The beauty of social media and the internet, as it pertains to the music industry, is that if you have the skills, you can reach and connect with other artists, no matter your background or where you’re from.
This is the case with Murda Beatz, real name Shane Lindstrom, who has become one of the hottest producers in hip-hop, seemingly out of nowhere.
Hailing from Fort Erie, Canada, the town directly across the border from Buffalo, NY, Murda Beatz wasn’t exactly from a hotbed of hip-hop.
Despite the fact that Lindstrom was just down the road from Toronto, the producer saw the States as the land of opportunity for this music shit.
So how did the producer of such bangers as “Pipe It Up”, “Like Dat”, and “Portland” go from Fort Erie, Canada to becoming one of the most trusted producers for Gucci Mane, Drake, Migos, and the rest of the biggest acts in hip-hop?
As he told the Fader in a August 2016 interview, Chicago’s drill scene was Murda’s intro into the American music scene, but then he found about these dudes Migos on the internet. Skippa Da Flippa (the real inventor of the dab) connected them,
“I went to Chicago and tried to get big in the drill scene. With GBE, Lil Durk, all those guys. Then I wanted to get my music into Atlanta. Found these guys the Migos on the internet before they blew up. Started sending beats to Skippa Da Flippa. He started showing them my beats. From there, they started liking the stuff, and they blew up. They started flying me out and I started living with them, around 2012, 2013. Going on the road with them. That’s how we built our good relationship that we have now. I’m glad that we still have that close bond. Now, I can help them in ways and they can still help me in ways.”
Murda has established relationships with artists to where they’re literally family.
Despite the fact Murda Beatz was able to forge his connections over the internet and social media, those personal relationships, and working together in person in general, are still important in the biz.
Murda claims that those close friendships will see him and Migos keep making music forever.
Although Murda Beatz got his official start in America through the drill scene in Chicago and networking with the right dudes from Atlanta, he has made some vital Canadian connections as well.
Murda claims that he and Toronto crooner PARTYNEXTDOOR are “really good at making music together” and one could argue that PARTY’s “Like Dat” is definitely proof of that. PARTYNEXTDOOR’s own production skills surely help during the songwriting process, as he sees things that other artists might not.
Murda Beatz then connected with Drake beatmaker Boi-1da at a Wiz Khalifa show and they started working together. Murda spoke about Boi-1da Fader,
“I started talking to [his camp] more and started going to his house and making beats with him. I learned a lot making beats with him, about mixing and everything. He’s a guy that I looked up to in the industry. He’s a very humble guy. He’s very successful.”
Collaboration is another crucial aspect of Murda Beatz’s process, and hip-hop production in general right now. Murda told the Fader,
“There’s more people on beats now. People are collaborating. People are using samples. People are just taking elements from other people and producing records together. It’s kind of like in the pop world, where there is four people on beats. I feel like that’s happening more in urban music as well. It’s good to see that. I am actually producing records and bringing people in for certain things. Molding records together. Co-producing after records are made and placing them as well.”
Murda Beatz is truly the representation of the 2017 music industry. A Canadian kid from along the Niagara River reached out to American rappers on the internet and started building a growing empire out of nothing.
Watch this dude’s moves over the next couple years. In the meantime, here’s a couple Murda bangers.