Exclusive Interview
Produced by: Rudy Manager
Edited by: Rudy Manager & Andrej Aroch
Courtlin Jabrae - Artist, Songwriter and Producer Behind Records for BLACKPINK, GloRilla and BIA
We caught up with Courtlin Jabrae during the Studio Talks team’s trip to LA on April 22, almost a year after our first interview. Courtlin Jabrae is a phenomenal songwriter and producer known for his work on records by artists like GloRilla, BLACKPINK, BIA, Ciara, and many more. Since our last conversation, he signed a deal with Sony Publishing and landed a major K-pop placement with BLACKPINK. In this interview, we spoke about how “Fxxxboy” by BLACKPINK came together, his experience creating music around the world, his advice for the next generation of songwriters and producers, and his upcoming project, Raspy.
“I want to put out music that feels like what I want to make, not what I think the radio needs.”
- Courtlin Jabrae
It’s been almost a year since we did our first interview. How has this past year been for you, and how are you feeling now?
Since our last interview, I signed a deal with Sony Publishing, so shout out to Sony. I also landed one of my biggest K-pop placements with BLACKPINK, so it’s been a lot of great motion.
I’m super excited for everything that’s coming up. There’s some stuff I can’t talk about yet, but there’s a lot of good stuff on the way.
Can you take us behind the scenes of how “Fxxxboy” by BLACKPINK came together?
It’s real simple. It was me and Tommy Brown doing what we do, as usual. We cooked up that record a while ago, and Tommy actually called me while I was in Thailand on my birthday, having a blast. He was like, “Yo, BLACKPINK is taking the song.” I was like, “Which one?” He said, “Fxxxboy,” and at first, I couldn’t remember it.
Then I started going through my phone and I was like, “Oh, bro, we did that record a while ago.” They just took it to the next level. Anytime me and Tommy do something together, it’s always a smash. Every time. Shout out Champagne Therapy. You know how we do it.
What does a typical day look like for you?
On a typical day, I do my best to wake up between 6 and 7 a.m. On a good day, I wake up at 5. I wake up, say my prayers, go to the gym, do my stretches, come back, cook breakfast for my girl, and make sure she’s all right. We communicate and make sure we’re on the same page. I also play around with AI a little bit because we’re working on some films, and then I go straight to the studio.
On the way to the studio, I’m usually talking to my manager, Rudy, and handling everything with him. Then I start playing songs that get me in my vibe, stuff I used to listen to when I was a kid. It could be anything, even a TV show. I just listen to whatever gets me in my vibe and makes me happy, or I’m listening to an audiobook on the way to the studio. Then I get there, say another prayer, and go crazy. That’s normally my routine.
What music do you listen to when you’re not working on music, like when you’re in your car, for example?
I’m a grungy guy, so I listen to a lot of experimental rock and punk type of stuff. I love the oldies too. I love Prince, I love D’Angelo, I love Queen, and I love finding new artists. Sometimes I might spend time just going through Apple Music, Spotify, and TikTok, finding new artists that spark my ear and make me feel like, “Oh, I love this.” But mainly, I listen to a lot of grungy stuff.
The other day, I went back and listened to Miguel’s Wildheart album. I listened to that album, and I was like, “This is a great album. Shout out to Miguel.” I’m also a Michael Jackson fan. Everybody has their own opinion about Michael, and everybody has their own favorite album, but personally, I’m a Bad album guy. I love Michael Jackson’s Bad album. The leather jacket, the pants, the motorcycle, the whole energy was real rock and grungy.
I’m a grungy rock kid to the core, deep in my heart. I make R&B and hip-hop, but in my spare time, I’m trying to find the newest, hottest rock, grungy, or experimental music. That’s what I listen to in my spare time. Another artist that’s fire is Jean Dawson. Duckwrth is fire too. Ho99o9 is fire. Nova Twins are crazy too. There’s a lot of people making amazing stuff.
What’s your process like when you come into the studio? Do you usually make the beat first and build the song on top of that, or do you come in with a concept and create the beat around it?
It just depends on how I’m feeling that day, honestly. Most of the time, I make my best records when I’m not overthinking anything. I’m literally just going into the studio and starting. I’ll click through sounds and be like, “Oh, I like the way this sounds,” or, “This sounds cool.” Then I’ll start beatboxing and something will tell me, “Do that. Let’s do it.” Next thing you know, I’m hearing melodies, and I just let the song go wherever it wants to go.
Some days, I do come in with a mission. I might be inspired by a ‘70s song and want to make something that feels like that. Then I’ll go in there, and sometimes I’ll start writing first and build around it. Like I said, it just depends. I’m all over the place. I have ADHD, so I might start making one song, hear another sound, and it’ll take me to a completely different song. Then I end up making five songs in ten hours. That’s just how my brain works.
You showed us that you have Ableton on your phone. Have any of your songs or beats started from an idea on your phone, or how do you usually use it?
I’m new to Ableton. I just started working in Ableton over the past four months. I bought the Push 3, so I’ve been working on that, and I have it connected to my phone. The only song I really created with the Push 3 and the app on my phone is something on my project called “Sexy Girls.”
I’ll literally be sitting there and start sampling stuff. It could be me cooking burgers, me stomping, my cat, or me flicking a can. Then I’ll load that up into the Push and take it to the next level. It’s fun. I’m like a kid in a candy shop. The cat gets one percent.
What’s your opinion on the current state of music, especially when it comes to pop and R&B?
I think the state of music right now is in a really cool place. Like I said earlier, I think the kids are moving more in the direction of wanting to express themselves freely. It’s not like, “Oh, I want to copy this big artist or that big artist.” It’s more like, “Nah, I want to do what I think is cool.” That’s kind of what we talked about in my last interview. I think the kids are leaning more toward that, which is what I feel like was happening in the early 2000s with people like Pharrell, Missy Elliott, and Timbaland. They were just making what they felt was cool, and I think we’re getting back to that.
That’s really cool. I’m not going to lie, it helps me as a writer. When I go into the room and it’s like, “Yo, let’s just make whatever we want to make and make it sound cool,” I’m like, “Yes, let’s do that.” Let’s not copy a Lil Baby song and make another one. He already has that. We already have that. Let Lil Baby be Lil Baby. Let Frank Ocean be Frank Ocean. Let Drake be Drake. Let Kendrick be Kendrick. Let Adele be Adele. Let’s just do something new. Let’s get weird and try something. So I think it’s shifted, and it’s a good shift. I’m finding a lot of cool people on TikTok who probably don’t even have a thousand followers, but their music is insane. I’m very happy with the direction music is going in right now.
You’ve worked on music all over the world, including the U.S., Georgia, and Korea. Are those sessions any different from a standard U.S. session?
Yes and no. I feel like American sessions can be a little easier because we speak the same lingo. But working outside the country is fun. I think outside the country, everybody just wants to have fun. I don’t think we overthink it too much.
In America, when I’m in writing sessions, and this is just me speaking from my own experience, I feel like the song sometimes gets overthought. It’s like we’re overthinking instead of feeling the vibe. When I’m outside the country, we’re just feeling the vibe. We might say the same thing four times, and if it feels good, nobody’s going to change it.
In some sessions I’ve been in here, I kind of have to go back and forth with the other writer or producer. I’m like, “Man, Pharrell said, ‘Beautiful, I just want you to know, you’re my favorite girl,’ and made something so simple and iconic with ‘Beautiful.’” But if I were to say something that simple in the studio, people might be like, “Oh, that’s too simple. Maybe we need to say something more complex.” No, I just want to say something easy that feels good. Let’s make a smash. I feel like people think too much sometimes. That’s how I feel.
For songwriters and producers who are just getting into the game in 2026, what advice would you give them on breaking into the industry and working with artists?
Go find five artists, or even three, that you really, really love. Don’t think about the money. Don’t think about the radio. The five people you like might never have a number one hit song, and that’s cool. But do you like it? Does it make you feel something? Listen to that and vibe out to it.
When you go to the studio, don’t copy them. But if you like clean, airy guitars because the artist you love uses clean, airy guitars, make some clean, airy guitars and do it your own way. Then start blending genres. Say, “I want to mix this genre with that genre,” and just treat it like a science project. Get weird with it. It’s like a pot of gumbo. Just try stuff because you never know.
Take the idea you might be questioning, like, “What if they don’t like it?” Not to be cliche or corny, but what if they do? Because if they do like it, you might change the world. You might really change the world. That’s my take. Do you, believe in yourself, and have fun.
What plans do you have for the rest of the year, both personally and professionally?
Personally, this year, I want to put out some music for myself. I haven’t put out music for myself in a while, so that’s my goal this year. I want to put out music that feels like what I want to make, not what I think the radio needs. I’m just taking my own advice. I’m going to make what I think is cool, and if I put it out, I don’t care if it doesn’t get a million views or if it doesn’t blow up. I’m just putting it out and being true to myself.
I want to be able to look back when I’m 80 and be like, “Yeah, man, I put out some good music back in the day. That was a really good song.” I’m doing it for me, not just for the people. I should say it’s a balance, because I don’t want to say I don’t do it for the people, because I do. But by being myself, I’m connecting with somebody else who feels how I feel, and that’s how I find my tribe. I might make a certain type of music, and one person might not like it, and that’s totally fine. I might not like a certain type of music either, but I still respect it. So I’m finding that balance and finding my people by staying true to myself.
I want to build a cult following, kind of like Tyler, the Creator. Tyler does what he wants. He’s always done him. The people who like him love him, and the people who don’t, don’t. And that’s okay. That’s what I’m looking for. Those fans are going to ride with him for the rest of his life. He doesn’t have to go number one on radio. He’s going to drop merch, drop an album, go on tour, and stay in his own world. Tyler is in his own world, and that’s what I’m working on: creating my own world.
I’m also putting out my own artists and producers. Shout out to Conway, my artist, writer, and producer. We have something coming out with Bunna B, and he’s killing it. My little brother Julio Rizzo has a rock project coming out, and he’s killing it too. Those two are on my label, By The Way Records, which is amazing.
What can fans expect from the project, and when do you plan to release it?
The project I’m working on is called Raspy. I feel like my voice, when I sing, is really raspy. I used to always try to run away from that voice. I would do everything in my power to make my voice sound so squeaky clean when I was singing my songs, but I realized I was trying to be somebody else. That’s not me. So this project is me not running from who I am and just being my natural raspy self when I sing.
Some of the notes might not be pitch perfect, and I’m keeping them like that. It’s edgy, it’s in your face, it’s emotional, and it’s got a groove to it. The first song that drops is called “Love Games,” and it’s really cool.
I’m just building a bunch of content, and my plan is to get it out in June. June is when I want to let it out and let it all go. I’m going to drop the first song, and then I’m going to drop everything. That’s my plan and my goal. It might go like that, it might not, but we’ll see. I’m putting it out into the air because most of the music is done. I just have to finish two more records, clean them up, finish the rest of the content, and get everything together. Then I’m just going to drop.
My girl is going on tour too, so shout out to DJ Cakes. She’s going on tour, and the first stop is Slovenia. We’re going to see how that goes. While she’s on tour DJing, I’m going to drop one of my songs in there, and we’re going to get all that footage. It’s going to be fun. We’re going to have a fun summer.
Follow Courtlin Jabrae on Instagram: @courtlinjabrae
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