Behind The Beat: Murda Beatz

Murda Beatz is one of Migos' most frequent collaborators -- the producer behind hits like "Pipe It Up," "New Atlanta," and "Jealousy," who's had multiple tracks on almost every Quality Control mixtape dating back to late 2013. Would it surprise you to know he's a blonde, shaggy-haired 21-year-old from a small Canadian border town?  

Murda hails from Fort Erie, Ontario, a place that doesn't have much to offer aside from its proximity to Niagara Falls, and its access to duty-free liquor. Most of Murda's peers spent their teenage years with hopes of getting out, most to no avail. Some played hockey -- Murda made beats. 

His musical inspiration ultimately comes from his father, who died this past October. "My dad was always playin' guitar around the house and stuff, so I had a good musical ear at a young age. I started playing drums when I was four." He grew up on his dad's rock music, though his interests slowly shifted toward rap. Early on in his teenage years, he traded his standard drum set in for an electronic one and started recording what he calls "Travis Barker remixes." 

At age 17, after discovering the high-octane trap symphonies of Lex Luger, he traded his drums for a copy of FL studio and a keyboard attachment. With no studios anywhere close by, and few peers interested in making music, he found an unprecedented world of opportunity before him in the beat-making program. With few distractions, he devoted all his energy to making instrumentals. He called himself young Murda, and he murdered enough beats to experience a taste of success less than two years in, causing him to bypass college in favor of becoming a trap producer. 

With his years of self-taught musical experience, he got his name out there pretty quickly, uploading his beats to YouTube and networking using every social media platform possible. His first placement of note came on a record for Bay rapper YB the Rockstar (now Ya BoyRich Rocka). He then gave a beat to a rapper a bit closer to home, Minneapolis' Rocky Diamonds, and their track was eventually remixed by Soulja Boy. 

It was early 2013, and Murda was interested in bringing his sound to Chicago, as the drill movement was at its peak, especially in the mixtape game. The couple of credits he had to his name, Soulja Boy being the biggest, were enough to get the manager of GBE to open Murda's "Chief Keef-type" beat pack, and in the coming months, he dropped tracks with Fredo Santana and Capo, who was tragically killed this past summer. 

Back then, GBE often with young Atlanta rappers, including Migos, and using the connection, Murda got in contact with one of YRN's founding members, Skippa da Flippa, to whom he sent upwards of 10 beats. A few weeks later, much to Murda's surprise, he heard himself on a new Migos record, "Fly Wit a Fish," which features a particularly memorable chorus from Quavo. 

The formula is there even though they'd never met. Murda makes beats with his artists in mind, and for the Migos, he keeps his productions relatively subtle -- simple trap keys dance atop dark, rumbling layers of bass -- but with enough bounce to inspire the most animated flows out of his three subjects, who don't need much of a pick-me-up to begin with. A few weeks after "Fly Wit a Fish," Murda found himself on a plane to Atlanta, which would be the first of many trips down to the A. 

He first arrived in Atlanta soon after Offset had gotten out of jail, in October 2013 (the first time around). For a 19-year-old setting foot in Atlanta for the first time, the energy of the newly reunited trio was inspiring to say the least. He soon caught on to the Migos' formula for churning out tunes as fast as possible. If it takes the better part of an hour to put a song together, chances are it's lacking the type of sauce needed to become a hit.

"We had chemistry right off the bat. We'd go and bang out records -- 20 minutes, know what I mean," said Murda of his first experiences in the Quality Control studio. "It's the same thing now. We did 'Pipe It Up' -- bang it out, 20 minutes. I could bang out a beat on the spot in 20 minutes, and then they could do the song in 20 minutes." 

"Pipe It Up," one of three tracks he landed on Migos' debut album, Yung Rich Nation, is Murda's biggest track yet. The melody is immediately catchy, led by a three-note loop -- pipe-it-up -- and a bassline that hits right in line with each of Migos' ad-libs. Though repetition is rarely a bad thing with regard to the machine gun triplet flow, Murda also creates a winding melody in the upper octave that adds suspense in between Quavo's knockout delivery each time the hook comes around. 

The teenage producer quickly earned his spot within Migos' inner-circle, as the group would continue to fly him down for intense, week-long cooking sessions upon moment's notice. They would also collaborate remotely while Murda was back home in Niagara. At the very beginning of summer 2014, Quavo called Murda and asked him to create a beat for Migos as well as Young Thug and Rich Homie Quan (together as Rich Gang at the time) titled "New Atlanta." 

"Quavo just called me, he was like, 'Yo, remake the song 'Welcome to Atlanta.'' So I was like, 'Well, how do you want me to do it?' -- 'Just throw your sauce on it'...So I just did it in the next hour. I took the main piano melody of the beat, and then I slowed it down, like, a lot, and I kept the drums kinda fast, and I just added my own sauce to it." And the drums are insane on "New Atlanta," though Murda still allows the funk-driven nostalgia of the original to shine through. 

The song dropped a couple of days later, and the OG track's lead artist (and producer), Jermaine Dupri, gave his stamp of approval and spoke on the "New Atlanta" intro: "I told y'all n*ggas a long time ago: Come fuck with my city." 

Atlanta has remained on the cutting edge because the city's veterans recognize the special energy coming from the 20-somethings (and under's), and not only seek to work with those artists, but mentor them in the industry, too. 

Murda's role in Migos' come-up has been enough to earn him the respect of those he looked up to most when he was first learning about trap music in his parent's basement. He's now met just about all of his favorite producers -- last week, he shared a clip of a forthcoming collab with Zaytoven -- and he's helped create bangers for T.I. and 2 Chainz. 

At the same time, he's continued to embrace his youth by working with rappers his own age who are just starting to blow up. He's a go-to producer for just about everyone on QC's young roster, including Rich the Kid, and he recently linked up with the free-spirited Privateclub Records, aka Royce Rizzy and Madeintyo, for a full EP. 

In what's becoming something of a tradition, Murda was in Atlanta when, at the beginning of last month, Offset was released on a plea bargain after spending over seven months in jail. "I had a pack ready for the boys...I was just happy to see my brothers," said Murda, who was waiting in the studio for Offset's arrival. The second beat Murda played for him was the one, and Offset proceeded to unleash seven month's worth of indignant fury upon the particularly simmering production. Though it's a solo track, "First Day Out" is a special moment in Migos' history, and one that Murda was grateful to be a part of. 

Ever since Drake remixed Versace, on which he felt "like Atlanta adopted us," there's been talk of a connection between Migos' hometown and that of the OVO chief. I'd say that the former has had a more noticeable effect on the sounds of the latter, but the sprawling scene in Toronto these days certainly mirrors the type of collaborative mentality that has, for years, been the prevailing force in Atlanta. 

Music -- and hip-hop in particular -- is responsible for much of Toronto's cultural identity right now, and the guys at the top are working hard to build a support system for the young talents who want to have the power of "the 6" behind them. Though Murda grew up about an hour and a half away from Toronto, the city's leaders, largely because of his already prominent presence in ATL, have shown him nothing but love. 

Thanks to Boi-1da, who's emerged as one of his leading mentors in the industry, as well as his new manager in Toronto, young Murda is now acquainted with OVO, Reps Up, and XO. He's got tracks coming with Roy Woods, and on the latest episode of OVO Sound Radio, Oliver El-Khatib played a new Murda-produced record from Baka, Drake's almost 40-year-old top goon who's been in and out of jail over the past couple of years. 

"Right now, I'm not gonna lie. One of my main focuses is Canada and Toronto. There's a lot of talent in Canada. We're comin' up. There's a little industry cookin' up." 

Murda's got the right sound for either city. Each has its individual recipe -- sharper keys, more 808 rollouts in Atlanta, and a slower, R&B-leaning ambient feel in Toronto, but it's clear his productions are not to be restricted to a certain region. Amid building up his presence in both cities, he recently got high-profile spots on two fantastic albums, both from guys out of the Midwest. 

His first real R&B placement came on Jeremih's Late Nights, as he created the murky, brooding backdrop for "I Did." A little over a week later, he landed on Freddie Gibbs' Shadow of a Doubt, responsible for "Mexico," a shuddering dope boy record featuring one of Toronto's finest talents in Tory Lanez. 

As trap is infiltrating some of the best R&B right now, and as Murda has a more subdued, careful sound than most trap producers, he has the potential to score big records with a diverse range of artists. 

"I can do anything because of my musical background. I just feel like my sound's gotta grow with me, cause I'm only 21." 

He's already YRN, and he moves about with the top crews in Toronto, but coming from where he comes from, it's obvious where his ultimate inspiration lies. 

"Now I just know he's watching down on me, and I'm doing the right thing. I'm making him proud. I'm making my mom proud, so I'm grinding for me and my mom, just working, staying focused on the music. Putting my emotions into my music."