Don't give up on your ideas, even if it's wild.
I'm like a living testament to,
"No idea is a silly idea," you know, you can do it.
I'm Shakari, a.k.a. TRAKGIRL.
Just happy to be creating, man, just blessed.
I've always just been fascinated by technology.
I was a nerd in my early days, like video games,
laptops, computers…
But music has always been ingrained in me when I was young.
My parents listened to so many different genres of music, the '70s, the '80s,
just different eras that influenced me.
So I always loved music, I've always-- I was just listening
but I was curious as to, "How did they really make
this sonically sound this way?
Like, how does that work?"
So I just researched when I was in my early teens,
literally studying old videos
of like Quincy Jones in the studio,
or Pharrell in the studio.
I feel like I'm a historian sometimes.
And it's okay to be a historian, it's okay to study the greats.
Learn the format of your favorite songs.
What resonates with you? I would literally say
study that from, like, song structure, arrangement,
listen to those different elements in the song,
and literally break down the song.
However, I do find that it's important to still explore
your own sound, whatever that may be.
You can't overthink, you know,
you have to sometimes just clear your mind.
I meditate a lot.
I try to block out the noise and just do.
Bought my first beat machine when I used to work at McDonald's.
Just started experimenting.
Ultimately, you don't need a lot of expensive equipment,
It's just what do you feel can translate on your brain?
How can you get that out?
"CANDYMAN" came about during the pandemic.
Definitely during that time,
just going through a lot of emotions…
I had to get it out.
Anytime that I'm creating a production or when I'm going through samples,
I don't try to go too crazy on the ideas at first
to get the idea out.
If you have a solid, like, verse or 16 or solid foundation,
when you're sending your ideas out to artists,
keep it simple.
I sent that to VIC and he came back crazy with the one-take.
Like, what?
Now, music is our outlet, and we just continue to build upon it.
It literally was like a phase of things, like,
the idea and then VIC's context and storytelling
which shaped it in a way of, "We got to make a movie with this."
Peace…
Peace, king, where you at right now?
I'm in Chicago.
I love connecting with artists
who are really about their city,
so VIC is really about Chicago.
And again, the context of the song, we had to be in Chicago.
We wanted to walk the shoots with him
and him telling us his childhood stories
and what resonates with him, I think,
we get to know each other, VIC and I.
I think it's important because it reflects in the music
and we just want to remain as authentic as possible.
Like what was going on when you were--
when you came in on "CANDYMAN," when you heard it.
What was the first reaction?
'Cause your first take,
it was like a one-take for me, like you went crazy.
The beat has this visceral,
raw aggression and energy to it.
And it feels, at once very intricate,
but also like blunt force.
That was important for us to not focus too much on pain and our struggle.
It's obvious in our songs and the words, the context and the lyrics of the song.
So we didn't want to focus all of it on that,
we wanted to capture that beauty,
capture the elements of strings and classical music
incorporated in these hard, heavy drums.
We started the idea with a digital library,
there's a bunch of libraries that you could pull from
to get that sound.
Even if you'd use virtual plugins and digital strings
and digital instruments, it's okay.
I feel like if you mix it to the way that you like,
and if it aligns with your sound, you know,
it doesn't really matter what you use.
I love looking at credits, so we saw this string arranger, and I was like,
"Oh, this is the guy," like I played him the record,
and he just started writing.
We were blessed to be surrounded by musicians
and our string arranger, who believed in the vision.
It's hard to do what we do.
We're trying to figure it out,
but we can collaborate and figure out our dreams together.
I think there's a force in that.
I really applaud you and Ashley for your clarity of vision
and the pinpoint precision of your intention.
Every stringing, every drum
has been created with complete purpose.
Just experiment, be a mad scientist.
It's okay to cry about your music.
It's okay to feel frustrated.
But just know that vision and that dream in your head is possible.