Feature
Meet Producer ‘Flex The Ninja’
The music production business is one that rarely gets the spotlight it deserves, over the years though BW has been blessed with a number of very talented music makers and Flex the Ninja (you really do have to say the whole name like ‘A Tribe called Quest’) is arguably one of the best there is. We reached out to him just to find out what he’s been up to, his journey and what his views are on the production game. Read up and leave a comment if you can
EBW: How did you get started with music production
Flex: I’ve been playing the drums since i was 3 years old introduced to it by my parents who were at the time part of the praise and worship team .So my dad is a musician so as i was growing up i then became more exposed t digital audio workstations(DAWS) like Reason,Cubase and Fl studio. I started production on reason and someone i looked up as a drummer made a rick ross beat and from then i continued my journey with Fl Studio till this very day.
EBW: We know you’ve got some sort of link to Botswana, please share a little bit about your work there and you connections
Flex: Well I grew up in Botswana , started dancing with Urban Empire Dance academy and through that i met a lot of artists and actually produced for some of them (Ozi F teddy,Veezo View , Thato Jessica ).
EBW: What’s your take on the current pop culture (Hiphop, Trap, R&B, Afro Soul, Naija beats) producer at the moment
Flex: The current pop culture producers are definitely creating vibes and shaping the sound of tomorrow,like a lot of songs that are unheard will most likely make sense in future which is normal because we as humans are not all quick to adjust to the new sound that is being presented to us by producers today .But at the same time the majority still have a very similar sound not a lot of poeple are trying to create a unique sound mainly because of trends and such .
EBW: Where are you trying to be musically 6 months from now.
Flex: Definitely to be the producer that could design a sound for every artist i work/will work , that way i’ll have multiple musical personalities (extreme level of diversity musically in short )
EBW: Let’s talk making money, how are you monetizing your work or how do you think producers should get paid.
Flex: Monetization for now is through royalties and upfront deposits for beats,
I feel producers should be paid equally with artists mainly because of the fact that without a producer artist would record accapella (with no instrumental ) ,cuz its basically a 50/50 process, artists and producers feed of one vibe and create one song together.
EBW: What projects are you busy with and what would you say we should look out for from you.
Flex: Currently working on an Ep ( wont be a beat tape like the usual ) something very experimental , and a lot of music in general before that. People should definitely pay attention to my soundcloud cuz a lot will be posted there.
EBW: What has been your biggest/proudest moment thus far in your career,
Flex: Having a beat i produced(that i never thought would see the light) in my bedroom in about 30-40 minutes sending it to the very talented Veezo View and having send it back to me recorded an hour later .whichwhen released then created a wave that i never thought i’d see at the time , and having it play on the radio and seeing people vibe to the song at shows, for me that’s the highlight so far.
Check out some of Flex’s work on Soundcloud