Since I started this blogging journey, I’ve interviewed many artists, especially in the hip hop genre. I do love all types of music and planning to explore a wider range of styles going forward, but hip hop music will always be what I connect to the most. The music industry in general is very intriguing to me and I’ve always wanted to know what goes on in the studio; what the creative process is and whether or not it was “turn up” central… drinks, weed and chicks twerking?!

Angel “Onhel” Aponte and I found each other on instagram a while back. Angel grew up and lives in downtown Jersey city and he is a producer and sound engineer. He has worked with basically everyone big in the rap game; Lil Wayne, Swizz Beats, Drake, Nicki, JayZ, Rick Ross and even made a beat for Queen B herself that they unfortunately couldn’t finish (I listened to it and its so sick)

Obviously I had to meet him! It was hard to get him for an interview because he is always in studio, traveling between LA, Miami and NYC. Angel invited me over to his studio in Union City,  we talked about hip hop, we listened to some of his dope beats, and I went in the booth to drop a dope verse. Stay tuned for that, ChicpeaJC coming at you with the illest rhymes #kidding.

What’s your name? Angel Onhel Aponte. Onhel is my alias.

What do you do? I produce and engineer in the music industry.

How long have you been doing it? I’ve been engineering for 10 years and producing, I’ve been taking it seriously the past two years. I’ve been doing it on and off for the past 5 or 6.

How did you start? There is this kid I knew growing up, Develop, who was a big DJ in the battle scene and he started getting into the music industry, I met an engineer through him, and I told him I wanted to learn how to do it… I was around 19. He put me under his wing, and it turned out he worked at Sony music studios. I would go out there every single day and I was his intern pretty much. I started working with people through there and one day his wife had a kid and I was thrown in on a session where I had to engineer the session and it was with Swizz Beats. I got picked up by him and I became his engineer. At the time I was 21 and that’s how I started working with everyone.

Whose everybody? Through Swizz, I’ve worked with Beyonce, JLO, Gwen Stefani, JayZ… engineering and stuff for them. That’s how I got my start.

Tell me about the production side? I would always make beats for fun… and then Lil Wayne was working on “Father like son” with Birdman and I had made a beat…. and I played it for him and he took it and they used it on the bonus disc. It’s called “Brown paper bag” its Lil Wayne, Swizz Beats and Birdman.

I was doing sound engineering for Swizz and I took something we recorded and chopped up a hook from him and made a beat out of that…. and then played it for Wayne. It all worked out.

I still didn’t take it seriously at that point… I guess I was just really comfortable with engineering… but now I am taking it much seriously. I did a record on Little Waynes last record “Carter IV” called “President Carter” and now I have another one coming out on the next album which I am really excited about. The song is called “Mona Lisa”, hopefully the song stays on the album, I don’t want to jinxs anything….

So are you always in the studio with Lil Wayne? Well I am his engineer, so it’s between me and this other guy. Little Wayne works every single day…. The day “Sorry for the wait 2” came out, we were working on it until it came out… later on that night we came back to the studio to work on something else.

What does a sound engineer do exactly? What I would do as an engineer is set up the session, line up the track, make sure the levels and mic are set and I record him to the beat. Make sure everything sounds good.

Can you tell me what goes on in a studio session? Lil Wayne is the most creative person I’ve ever met. He will come in and he will tell me to open a beat and he just starts nodding his head… say there is a certain part of the beat or the chorus and I will loop it for him… he walks around, smokes and then goes to the booth and raps his ass off.

He doesn’t actually write it? he just freestyles it? Yeah, he just thinks about it in his head. He doesn’t write anything down on paper. Then he will go in the booth and then make changes… his creative process is pretty intensive.

What else are you working on now? There are a bunch of projects…. when you are a producer there a bunch of projects artists are working on, so you look at the list to see what you are interested in. Like with pop, you work with song writers and you get in with the writer and create songs…. I’ve been so stuck on the Wayne stuff between engineering and producing…. lately I’ve been trying to work on a few different things. The Rihanna project… everyone is trying to get on that one.

How does it work? Everyone is competing to get on her album? It’s the biggest rat race ever. You have the biggest producers and songwriters competing to get on the album. She has her camp and they basically collect songs and see what they like and whether she wants to change things… I don’t even want to know how many songs are submitted on a daily basis that they have to filter through.

That’s exciting! do you know what you are going to submit? No not yet, I just started working on it.

What’s your creative process? It usually starts off with a little smoke… it depends what I have an idea for. I produce everything from EDM to Hip Hop, to Pop to everything in between. It all depends on what mode I am in. Usually I start with drums because it gives me a feel… with pop I will start with chords.

How long does it take you to make a beat? It can take 30min or 3 days. I have horrible A.D.D…. I will start something and then go to another track. Yesterday I was working on pop chords and then some hood trap shit.

How long will you sit here? Sometimes I sit here for 2 hours and I don’t get into it…. sometimes I will be here in the zone, 12-16 hours. Its fun. I like working with other producers, writers and work off each other.

What did you grow up listening to? Everything. The first two albums that I purchased on my own were “Reasonable Doubt” and “What’s the story morning glory”.

I love Oasis!! My sister was big into rock, but growing up I was listening to hip hop so I always had that spectrum open. My mom listened to pop music also…. my little sister would listen to spice girls haha.

When is Lil Waynes album coming out? That is the magic question!

Does he roll with a whole entourage in the studio? Nothing crazy.

Are their hot chicks dancing everywhere? I always wonder why people assume that. It makes it hard for me when I date women, they automatically assume their are chicks twerking in the studio. That would be awesome thought haha. Lil Wayne works like he’s never made a dollar in his life…. That is why when I am off from work its hard for me not to be in the studio. I am nowhere near to where he is at, so how the hell am I going to sit back and do nothing. The day the mixtape came out, we were in the studio… the day the album comes out, he will be in the studio. He doesn’t stop. That work ethic is amazing.

So you live in Jersey City? I grew up here actually. My grandmother moved here in 1959… all my aunts and uncles went to Dickinson.

Do you have a favorite Jersey City hangout spot? I go to PJ’s alot and Sushi Tango I like to eat at the most.

How do you feel Jersey City has changed? Like night and day. When I grew up here, it was completely different. It’s a lot calmer and safer.

So you did beats for Lil Wayne, Beyonce, Nicki, Two Chains…. I did a record on the Young Money record that had everyone on it…. Nicky, Drake…. I’ve done a lot of records that haven’t come out actually.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwdPfg2Yr7k

Yo this track is so dope…. and that is crazy… Thats what I was explaining earlier, the rat race of being a producer. Some of them record up to a hundred songs before it gets cut down to an album. There are a lot of artists that do record a lot that don’t get released. Getting the song recorded is not even half the battle, then you have to get it on the album, and then maybe if you are lucky on the radio. No matter what you do its a battle. Once the song is recorded its out of your hands… its like buying a lottery ticket.

Wow. There are alot of people that will get work because of the work they’ve done already and their reputation. DJ Mustard, is one of the biggest producers now and him and Mike Will they will get a slot… they have huge hits. That is why you have to be in the studio all the time. When I first got into this, the reason I was able to work with all these artists is because I lived in studios day in and day out.

What do you do when you are not in the studio? When I am home I help my family out with their dog walking business. I will fill in for them sometimes.

What are your future plans? I want a hit. That is my goal to have a hit record on the radio. That is why I am here for every day.

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