Menace Got Beats Talks Getting Placement On Sincerely Kentrell, Grammy Nominations + Perseverance
Back in in December of 2015, an emerging United Kingdom producers life would change forever. That producer would be Manchester’s own Menace Got Beats.
Emerging Brooklyn rapper Desiigner released his biggest hit and one of the biggest records in the history of Hip-Hop in “Panda”. A record that Menace refers to as “forever classic”. Since then Menace Got Beats has been on a tear. Songs he has produced have charted #1 on Billboard 6x, gone Gold (1x), Platinum (30x), Grammy nominated (2x) and has massed over 3 Billion streams.
I spoke with the pride of Manchester about his accomplishments, working with polarizing artist Youngboy Never Broke Again on his latest album “Sincerely Kentrell”, perseverance + more.
Check out our conversation below.
Early Days, Creating Panda, + Grammy Nominations
Born and raised in Manchester, United Kingdom Menace Got Beats has always been into Hip-Hop. Influenced by Michael Jackson, Timbaland, Scott Storch, & Kanye West among others Menance began producing at 13. Which is one of the reasons his production style is so versatile.
“My production style can vary. I can make them knocking 808 Lil baby type beats, dark & melodic drill beats to commercial pop music. I’m pretty versatile with my sound.”
As mentioned before Menace got his big break in 2015 producing “Panda” for Desiigner. Something he would have never known if not for Twitter.
I only came to find out about the record when somebody tagged me on Twitter randomly one day. The rest was history! That moment in hip hop will never be repeated, it was a game changer & Kanye did his part too with his version of the record that was on his “The Life of Pablo” album.
Menace On “Panda”
Panda has gone on to be streamed over a billion times, gone platinum twice as well as be used by Kanye West on “The Life Of Pablo” leading to a Grammy nomination
Winning A Grammy is still a goal for Menace.
Where I’m from, the way I was raised & the challenges I faced, getting a Grammy award will influence the next generation of producers from my city that despite limitations you can go far & wide. It’s a symbol of hope!
Menace On What Winning A Grammy Would Mean For Manchester
Getting Placement on Sincerely Kentrell, Perseverance + Advice
Throughout the years Menace has worked with a plethora of artist in Hip-Hop ranging from Blac Youngsta, Hit Man Holla, + more. However one of his biggest placements yet was landing on Youngboy Never Broke Again, “Sincerely Kentrell” album.
Menace produced track #15 “Baddest Thing”.
I tend to make my loop melodies for producers & I sent it over to Mike Wills team to send it out to there producers. One day I just got a email from Youngboy’s label saying they have a beat of mine that they wanted to clear. Then Sincerely Kentrell was announced & my record “Baddest Thing” was listed on the credits! Shoutout to Youngboy, we have more work in the pipeline!
Menace On Getting Placement On Sincerely Kentrell
Although things have been going Menace’s way, there was a time where was in a dark place but he remained positive and made it through that situation.
When things began to take off for his career he had a kidney failure. Although Menace is till on dialysis, it has motivated him to go even harder.
When I was told my kidneys failed, I was in a really dark place. It made really depressed & I had a bleak view of the future of just not only music but living too. Right now I’m still on dialysis, but I’ve picked myself up & now more motivated then ever before!
Right now,
Menace is working hard on his music & has dreams of becoming a CEO of a major label one day. Consistency has taken menace far and is something he stresses for upcoming acts
The only advise I give is stay CONSISTENT! Your talent will only get you so far but staying consistent on your craft you will get somewhere. It’s a difficult profession where you have to be creative 24/7. Only the most strongest pull through. Just keep going ! As long your heart & mind are in right place and you have that hunger to win, you’ll win. It’s a very stressful profession. You’ll have moments you feel your not getting anywhere but I’ll tell you that just means your nearly there!