Fya Man - Producer Behind Records for Ye, Vic Mensa, NLE Choppa and Lil Durk

How would you compare the Chicago music scene, where you’re from, to the Atlanta scene, especially when it comes to producers and artists?

In Chicago, there are a lot of distractions, especially if you’re from there. It’s probably easier to come to Chicago from the outside and integrate yourself into the music scene than it is when you’re actually from there, because there’s so much going on. There’s a lot that can distract you, from politics to street stuff to family situations.

So typically, when I go home, I don’t really do a lot of things related to music. I tend to do that more when I’m moving around, unless it’s with Chance, SlickDa3rd, or certain people like that. Other than that, I just focus on being a regular person when I’m in Chicago. I don’t get too mixed up in everything or move around trying to work with everybody. There’s just a lot going on.

What advice would you give to the new generation of producers who want to work with established artists and get their name out?

For producers who want to get their name out and build momentum, I’d say don’t chase. Attract, don’t chase. Work with people you genuinely think are talented and have the potential to make it, not just people who are already famous. Try to break your own artist, or really work with people personally in the studio. Learn how to engineer, or learn how to do more than just make beats. Learn how to record videos or edit videos too.

Sometimes you’ll be in a studio session, look around, and realize the only person who got paid was the engineer or the cameraman. So try to find other jobs and other ways to help the process beyond just making a beat, because there are way more steps to it. You’ve got to find reasons to be needed. Sometimes people don’t need you just because you can press play on beats. That might not mean anything to certain people. They can go on YouTube and click through beats, or find other ways to get what they need. So you’ve got to be somebody who’s helpful to the whole process.

You also have to constantly put out content, play your beats, and show people what you’re making. Go online and play your beats. Put them on YouTube or anywhere people can find them. Sometimes your favorite artist might find you, or that next artist might hit you up after already using your beat, and you can build a relationship from there. With a lot of the artists I work with, I reached out to them first when they weren’t famous. With Lil Durk, I found him when he was on MySpace and started reaching out to him.

It was the same thing with DJ Bandz. We went to high school together, so when we reconnected, it felt natural. We’ve just been rocking ever since then. So I’d say be present and be visible on the internet. Drop a lot of posts. There are Reels, the Explore page, and more opportunities for everybody to be seen now than when I was first coming up.