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7 minute read.

Hello beautiful person.

Welcome back to the blog.

My name is Chu and today I’m going to go over the three biggest beat making lessons I’ve learned from repeatedly placing one of South Africa's biggest rap stars; Yanga Chief.

Yanga has gone on to win multiple awards and even achieve a platinum selling status using my production.

So that in itself warrants creating this video so that I can show the DOPE fam how to produce trophy worthy music.

But even beyond that, South Africa is my second biggest support base outside of the US which I literally live in.

So it’s about time that I started showing them some love with more ZA curated content.

Okay, so without too much more rambling, let’s get into these tips because you are going to love them.

Check out my new single, Euphoria. I’m actually starting to go kinda ham on Spotify, so i’d love your support.

Please subscribe to my streaming channel where we stream 4 times a week.

And checkout the free 4TEEN Drum Kit, which all drums used in this tutorial will come from.

USE SAMPLES

I’ve noticed something interesting about the beats Yanga picks.

No matter what I send him, he always picks the one that uses samples.

I’m not sure why, but that just seems to be what he gravitates towards.

Now, the samples I use to make beats for Yanga can come from anywhere.

Looperman, YouTube, Splice, and even other producers.

But the one source that has given me the most consistent success has been Tracklib.

Like, literally every time I place Yanga, It’s a Tracklib sample.

Or, at the very least, the sample could have been found on Tracklib.

That being said, it’s such a great honor to have Tracklib sponsoring this blog post because they are the world's first and only online record store.

They have over 100,000 precleared songs for you to start sampling right now, including pieces from artists like Isaac Hayes, The Meditations, and Louis Armstrong.

This means you can log into Tracklib and find a real sample to work with in minutes which is insanely dope.

In a second, I’ll use their highly developed search parameters to find the perfect YAnga inspired sample/

Then later when I release or place this beat, me or Yanga can go one step further and CLEAR the sample for only 50 USD.

Actually, since 90% of Tracklibs samples are in the C Category, they can be cleared for just 50 USD each and will allow 2-20% revenue share!

This is a really convenient way to find and clear samples , especially when you compare it to the traditional method of paying anywhere from 5k to 200k USD, drafting many contracts, and going through countless lawyers over an excruciatingly long period of time.

From experience, I know how difficult this can be.

This is why I know that Tracklib can save ANY musician from tons of stress and hassle.

Tracklib has given me a special link where you can access their entire platform for 30 days at NO COST.

And, on top of that, they threw in 15 track download tokens so you can get to crate digging right away.

So head to the link in my description and start sampling the right way!

Huge thank you to the wonderful people over at Tracklib for sponsoring this blog piece and making this dope content possible.

808s

If you’ve been paying attention to the last few tutorials I’ve dropped, then it’s definitely gonna seem like I'm beating a dead horse here.

But this is a point that I really have to drive home because I am partly responsible for the misconception.

Simple 808 patterns are the way to go.

And by simple, I really do mean just that root note.

If you wanna get fancy, you can add the octave.

And if you’re feeling partially spicy, you can even toss in the fifth.

But those signing 808s are particularly distracting to artists.

I’ve had to learn from painful experiences that artists just don't care about the same things that producers do.

I know you love your melodic 808 patterns, and maybe your producer buddies do too.

But when it’s time to send beats to artists and get those placement, you really need to cut that shit out.

Especially if you’re more on the beginner side of things.

Trying to do too much with your 808s will only have you focusing on something way too complex and that might ultimately ruin the overall quality of your beat.

Some of the hardest beats I’ve ever heard an artist on literally just rock that root note on the 808 like 95 % of the song.

GENUINE COMMUNICATION

So, this isn't a beat making tip.

But, it’s actually the best reason I can give you for why Yanga and I keep connecting for the hits.

We've gotten to a point where we communicate pretty well.

Now, it wasn't always like this.

In fact, there was actually a time when we hated each other.

This was due to a huge misunderstanding and a ton of immaturity on my part.

And to this day, it remains one of the biggest regrets I have in terms of mistakes I’ve made in personal relationships.

But, I’m grateful that Yanga has some upper level skills when it comes to managing problematic situations.

I’m also grateful for my general growth as a man.

This has all led to both of us building a pretty solid relationship that allows us to keep delivering South Africa hit after hit.

The TLDR for this last tip would be this;

Artists much prefer to use beats from producers they trust and who they believe have their best interests at heart.

In my experience placing artists, this, more than anything else, has been the biggest factor in making that legendary connection.

CONCLUSION

So, those would be my three tips for getting placements with artists.

This is in no way and exhaustive or definitive guide.

But, I’ve never really seen these tips addressed in the way that I presented them, so I hope that I was able to get your mind moving in a new way.

Please share this blog post with a friend who could use some help chasing their placement dreams using some tips that are based on a solid foundation.

Peace.