Exclusive Interview
Produced by: Rudy Manager
Edited by: Rudy Manager & Andrej Aroch
Mathaius Young - Producer Behind Yeat and EsDeeKid’s “Made It On Our Own”
Studio Talks spoke with producer and artist Mathaius Young about his journey into music, his creative process, his standout placements, and the relationships that helped shape his career. In the interview, Mathaius reflects on learning the craft on his own, working closely with mentor Sonny Digital, and contributing to records for artists like Yeat, EsDeeKid, and Brent Faiyaz. He also opens up about his approach to making beats from scratch, the tools he relies on most, offers advice to the new generation of producers, and shares what fans can expect from his own artist project. This interview was conducted by Rudy Manager via video call on March 16, 2026.
“I’ve pretty much spent every day for the last ten years trying to get better at making music.”
- Mathaius Young
Can you introduce yourself and some of the projects you’ve worked on for people who might not be familiar with you?
My name is Mathaius Young. I’m originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, and I’ve been living in LA for about six years now, since around COVID. I’m a producer, musician, and engineer. I just love music.
I came up working under the producer Sonny Digital. He’s been a mentor throughout my career, but he was especially instrumental in helping me get into the industry around 2017. Since linking with him, I’ve ended up working with artists like Don Toliver, Denzel Curry, Blxst, Big Sean, Yeat, and a lot of other people in the hip hop and R&B space.
Can you share how you first got interested in music, and how you then transitioned into music production?
I got into music because my mom was a rapper back in the early 2000s. I always remember seeing her write rhymes in a notebook at home, and I’d see those notebooks around the house all the time. She would also bring me with her to the studio sometimes, and I was always fascinated by it. I even remember trying to write my own raps and bring them to her, like, “I’m gonna go to the studio with you.” She never let me record back then, but even just being in the studio left a big impression on me. I always had that passion in me to write and make music.
Then around 2015, I got into FL Studio. I had a friend in high school who showed it to me, and I thought it was so cool. Seeing something on a computer that wasn’t a video game, but kind of reminded me of one, really intrigued me. I was like, “Yo, what is this?” I’d never seen anything like it before. Then my grandfather gave me a computer, and I immediately downloaded FL Studio. I spent that whole summer trying to learn it and figure everything out. I honestly just fell in love with it, man. Ever since then, I’ve pretty much spent every day for the last ten years trying to get better at making music, and now here we are.
What was your process for improving back then? You mentioned your friend, but were you mostly self-taught or did you have any mentors early on?
Sonny Digital was more of a mentor for my career, especially in terms of teaching me how the industry works. But as far as me learning how to make music, that was really on my own.
This was before all the YouTube tutorials and everything that exists now, so if I wasn’t around a friend who used FL and knew what they were doing, I was really just figuring it out on my own. My early beats sucked so bad too. This was before I knew about drum kits, how to mix my stuff, how to use EQ, or how to download plugins to make things sound better. I was just using all the stock stuff. But there’s a beauty in teaching yourself something, because that’s how you develop your own unique creativity. You’ve gotta go through it yourself and learn it for yourself so you can find your own swag in the music.
What was your first official placement, or the first song you would consider a placement?
My first official thing as a professional producer goes back to Sonny Digital, and that’s why I always say linking with Sonny was such an integral part of my career. We actually did some beats together for the XXL Cypher in 2017. You can go on my Genius page and see it. It has millions of views. We linked up in LA, and that was my first time meeting him. I was super young. I don’t even remember exactly how old I was. This was around 2016. I just remember having the jitters, like, damn, I’m meeting one of my idols. We kicked it for a little bit, talked, and then started making some beats. I remember he fell asleep and had me working on a couple beats, and then I left. I dapped him up and was like, “Alright, bro, good to meet you. It’s getting late, I’ma go home.”
Then I got back to Indiana and didn’t really think much of it. I was just like, okay, I met bro, he’s cool, and we’ll see where things go. Then one day he literally texted me and was like, “Yo, you seen this?” It was a video of the XXL Cypher, and it had the beat that we did on there. I was like, nah, that’s crazy. That was a super big moment for me.
Then my first actual placement with an artist was Don Toliver’s “Situation.” That song changed my life. I’m super grateful to Don and to the guys I worked on it with. It’s just been a crazy journey. And this was before Don had become who he is now, so it was really dope. I actually ran into him later on, maybe six months or a year ago, and told him about it, because I don’t even think he remembered. He was like, “Nah, that’s crazy, bro.” It was cool.
Is there one specific piece of advice that you got from Sonny Digital that stood out to you the most?
Honestly, it was really just him telling me to keep being myself. One thing about Sonny is that he’s always championed me, whether people know it or not. He’s really been my guy. Him and my family are cool, so he’s been my guy for a long time. He’s always been like, “Yo bro, you’re so dope. Just keep doing you. Your stuff is gonna go crazy one day. Just keep going.”
When somebody like that gives you that kind of confidence, it really does something to you. It makes you feel like, yeah, I’m gonna do me, and can’t nobody tell me nothing. It gives you that belief that you’re really like that, and that what you’re making is special. Shout out to bro. He’s a real one for sure.
Can you share the story of how “Made It On Our Own” by Yeat and EsDeeKid came together?
So with the Yeat and EsDeeKid joint, I’m signed to BNYX, and Ben and Yeat are cool. They gave me the song to work on a few months earlier. It was already an idea, and I just came in and added my own sauce to it. I added some drums, helped arrange it, and did that kind of stuff.
It was really one of those situations where I was just getting my reps up and seeing what would happen. If they liked it, they liked it, and if they didn’t, they didn’t. They ended up loving it. Then EsDeeKid got on it, and it became what it is now. So shout out to Lucid on that beat too.
How do you usually start working on an idea from scratch when you first open FL Studio?
It changes every day. Usually, I might start with a loop or a melody. If one of my homies is texting me throughout the day and sending me melodies, I might use one of those. Or I might’ve been listening to something I liked in the car on the way to the studio, then got there, pulled it up, and tried to flip it or something.
Sometimes I’ll already have a melody in my head because I love chopping up samples and messing with stuff like that. Other times, I want to challenge myself to make something from scratch. I’m not classically trained or anything like that, so I just play by ear. I might wake up with an idea in the morning, hear a melody or a drum pattern in my head, make a quick voice memo, and then get to the studio and try to recreate it. It really just depends. Every day is different. It’s all about whatever inspires me that day.
What are some of your favorite VSTs or hardware synthesizers?
I use Analog Lab almost every day. I’m kind of a nerd with it too. I love the Yamaha CS-80. I just love how synthy but still kind of lush it sounds. I think I naturally gravitate toward lush, synthy sounds. What I mean by that is I don’t really like sounds that are too sharp or too piercing. I like stuff that can work across a lot of different types of beats and genres. I also love the Yamaha DX7 a lot. I’m really into that old school feel.
Obviously, I love the Juno and the Jupiter too. Lately I’ve also been using the Korg M1 a lot, and I love that one. I love the Korg Triton too. I use ZENOLOGY every day. I might dabble in Trilian for some bass sounds or something like that, but ZENOLOGY really has it figured out. There’s just so much in there. And on top of that, people are even making crazy banks for it too, so it’s like, come on, bro. Every now and then I might also pull up S.K.Y. Keys for a particular sound I’m looking for. If we’re talking beyond just instruments, effect wise there are definitely some VST effects I use in ways people probably wouldn’t expect, but that’s pretty much it.
What’s your opinion on the use of AI in music production?
This is a tough one. First and foremost, respect to all creators. I always want to put that out there. Respect to everybody who comes up with an idea and creates it from their actual brain. But in today’s age, I look at AI as a tool. I feel like when you get to a certain point in your career, you want to make your life easier. Sometimes there’s just so much that goes into the creative process. I might still be thinking about something from earlier in the day, or everything I still have to do, or I might just be drawing a blank in that moment, but the job still has to get done regardless.
So if AI can help me push an idea further, and then I take that help from a prompt or whatever and turn it into something, I don’t think it’s that deep. It is, but it also isn’t, if that makes sense. People already sample. People already go on YouTube, sample from vinyl, chop up stuff other people made, and then get credit for it. People say AI is stealing from creators, and it is, but I also think that whether it’s a drum sound, a snare, a hi hat, a drum break, or anything else, we’re all taking something from somewhere. So I guess people are trying to choose the lesser evil, but to me, it’s all kind of the same thing. I just say make music. I think the AI conversation is really for people who feel super strongly about it. I don’t really think like that. I just like making music. So if something dope comes along and helps me take an idea further, then that’s a blessing.
How did “wrong faces.” for Brent Faiyaz’s latest album Icon come together?
That’s a special song, because we made that beat so long ago. It came out in February of this year, but that beat was probably made three or four years ago. My boy Berg, shout out to Berg, already had the idea. A lot of people had worked on it by that point, but when I saw him, he was like, “Yo, I got this idea. You want to jump on it?” That’s just how we work. If he’s got something, he’ll ask me to add my sauce to it, and I do the same with him.
So when we linked, we worked on it like it was a regular beat. I wasn’t thinking it was gonna be for Brent or anything like that. We were just making music. Then Ashani hit him up for beats, and that one ended up getting sent over. I’m not exactly sure how everything lined up from there, but I do know the original version was way more sped up. The BPM was faster, and I think it got slowed down, pitched down, and changed up a lot after that.
Then we got the call that Brent had cut it, and from there it was really just a waiting game. Artists record so much music, so I was just hoping it would actually make the album. There were definitely moments where it felt like it might be on there, then maybe not, then maybe it was back on again. So I’m just grateful Brent actually released it, because that was probably one of the biggest moments of my career to this day. And even though the album got mixed reviews at first, I think people are starting to realize that it’s really one of his best projects. So shout out to Brent.
What would you say is your favorite placement?
I’d probably say the Yeat song, just because I know those guys, so it’s a different feeling when you’re working with people and getting to share ideas in real time. Just how hands on I got to be with that song brought me back to being a kid, making stuff with my homies and being like, “Damn, try this,” or, “Try this.” Everybody was open to each other’s ideas, and that made it feel special.
I feel like as a producer, sending beats and working that way is cool, but we’re humans. I need real time reactions, and I need that sense of camaraderie with other people. That’s really how I like to make music. And the fact that they shot the video at Drake’s house too, come on, bro. That’s crazy.
What’s your vision for your artist project, and what can fans expect in the coming months?
This project is really like my child, so I’m taking my time with it. It changes every day too. I might record a new song today and then take another one off, so it keeps evolving. My homies are trying to get me to a point where it’s like, “Bro, just say it’s done and it’s done.”
But people can definitely expect some new music within the next month or two. I’ve already got it all figured out. At this point, I’m really just making last minute changes, swapping songs out, and tightening everything up. But it’s definitely coming soon. I’d say before the summertime.
What advice would you give to the new generation of music producers who are just starting out and want to get into the industry and work with established artists?
I’d say the biggest thing is relationships. If I were giving advice to the new generation of producers, I’d tell them to prioritize relationships. You can be at home, or wherever you are, making music all day, but you still need to build rapport with people. You need to build a community with the people around you. You’re not just gonna shoot straight to the top and instantly be around all the A list people. It takes time. It takes time to figure out how you connect with people and how you naturally mesh with them.
What’s gotten me this far has honestly just been being genuine, being cool, and being a good person in the studio. Just being there if anybody needs anything, helping people, and moving like a real person. When you do that, you naturally come across people you connect with. I think that alone has opened up so many doors for me. You can sit there and make hundreds and hundreds of beats, but if you don’t have those relationships, nobody’s gonna hear them. Of course, there’s the internet, so I’m not saying it can’t happen another way. I’m just speaking from my own experience. I’m in rooms every day with different people, and I really feel like being a good person, being relatable, and being someone people actually like will open a lot of doors.
What do you have planned for the rest of this year, both personally and professionally?
There are definitely a lot of projects I’ve worked on where the music is coming out. I can’t say who, and I wish I could, but I can’t. And with my own stuff, I’m gonna be dropping a project soon. So stay on the lookout.
I always like people to be surprised when I drop something or do something, so we’ll see. It’s coming soon.
Follow Mathaius Young on Instagram: @mathaiusyung
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