’s ridiculous. A 21-inch subwoofer, it’s the craziest shit.
TSS: I hope no one’s trying to sleep around you.
WillPower: Well, this is what’s dope here recently, because we’ve been blessed and I got an old house. Have you ever been to Atlanta?
TSS: Yeah, I’ve been the past three years for A3C.
WillPower: Oh yeah, cool. Well, you know how the city is. Well, we’re like two blocks from the outskirts of the city. I found an old house on an acre of land and we took the old house and we gutted it out and just built a studio in it. So, it’s incredible. We don’t have any neighbors and the corner of the street is about a quarter-mile away from the house. And, guess what: if you’re at the stop sign you can hear the subwoofer.
TSS: [LAUGHS] You ain’t lying, either. You jumped on the cells, drove down to the stop sign and tested it out.
WillPower: Oh yeah. Because, the house is near industrial businesses. So, I don’t wanna be quaking while people are trying to conduct business. But, during the night, when it’s crickets, you can hear that shit at the corner.
TSS: That’s awesome. It sounds like your studio is stacked. However, you didn’t mention live instruments. Is that something you need to incorporate into your beats, or is that something that’s just not in your repertoire?
WillPower: Oh, no. It’s absolutely part of it. I have Mikey Diluso, who is my guitar player. Lance… I forget Lance’s last name. We call him Lance Fury. He’s our horn and trumpet player. He’s a beast. He’s also created this um…. This trumpet that is also a vocoder.
TSS: Damn, that’s sweet.
WillPower: It’s so sick, dog – the things that he does with this thing. And, you know, we’ve got live bass and live guitars. So, we’re always going in.
TSS: So, it’s basically like you’ve got your players. You don’t necessarily play them, but your homies do.
WillPower: There’s time when I bring in people. I play them as well, but I wouldn’t call myself that guy, you know what I’m saying? So, anytime I need something that’s incredible and I know I can’t do, I’ll definitely bring my guys in to come help me with it. And, the thing is I’ve used these guys for so long, we’re a team with it.
TSS: Taking it back to just production, in general: with beats being made from iPhones and iPads, sites selling beats for $2.99 and producers starving to get their work heard, do you find the production game has become over-saturated?
WillPower: Yeah, it’s certainly a problem, man. But, it’s not any different than the 5D camera and getting into where people cutting videos and movies, man. It’s the hustle. What you have to do in any situation is find a way to step out there. Find a way to step it up. I mean, I produced records from ‘98 all the way to 2010, before I got my first placement. So, there were just years and years of What… The… Fuck.
But, I stuck with it, man. I think if you’re a producer and you want to get out of the so-called hamster-wheel, you have to cultivate with an artist. ‘Wolf is my man and we’ve been working together for years and I’ve done the same thing with several other artists. That’s what got me to where I was going. The artists I was working with and the work that I was doing. And we all grew together. That’s what you have to do.
I can’t knock it, though. I used to be one of those guys, Oh, you doing those beats on Fruity Loops? But, dude, there’s some hit records that were made on Fruity Loops. So, I can’t be that guy no more. I had to realize it’s not machine, it’s the person. If somebody can make a hit record and it’s jamming and it’s coming off an iPhone, I’m for that. But, in order for that to get to where it needs to be, it’s going to take cultivating and finding something that people can attach it to.
TSS: That’s great advice. And, it almost sounds like you’re letting people who aren’t serious weed themselves out, too.
WillPower: Oh yeah, they’ll hang themselves, man. I mean, you might get lucky. It happens all the time. But, not really. Because, some people will get a beat off and it will do really well. But, experience goes a long way. OK, you got a placement. What was your paperwork like? Do you own it? Did you sell it? What did you do? What is your situation? Because, I know plenty of people that have records on the radio. But, because they sold the beat to somebody for $50 or $100, all they got was $50 or $100 bucks. And their shit is jamming on the one, every day. But, they’ll never see a dime from it.
TSS: But, do you feel that having the cache of saying you had a beat on the radio for so and so – even if you sold it for free – is valuable in the sense that you can turn that into more placements by having that on your resume, if you will?
WillPower: Not at all, man. Not with most of what’s going on. Now, having something unique, that’s one thing. I hate to use this term, but for the majority of the trap music-sounding stuff – if you got lucky and got one off… Psh, buddy down the street got one too, man. So, I don’t think that really works, unless you’re able to find a relationship. Or, you’re able to provide a platinum-selling beat for a major artist. There’s a chance that artist will come back to you because of the magic, but what’s the chance you’ll be able to recreate that magic, if you didn’t even create it with that artist in the first place?
TSS: Right. Because, you were just trying to recreate someone else’s sound.
WillPower: Yeah. You were doing what you thought was jamming anyway and just got lucky. But, in a situation where you got producers and artists like Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson or Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, they did their albums together. All the shit that lasts forever, the classic records. There was a producer locked in with an artist, and they created a sound together.
I’m not solely responsible for Trunk Muzik. Yelawolf and myself are responsible for it, because we created that sound.
For more from WillPower’s SupaHotBeats imprint, check out his website and upcoming Trunk Muzik Returns project with Yelawolf, which will debut Thursday at Club De Ville in Austin, Texas, for SXSW.
