Meet LRD: A beat-making machine hailing from West London
If ever there were a poster child for how to use Brapp, LRD’s our guy. He jumped on the app earlier in the year and everyone took notice. Not only does he continue to pump out tidy beats on a daily, but his engagement with other artists and producers has been amazing to witness — encouraging, supportive, relentless — and the adulation he receives in return is certainly well-deserved.
To highlight some of what he’s accomplished since his foray into Brapp, LRD has collaborated with an assortment of artists he met on the app —having released three EPs, with a couple more on the way — he’s currently working on the first Brapp Artist compilation which we’re very excited about; and if you haven’t peeped it already, he’s produced a track for FRAZE, one of the first Brapp HD series releases on Brapp Records (available on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, YouTube, Beatport and more)
LRD has a versatile production style that utilises samples and sounds from a wide variety of artists and genres. His productions range from heavily Boom Bap influenced hip-hop to a more soulful, pad-based alternative sound. He attributes this versatility to a number of influences ranging from the classical production styles of DJ Premier, 9th Wonder and J Dilla, to the more experimental styles of Kanye West, Flying Lotus, Mike Skinner and James Blake.
With all this going on, LRD still manages to hold down a day job and for that reason prefers to keep somewhat of a low profile. But we wanted to tell you all about him, so we asked nicely and here’s what he had to share...
Can you tell us how and when you got into making music?
“I grew up in a house where I was exposed to a crazy mixture of different genres and musicians. My mum listened to all kinds of music ranging from artists like Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Michael Jackson, to Buju Banton, Oasis and Sam Cooke. Because of this, I picked up a strong interest in music from a really young age, which eventually steered me into DJ’ing in my early teens. I began mixing UKG and then transitioned into grime in the early 00’s, however when vinyl started to fade out I stepped away from DJ’ing and started teaching myself how to make beats.
At first I was only making really basic grime beats, but then a friend gave me a CD of Kanye West, 9th Wonder and The Alchemist beats; after hearing the way they were sampling I was hooked. One night I remember sitting up for hours trying to remake a Kanye beat he made for Jay Z called ‘This Can’t Be Life’ — that’s basically how I learnt how to sample. I carried on making beats for another year or so until 2008, when music started to take a back seat in my life due to other priorities. I ended up having seven years out and not making any beats until early last year (2015).”
Where do you draw your inspiration for the music you create?
“Music. All of my musical inspiration comes from listening to different artists and genres. The producers that inspire me the most would be the obvious choices like J Dilla, Kanye West, 9th Wonder, RZA, Timbaland and Preemo. Then I’d have to mention people like Mike Dean, Harry Love, 40, Mike Skinner, Madlib and James Blake. Baby J was also a big inspiration for me when I started making beats.
I’m listening to a lot of older stuff at the moment. Mobb Deep albums have been on repeat recently and I’ve been playing a lot of Flying Lotus records — his production is crazy!”
What style of music do you enjoy making most?
“I mainly make rap/hip hop music, but I always try and experiment with different sounds and try to be as versatile as possible. That’s why one minute you might hear a boom bap beat from me, and then the next you’ll hear something more trappy with the double timed hats and 808’s, or a more of atmospheric, pad-based beat.
Can you share a few of the projects you’ve been working on recently?
I’ve been working with a few people recently. Me and SickSixET released two EPs in the last few months, Untitled and 2, and I recently dropped an EP with FreeDot titled The Man I Used To Be, which was really well received. I’ve also got two EPs coming soon: one with PT Redeyez and the other with Witness MC.”
You’ve definitely been busy…what’s next in store for us to look forward to?
“I’ve got a beat tape about to drop called Powers. It features a load of hip hop beats that will act as a kind of showcase project for what I do. I’m also working on a compilation with Brapp that will include a bunch of different artists who use the app and it’ll be completely produced by myself.
There’s also tracks I’ve recorded with Tony Ceaser, Mic Calibre and Bison Briggz…and more in the pipeline from Locksmith and Kingpin.”
We see a lot of quality artists jumping on your beats daily…are you linking with anyone else in the app?
“Loads of people. Aside from the others I mentioned, I’ve got tracks from Phizi, El Hawk, Hoopa, M.O.N.G.O, Shawgz and a few others still to come.”
That’s quite the roster! Who else would you like to collaborate with if you were given the opportunity?
“There’s too many to even mention. There’s the more obvious choices of artists that I’ve listened to for years like Klashnekoff, Kano, Skinnyman, MF Doom, Foreign Beggars, Chester P and Mike Skinner. Then there’s artists like Ocean Wisdom, Little Simz, Giggs, Wretch 32 and Ghetts that I’d also like to work with.
I’d definitely like to collab with Tyler Daley (Children of Zeus)…he’s on the app too!”
Could you tell us a bit about your experience with Brapp so far?
“Brapp has been huge for me. It was PT Redeyez that told me about it, and since joining it around five months ago, I’ve met loads of new artists and had some really good feedback on my music; it’s definitely had a positive impact on my music. I feel that the more active you are on there, the more benefits you get from it. You get to network with a whole host of new artists, which in turn opens doors that might not have been there before. There aren’t many other places you can go where you get the opportunity to have Chester P or Foreign Beggars jump on one of your beats.”
Can you give us a few of your favourite artists and producers on Brapp you think people should follow?
There’s plenty — SickSixET, PT Redeyez, FreeDot, Saint Paul, Mic Calibre, Hoopa, Skintman, Morrell, Kayn Asha, Last Dog Hung, Ded Tebiase.
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You can hear more from LRD at brapp.tv/u/lrd and support him here:
twitter.com/lrdproducer
facebook.com/lrdproducer
soundcloud.com/lrdproducer
youtube.com/user/lrdproducer
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Get the App at brapp.tv/app or upload your beats at brapp.tv
