Hip-hop’s digital frontier calls for extra than simply uncooked expertise; it requires savvy navigation of the net world. One title synonymous with empowering artists on this realm is The Corporatethief Beats. Daniel Hartnett, the inventive pressure behind this venture, has constructed a model that’s greater than only a assortment of beats; it’s a useful resource, a group, and a Launchpad for aspiring rap artists and beatmakers. Since 2010, The Corporatethief Beats web site has grown exponentially, providing all the things from high-quality hip-hop instrumentals to invaluable steering on on-line music advertising and marketing. In an intensive interview we delve into the world of Daniel Hartnett, exploring his inventive course of, the inspiration behind The Corporatethief Beats, and the keys to success within the trendy music business.
1. What was the second that made you understand hip-hop manufacturing was the trail you wished to observe?
That’s a humorous reply. I didn’t develop up listening to hip-hop. Wanting again, I believe The Marshall Mathers LP by Eminem was the one hip-hop album I owned once I was 11 or 12. Earlier than that, I primarily listened to Michael Jackson, Prince, and The Beatles.
Once I turned 14, I began taking part in guitar and acquired into grunge music—bands like Alice in Chains, Nirvana, and Soundgarden—proper up till I went to school. However once I acquired to school, my pal Mikey lent me his laptop computer, which had FL Studio (referred to as Fruity Loops on the time) put in. He was making hip-hop beats on it, and across the identical time, I found a brand new rapper named Child Cudi. Have in mind, this was 2007/2008, and Cudi hadn’t blown up but.
Mikey additionally launched me to extra hip-hop music, together with Kanye West, who turned an enormous affect on me. Whereas Mikey noticed music manufacturing as only a passion, I turned obsessed. Since I already had some musicianship from taking part in guitar, making beats got here naturally—I had an ear for music. Finally, I transitioned to Logic Professional and pursued formal schooling in music manufacturing and sound engineering at Galway Technical Institute and The Academy of Sound Dublin.
2. How did your early experiences as an acoustic musician form your strategy to creating beats?
Massively. I used to be fortunate that my dad and mom inspired me to take part in numerous extracurricular actions in school, comparable to studying the accordion and piano. I sort of found the guitar alone as a result of I had some pleasant competitors with my mates.
My pal Mike from faculty gave me his laptop computer with Fruity Loops on it as a result of he noticed me attempting to document my very own acoustic songs utilizing Audacity. Audacity wasn’t unhealthy on the time, however FL Studio was ten instances higher. Enjoying the guitar helped me develop an ear for music, and with out that, I don’t suppose I’d know what I’m doing at the moment.
3. Child Cudi was a giant affect on you—what particular parts of his fashion resonated with you essentially the most?
I wouldn’t be The Corporatethief Beats if it weren’t for Child Cudi. He was the explanation I began speaking to my pal Mikey, who launched me to FL Studio. We bonded over A Child Named Cudi—that mixtape performed a giant position in our friendship.
I’ve adopted Cudi’s profession from 2007/ 2008 to now. There’s a fantastic interview with Travis Scott the place he says Cudi is part of his story—I really feel the identical approach.
Travis Scott interview about Child Cudi
Cudi’s lyrics spoke to a technology of younger males between 16 and 25. I nonetheless keep in mind each phrase of Soundtrack 2 My Life—these traces had soul:
And I attempted to piece the puzzle of the universe
Cut up an eighth of ‘shrooms simply so I might see the universe
I attempted to consider myself as a sacrifice
Simply to indicate the youngsters they ain’t the one ones who up at night time
The moon will illuminate my room and shortly I’m consumed by my doom
Cudi’s lyrics had been by no means meant to be in comparison with rappers like Jay-Z or Nas. He carved out his personal lane in hip-hop—his music wasn’t for followers of Jay-Z, 2Pac, Biggie, or Nas. As an alternative, his lyrics resonated with younger males working crappy, dead-end jobs, attempting to determine life out.
The lonely loner appears to free his thoughts at night time
He’s on their own via the day and night time
The lonely loner appears to free his thoughts at night time, at, at, at night time.
Day and night time
4. Except for hip-hop, are there any surprising musical influences that encourage your sound at the moment?
Yeah, I’ve all the time been a fan of Trent Reznor from 9 Inch Nails. Particularly, The Downward Spiral (1994) and With Tooth (2005) are two of my favourite albums. I even have a large appreciation for pop music producers like Danja (Danjahandz), Max Martin, ILYA, Bloodshy & Avant, Benny Blanco, and Frank Dukes.
In the event you actually hearken to my music, you may hear Danja’s affect—particularly in his strategy to pop track construction. He produced Britney Spears’ Blackout album, and the music manufacturing parts he utilized in that venture are nonetheless ingrained in my music manufacturing to today.
The Weeknd’s first three mixtapes—Home of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence (2011), additionally identified at the moment as Trilogy—had an enormous affect on my music. You’ll be able to hear that affect in one among my newest beats, Don’t Kill The Weeknd.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnipWsEswjg
5. Are you able to stroll us via your typical workflow when creating a brand new beat from scratch?
I all the time attempt to have an artist in thoughts when making music. I begin by trying to find sounds and experimenting till one thing catches my consideration.
“I want to seek out what I name The Click on or The Hook shortly”
—in any other case, I lose curiosity too quick to proceed.
As soon as I discover The Click on or The Hook, I begin sculpting the beat, shaping it to take the observe within the path I envision.
The construction of a observe depends upon the fashion. For instance, entice beats are usually minimalistic, with fewer parts over time. Nonetheless, I like to interrupt these guidelines by incorporating pop parts I’ve discovered from finding out Danja’s manufacturing methods.
6. You talked about utilizing Logic Professional for 99% of your beats—what options make it your go-to DAW over FL Studio or Professional Instruments?
The principle cause I take advantage of Logic Professional is that the primary faculty I attended, Galway Technical Institute, taught it. Throughout that yr, I labored a bar job, saved up, and ultimately purchased my iMac, Logic Professional, a MIDI keyboard, and an Mbox audio interface. Now, I take advantage of the Duet.
I additionally studied music manufacturing and sound engineering on the Academy of Sound in Dublin, the place I discovered to make use of Professional Instruments.
Nonetheless, I nonetheless favor Logic Professional as a result of I can get my concepts out a lot quicker.
I do know my approach round Logic Professional just like the again of my hand.
Whereas I can use each Professional Instruments and FL Studio, my effectivity isn’t on the identical degree as it’s with Logic Professional.
I take advantage of numerous in-the-box synths constructed into Logic, just like the ES1 and ES2. I even have lots of of my very own and different folks’s samples and sounds saved in my library. Moreover, I take advantage of Sylenth1, and a very long time in the past, my brother gave me the Komplete 8 pack.
One of many greatest benefits of Logic Professional is its built-in mixing instruments. The inventory EQs, compressors, amps, and reverbs are distinctive, making it a robust DAW straight out of the field.
7. How do you steadiness dwell instrumentation with digital parts in your beats?
I received’t add dwell instrumentation to a beat until I really feel it really wants it. For instance, the guitar solos in The Weeknd-type beats I’ve made mix hip-hop and rock, so the rock guitar naturally matches into the combination.
Typically, I’ll add a guitar riff however manipulate it a lot that you just wouldn’t even acknowledge the unique sound.
8. What are a few of your favourite VSTs or plugins that you just depend on to create your signature sound?
Sylenth1 and Komplete 8 are the primary VSTs I take advantage of, together with Logic’s built-in ES1 and ES2 synths. Once I was beginning out, I couldn’t afford to purchase new VSTs on a regular basis, so I centered on studying learn how to create sounds utilizing samplers or by manipulating presets from different producers.
9. How vital is sound design in your manufacturing, and do you ever create your individual samples?
Sound design is a vital a part of my manufacturing course of. Whereas I do use samples, I all the time make an effort to tweak and manipulate them to create one thing distinctive. If I discover a pattern I like, I’ll typically attempt to recreate an analogous vibe from scratch to keep away from copyright points. This ensures that my beats stay authentic whereas nonetheless capturing the sound I’m going for.
10. Beat leasing might be complicated for a lot of artists—what was your major aim in simplifying the method via your beat packs?
I observed that music producers on websites like TryBuyBeats.com, Airbit, and BeatStars had been providing 4–6 various kinds of lease agreements. Nonetheless, most artists do not know what these agreements truly imply. Lots of them are nonetheless within the passion section of creating music and don’t need something too sophisticated.
That’s why all the beat packs on The Corporatethief Beats web site include a single limitless lease settlement, together with the observe stem recordsdata, making it easy and hassle-free for artists.
11. What methods have you ever discovered handiest in selling your beats and reaching unbiased artists?
E mail advertising and marketing is one among my core methods for sustaining open communication with artists who buy rap beats from my web site. I take advantage of totally different e mail sequences—some centered on sharing music advertising and marketing ideas and others designed to drive gross sales.
Along with e mail, I run primary remarketing campaigns on Google Adverts, Meta, and Bing to remain engaged with potential clients and convey them again to my website.
12. The net beat market is very aggressive—how do you guarantee your model stands out from different producers?
I consider my capacity to create robust track constructions is on the core of my music manufacturing. As I discussed earlier, my influences from Danja, notably his strategy to structuring pop music, have formed the best way I create Pattern Beats, Beats with Hooks, Lure Beats, and Pop Beats.
Even my darker, extra intense entice beats have melodic pop influences woven into them.
Moreover, I believe The Corporatethief Beats is such a novel title that I’m assured there aren’t another beat makers with an analogous model or identification.
13. Have you ever observed any main shifts in how artists are shopping for and utilizing beats lately?
Nearly all of artists who buy beats from me are likely to give attention to shopping for beat packs from the beat participant. The beat packs simply make sense—they provide far more worth. To reinforce that worth, I additionally embody micro-courses, eBooks, and cheat sheets within the backend.
Through the years, I’ve seen totally different waves of beat traits. There was a interval of entice beat dominance, then a shift in direction of beats with hooks, and later, a requirement for extra emotional, sample-based beats—just like the early sort beats impressed by Drake’s first albums or the Lure Soul sound that blew up when Bryson Tiller emerged.
14. What was the largest problem in writing The Rap Lyricist’s Handbook?
The Rap Lyricist’s Handbook isn’t meant to be learn in a single day. It’s designed to be a useful resource you may reference time and time once more—whether or not you’re coping with author’s block, enhancing your rap lyrics, searching for websites that train you learn how to rap, or trying to find tips about music recording, advertising and marketing, and promotion.
Because the tagline suggests:
“The Rap Lyricist’s Handbook” isn’t just one other ebook to skim via. It’s a robust useful resource designed to be your go-to companion in your journey to rap mastery.
The most important problem was making it participating—no person desires to learn a wall of textual content. That’s why I included vibrant, colourful photos to maintain it visually interesting and to function reference factors for key matters.
The eBook can be interactive, with soar hyperlinks all through to make navigation simpler. Plus, it options QR codes that hyperlink to curated movies and the identical advertising and marketing instruments I personally use to advertise my music.
15. How do you see the handbook serving to aspiring rappers past simply enhancing their lyrics?
Let’s be actual—an eBook received’t train you learn how to rap in a day.
Rapping is a ability that requires each day observe. There’s no shortcut round that.
What The Rap Lyricist’s Handbook is designed for is these moments when self-doubt creeps in—once you want a spark of inspiration or steering on learn how to promote your music successfully. It’s not only a ebook; it’s a useful resource to maintain you motivated and on observe.
16. Your weblog provides in depth sources for unbiased artists—what are the largest errors you see them making in advertising and marketing their music?
Artists don’t have any plan. They sit round ready for the world handy them one thing or for another person to “put them on.”
They make excuses. They maintain saying, “No person will give me an opportunity.”
The reality is, you must construct and domesticate your individual viewers. Don’t look forward to shady middlemen who promise they will “put you on” or provide “publicity” and “promo.” These so-called business insiders are sometimes simply sharks—they will barely promote themselves, counting on spammy DMs and chilly emails.
As an alternative, you’ll want to take management of your individual success. Discover ways to use promoting instruments like YouTube Adverts, Google Adverts, X.com Adverts, and Meta Adverts to drive a brand new viewers to your music. Extra importantly, you want a narrative and a narrative—one thing actual that offers folks a cause to observe and help you.
17. What’s one underrated tip out of your advertising and marketing programs that you just suppose all unbiased artists ought to know?
Don’t construct your complete enterprise on rented floor.
Platforms like Fb, X, Instagram, Spotify, YouTube, ReverbNation, My Mixtapez, SoundCloud, and even Patreon don’t belong to you—you can lose entry to them right away.
At all times give attention to constructing property you personal:
✅ Your personal web site
✅ E mail listing
✅ SMS listing
✅ Membership platform
These are platforms you management 100%.
That’s to not say you shouldn’t use social media and streaming websites for advertising and marketing—you completely ought to. However all the time redirect followers to your web site and e-newsletter so that you’re not on the mercy of ever-changing algorithms.
I discovered this the laborious approach. Once I began out, Myspace was all the things. I spent numerous hours designing my Myspace web page—now it’s fully irrelevant. The identical factor occurred with beat websites like SoundClick, which dominated from 2005 to 2014, however isn’t well-liked anymore.
Even DatPiff, as soon as the go-to mixtape website for years, is fully gone at the moment. In the event you construct your enterprise solely on platforms you don’t personal, you threat shedding all the things in a single day.
18. You’ve labored with a spread of artists—what’s one collaboration that stood out to you essentially the most, and why?
I actually admire the work Sam Manon did with pop beats. It jogged my memory of when rapper Child Berg dropped some superb bars over one among my oldest beats. It’s loopy to suppose I made that beat again in 2010!
19. In the event you might work with any artist on the earth, residing or lifeless, who wouldn’t it be and why?
Child Cudi, Kanye, Drake, Rick Ross, Max Martin, and Travis Scott—I couldn’t select only one. I truthfully love all of their music in numerous methods!
20. What’s subsequent for The Corporatethief Beats—any upcoming tasks or new instructions you’re exploring?
I maintain creating new hip-hop beats and rap beat packs as a result of they add numerous worth for hip-hop artists. I’ll additionally proceed engaged on my different web sites that present music manufacturing and songwriting ideas for up-and-coming artists.
Comply with The Corporatethief Beats on:
Web site: https://thecorporatethiefbeats.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/consumer/corporatethief?sub_confirmation=1
X.com: https://x.com/corporatethief
