Murda Beatz is making the most of an unforeseen situation as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking with XXL, the 26-year-old producer reveals that while he's at home in Los Angeles due to the nationwide advised quarantine, he is pushing his creative envelope and making new music. "With all the fear people are living in and the epidemic itself, it’s a great time to be making music and being creative," Murda Beatz says. "It’s a lot of inspiration ’cause shit like this isn't gonna happen all the time, so you just gotta take advantage of it."
The Canadian native finalized the release of his newest single during quarantine. The mellow groove "Banana Split" features YNW Melly and Lil Durk, whom Murda says are the voices of the streets.
"I found Melly on YouTube in 2018," the producer shares. "I’m like, this kid is fire, I gotta work with him. So, I hit him up, hit up his team, got in contact with him and then we set up a session for late 2018. We made like six records in the session and then that was one of them.”
Murda Beatz notes that although YNW Melly turned himself in on a double-murder charge last year, the rapper's team was still able to give him the collab they did together.
"I was just waiting to see what he was going to put on his album, what he was gonna hold on to," he explains. "Obviously, he turned himself in. So, that kind of messed a lot of things up. But, I just told him I wanted that record and they were down to give it to me. I put Durk on it and I’m just excited for the world to hear it."
Murda Beatz also plans to keep dropping new music in the coming months. "I want to wok with Beyoncé, I want to work with Rihanna. Me and Justin Bieber have some stuff, but I want to work more in depth with him, too. And there's a bunch of rappers I want to work with, but it'll come. What I really wanna do is find my own artist and build them up. That's the next step."
Aside from dropping his new song, the multiplatinum producer also released his first-ever drum kit with producer platform Splice called Quarantine Pack. The series of instrumentals were created by Murda Beatz to inspire rising producers while at home during the quarantine. He adds that some of the proceeds from the Quarantine Pack will go to coronavirus relief efforts.
"I had an idea… I’m like, man when I’m sitting inside, I’ve never dropped a drum kit before," Murda Beatz says. "I really just wanna drop a drum kit, it’ll be a good time. And, it just like, inspire kids to stay inside and cook up."
The beat pack has received cosigns from Timbaland, Boi-1da, Sevn Thomas, Hitmaka, Scott Storch, Tay Keith, OG Parker and Wondagurl.
His beats have been heard across hip-hop including on Drake's five-times platinum-selling "Nice For What" and Travis Scott's four-times platinum-selling song "Butterfly Effect," to name a few. He's also responsible for two records on Lil Baby's recently released sophomore album, My Turn ("How" and "Forget That), and Lil Wayne's "Line Em Up," which appears on the New Orleans rapper's Funeral album.
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