The Best of 2020 is here!

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IN 2020…

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Recording Connection graduate Ramy Morales Went 5x Platinum, Got Signed with Sony/ATV!

[break side=”left”] We caught up with Recording Connection grad Ramy Morales (Lil Baby, Yo Gotti, Gunna, Tyla Yahweh) who’s now got 5 platinum tracks under his belt, a deal with Sony/ATV, and lot more music and beats dropping in 2021! We connected with Ramy and his former mentor, Ricky Rich, to learn more about how Ramy’s passion, dedication, and instinctive wisdom to stay true to his calling led to him working and collaborating with today’s hottest artists and a deal with Sony/ATV!
[break side=”left”] “I did Travis Scott, ‘Yosemite,’ I did ‘Put a Date On It,’ that’s Yo Gotti and Lil Baby… On the Drip Harder album, which is Lil Baby’s album, I had one on there. I work a lot with Don Toliver…I produced, like four [songs] on his first…his album mix tape …
[break side=”left”] I’ll be up here every day around noon. Pull up around noon every day and then by the time you know it, it’s 3, 4 in the morning and it’s like…go get some sleep. It’s a lifestyle in a sense. You got to be…because it’s a lot of ups, a lot of downs. But if you want it and you’re hungry enough, you can do it. You just got to keep pushing.”
[break side=”left”] Get the full scoop and watch our interview with Ramy and Ricky!

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Recording Connection grad London Elixir Forged Her Own Path to Success as a “Music Entrepreneur.”

[break side=”left”] London Elixir has never let hard work scare her away. She enrolled in Recording Connection for Hip Hop & Beat Making, training with mentor/producer Joey Gurwin (A$AP Ferg, Mac Miller, Flo Rida, Seun Kuti), while also earning her degree in Computer Science Engineering at Ohio State. Post-graduation, London nabbed a high-paying job as a software engineer while she stayed active at growing her career in music.
[break side=”left”] Now, the self-described “music entrepreneur” is thriving in Atlanta where she’s producing artists, producing custom instrumentals, selling original beats, audio engineering, and she’s even authored a book comprised of key moments from leaving her nine-to-five job to become a full-time entrepreneur. She’s worked with a range of artists and clients (That Girl Lay Lay, Ms. Jade, Xtassy of A&X, Dascha Polanco, Silento), her song “IDGAFunk” was one of 25 winners of Music.com’s 500 Artists Wanted Competition. The prize? A Sony remix of her song into their new 360 Reality Audio format! In 2020, London also created the new musical group 4Melodia which just released its holiday EP. She also recently released the music video for her song “Watchu Wanna Do.”
[break side=”left”] The knowledge, insight, and confidence that comes from firsthand experience enabled London to go far, fast!
[break side=”left”] “Joey [my mentor] was awesome. The studio was open to me whenever I needed it. If they had recording sessions, I could go in and sit in on the sessions and come and help them set up the mics or, you know, get the Pro Tools prepared, things like that. And that really helped me because it allowed me to realize what goes on in a usual studio session, how the artists feel, how that affects what they’re going to record, and how to record different types of instruments.”
[break side=”left”] Learn more about London’s experiences in Recording Connection for Beat Making & Hip Hop Production and hear her insights in our Straight Talk video series!

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Recording Connection mentor Mack Woodward Hired 18 grads During COVID-19

[break side=”right”] Grammy-winner Mack Woodward is a music producer and mixing engineer (Beyoncé, Maroon 5, Fergie, Outkast, Jamie Foxx) who’s also seriously dedicated to helping tomorrow’s engineers and producers get a foothold in the industry. When Mack started getting flooded with mixing work, he got not one, not two, but 18 Recording Connection graduates going as remote mixing assistants on commercial songs, slated for release. He’s glad he was able to help so many of our grads:
[break side=”right”] “It’s really just that I’m thankfully working a lot. It’s fifteen years in, and the work is coming in, and there’s just always something to do….I’m thankful to be drowning in it. They’re helping me so it’s just kind of a cool win-win. …How cool is that? That I can supply that to people. [With me] coming from cleaning toilets and doing food runs and making coffee [when starting out] to being able to help the next generation up, give them a job essentially. It’s incredible.” Read article here.
[break side=”right”] Want to learn more about RRFC students and their many successes? Get that plus real industry advice from our mentors when you subscribe to the RRFC newsletter!
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Recording Connection graduate Isaac Wolfe Got Promoted to Vice President at Record Plant!

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After not one, not two, but three years working as a runner at the world-renowned Record Plant (Ariana Grande, Cardi B, Lil Nas X, Khalid), Recording Connection graduate, Isaac Wolfe, got promoted to assistant engineer. After that, he assumed more of an operational role which ultimately led him into the position he’s held for the last year and a half—vice president of Record Plant, the top tier, world-renowned recording studio complex, located in the heart of Hollywood, CA.
[break side=”right”] How Isaac did it has everything to do with perseverance, being of service to the music making process, and being a good-hearted and kind person to all:
[break side=”right”] “Be kind to people who have less power than you. I think that in Los Angeles, you meet a lot of people who quickly gauge whether or not…you know, kind of where they stand in the hierarchy of power in the room, and start behaving differently towards different people based on that assessment. And I think that that’s ultimately one of the most dangerous and ugly behaviors of this industry. …If you can interact with all the people that you meet on that same base level, who knows where somebody is going to go in life, and what connection, and what value they might bring to you?
[break side=”right”] And I also think that it applies to when you’re speaking to people who have more power than you. If they feel like you’re treating them the same as everybody else in the room, they’re going to be a little bit more willing to hear what you have to say, than if you carry all of this weight and anxiety and excitement with each statement you make towards them.” Read the exclusive with Isaac.
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Recording Connection grad Joe Dancsak Worked the TDE Lockout!

[break side=”left”] Shortly after graduating from Recording Connection for Advanced Audio & Music Production, Joe Dancsak was given a rare opportunity—to track artists at the Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) lockout in Los Angeles. During the 11-day stint, Joe recorded rapper REASON on the killer track “Trapped In” (feat. Ab-Soul and Boogie), tracked Zacari and record on vodocer, the ubiquitous composer/producer/artist Amaire Johnson at Ultrium Recording Studios.
[break side=”left”] That’s not all. Joe has used his time spent self-isolating well, considering he’s got nearly everything he needs in his home studio. Joe licensed his songs “Flow So Cold” (ft. L-1) to the movie The Sleepover on Netflix, and “Get It” to MTV reality show Siesta Key. Joe’s vocal production work through Soundbetter also saw a boost, leading to him working with clients from 12 different countries (so far).
[break side=”left”] If you’re wondering how Joe was able to record TDE artists right before COVID-19 hit the United States, turns out, the opportunity came from RRFC HQ which got word of it from graduate Taylor Crommie (featured in our Best of 2019 issue):
[break side=”left”] “Gervais [Recording Connection’s Career Advisor] called me and asked if I wanted to go there and work. They were looking for engineers….The next day, Gervais sent me the email from TDE that had what they wanted you to put in the email. And so I attached my resume, which Gervais and Victor [had already] helped me put together …[and sent] all my links to my vocal production stuff, Instagram, SoundCloud, all the typical sites where you host your work.
[break side=”left”] Rory Behr [from TDE] called me about two hours later and said, ‘Can you come in tomorrow?’ And I said, ‘I have to wrap a client up, can I come in Sunday? I got to finish a client on Saturday.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, sure, no problem.’ And Sunday, I started.”
[break class=”double”][break class=”double no-mobile”] [media href=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDByuPEQwDc”] Ramy Morales and Ricky Rich tell more about how Ramy built his success one beat at a time.[/media] [break]