Inside Track: Hit-Boy

Photo: @louiseugenelee

Hit‑Boy’s freewheeling production style has made him one of the hottest producers in the USA.

“My process is not having a process,” insists Chauncey Hollis Jr, aka Hit‑Boy. “I don’t get too industry about making beats. I make my best stuff when I’m just free, when I’m going off no‑one’s notes, going off no references, when nobody is putting me in a box or pigeonholing me in what they think the vision is. That’s why I say I’m the least technical producer ever. I just do it, you know what I mean? And the stuff that I feel in my soul, people pretty much like it.

“It’s crazy, because you don’t know what things turn out to be. You might not feel the most connected to a big hit you’ve been involved in. I’ve made songs that are all over the radio. Not one of the songs I did with Nas made it to the radio. But I’ve gotten more respect, been more revered, with more people in the streets telling me how much the albums I did with Nas inspired them, than with many of my big hits.”

Clearly, there’s more to Hit‑Boy’s music career than having hits. Since 2020, he’s released six albums with Nas: King’s Disease I, II and III and Magic 1, 2 and 3, plus many more with other artists or under his own name. The King’s Disease albums have received two Grammy nominations and a Grammy Award, as well as contributing to Hit‑Boy’s two Grammy nominations for Producer Of The Year. His most recent nomination was on the basis of releases by Don Toliver, Dreamville, Musiq Soulchild, Nas, his solo albums Surf Or Drown Vol 1 and 2, and releases with the Alchemist.

Hit‑Boy’s hectic release schedule continues this year with an album with regular collaborator the Alchemist and his father, Big Hit, called Black And Whites (see box). Meanwhile, his writing and production work with singles for others tend to yield the biggest hits, including Kanye and Jay‑Z’s seminal ‘N****s in Paris’ (2011), Travis Scott’s ‘Sicko Mode’ (2018), and songs for Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Beyonce. This year, he’s already enjoyed a synth credit on Beyonce’s megahit ‘Texas Hold ’Em’, and co‑wrote and co‑produced Jennifer Lopez’s hit single ‘Can’t Get Enough’.

Brave Beats

Hit‑Boy grew up in Fontana, part of the Inland Empire and an hour’s drive outside LA, which is why he also calls himself Tony Fontana. He had his first breakthrough in 2007, on Jennifer Lopez’s hit album Brave. “I sold a beat to Jennifer Lopez for a song called ‘Forever’ that appeared on Brave. I had turned 20 years old and starting on a pop level like that opened up my eyes. It was like, ‘Man, I can do anything!’”

He had started making beats only a few years earlier. “In 2001, I was rapping, and after a year also started making beats. A friend of mine had a setup with FL Studio, or Fruity Loops as it was called. I thought it was fun and started messing with it. He also had this program called [Sonic Foundry] Acid Pro, where you could chop samples and record vocals. It was like Pro Tools back in the day. He had all the tools, and I kind of peeked at them and ran with it. I had all the pieces I needed to make albums, songs and beats from the jump. I did not have an MPC, because I came in when it was time for a shift. But people did not really take FL Studio serious when it first came out. It was like, ‘Oh, that’s some kid’s stuff,’ or ‘It’s like a game.’ It took time before people made big hits with FL.

”Thank God for my family, because when I decided that I wanted my own computer, to be able to make beats every day, everybody was pitching in on my vision. My grandmother let me have a desktop computer with a screen that she already had, my uncle bought me a basic microphone and an [Digidesign] Mbox, and my mom bought me some speakers. She was happy that I was in the house making music instead of being in the streets!”

Doing It All

“For many years I had a studio in my bedroom and invited people to my house to make music with me. Hundreds of artists came through to rock with me before I did anything professional. I used to have everybody who came through sign with a marker on my wall, and ended up with a wall full of signatures. I was inspired by everybody, from Jay‑Z to Kanye West, people on the West Coast, listening to gangsta rap, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, NWA, all of that stuff.

“I always loved music in general, which is why people don’t really know me for a specific sound. I make everything under the sun, whether it’s a West Coast vibe, or East Coast. I’m able to do six albums for Nas, but then worked with a new group from the West Coast called BlueBucksClan, you know what I mean? I’ve allowed my palette to build and be exactly what I want it to be, which is anything. I pretty much do it all.

Although he’s now moved to a dedicated space at Chalice Studios, Hit‑Boy still works mainly with a simple rig based around Image Line’s FL Studio.

“A lot of people like my drum programming, melodies and stuff like that. But I’m primarily a programmer. I learned many chords and in 2006 got to be around a lot of gospel musicians and dope musicians, like 1500 Or Nothin’. It was about being in the right circles and studios, and learning from them, and from everybody who was a super musician. I never made it to the point where I can play an instrument on stage, but I play well enough to make beats, and understand melody.

Hit-Boy: "I still make my beats in FL Studio today. I’ve been using it for so long, it’s an extension of me at this point. We just flow together."

“I still make my beats in FL Studio today. I’ve been using it for so long, it’s an extension of me at this point. We just flow together. I had times back in maybe 2005 where I tried Logic, and I tried Ableton back in 2015‑16. But my pace and my workflow is just better on FL. It’s so visual, and I’m so used to it. I also remained in my home studio for many years, until I moved to a professional recording studio in West Hollywood called Chalice about six years ago, and refocused my energy. It’s a real, smaller space, also with a homey vibe.”

French Fancy

His ability to be “anything” has clearly served Hit‑Boy in becoming one of the leading hip‑hop/R&B producers of his generation, with a credit list that also includes Big Sean, A$AP Rocky, Kid Cudi, John Legend, Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, Selena Gomez, Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Juice Wrld, Jack Harlow, 2 Chainz, the Game and many others. After getting the placement on Brave, Hit‑Boy became a staff producer for Polow Da Don’s Zone 4 label, receiving co‑production credits on the More Than A Game documentary soundtrack, and on the Mary J Blige song ‘Stronger’. In 2011, he signed to Kanye West’s GOOD Music label, and immediately hit the super‑bigtime because of his involvement in Kanye and Jay‑Z’s megahit ‘N****s In Paris’, which won two Grammy Awards.

“The ‘Stronger’ song was a good moment. To be working with Kanye was unbelievable. Just to be around somebody like him, who I had been idolising, watching, respecting, listening to, being inspired by. Just for him to want me around. We spent a lot of time together, and we worked on many songs and ideas. The ‘Paris’ beat was probably up when we first started working, but he was trying to give it to Pusha T, who just couldn’t think of anything to it. Pusha said it sounded like a video game to him.

“This was funny because that’s how I look at my beat‑making process. It’s always been fun for me. I never really go too heavy on the technical side, even to this day. It’s more all instinct and what I’m feeling in the moment. I might lay a chord progression that I might not remember how to play afterwards. With ‘Paris’ I had come up with the musical bed. Then Mike Dean and Kanye layered over what I had done.

Hit‑Boy: "I got an email from Kanye saying, ‘Yo, me and Jay just made a song to one of your beats. I promise your life is going to change after this song drops.’"

“Later I got an email from Kanye saying, ‘Yo, me and Jay just made a song to one of your beats. I promise your life is going to change after this song drops.’ He kept hyping it up through email, telling me how great it was. The first time I actually heard it was at the listening party for Watch The Throne in 2011. It was a real experience. When the first song played, people clapped, when the second song played, everybody went crazy. But when ‘Paris’ came on, the whole building stood up. It went nuclear! So I knew the song was a different level.”

Beat Development

‘Paris’ took Hit‑Boy’s career to a different level, and he followed up with several more classic hits, among them ‘Clique’ (2012) by West, Jay‑Z and Big Sean, ‘Backstreet Freestyle’ (2013) by Kendrick Lamar and ‘Sicko Mode’ (2018) by Travis Scott. “‘Clique’, ‘Paris’, ‘Goldie’ and ‘One Train’ by A$AP Rocky, ‘Backseat Freestyle’, all started from beats I made at my mom’s house in the Inland Empire when I was by myself, just working out of my bedroom. That’s why I’ve been super productive, selling hundreds of beats, doing six albums for Nas, doing albums for Musiq Soulchild, albums for BlueBucksClan, Benny the Butcher, and so on.

“It’s funny because I’ve been saving all my FL files since ’06‑’07. Sometimes I’ll go back and I literally will remember exactly where I was when making certain beats and how I felt at that time. All these memories come back to me. I number all my beats, so it’ll be like ‘Hit‑Boy 1873’. I take these old beats, and sometimes I still sell them, or I update them with the new skill sets that I’ve developed, just to put the new knowledge into it. Or, if I used a sample that doesn’t get cleared, I replicate the feeling and the sound without samples.

“The original beat for ‘Clique’ was actually called ‘CDC’ and released by Dom Kennedy [in 2011]. We changed it up, messed with the melody, brought that bass line in, and took it to a new level. With Kendrick, I worked with him on Good Kid, M.A.A.D City [2012], and together with Dave Free we went through some beats of mine, and when he heard this one, he was like ‘Yeah, that’s it.’ I still see clips of Kendrick performing that at his concerts.

“‘Sicko Mode’ started with something that Rogét Chahayed and I produced. I played it to Travis, who loved it. I had actually worked on his album before, Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight [2016], and the night that album dropped, Travis told me, ‘Yo, I’m in the studio with Drake. Can you send me that “Sicko Mode” beat?’ Drake hopped on it immediately, and laid down his part for the intro. Next thing I knew, Travis had pieced it together with two other songs and made it a whole moment.”

Streamlining The Studio

Although he’s upgraded his surroundings, Hit‑Boy still works on gear that’s as basic as it was two decades ago. “I still use FL Studio on a PC. I went through parts of my career where I had FL on the Mac, but I just feel like the sound, the way it feels, it just hits harder on a PC. I have a Universal Audio Apollo interface, and an FL Studio MIDI keyboard. Sometimes I’ll use an [Akai] MPC Live Supreme, but more to record live audio back into FL Studio, and I then manipulate it in there.

In session with BlueBucksClan at Chalice.“My monitors are Focals and QSC live monitors. I couldn’t tell you the exact Focal model, but they’re mid‑tier ones. They’re for fine‑tuning and the QSCs are for vibing, when I want it loud and I want to make sure that my 808s aren’t going to tear through the speakers and break them. You can beat the QSCs up and be loud as you want without the speaker busting. When I want to listen at low volume and really get the details, I put it on the Focals.

“With plug‑ins and VSTs I also keep it simple. I have Spectrasonics Omnisphere and Trillian, and the Native Instruments Kontakt Player, and stuff like that. Kontakt has new modern ways of thinking and modern sounds. I also use a plug‑in by StudioLinked called OVO RnB, and the Juice plug‑in by Gospel Producers. I’m developing my own plug‑in with StudioLinked. It should allow you to make something dope without even trying. I feel like that’s where it’s going. I want to be able to have a VST where anybody can just press some keys and make it sound great.

“For things like EQs, I use stock FL Studio plug‑ins. I also use the Valhalla Vintage Verb, and a few other things. I also have the Serato sampler. I’m always looking for new sounds and have been collecting samples since 2003. I have millions of samples, and will shuffle through stuff that sounds interesting and see how I can make it my own. I’m organised and unorganised at the same time. I just find samples in the moment. That’s what keeps my ideas fresh. I look out for old sounds that I might have missed that I already have, or I might look up a certain type of kit online and apply that to what I’m doing in the moment. I’ll do everything from speeding the sample up, slowing it down, pitching it.

“With 808s, I switch it up. If you listen to the song ‘Another One’ [on the 2024 benefit album Rent Due by La Russell and Hit‑Boy], or ‘ALLAT’ [2024, Hit‑Boy, Big Hit & Zoe Osama featuring Honcho] you’ll hear this kind of modern sound. It’s almost not an 808, and more like a Moog sound. That’s a new sound I’ve been running with lately. When I was coming up, my favourite producers, from the Neptunes to Lil Jon to Timbaland, would use signature sounds. The Moog‑like 808 sound is deep and hits like an 808, but it has this top that gives it a different bounce and a different feel.”

Growing

While Hit‑Boy likes to hark back to his beginning days as a beatmaker, he’s also developed other skills, not only as a producer, but also as an engineer, notably on the albums he has done with Nas.

“Nas and I dropped like 80 songs in three years. I was pulling from every piece of energy and every beat I had. Some days I start by figuring out chords or figuring out a melody, or I might hear a sample. Or it might be drums. A lot of my ideas or just my inspiration come from pulling up old samples, old drum patterns and laying new samples over my old stuff. I had to reproduce a lot of stuff, too, because with Nas it’s a soulful hip‑hop vibe.

“That has allowed me to grow as a producer, and as a music maker. When I work with Nas, I’m definitely going to have a pack of beats ready to play him. Nine and a half times out of 10, he’s going to try an idea to something I played him, but sometimes he sends me samples or tells me a certain vibe he wants to talk about, and I’ll kind of get into that or bring a piece of music that will complement that. And I might help him arrange a song. We always have open lines of communication.

“Nas came to my studio at Chalice. Me being able to record and vocal produce him means it’s a quicker process, versus me having to wait for the engineer to do this. I used a Sony C800 mic, and [Neve] 1073 compressor and the Tube‑Tech CL‑1B [compressor]. It’s a simple setup. That C800 cuts clean through. You’re gonna feel the vocal and you’re going to hear it clearly. I record him into Pro Tools, and then do the vocal production, 100 percent. That’s why I feel like I’m a better beat maker and a better producer, because when I work with people like Nas or Benny [the Butcher] I get into the vocal production and find places for hooks and try to fly different parts around.

“Once I get a song in a good place with a rough mix, I’ll sit with my main mixer, David Kim, and finalise it. We clean the song up in my Pro Tools session, and get it to a ballpark idea of where I need it to be, and then he’ll take it to his studio in the back of Chalice and do his final mix. He’s going to make sure that everything is blasting out at the right levels and hitting the way I want it to, with the clarity at the same time. It’s a simple process.”

Alchemy

Recent projects released under Hit‑Boy’s own name include two albums with Big Hit, The Truth Is In My Eyes and Paisley Dreams (also with the Game), both self‑financed and released on his own Surf Club label. Hit‑Boy also split production duties with star producer the Alchemist on Benny The Butcher’s album Everybody Can’t Go. By the time this interview is published, Black & Whites, the collaborative album by Hit‑Boy with Big Hit and the Alchemist, will have seen the light of day (see box).

“I flew a few times to Las Vegas to work with Benny. I did some records with him, and then Alchemist came in and brought the full vision to life. The Alchemist and I really respect each other. We’ve been through similar stuff with the industry, having to completely empower ourselves and take the independent route and work with artists that truly want to craft full projects, or craft like a special art piece, versus chasing a hit. Most of the stuff I listen to is underground stuff that’s not even really mixed or mastered properly. It’s like a raw feeling, raw energy. And that allows me to know, ‘OK, you don’t have to be perfect out here.’ Just make something that you really feel and let it fly.”