SACRIFICE, MOTIVATION & DRIVE
AN INTERVIEW WITHΒ MANNIE FRESH
Byron O. Thomas is nothing short of success. You probably know his song βReal Big,β released in 2004 on his album The Mind of Mannie. Mannie Fresh, the American rapper, producer and DJ most known for his work with Cash Money Records. Fresh, is currently signed to Def Jam and his own, Chubby Boy Records.
Having been in the music business since the 80s working with people like Birdman, Lil Wayne, T.I., Rick Ross and an abundance more, Mannie Fresh has the experience and pride, however is also more humble than imaginable.
βI like the smaller venues, I like the hole-in-the wall spots,β says Mannie Fresh. βItβs more like, theyβll let you have βitβ if you ainβt doing your job. I like the little venues where itβs more personal, if u suck as a DJ theyβre going to let you know.β
Fresh had always known heβd be in the music business since his father was a DJ and he grew up around the music, but he says heβs a DJ before anything else and never, ever considered anything else even after a few business lessons were learned.
βMy dad was a DJ so I grew up around the music and I think it was just something that sunk into me when I was young,β says Fresh. βI already knew at a young age this is what I was supposed to do, I probably had other options, but I knew this is what I was supposed to do. I donβt think I would change anything, then again, let me take that back, I would probably change the way I did business. I was so in love with my music that I wasnβt paying attention to my business. I would do that differently, believe me. My whole structure, I wouldnβt go in without a lawyer, Iβd make sure every βiβ was dotted and every βtβ was crossed and have somebody look over the contracts instead of just taking someoneβs word.β
Fresh has his own keys-to-success and what he says got him to where he is now.
βMotivation. Just getting up every morning and doing it. Every day is like a practice, itβs like a sport. You condition yourself and you do it, itβll become second hand to youβ¦ but youβve got to be willing to do that. Sacrifice, motivation & drive.β
Fresh is working on a new album right now which he says is long overdue. Mannie Freshβs album will feature artists that reached out to him and people he grew up with. It will definitely be an album you want to get your hands on, (literally or figuratively, just keep your ears open.)
βIβve always been a DJ first, before everything. Itβs my whole style of my production. I know my categories and I know my limits, I know what I can do and cannot do.Β βMannie Freshβ is more of uhh β you know I get the party started. Iβm not going to tell you Iβm a hard-core rapper or Iβm just a political rapper. All of it comes from DJβing. The Mannie Fresh thing, the energetic, fun-loving guy whoβs all about having a good-time. Thereβs no magic or special effects, youβre just going to get someone who genuinely loves hip-hop. Anybody who I would have wanted to work with is already dead. Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway. Iβm not saying thereβs nobody nowadays, but people I admire. My favourites have already passed on. They made music that you could feel and it sounds good. I could still put on a Marvin Gaye album and it sounds like it came out yesterday, it still sounds good. You can play any Bob Marley song, it still sounds good, it still makes sense to you.β
Mannie Freshβs piece of advice for future DJβs and everyone in the music-industry is very simple and profound.
βKnow your crap,β Fresh said bluntly. βStudy the music. Donβt limit yourself. Know everything you can. Get a couple of cool House records, EDM records, some old Hip-Hop records. Have a category of everything, that way you have different fields and different ideas of what music is supposed to sound like.
The toughest thing for me as a producer is trying to convince somebody not to make the same song over again. I get people that want a song that was already done, itβll be like a βmake a go-back-that-ass-up, or make me a go-dj,β like thatβs already been made, letβs move on. Thatβs the toughest, I always get people who try to make me do something thatβs already been done.
Music isnβt lacking anything today, itβs just a different day. People probably thought my music was loud and crazy in my younger days, nowadays if you want something, youβve just got to dig deeper for it.β
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