Hip Hop On Deck Exclusive Interview w/ Cuscino | @Cuscino

Los Angeles producer/deejay CUSCINO presents “Saucy”, his collaboration single with rapper and fellow Los Angeles native Nuutrino, also featuring J-Doe of Busta Rhymes’ Conglomerate camp as well as Roc Nation artist Troy NoKA. CUSCINO recently dropped his single “Bane” (listen) on his Fashion Sells Musiq imprint, has scored films featuring Adrienne Lovette and Edwin Bravo, and is host/producer of the weekly radio show “FutureSound” which airs every Saturday night at 11pm (PST) on 91.3FM (San Diego) and iHeartRadio. Troy NoKA worked on Chris Brown’s Grammy-winning F.A.M.E. album and has productions credits on records with Frank Ocean, Miguel, Chris Brown, Ciara and Tyga. “I want my tracks to take you somewhere,” says CUSCINO about the new single. “They aren’t just tracks, I’m making movies. Sure, you can party to it, you can ride to it, but when you listen, I also want you to think. I rep Los Angeles and West Coast bass all day, but I’m also in the business of bringing something new to the game with everything I create.” Similarly, Nuutrino says “When I make music, I always want it to embody who I am. This is me, and what my team represents as a collective mind.”

How has the public’s perception of producers evolved since you began making music?

It’s become more foreground than background. Producers like Timbaland, Pharrell, Just Blaze, Kanye and J Dilla really drove this into the public’s conscience one way or another…they really made people understand — maybe untintentionally — that this “backdrop” to a song isn’t just a beat, or a backdrop, it’s the foundation. It’s what makes a track memorable in conjunction with the writing…the hook could be fantastic, but if the foundation ain’t right, it could fade into obscurity easily. It’s why I always say: I don’t “make beats”, I create songs, I create journeys.


Do you think it’s a good thing or bad thing? Why?

I think it’s a great thing…people now understand that the producer’s role is just as important, maybe more important, than the artist/MC lacing the track (and writers helping them sometimes) with their piece of the magic. It’s the collaboration of all that combined that really makes up the most memorable songs of our time…those ones that are truly timeless, that’s what I’m always aiming at creating...something different, something timeless, something that defies genre boundaries, that isn’t derivative. Recently we’ve now seen writers coming to light with this whole who-is-ghostwriting-and-who-isn’t fiasco…I think that’s a good thing too, as there’s some extremely talented artists in their own right — the writers — who are coming to light and into the public conscience. I also think it helps keep this new batch of artists and MCs on the rise in check too…true ”artists” create, so if you can be an “artist" as defined by pop culture, and actually write some, or all, of your own stuff…man, that is everything. That’s who I want to be working with. If you don’t have that skill, then develop it…work on THAT. It’s not just about singing other people’s songs and getting tons of shine from it. That’s a real, common misconception — perpetuated by shows like “The Voice” — about people wanting to break into the music business, and the game, in this new era. If sing other people’s songs, you are a singer, you are a performer, and that’s fine. But an “artist” is one who creates…a lot of people got that twisted and have stars in their eyes. Creating can be hard work…you gotta be in a space, when you reach that level, where you ain’t waiting for “the Muse”…it just pours out of you any time, day or night.


What’s your process for choosing collaborators?

It’s a mix…it depends on the track, and what I’m looking for, what my vision is as the producer of the track. I’ve always got my eye on new, unheard of talent…I’ve got a knack for finding it. But I’ve also got my ears to the streets and what/who's popping — especially as a DJ and with a weekly radio show (http://mixcloud.com/cuscino/), this stuff comes to me a lot, but I also find it, not unlike crate digging. I really like working with artists that are just about to blow, but aren’t your next favorite MC or artist just yet…but they’re about to be. It’s a fine line, but that’s what I’m looking for right now. The people who are hooked in, are doing it hard — as hard as I am — and nothing’s going to stop them…they are really working, they’re building. I’m building…that’s when it makes sense to work together, when we are both on the same upward trajectory, even though our lanes might be different.


How do you tend to approach the recording process, since you work with so many different people?

Thus far, I’ve had the luxury — or the intent and made it happen — of what might be an "old school" approach to some…getting in the studio, in real time, with pretty much everyone that’s on any track I’ve produced. As I work with bigger names, it might happen more and I get that, but I’m not really into the “phoning it in” approach if it can be avoided. I like to get in the studio and create together, watching that magic happen right before my eyes. That’s the best feeling, the greatest high, when someone else channels what you’ve already laid down as the foundation in the production (with no words yet) and just makes it everything it was meant to be…for me, it often just happens without a ton of back and forth even involved between me and the artist(s)/writer(s). I as the producer set the trajectory, and the artists/MCs just follow it, and the outcomes are crazy sometimes to see as these talented folks channel what I was thinking, and even experiences I’ve been through, that I was channeling when I was producing the track in the first place.


What’s the most important thing you’ve learned in the music game so far?

Do everything you can to work with people at your level, or above it. I don’t say that to sound cocky or anything…I just mean work with people who are on the same level as you, or beyond it so the momentum for everyone is good, and it keeps building the next wave. Be paired that way, because then you know you are both on the same journey, even if you work in different genres, you’ve been building at the same pace, and/or you’ve survived to the same level. You’re both committed to the same degree. Sure, sometimes a newbie producer blows up fast because he/she knew somebody that knew somebody, but it’s really rare if you look at the overall landscape — that’s the pipe dream, the lightning in a bottle scenario that newbies think is easy to come by, but you can capture that later in your career too, if you approach it as a career…it’ll get closer and closer to you, faster and faster if you stay the course. People below that will inevitably fall off, people will show their true colors that they’re just a hobbyist, that they quit too easily — it will be really disappointing at times to see that happen. But it happens, a lot. Being an artist, a true creator, is an incredibly tough road for much of the way…people won’t believe in you, they won’t support you, they’ll tell you it can’t be done, they’ll stop showing up to support at your live shows, and so on. So you gotta find and respect those at the same level of dedication as you, you gotta respect those who’ve pushed as far as you have, often against all those odds and temporary defeats…you gotta work with those people, because you know you will both be around for the long-haul, because you’ve already made it past the 90% majority at that point. It’s only up from there for everyone building together at that point.

“Saucy” on Soundcloud | iTunes | fashionsellsmusiq.com | Twitter [@cuscino] | Facebook | Instagram
nuutrino.com | Twitter [@nuutrino] | Facebook | Instagram
Twitter [@jdoeworld] | Twitter [@troynoka]