'Artists like Drake and Travis Scott push me to go to my limits every ...

MBW’s World’s Greatest Producers series sees us interview – and celebrate – some of the outstanding talents working in studios across the decades. This time out we speak to Swiss producer/songwriter OZ, now established as a major player through his work with Drake, Travis Scott, Jack Harlow and others. World’s Greatest Producers is supported by Hipgnosis Song Management.

What’s the best 300 bucks you’ve ever spent?

Producer Ozan Yildirim – better known as OZ – knows exactly what he spent it on: it was the 250 Swiss francs he shelled out to a contact in exchange for Meek Mill’s email address.

At the time, he was based in a small village in Switzerland and, while he was making a name for himself in European hip-hop production, the all-important American market, whilst in thrall to Swizz Beatz, had little appetite for actual Swiss beats, meaning he was struggling to get noticed on the other side of the Atlantic.

One transaction later, however, and legendary rapper Mill was in possession of a WeTransfer link with 10 precision-tooled OZ beats attached.

“It was the best investment of my life!” chuckles OZ. “I was very frustrated during that time. Normally, I’m not a person that goes and asks for favors. I knew my beats were very good. I had a lot of experience working with German artists, I’d put two albums together on my own, with no collaborations, so I was like, ‘My beats got way better, so I have to try it, because I know he’s going to like my stuff’. The worst thing he could say was ‘No’.”

Luckily, Mill was impressed and brought in OZ to co-write and co-produce on the likes of Been That (feat. Rick Ross) and Cold Hearted (feat. Puff Daddy). That led to more work Stateside and the rest is transatlantic hip-hop history.

Mill’s patronage was a game-changer for OZ, whose talent had never been in doubt, simply hampered by his unfashionable location. Of Turkish descent, OZ grew up in Switzerland, and became obsessed with rap music through the clips he saw on MTV.

He started DJ-ing when he was 12 (“I wasn’t in the club, because I could get in the club!” he quips), then progressed to making his own beats on Magix Music Maker software by the time he was 14. In the mid-2000s, he started posting them on YouTube and MySpace and “sending my beats out to random rappers”.

“I wasn’t thinking about my career, I was just having fun,” he says. “There was no scene [in Switzerland], America looked very far away and there were no other producers I could look up to in Europe where I could say, ‘I want to be like him.’”

Eventually, however, Austrian rapper Nazar got in touch and signed OZ to his No Limits stable. As German-language hip-hop grew, so did OZ’s reputation, but still he dreamed of making it big Stateside.

“It scared me a little bit, but I believed in myself.”

“I was 18 or 19 and I could barely speak English,” he says. “I didn’t know how it worked and people told me crazy stories about how it is in America; how you have to speak the language and you have to be from there – things that were impossible for me at the time. It scared me a little bit, but I believed in myself. The fact that I was working in Germany gave me a positive mindset; I knew I’d made it there, so why shouldn’t I make it in the States?”

And, after his breakthrough with Meek Mill, that’s exactly what he did. Signed to Kobalt, he’s become the consummate modern co-writer/co-producer and a key collaborator for the likes of Drake (Toosie Slide, Girls Want Girls), Travis Scott (Sicko Mode, Highest In The Room), Future (Life Is Good) and many more.

An astounding seven billion streams later (“I never take for granted the privilege of having platinum songs”), he’s on another hot streak with the likes of Drake’s First Person Shooter and Jack Harlow’s monster crossover hit Lovin’ On Me, and now has his own stable of producers as he looks to help others get the breaks he worked so hard for.

As he chats to MBW from his Swiss HQ, OZ fizzes with plans to move into genres beyond hip-hop. But first, it’s time to talk us through Drake, AI and why artists need to give producers more respect…

WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED WORKING WITH US ARTISTS, DID YOU REALIZE WHAT A TRAIL YOU WERE BLAZING FOR EUROPEAN HIP-HOP PRODUCERS?

No, because I was so focused. I wasn’t thinking about being a pioneer.

There was one producer in Berlin who worked with someone in America, but that was something he did once. My plan was to do that constantly, not just one song and then it’s over.

Once I started working with Meek, some hip-hop pages started writing articles about me and I started to realize this was huge for everyone, not just for me. A lot of producers started texting me and telling me how motivated they were because I started going overseas and showed them [it was possible].

I realized it was something special, but I was focused on staying in the American industry. I wanted to be in there forever and live off music.

I believe that you can achieve anything from anywhere, as long as you are willing to put the work in. Of course, it is a big industry and at that time the main center was the US. Additionally, people were telling me I would not make it, so I definitely had my doubts at times. Especially coming from a small village in Switzerland! But my belief in my vision was bigger than my doubts and the voices around me.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING IN THE US WHEN YOU FINALLY GOT THERE?

It wasn’t like what people had warned me about. When I was making beats in 2008 or 2009, in my mind, I was doing beats for Usher.

I had this American friend in the industry and he always told me, ‘You have to be prepared, because once you’re in the room with Usher or big artists like him, you have to be the leader in the studio, tell them how to sing’. I’m like, ‘How can I tell Usher how to sing? He’s a pro!’

But, after a couple of years, I figured out that there are so many people working on one song, it’s not just the artist and the producer. And that definitely made my life easier. I had more belief and, once I started working with American people, my language got better.

WHAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF PRODUCTION FOR YOU?

Beats have always been a source of inspiration for me. As English is not my native language, I did not always understand the lyrics of the songs I listened to as a teenager. However, I was fascinated by the art as a whole. Even today I tend to focus more on the overall vibe of a song rather than its lyrics.

YOU ONCE SAID THAT DRAKE MAKES YOU A BETTER PRODUCER. HOW DOES HE DO THAT?

Drake as an artist is picky, he knows what he wants and it’s always evolving. Working with him has taken my creative process to the next level and the art we create separately and together makes it work so well.

There are so many amazing producers out there sending music to Drake or Travis [Scott] – those artists always try to find new sounds and it’s always a challenge.

So, when we have a song drop, I’m already thinking about what’s coming next. It’s rare that someone takes the same production twice, it’s always about what’s next? Artists like Drake or Travis know what they’re looking for, so that was a challenge to me and that’s how I always get better and better.

It’s not easy to make songs with artists like Drake or Travis. I can’t just sit down, do nothing and be like, ‘This will work out somehow’. It pushes me to go to my limits every time I make music for them.

IS THAT HOW YOU ACQUIRED YOUR REPUTATION FOR ALWAYS MOVING YOUR SOUND ON?

Yeah. I know I’m not the only producer in the whole industry – I have to do something that other people don’t do. I have to get better, try new sounds, try new ways to stand out with my production – that’s definitely something that makes me go harder.

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE IN THE MIDDLE OF A HUGE HIT LIKE LOVIN’ ON ME?

There was definitely something special with that song. When I was making the music, I knew right away; this is a production that everyone’s going to like.

It’s timeless, it gives you good energy – when you play it, you will get in the mood to dance and have a good time. Normally, I don’t have that feeling, but I knew during the process, this could stand out and go crazy worldwide.

With Sicko Mode [by Travis Scott], I had no idea who could work on it, since it’s such an experimental beat. That’s why my first choice for the beat was Travis. Lovin’ On Me was a different story. I knew it would be a hit, regardless of who used it – but it was made for Jack.

HAVE YOU HAD LOTS OF CALLS ASKING FOR SOMETHING SIMILAR?

Of course! There are always calls coming in after you have a big record.

It’s good to see because Lovin’ On Me was a fresh sound to the industry but I always say, ‘What is a hit?’ People call you and ask you, ‘We need a hit, send some hits’, but there’s no formula that I could sit down and do and then be like, ‘OK, this is a hit, here we go’.

Lovin’ On Me was something I knew sounded special and could be big, but I had a huge record with Travis Scott last year with I Know?, it went to No.1 on the radio and went crazy. But, when you listen to the production, it’s the complete opposite of Lovin’ On Me. It’s a slower beat, it’s a darker, very spooky production – if I’d have sent it to anyone else, they would probably not have come up with the same idea Travis did. So it’s hard – it depends what the artist wants to do.

ARE YOU WORRIED THAT AI COULD ONE DAY DO WHAT YOU DO?

Not really. AI is not really that far along yet to come up with crazy production.

It could be different in 10 years, but, for now, I’m not scared for me or the producers I’m working with, because you can hear the difference between all the producers.

“When I do music, every day has a different vibe, a different production, different sounds.”

Everyone brings something special to the table and there’s no AI programme that could replicate that in a perfect way. When I do music, every day has a different vibe, a different production, different sounds.

On the other side, AI could help a lot with some production stuff – when you write a song, it could be helpful to find some rhymes or whatever. I’m trying to see it in a positive way, about what it can do to help you get better at production. I’m not scared yet – and hopefully I will not be!

DOES THE MUSIC INDUSTRY VALUE PRODUCERS AS MUCH AS IT SHOULD?

It depends on the artist. There are some artists – who I don’t want to name – that don’t really care about the producers. But the artists that show love to the producers are the artists that are still in the game.

They’re up there, because they know the value of a producer. They know that, to be an amazing artist dropping amazing albums and songs, you need to show respect to the producers. If you’re not showing love, respect or appreciation for the producer, you’ll end up with bad production and bad songs!

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE TREND TO HAVE MULTIPLE CO-WRITERS AND CO-PRODUCERS ON EVERY SONG?

There were times when I produced entire albums by myself. Such projects can be challenging, and after a while, one may feel drained. Therefore, working with other creatives and getting some fresh perspective is invaluable.

When collaborating, it is crucial for me that the additional work adds value to the song and enhances its quality. I particularly enjoy the teamwork that comes with it, especially when working with friends whose vibes match.

IF YOU COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, RIGHT HERE AND NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY?

I would like producers and songwriters to have the deals done faster and get paid faster. In this stage of my career, it’s OK if I wait three or four months for a payment, but I know how it is when you’ve just started making money.

I wish this could be changed, it would change the lives of people who’ve just started getting into music and making records; it would help them have financial stability, so they don’t have to worry about paying the bills.

WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE IN FIVE YEARS’ TIME?

Short and sweet: still here.Music Business Worldwide