Born in Minnesota and now based in Los Angeles, producer Yakree has become a trusted collaborator for some of rap’s most influential artists including YoungBoy Never Broke Again and Roddy Ricch. In this Studio Talks interview, he opens up about his journey from a kid experimenting with instruments to landing major placements, his approach to building a sound with artists, and his perspective on where the music is heading. It is a candid look at the process, mindset, and creativity behind one of today’s most exciting young producers. This interview was conducted by Rudy Manager via a video call on December 3rd, 2025.
Can you share the story of how you first got into music and how that led into music production?
I probably got into music first through playing instruments. I used to play piano and drums and just experiment, but I didn’t really get into production until middle school. Around that time, one of my best friends was producing and he kind of pulled me into it. Honestly, he pretty much forced me into it. I think he just wanted someone to produce with, and I was easily influenced, so that’s how I got started.
Did you start on FL Studio, or what was the first DAW you used?
Technically, I think the first DAW I used was FL Studio, but then I moved to Logic. I switched over to Logic and GarageBand because FL was too confusing for me at first. I was really confused by it and honestly just lazy. So it became GarageBand and Logic, and when I started doing more vocal stuff, I used Logic for that.
What was your process for improving when you were just starting out? Did you have any mentors, or were you mostly self-taught?
I definitely had a mentor. Slayer is the kid I grew up with, and he’s the one who kind of forced me into producing. He really pushed me and was a big driving force for me in the beginning. I also used YouTube and stuff like that, but honestly I’m not that good at learning that way. I need to actually do it myself and see it to really understand. I can’t just watch a video and learn that well; I need to try things and learn through trial and error.
How would you describe the journey from the moment you got Logic to working with artists?
Honestly, coming up during COVID and being online everywhere really helped. Most of my songs before 2021 or 2022 were all online. Everything I was doing was just sending beats out over email. I was guessing emails, paying for emails. That used to be the method. It was kind of a scam, but there would usually be one or two contacts in there that would work, and you could probably get to someone through that. Before that, there really was not much happening. It was mainly just emails.
Over time, that turned into me meeting people, either through an A&R connecting me or by me connecting directly with the artist. Then it became about building a presence in person and just being personable, likable, and normal. Honestly, just being very normal is the best way to get in the door. A lot of people are not like that. I go to sessions and people are weird. They don’t know how to move, they give off strange energy, and people pick up on that. It comes off as desperate and thirsty. The way I got in was by sending emails, being genuine, working with the artists I wanted to work with, and then when those guys blew up, I went up with them.
How would you describe the journey from the moment you got Logic to working with artists?
Honestly, coming up during COVID and being online everywhere really helped. Most of my songs before 2021 or 2022 were all online. Everything I was doing was just sending beats out over email. I was guessing emails, paying for emails. That used to be the method. It was kind of a scam, but there would usually be one or two contacts in there that would work, and you could probably get to someone through that. Before that, there really was not much happening. It was mainly just emails.
Over time, that turned into me meeting people, either through an A&R connecting me or by me connecting directly with the artist. Then it became about building a presence in person and just being personable, likable, and normal. Honestly, just being very normal is the best way to get in the door. A lot of people are not like that. I go to sessions and people are weird. They don’t know how to move, they give off strange energy, and people pick up on that. It comes off as desperate and thirsty. The way I got in was by sending emails, being genuine, working with the artists I wanted to work with, and then when those guys blew up, I went up with them.
How would you describe the journey from the moment you got Logic to working with artists?
Honestly, coming up during COVID and being online everywhere really helped. Most of my songs before 2021 or 2022 were all online. Everything I was doing was just sending beats out over email. I was guessing emails, paying for emails. That used to be the method. It was kind of a scam, but there would usually be one or two contacts in there that would work, and you could probably get to someone through that. Before that, there really was not much happening. It was mainly just emails.
Over time, that turned into me meeting people, either through an A&R connecting me or by me connecting directly with the artist. Then it became about building a presence in person and just being personable, likable, and normal. Honestly, just being very normal is the best way to get in the door. A lot of people are not like that. I go to sessions and people are weird. They don’t know how to move, they give off strange energy, and people pick up on that. It comes off as desperate and thirsty. The way I got in was by sending emails, being genuine, working with the artists I wanted to work with, and then when those guys blew up, I went up with them.
How did you manage to get your first bigger song?
My first placement was with me and this other kid from Minnesota, named MAXXX. We made this beat when I was about 16 on my mom’s laptop. That one was for 9lokkNine and was called “Why You Lying.” That got placed and kind of put me up more, gave me some recognition, and let me start working on other stuff.
But I’d say my first actual industry placement came from sending out loops, sending out pianos and stuff like that, just making loops for people. My first YoungBoy one came from a sample I made. I sent it to India Got Them Beats and Leor Shevah, and they sauced it up and sent it to YB.
Do you have any creative routines you do before you start working on music?
I don’t really have a strict routine, but there’s always something else going on in the background. The best times are when there’s other stuff happening, like Fortnite or a scary movie on in the background. I like cooking up to scary movies, old scary movies, or just old movies in general. Sometimes I put Star Wars on. If I’m in a real studio, the cook up ritual is different than when I’m at home. At home, I just kind of thug it, make some food, and cook while I’m making beats. When I’m at the studio, I make sure everything is set up right. I have cookies, I usually get iced coffee, I put a movie on, and if there’s a PS5 at the studio, we play Fortnite.
What are some of your favorite VSTs, and are you also using synthesizers or any hardware gear?
I won’t give too much of the sauce, but I’ve really been f***ing with Surge. I use this plugin called Surge a lot, and I use Repro a lot too. Repro’s gas. Obviously ZENOLOGY’s cool, but I think it’s overused. A lot of people are starting to sound the same with it. There are a bunch of producers who just use it and all their beats and loops end up sounding the same.
It’s cool, but the people who are making banks are the ones I really think are dope. I f**k with the people who are making new banks. I think that stuff’s always super cool, because that’s real sound design. You can do that on any plugin. It doesn’t matter. You can do it on Serum, ZENOLOGY, Analog Lab, whatever. If you make banks, If you make banks, I think that’s the coolest thing ever, because it doesn’t really matter what the plugin is. It’s about the creation and what you’re actually doing. But the people who just spam ZENOLOGY can be a little OD. So yeah, I’d say those are my top ones.
How did you manage to get your first bigger song?
My first placement was with me and this other kid from Minnesota, named MAXXX. We made this beat when I was about 16 on my mom’s laptop. That one was for 9lokkNine and was called “Why You Lying.” That got placed and kind of put me up more, gave me some recognition, and let me start working on other stuff.
But I’d say my first actual industry placement came from sending out loops, sending out pianos and stuff like that, just making loops for people. My first YoungBoy one came from a sample I made. I sent it to India Got Them Beats and Leor Shevah, and they sauced it up and sent it to YB.
Do you have any creative routines you do before you start working on music?
I don’t really have a strict routine, but there’s always something else going on in the background. The best times are when there’s other stuff happening, like Fortnite or a scary movie on in the background. I like cooking up to scary movies, old scary movies, or just old movies in general. Sometimes I put Star Wars on. If I’m in a real studio, the cook up ritual is different than when I’m at home. At home, I just kind of thug it, make some food, and cook while I’m making beats. When I’m at the studio, I make sure everything is set up right. I have cookies, I usually get iced coffee, I put a movie on, and if there’s a PS5 at the studio, we play Fortnite.
What are some of your favorite VSTs, and are you also using synthesizers or any hardware gear?
I won’t give too much of the sauce, but I’ve really been f***ing with Surge. I use this plugin called Surge a lot, and I use Repro a lot too. Repro’s gas. Obviously ZENOLOGY’s cool, but I think it’s overused. A lot of people are starting to sound the same with it. There are a bunch of producers who just use it and all their beats and loops end up sounding the same.
It’s cool, but the people who are making banks are the ones I really think are dope. I f**k with the people who are making new banks. I think that stuff’s always super cool, because that’s real sound design. You can do that on any plugin. It doesn’t matter. You can do it on Serum, ZENOLOGY, Analog Lab, whatever. If you make banks, If you make banks, I think that’s the coolest thing ever, because it doesn’t really matter what the plugin is. It’s about the creation and what you’re actually doing. But the people who just spam ZENOLOGY can be a little OD. So yeah, I’d say those are my top ones.
How did you manage to get your first bigger song?
My first placement was with me and this other kid from Minnesota, named MAXXX. We made this beat when I was about 16 on my mom’s laptop. That one was for 9lokkNine and was called “Why You Lying.” That got placed and kind of put me up more, gave me some recognition, and let me start working on other stuff.
But I’d say my first actual industry placement came from sending out loops, sending out pianos and stuff like that, just making loops for people. My first YoungBoy one came from a sample I made. I sent it to India Got Them Beats and Leor Shevah, and they sauced it up and sent it to YB.
Do you have any creative routines you do before you start working on music?
I don’t really have a strict routine, but there’s always something else going on in the background. The best times are when there’s other stuff happening, like Fortnite or a scary movie on in the background. I like cooking up to scary movies, old scary movies, or just old movies in general. Sometimes I put Star Wars on. If I’m in a real studio, the cook up ritual is different than when I’m at home. At home, I just kind of thug it, make some food, and cook while I’m making beats. When I’m at the studio, I make sure everything is set up right. I have cookies, I usually get iced coffee, I put a movie on, and if there’s a PS5 at the studio, we play Fortnite.
What are some of your favorite VSTs, and are you also using synthesizers or any hardware gear?
I won’t give too much of the sauce, but I’ve really been f***ing with Surge. I use this plugin called Surge a lot, and I use Repro a lot too. Repro’s gas. Obviously ZENOLOGY’s cool, but I think it’s overused. A lot of people are starting to sound the same with it. There are a bunch of producers who just use it and all their beats and loops end up sounding the same.
It’s cool, but the people who are making banks are the ones I really think are dope. I f**k with the people who are making new banks. I think that stuff’s always super cool, because that’s real sound design. You can do that on any plugin. It doesn’t matter. You can do it on Serum, ZENOLOGY, Analog Lab, whatever. If you make banks, If you make banks, I think that’s the coolest thing ever, because it doesn’t really matter what the plugin is. It’s about the creation and what you’re actually doing. But the people who just spam ZENOLOGY can be a little OD. So yeah, I’d say those are my top ones.
Do you have a favorite production you made that’s especially close to your heart?
Not really. I’d say all of them are pretty important to me. I do feel like my more recent stuff is what I enjoy the most, like my work with Lil Tony or even with maxon, because I got to experiment more and do more of what I actually want to do. With the super industry beats, you’re kind of limited to making certain types of music. It’s cool, but I feel like earlier in my career I didn’t really get to be as creative, because I just wanted to get my foot in the door. And even if you’re creative, you can still make copy paste stuff. That’s how you get your foot in the door and pay the bills, so you can get a YoungBoy song or a Roddy song or whatever. There’s definitely a specific sound those artists look for, and there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s how you become a really big artist.
But developing and creating a sound with an artist is way cooler to me. Helping build that sound up is how you really grow as a producer. With YB, he already has his sound. Drum Dummie, DJ Swift, NeilOnDaTrack, $hop With Ken, TayTayMadeIt, India Got Them Beats, Rippa on the track, and others I’m probably forgetting helped build his sound. That sound’s already set in stone. Me getting a song with him on that sound doesn’t really matter as much. If you find a new artist and help build up their sound, that’s ten times cooler in my opinion as a producer. You get more songs, you actually have a say in how things sound, and you become a real producer instead of just following the trend.
What’s your opinion on the current state of music, especially in hip hop and R&B, and where do you see it evolving over the next few years?
I think it’s in a down period. Rap’s just in a down period because it’s not really getting funded. Nobody’s funding rap right now and it kind of is what it is. There’ll be another point in time where it comes back and the funding does too.
As far as where things are heading, I wouldn’t say it’s going straight into EDM, but it’s definitely leaning more into fun, dance music. I think that’s where people are going. You can see how the UK is bubbling up, where it feels like club or rave music, but not the kind of club music from three or four years ago that was more street. Now it’s more about energy and having fun. People like fakemink, EsDeeKid, Nettspend, OsamaSon. People want to go to shows and have fun. Underground shows are packed and the energy is crazy. You go to an underground show and it’s full. People are actually excited to be there.
What advice would you give to upcoming music producers who are just starting now and want to land major placements and establish their careers in the music industry?
I’d say find a niche. Find a reason for people to care. That’s what I started thinking about more when I was making beats, because at first I was just making beats. You can have good beats and be successful just off that, but on the internet five years ago, that was easier. That’s how I came up. I had beats that artists liked and I was online. I didn’t have to show my face or anything. But to really transition into being a big producer, you kind of have to have a brand. You’ve got to be a thing. Honestly, I think it’s best when you’re just yourself, but you still need some kind of brand.
That’s why I feel like a lot of the kids coming up either do content or they just have a strong brand. You can look at someone like Noah Mejia. I remember him as more of a loop maker. He’d send loops and post pictures here and there, but now he’s really gone hard on being a streamer producer. It’s cool because it adds to his image. Even if I didn’t know him, I could see his character and get that he’s funny and has a sense of humor. I already knew he was like that, but now the world can see it too. It’s all about building a brand.
I feel like it’s a different time to come up as a producer than it was five years ago. Now you actually need to be posting reels and stuff like that to go up. I didn’t have to do any of that. I just had to send emails. I didn’t have to post reels. We were on Discord every day cooking up. That was how you could connect with the biggest producers, through Discord, Clubhouse, Instagram. It’s a different game now. I don’t even check my DMs, and I don’t check my loop email. For new producers it’s actually kind of hard, I feel like. So that’s what I’d say personally.
What kind of music do you listen to in your free time?
Well, I just got my Spotify Wrapped back and it was like OsamaSon, Lil Tony, and I think Che was on there too. I listen to a lot of YoungBoy. Kodak, I love Kodak, he’s really like a GOAT for me. Chief Keef.
On the older side of things, I really listen to my dad’s music and my mom’s music, like Fleetwood Mac and that kind of stuff. There’s just a lot of random music I listen to that isn’t rap. Everyone always says that and it sounds corny, but honestly, I can only do rap at certain times of the day. Like at the gym, in the car, or if I’m walking with my earbuds in. Other than that, I really gravitate toward other stuff.
Where do you see yourself one year from now, and can you share both your personal and professional plans?
I don’t really know. Hopefully I have more records, but honestly I haven’t thought that far ahead. I’ve kind of just been taking it day by day, figuring out what I want to do the next day and giving that a hundred percent. I just try to get a little bit better every day, and then wherever I’m at in a year is where I’m meant to be. Every year I grow more, so I don’t really look to the future like that. I’m more focused on what I can do right now.
Follow Yakree on Instagram: @yakree
