Pop Not Far From Mozart for Grammy Nominee Rogét Chahayed


Two very different types of education entered the music that brought Rogét Chahayed a success. 2022 Grammy nominations For the producer of the year, non-classic. One was the traditional music school: the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where Chahayed studied classical music and jazz and earned a degree in piano performance. The second was the studio apprenticeship of late nights and snap decisions: Los Angeles hip-hop giant Dr. Playing keyboards and creating beats for Dre.

“The real me is a mix of classical music, jazz harmony and technique, everything in one,” Chahayed said, speaking via video from his home studio in Los Angeles, where an array of electronic keyboards are lining the shelves. Hearing Debussy and Ravel’s voices and stuff like that in my left hand, but maybe I’m trying a little Art Tatum in my right hand. I like to try and see the connection between everything.”

“Kiss Me More” by Doja Cat in Chahayed’s massive catalog; “Far Away,” directed by Jessie Reyez; “Bad at Love,” directed by Halsey; Big Sean’s “ZTFO”; “Sky Walker,” directed by Miguel; “I Want War (But I Need Peace)” by Kali Uchis; “27 Summers” by Nas; and two Grammy-nominated songs from previous years, Drake’s “Laugh Now Cry Later” and Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode”. Sunday’s nomination for songs with Kali Uchis, Doja Cat and Anderson .Paak, among others.

Chahayed’s studio work draws on a repository of music theory and music history, along with instinct, attention and luck. As a producer and songwriter, he can create complex harmonies and sophisticated multi-track orchestrations that mirror his conservatory work.

But Chahayed can also find skeletal, arresting, earworm riffs that he often enriches spatially and harmonically as a piece progresses. It doesn’t hesitate to repeat just two or three chords. “Many of my composers and classical instrumentalist friends might look at it like, ‘Oh, it’s so simple’,” he said. “Actually, making music today reminds me a lot about the way Mozart composed. Frankly, a lot of Mozart’s music is very simple and very digestible, and so clear that if you make a mistake you can hear everything. The challenge is to find the simplicity, to find that golden chord progression.”

Chahayed masterfully directs the way songs are made in the 21st century: a process that is simultaneously musician, technological, intuitive and brutally Darwinian. Hooks and beats recorded in minutes can remain on a hard drive for months to be discovered, fine-tuned and enriched by collaborators who have never met before. All that matters is whether someone hears that a piece has potential, wants to finish it, and finds something that works.

“If I have a philosophy, I want to be able to realize the artist’s vision first,” Chahayed said. “But at the same time, doing it innovatively is always finding a way to push the boundaries out loud.”

Colombian-American songwriter Kali Uchis has released only a few tracks with Chahayed’s production. “Aguardiente y Limon,” He’s commemorated in his Grammy nominations—but they live close to each other in Los Angeles and visit his studio frequently to work on music.

“He just likes to create, create, create,” she said over the phone from Los Angeles. “Not for any ulterior capitalist motive, but for the pure gratification of doing unique things. If that’s the case it would be a great song, then great. But I’ve never been in the studio with Rogét and me, and I didn’t feel the strange pressure to go in any direction. It was always very organic, very natural and very, fair, free.”

After graduating from the conservatory in 2010, Chahayed returned to Los Angeles, where he grew up; His mother is Argentinian and his father is Syrian. She gave jazz and chamber music concerts and gave piano lessons; He also found a mentor: Melvin Bradford, better known as Mel-Man, since the 1990s Dr. One of the main producers of Dre.

“I would go to his house and do five to eight strokes a day. “From 1 in the afternoon to sometimes 2, 3 or 4 in the morning,” he said. “We’d send Dre countless hits every day, hoping maybe something would click.”

“Sitting in the classroom learning about Bach chorales or ear training was definitely a big difference,” he added.

Chahayed has also collaborated with others, including producer Wesley Singerman. They outright sold some of the pieces they made in 2013; their music is not mentioned on Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 album “To Pimp a Butterfly”. “For sale?” and “U.”

In 2014, Mel-Man surprised Chahayed one day by taking him to an unmarked building. Dr. It was Dre’s studio. “This door opens and I see a giant SSL and Dre sits there turning the knobs with his hands,” Chahayed said, referring to the Solid State Logic recording console. “He told me he heard I was good at keys and was going to put me to the test.”

It passed the compilation and began working on Dre’s productions. “You have a responsibility to always be the best you can be and to consistently demonstrate musical excellence: technique, taste, flavor, rhythm,” he said. “Dre was there, everyone was like, ‘Hey, what’s wrong?’ he was saying. And if the world’s biggest, most influential producer and rapper is telling you that, you should act.”

One of Chahayed’s first blockbuster hits “Broccoli” from Drama (now used by Shelley FKA Drama) features Lil Yachty, which has aired over a billion times. Chahayed said that the constantly flashing piano chords were a happy accident. She had packed her gear after a session with Drama, but at the last minute she got a call that Lil Yachty was on her way to the studio. To test the connection, She played a few chords and unpacked a keyboard and plugged it in; these chords became the central loop of the song.

“Where and how I find most of my success as a producer and songwriter, you know, just pops up,” Chahayed said. “Find a voice and progress, or a riff, or something identifiable that gets people’s attention.”

Doja Cat’s hit “Kiss Me More”, which featured SZA nominated as part of record of the year (recorded track), song of the year (composition), and album of the year, could have ended up as a single. more stray computer files. Chahayed was working with Yeti Beats, for whom Doja Cat was a longtime executive producer, on a “threaded meal prep session”. Yeti Beats suggested some “keywords” – “anime music” and “sweetness” considering Doja Cat.

“I grew up with four younger sisters and we all bonded a lot about anime and video game,” Chahayed said. “This lovely jazz vibe from so many plays leaked in. So I went back to the arena that day and we came up with a few ideas.”

He chose a guitar-like sound and recorded a sparkling little riff that “comes naturally in the moment.” “I knew there was something special about this piece.” Yeti Beats presented the riff to Doja Cat multiple times and stepped it up in one session; clicked.

As Chahayed’s reputation grew, so did his control over his music. He sometimes turns down requests to use his beats for certain songs. And whenever possible, it tries to work alongside the main artist in real time.

“A general procedure for most people is to have tons of rhythms, melodies, ideas, and that sort of thing ready. Many artists have a different attention span and maybe respond better to things that are ready. But I’m more attuned to the spontaneity of just coming up with instruments. I enjoy working with artists who let me cook from scratch.”

He is also looking ahead. “I always have a five to 10-year plan,” he said. “Fortunately, I was able to achieve my goal of the last five years: You know, to be #1, to be nominated for a Grammy, to amass tons of record sales and top charts. And that’s great, but it just encourages me to go further. My true passion is to rate movies. I want to do what John Williams did, Danny ElfmanHans Zimmer and Bernard Herrmann to do. Those guys are my true heroes.”

“I will never stop producing. I will never stop making beats. I will never stop working with artists. But if you’re watching a movie and you watch ‘Music by Rogét Chahayed’, I’d love it. This is my obsession.”



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