Back in early June, we went down to Atlanta for the first time and decided to organize a session at the famed PatchWerk Recording Studios, a place and name as synonymous to Atlanta music as Waffle House is to its late-night eateries. Having recorded some of the best talent in the business, including Whitney and Mariah, PatchWerk is also known as a crucial player in trap music’s folkore, as one of the main incubators in its rise from street music to the top of the charts. From T.I. to Future and countless rappers/producers in between; every single impactful artist in the genre has had to put in “werk” behind those legendary consoles.
Studio COO Curtis Daniel III (sometimes called Big Curt) greeted us alongside his team with the utmost respect and typical southern hospitality. As he celebrates a milestone 20-year anniversary for the studio this year, he took some time to reflect on PatchWerk’s role in the local scene:
“Having had the opportunity to work with all of these established and up-and-coming producers and artists has been fun for me. Being that PatchWerk started off as a label with our first artist being Ras Kass, I feel honored to be able to give all of these talented people a world class facility that they feel comfortable in.
“One of the things that we like to do is give artists and producers an opportunity to be judged solely on their work. I can recall when we were shopping Ras’ demo, people kept saying things like ‘dude can rap but his beats sound horrible,’ or ‘dude can rap but the mix on this song sounds bad.’ I tell our clients that when they work here that we are going to eliminate all of that BS. The radio station won’t be able to tell you ‘we like your song but it needs to be mastered,’ or ‘we like your song but it needs a new mix,’ or ‘we like it but your CD isn’t professional.’ When DJs in the club get a CD with a PWR logo on it and it says it’s been mixed and mastered here, it opens up doors.
“So just being part of that process is big for us. We like to give our clients a platform to stand on, and also educate them on how to make and keep their monies from the music they create.”
When pressed about his most memorable session or memory within the walls of Patchwerk Studios, he shared a couple thoughts:
“They are too many to just choose a few, so I will comment on one of our artists who is no longer with us: Pimp C. I remember he used to book eight-hour days and have a bunch of old musicians come in and just jam out. After he did this about three or for times, I finally asked him, ‘man, what are you doing?’ He told me that what he liked to do was let musicians play live and then he would get his sounds from what they played, and use those live sounds to produce songs.
“Besides that, all the times Gucci gets out of jail. I can’t say how it’s going to go this time, but normally I get a call from him a day or so before he gets out and the conversation usually goes like, ‘what’s up, Big Curt? You know I get out in a day or so… I need to get in the studio. I got a lot of things I need to get off my chest.’ And then he works for like three-to-five days straight.”
Right before our Roundtable session with the producers, we took some time to sit with each of them and capture a moment behind the consoles that have now changed their lives and approach to music. Photos by Cam Kirk.
Zaytoven
“I been in Atlanta since the end of ’99. I came from San Francisco, Bay Area. It’s where I started doing the producing thing. The first time I even knew I was gonna take this music thing seriously as a career, I was in this exact room right here. I came up with Gucci Mane, back when him and Young Jeezy did their first big song. It was mixed right here in this room. It made me feel like, ‘okay, Zay. You can make it doing this music, man.’ The whole time before this, I was trying to sell someone some beats for a couple hundred dollars. It was like a hustle to me, until I came here and saw this big old million dollar board, and heard my song and my music coming through it. It changed my whole mindset about becoming a producer.”
Essential tracks:
Gucci Mane feat. Young Jeezy “Icy”
Migos “Versace”
Future “Colossal“
Sonny Digital
“I handled all my paperwork for “Racks” in that room over there [points to side room]. I know when I’m coming here, I’m making money. If you out here working and trying to do your thing, you gonna start in that little room over there. And there’s actually a smaller room than that one downstairs now, you probably start down there now. I done made money in that room, but that ain’t my preferred room [laughs]. I’d rather make money in this room, but I done made money in all these rooms.”
Essential tracks:
YC feat. Future “Racks”
2Chainz “Birthday Song”
iLoveMakonnen “Tuesday“
TM-88
“I originally came from Miami, Florida. I moved here around the time of the Olympics [1996] and been here ever since. I was going crazy as a young nigga, before the music. I wanted to do music but I was going crazy in my head. I’m from the Southside of Atlanta, came up with Waka Flocka and a gang of other people. R.I.P. Slim Dunkin, he gave me my first shot. Waka put me on his album, and that’s when I got my first chance to really show what I can do. We actually did the song at PatchWerk. My first song ever came from PatchWerk. First one ever.”
Essential tracks:
Young Thug “Danny Glover”
Waka Flocka “Lurkin”
Drake feat. Travi$ Scott “Company“
DJ Toomp
“Right here at PatchWerk, in the small room we did T.I.’s I’m Serious album. A whole lotta shit was done here, really his first three albums. What really kept the magic between me and Tip was that once he rapped over the track, I used to get the track and go back over it, add more shit to it, really produce around what he’d done, before it was ready to go out to the world. We did Trap Music here and Kanye had about three songs on that album. That’s when he kinda caught a breeze of what I do. Once we linked up, that’s when he decided to come down to Atlanta and finish the Graduation album.”
Essential tracks:
T.I. “What You Know”
Kanye West “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”
Kanye West “Good Life“
DJ Spinz
“I came to Atlanta from Augusta, Georgia. What brought me here was music. I’m just trying to play my position. It’s not about me. A band is a group of individual musicians and instruments that are in sync. That’s how I approach music. I just wanna connect the dots and put everything in the right place. Let’s make it sound the best possible, in the best way possible.”
Essential tracks:
Ca$h Out “Cashin Out”
Future “Fuck Up Some Commas”
Ty Dolla $ign “Blasé“
Southside
“We out here working, but it ain’t just us [808 Mafia]. I got support from Spinz, support from TM-88, support from Metro Boomin, support from Sonny Digital. It’s that Atlanta vibe, I love the vibe of Atlanta. I come from the ratchet crew, from the ‘pull up 100-deep and beat the whole club up’ crew, but I found music. The same way Toomp found Tip, I found Waka, and we just started working together. I just studied, watched other niggas. And we here now.”
Essential tracks:
Pusha T “Millions”
Future “Trap Niggas”
Jay-Z & Kanye West “Illest Motherfucker Alive“
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Head here to watch our Roundtable discussion at PatchWerk Recording Studios with DJ Toomp, Zaytoven, Sonny Digital, TM-88, Southside, DJ Spinz and Childish Major.