Beeno

David Adams: Hey guys, thanks for joining us on Elation podcast. Today we are here with Beeno.

Beeno: What's up y'all?

David Adams: What's up? We're here.

Beeno: What's up man, how you doing?

David Adams: How's it going?

Beeno: Good man, good to see you again.

David Adams: Yes indeed. What's going on man? You're good?

Beeno: Yeah, I'm good. I'm chilling, I'm chilling. I'm blessed.

David Adams: Yeah, you're blessed. Let's tell everybody a little bit about your background man. Where are you from originally?

Beeno: Well, I was born in New York. I was born in Queens, New York. We went to school in the Bronx for first grade and second grade. In the third grade, I moved out here to New Orleans.

David Adams: Okay, yeah, I got you. Do you go back to New York at all?

Beeno: Yeah, I just went back in August. Last August, I went back.

David Adams: I got you. So that's where your Dominican heritage comes from, from New York then?

Beeno: Yeah, my parents were born in the Dominican Republic, and they moved to Puerto Rico. Then from Puerto Rico, we went to New York.

David Adams: Okay, yeah. Seems to be a lot of y'all in New York. That's like the little DR in the United States.

Beeno: Uh-huh, 100%.

David Adams: It's great though. I mean, I love you guys. The Dominican culture is just so close to New Orleans culture. We were talking about it a minute ago. There's so much that goes back and forth with the food and even how you treat people. I feel like one thing that I noticed when I landed in the Dominican was that I was immediately family. I didn't have to explain myself too much. We didn't have to talk too much. I was there, they were there, they were happy I was there. It's a good feeling when you show up in a country like that.

Beeno: Yeah, definitely. We're just like that. We treat everybody like family. It's here like that in New Orleans too. Whenever we see somebody from out of state, we show them love.

David Adams: Right, absolutely, 100%. Heritage means a lot in the Dominican and it means a lot here as well. Legacy and stuff. Tell us a little bit about your family. I know you're an artist, so did music start with the family or where did you get the bug?

Beeno: Yeah, music definitely started in my family. My grandpa, he was a DJ. Then my dad, he started producing and he had a little group with his brothers, and they would perform and stuff. Then one of my uncles became a rapper. I just grew up around the music all the time. Ever since I was little, I had a piano in my hand.

David Adams: A piano, huh? When did you learn how to play?

Beeno: I don't know how to play play, but I could play melodies and stuff, play things by ear a little bit. I could say I really started around 14. When I was 14, I picked it up.

David Adams: You think that helped you progress in music as an artist, knowing how to touch the piano up a little bit?

Beeno: Yeah, definitely. It helps with coming up with melodies or when I have an idea for a beat, I can just play it on the piano and take it from there. It's a great starting piece for a lot of things.

David Adams: Definitely. Was there something specific that brought your family down to New Orleans from New York?

Beeno: Yeah, actually, they got a job opportunity at the plants. You know, they make a lot of money, so they took the chance, came out here, and started working.

David Adams: I got you. Oh man, that's where it happens most of the time. You follow the money.

Beeno: Mm-hmm.

David Adams: Well, that's awesome. Have you performed in the Dominican at all?

Beeno: I actually haven't.

David Adams: You haven't?

Beeno: Yeah, but I really want to. I want to get to a certain level and then come back and do a big concert in the Dominican Republic. Show love to everybody out there.

David Adams: Because I know you got a song with a Dominican artist, don't you?

Beeno: No, but we make demo songs, which is a style called "demo."

David Adams: Okay, all right. Because the Dominican feels like a great place to throw concerts. The weather is amazing, and everybody wants to have fun. I feel like it would be a great place to throw a concert.

Beeno: Yeah, definitely.

David Adams: What do you think inspired your music the most? Do you think it was your culture, other artists here in the States, or something else?

Beeno: Really a little bit of both. When you grow up in the United States and your parents speak Spanish, you get both worlds. You get hip hop and R&B, and then your parents listening to their music. All those things combine into what makes me. People can relate to both the hip hop and the Spanish, both make you dance and move.

David Adams: Definitely, for sure. Do you think you bring a lot of elements of that to your music? Like, do you bring the salsa or merengue style to your music at all when you're picking production?

Beeno: Yeah, I like to mess around and sample. I might sample a bachata and make it a hip-hop beat. I like to experiment with it.

David Adams: That's what I like about cross-genre stuff, man. It really works. Tell us about the first song you ever made.

Beeno: The first song I ever made was like a little remix to a Boogie song. I downloaded the beat and put it on Audacity and recorded it. It was like a little remix.

David Adams: When was that?

Beeno: That had to be around 2017 or 2018.

David Adams: Do you still go back and listen to that?

Beeno: I do sometimes. I like to go back and hear how I started and compare.

David Adams: Yeah, I feel like it's important to keep that stuff around. I've got beats from 2012, 2011 that nobody touched yet. You go and hit play, and you're like, "That was okay." But it's definitely important to see the growth.

Beeno: Definitely.

David Adams: So you're a sound engineer as well, right?

Beeno: Yeah, I did an online class called LA Recording Studio or something like that. It was an online class, and they showed us how to mix and master in Pro Tools.

David Adams: Did you do that just for your own personal gain, or did you do it to get a side gig?

Beeno: It was a little bit of both. Before I even did the online school, I was already recording guys in my neighborhood. They'd come record by me, so I figured I might as well take a class and get better at it and make more money from it.

David Adams: That's good drive. You said Pro Tools. What DAW do you like to work in?

Beeno: For making beats, I like using FL Studio. To record, I use Pro Tools.

David Adams: Okay, I get it. FL is so much easier to make beats.

Beeno: Yeah, I like the way it's set up.

David Adams: The most talented producer I've ever met, Killer B, who produced "Texas Hold 'Em" for Beyoncé, he produces in Pro Tools.

Beeno: That's crazy.

David Adams: And he makes it look easy, but the amount of routing he has to do is just crazy. He learned it like that and never left the program. But it's definitely not as intuitive as FL Studio.

Beeno: I started on Audacity, then moved to Mixcraft, then FL Studio, and finally Pro Tools.

David Adams: I hadn't even opened those first three you named. My first was the FL Studio demo, making my eight-bar loop. There was nothing else like it. What do I do from here?

Beeno: Crazy.

David Adams: Tell us about performing a little bit. I know you did a House of Blues set.

Beeno: Yeah, that was fire. It was a program back in 2018. I was in a group called No Water. It was the House of Blues Music Forward Foundation. Fresh and Reckless performed, RJ performed, and a few other groups. It was fire. It was like three weekends, and they'd teach us how to set up a set list. It was fun.

David Adams: Is that your biggest stage you've been on?

Beeno: No, the biggest stage was when I opened up for this Dominican artist named J1. That was probably the biggest stage.

David Adams: How many people were in that crowd?

Beeno: I think it was like 800 people. It was packed.

David Adams: Tell us a little bit about RJ. You guys got a song together now, right?

Beeno: Yeah, we dropped a video for it.

David Adams: RJ's my brother. He helped me through a lot. He was one of the first big artists that showed me love. He was in an interview on The Radar and shouted me out. I got to work on a song with him and Stunna Gambino from New York. That's my brother for sure.

David Adams: That's awesome. That's definitely all a New York vibe, so it's great you got on that track. It's funny how the world works out. No, definitely. We love RJ. Shout out to RJ.

Beeno: What are your thoughts on the rap beef we've been paying attention to recently?

David Adams: There's Kendrick and Drake, a lot of back and forth. Who do you believe?

Beeno: I'm gonna have to go with Drake.

David Adams: Really? Wow. I think Kendrick killed him, but that's maybe me in my age of hip-hop. The way he went at it was how I felt he should have.

Beeno: I agree. The bars were just ridiculous. The double and multiple triple entendres he had in that diss were just crazy.

David Adams: What do you think about J Cole stepping out so fast?

Beeno: I was actually kind of disappointed. He said this is his comeback, but when Kendrick dissed him, he backed out. I was shocked. I thought he was going to show people what his pen was about.

David Adams: I just don't see Cole as that artist. He's more of an educator. That's why he can ride around New York on a bicycle and stop and play basketball with regular people. I don't feel it as much when he's angry at a person.

Beeno: I understand. I don't know why he dropped out, but a lot of people think it's smart to just drop out.

David Adams: Yeah, if he wants to maintain that same image of being laid back and educating. He can go anywhere in the world. You can't do that when you start beefing with people.

Beeno: Look, all of a sudden, Drake's house gets shot up, or something happens.

David Adams: Yeah, somebody spray painted his store this morning or something. They vandalized the front of a store and wrote "That's Not Like Us." It starts, man. You beef, you start a whole wave.

Beeno: Oh yeah, definitely.

David Adams: As an aspiring artist, what do you think is the next step for you? Where do you want to take your artistry?

Beeno: I really want to start making more Spanish music. I've been releasing a lot of English music, but now it's time. My Spanish was horrible, but over the past few years, I've been picking it back up. I think it's time to start releasing more Spanish music and tapping into my origins.

David Adams: It's the biggest growing demographic in the country right now.

Beeno: Definitely. I think it's important to tap into your heritage.

David Adams: I've told a few artists, like Third World Don in Miami, who was Mike Beats. He's from Jamaica, and he went into this rap reggae realm, showing a lot of his tones from Jamaica. He's killing it because it's real and authentic.

Beeno: Definitely.

David Adams: Who would you put in your top five right now as far as artists across the board?

Beeno: Top five? Bad Bunny is number one right now. Bad Bunny, definitely. After him, Drake. Future up there too.

David Adams: Okay, yeah.

Beeno: Sexy Red, she's killing it right now. Industry plant.

David Adams: Did you see the post she made this morning?

Beeno: I didn't see it. I don't even want to say it. I'm not proud to say that, but she's up right now.

David Adams: Who else?

Beeno: Kendrick and J. Cole. Last, I'mma say Gunna.

David Adams: All right, I feel that. It's good to see him back. I didn't think he was going to be able to recover from that.

Beeno: For sure. It was a tough one, but I'm glad to see him back. There's a lot of artists wrapped up in that right now. I still don't know what they think they've arrested Young Thug for. They're just trying to prove a case.

David Adams: What do you think about the C-Murder situation?

Beeno: What happened with that?

David Adams: Just him being in jail so long, losing three appeals. It's kind of known that he's innocent, but he's still incarcerated.

Beeno: I hadn't heard about that.

David Adams: Look that up. Master P's brother, he's been in jail 20-something years. It's come out that he didn't commit the crime, but they used his name against him, and he's been in jail ever since. Lost three appeals. You see artists appealing and getting off, but they ain't letting him go.

Beeno: That's crazy.

David Adams: It's nuts. What do you think brings elation to you in your life?

Beeno: My family and people around me. Without my family and friends, I'd be shy and not outgoing. So definitely my family.

David Adams: That's a good one. Especially with the heritage, family is everything in Dominican and New Orleans.

Beeno: Definitely.

David Adams: Tell us about your socials and where we can find you.

Beeno: You can follow me at @beeeno with three e's on all platforms. Instagram, Twitter, TikTok. All my music is out on all platforms. Check it out.

David Adams: Any new song you want to shout out?

Beeno: Yeah, I just dropped two singles. One is called "One of One," and the other is "Did You Love Me." Check them out on Spotify and Apple Music.

David Adams: Awesome. Great. Thanks for coming today, man. I appreciate your time. Nice to meet you again. Thank you guys for coming through to Elation Podcast, where we find exhilarating euphoria through creation and collaboration.