Soundz | 11:11

Soundz proves you don’t have to be boxed into any one label, especially when it comes to the music industry. Hailing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, real name Kenneth C. Coby has enough accolades to last a lifetime — but he’s not settling. The five-time Grammy-nominated producer has over 20 Platinum records to his name, working with everyone from Beyonce and Rihanna to Usher and Mary J. Blige to pop superstar Justin Bieber.

At 34-year-old, the producer and rapper is responsible for Rae Sremmurd’s “Throw Some Mo,” Wale’s “The Body,” Justin Bieber’s “No Sense,” Ro James’ “Permission,” and most notably Usher’s “Love in This Club” Part 2 featuring Beyonce and Lil Wayne that’s currently RIAA-certified 5x Platinum. But he also raps under the alias iRap, a safe place he can unleash his immediate thoughts and feelings, inspired mainly by real-life experiences and situations.

For one, Soundz recently became a father, which completely changed his outlook on life. As evidenced in the opening scene of his 11:11 documentary: it’s no longer about him, but rather providing for his little one. 

Flaunt Mag caught up with Soundz post-screening, which took place inside The Landmark theatres on Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles. Friends and family (including his own mother) conjoined inside the intimate theater to watch the hour-long clip, premiered by his own company AU Films. AU stands for Add Up Entertainment, a double entendre as Au stands for the chemical Gold on the Periodic table.

Soundz is not letting his foot off the gas pedal anytime soon, period.

For those who don’t know, who is Soundz?

Soundz is a revolutionary producer, creator, songwriter. I just do it all, whatever I get my hands on. 

Bring us back to when you made your first beat. What were you feeling?

When I made my first beat, I was more looking at the computer screen like a video game. It was more of a video game than just making a beat. I didn’t know what making a beat was really. I didn’t have an MPC or nothing like that. I had straight computer Fruity Loops, type in the notes. It was a video game to me. 

How old were you?

I was 17 when I first tapped into it. 

What’s the significance in naming your documentary 11:11?

11:11 for me is definitely new changes and new beginnings. For one, I see it every day. I don’t know why I see it every day. Then November 11th, my laptop and all of my hard drives were stolen. That’s pretty much the under layer, the storyline of the movie: how I bounced back from having my laptops stolen for me. Files that I definitely needed to make money with, but still prevailed. 

I heard his work ethic is insane.

Yes, his work ethic is crazy. You know, he occasionally smokes cigarettes in the studio. A couple of sessions, I’m like “[sighs] send me the session bro, I can’t do it.”

How did you link with Justin Bieber?

My mentor Tricky Stewart introduced me to Bieber. He did the song “Baby” for Bieber. His relationship with Bieber was super tight. He just brought him to his house and I was there kicking it. I happened to be the youngest dude in the house, me and him just automatically connected. Because he didn’t have anybody to relate with, everybody was older. We just connected. 

Is it different working with a pop artist versus an R&B artist?

Yes, pop artists have budgets. Jab jab. [chuckles] Rap artists don’t really... they just pay you for half a beat. Then they tell you that’s it. Pop artists, you’ll have a food budget. You’ll have drinks in the studio. You might have a budget to take you to and from the studio, you never know. 

That’s crazy because hip-hop is supposed to be the biggest genre.

Yeah but pop, they just do it right. I don’t know why. They understand it. 

Bring us back to the studio session for “Throw Some Mo.”

Shoot, I did “Throw some Mo” at my home studio. I did it for Flo Rida. I was making beats at the time, Flo Rida was hot at the time. 

Where’s your home? 

I’m in Tarzana right now, my studio was in Studio City. I did a couple sessions, then I sent Atlantic a whole bunch of beats. They didn’t take them. I think Jeremih heard the song first. I sent it to him, he sent me a song back and it had a girl on it. “Ass fat, yeah I know! [singing]” He was rapping a verse, but it had no words. He’s kind of going through the melodies, and he sent it to me like that. Sometimes he sends me incomplete records and they’ll never be completed, ever. He’ll just send them and one day, he’ll hit you up and be like “yo, I played that unfinished idea for somebody and they liked it.” 

So he’s like “yeah I was in a session for Mike WiLL, I played it and he liked it.” He wanted it for his group Rae Sremmurd. I didn’t know who they were. I was accomplished at the time, but I didn’t know who Rae Sremmurd was. Mike was like “trust me, they’re going to be hot. I’m putting this new group out.” I’m like “man alright bro, I’ma trust you.” And he was right. 

What was your reaction when you first heard it?

I heard it from a leak on a mixtape. I was mad. When I heard it the first time, I’m like “man, they didn’t pay me for this! What’s going on? Why’s this song out?” Some people when they put a song out prematurely, they don’t do the business on it. I have to give them a salute because even though the song was out on a mixtape, they came back with us: paid for the beat, did the paperwork, put Nicki Minaj and put Young Thug on it. They just took it to the next level. Don’t get it twisted people, leaks aren’t that bad. It might just get the audience first, then you just put a feature on it. Give them a little surprise. 

If you could bring back one hit of yours in 2019, what would it be?

I say the best, favorite hit of 2019 would be all of my music that I’ve ever put out solely. My solo music is on another level, as an artist. I’m a rapper, I go by iRap. I have an alter ego. My Instagram is @iRaptoo so people who want to follow that, it’s nothing but strictly my music. My bars. Nothing that has to do with beats and shit like that. I’m excited about the music because my life is real. All of my years of experience, I’m putting into my music. It’s on another level.

Are producers finally getting enough credit?

No. I don’t think producers get credit because artists be afraid to give away the sauce. Artists don’t want to give away the sauce and that puts you in a situation where: should I put this producer to the spotlight so everybody else can use him? Or should I keep him as a secret? So he can be my secret weapon. It’s a little split between should I be a secret weapon, or should I get the credit? I don’t think producers get as much credit as they should. Until artists start really realizing that hey, if you shout a producer out, he’s going to hold you down for a long time. Period.

What goals do you have for yourself at this point of your career?

Goals for myself are to sign new artists, sign some producers. Just give back and to keep breaking bread, finding new talent. People that have never had a check before, I want to put checks in their pocket. 

Biggest lesson you learned in fatherhood? 

Biggest lesson I've learned in fatherhood is patience and sacrifice. The biggest lesson I’ve learned was that these girls are really not as valuable as you think they are. Not these girls, I mean to say girls that aren’t really valuable to your time. You’ll start to decipher who’s worth your time, because you really want to put your time into your kid. It helped me out with my love life. My dating life... I don’t waste my time on girls. It’s more about getting this bread and if someone can complement that, then it’s cool. But if not, I’m focused on the bread. Usually other years, I might’ve been just like “I want to have fun. I’ve been working too hard, I just want to have fun.” Now, I’ve got to work hard. I don’t care about the fun anymore.