Nick Mira: This beat was specifically made for Tecca and it’s like one of the few times where I
actually made a beat directly for the artist.
Taz Taylor: I just tweeted out, “I want to do a tape with Lil Tecca,” and he just
hit me back. He's like “Oh let’s do it.”
I’m like, “Oh damn.
This happened in like…
10 minutes.”
Nick Mira: He teased “Ransom” on his Instagram and like since then, everybody was like,
“Drop Ransom.
Drop Ransom.
Drop Ransom.”
The night that this song was made, Taz and Tecca, they did six songs together at the Internet
Money House.
I just played them back over and over.
I was like, “These are hard.
These are fire.”
Nick Mira: Taz went on Twitter and he’s like, “I want to do a tape with this kid,
Lil Tecca.”
And I didn’t know who he was at the time.
I thought he was crazy.
I thought he was super talented and like everything, so I was like, “I want to help out.
I want to be apart of that too so whatever you need for me, let me know.”
Nick Mira: I like to be labeled as a full producer but in this situation, I was kind
of just a beat maker.
I gave it to Taz and Tecca and Taz is like the real producer behind the track.
He orchestrated like the whole thing.
He got Tecca on it.
Taz Taylor: January 3rd.
Tecca’s flying out and he’s in my house.
I’m ringing Nick.
Nick’s in the kitchen making toaster strudels.
And I tell him the type of beats I need.
I’m like, “really uptempo, melodic beats.”
He’s like, “Alright, bet.
I’ma cook something.”
But I told him to keep it bare, so we can go in afterwards if we need to add something
in, add something in.
Nick Mira: I knew I wanted to have like a bell or a piano, something that was easy to
remember.
First off, I made this simple bass pattern.
So that’s how I started the melody really.
After I get those root notes down, I like to go up and build the chords.
I played it on my MIDI keyboard originally and then I went in FL Studios and then I clipped
it in.
I thought it was a little dry but I still liked it.
So I went in and I added this synth key behind it but I took the same notes and I just copied
and pasted them on a new pattern.
After I did that, I did shift-E. FL Studio shortcut, you can shorten all these notes
and just make them little stabs.
A tip for producers.
You know you use two sounds or just stack your hooks so then when a verse comes, you can take them
out and the listener won’t really know it’s gone but you can definitely feel it.
I felt like the melody really carried the groove so I wanted to keep the drums stupid
simple.
So I just have a two step Hi-Hat pattern.
Most of these sounds I used, they’re all from my kits I have on wavesupply.net.
I have like almost 100 kits.
After I had the Hi-Hat and the melody going, I just added a clap on top of it.
I went in and I added this open hat from my boy, DT A.K.A.
SIDEPCE.
Added this little background snare and I’m going to play it with the metronome so you
can hear where it really hits.
So then that playing with the rest of the drums or the percussion I have here…
If I don’t start off doing my drums with the 808 and I start with my percussion,
the 808 will come last and then I’ll just fill it in with the beat.
I went to the melody I wrote in and I held control, left click, copied the root notes,
and then I pasted them on an 808 channel.
Producers, tune your 808’s.
When I added the kicks on top of it, I kept it in the same pattern but I took
some out where the 808 was hitting just for extra bounce.
In the verse, I don’t have the bells until the end, like there’s a little bridge but
the keys just played by themselves.
And this song just proves you don’t need an insane beat with like 80 sounds just to make
a hit.
I didn’t think it was done in my head.
Like I thought there could be something more but usually, when I think that, it’s really
the artists’ voice that you know completes the song as a whole.
So I mean I just did the simple beat with like eight sounds and it really…
It just got the job done.
Taz Taylor: The thing with “Ransom” is like, Tecca would come upstairs and be like,
“What do you think of this?”
And I’d go down and listen to it and I’m like, “Nah we gotta move this here.
We gotta do this right here.
Put the hook right here.
Bring the hook back ‘round here.”
Cause you know, he’s like a kid.
He never did like actual production of a song, like mapping out the structure, all that stuff.
He has a weird way of just like his wordplay with words and shit.
Ride or die, he said, “Die or ride.”
I’m like… what does he mean?
Nick Mira: Tecca’s voice is like the main instrument on the song.
If he had a monotone voice on it, it wouldn’t be the song it is.
He could just be like, “I got two twin glocks, turn you to a dancer” and it’d be like
so boring but he has that ear for like melody and like singing on it.
Taz Taylor: I think what made it special is just a mix of everything.
The Internet Money side, just all of us coming together to build up one thing and then also,
Tecca just doing what he does and adding his flavor to it as well.
There’s some artists who we work with…
Like Juice is another one, whenever they’re on our beats, something crazy magical happens
and you just can’t control it.
Tecca’s one of those artists.
Nick Mira: The original name of the beat was “Bussin” cause I think I saw something
about bussing tables and I don’t know.
I name my beats stupid things like, I’ll see a word in the room…
I’ll see a water bottle.
I just call it the brand of the water.
I’ll see a book and it’ll be like, “book.”
I don’t really put thought into naming my beats.