(Producer Interview) - Behind The Music: T4

20-year-old T-4our Beats has been making hits since he was in school. The Scottish born producer is at the forefront of UK-International crossover tracks. The acclaimed beat maker talks the death of drill, the Scottish rap scene and much more.  

What was your entry into making music, what was the inspiration behind it?  

I started when I was about 11. I was making EDM stuff mainly, I took inspiration from people like Martin Garrix and Avicii. The stuff I was making was pretty terrible at the time.  

Who is your favourite artist that you've worked with and why?  

Being from Scotland, a lot of people are hard to work with, but there are some that stand out. I worked with a German artist called Josi. Theres a few Scottish artists that I've worked with too, I’ve got a song that I worked on called Home Alone by Chachy from Aberdeen. We worked really well together.  

What is your creative process when making a beat, what do you start with?  

If I'm starting completely from scratch ill start with a melody, or a sample if I'm chopping something up. I’ll mix as I go, I won't leave it till the end.  

As a Scottish person, what do you think about the current state of the music scene over there?  

In terms of the rap scene, I wouldn't say it's the best. Theres some really talented artists, but something I've noticed being in group chats with producers and UK artists is that they are always meeting up, having studio sessions, I don't see that as much with Scottish artists. There is also the accent, which there is two sides to. People don't like it when Scottish artists change their accent in their music, at the same time when they rap in their real accent it gets a negative reaction, especially from English and American audiences.  

You have worked with international artists such as German artist Josi and Spanish artist Moha the B who worked with UK drill artist V9. What do you think about crossover collabs with UK artists and international artists?  

It’s good because the audience of these European artists have huge audiences that aren't that tapped in with UK artists, so it brings exposure to UK artists. I feel like the European audience will take in the music here more than American audiences.  

You produced “Hello” by Sinsquad which is currently sitting at 1.1 million views. Describe what it feels like to have a song you produced blow up like that?  

It was cool at the time definitely. That song came out in 2021, I was like 16-17 at the time so I was still in school. I remember seeing the numbers go up like wow. I don't think about it as much now as I'm trying to move away from the drill sound.  

A lot of your placements have been drill tracks, but on your own channel you experiment with a lot of grime sounds. Is this the genre you enjoy making the most and are you looking to work with more grime artists and artists in other genres in the future?  

Definitely, in my opinion drill has completely died out. I think next year grime drum rhythms will be something we see more of, especially with soul melodies as those are the beats that I have had the best feedback from. I would just like to move away from working with drill artists in general. I'm not going to slag off drill artists and call them unprofessional, but I think you can only get so far making drill music, which isn't the case with other genres such as R&B which I'm trying to make more of.  

Who is your dream artist to work with?  

Maybe someone like Central Cee or Drake, big artists mainly. I'd like to work with R&B artists, someone like SZA.  

What advice would you give to a beginner producer?  

Experiment with lots of sounds, don't make one type of beat. Thats the trap I fell into, all I use to make was drill beats. Try not to care about the money at first, I was constantly told make sure you get paid when I was starting out. In reality that £30 isn't going to change your life, worry more about networking and getting your name out there.  

Have you experienced any trials and tribulations as a producer that others may be able to relate to, how did you overcome these?  

Mostly just getting noticed as a producer, the scene is so saturated now that it makes it a lot harder. You just need to be consistent, network as much as possible and use social media to your advantage.  

What’s next for you, are you working on anything specific you’d like to share?  

I have a song with Rimzee coming out soon. Other than that, I'm just grinding out grime beats on my YouTube and making lots of loops, trying to improve my sound as much as possible.