WAYNESBORO – A few days ago, Waynesboro's Andrew Hypes released the remix "Bartier Cardi" with Shaquille O’Neil to celebrate the release of Cardi B's new album.
Last September, Hypes won a DJ competition at VCU for creating a mix of "Surfin USA" from The Beach Boys and "Swag Surfin" by F.L.Y. and within a day he was trending across the U.S.
In 2016, Hypes created a Clippers beat from his electric razor while he was in his bathroom, uploaded the sound online and within 10 days it had 11 million views. One of those views was by the chief marketing officer at IBM, who hired him to create a database of raw sounds. To date, his Clippers beat has 40 million loops on Vine and 20 million views.
Going viral once is luck. Going viral twice means you are moving in the right direction. After 10 years of hard work, determination and just showing up, Hypes is seeing his dream realized.
In 2005, Hypes left Waynesboro to study audio engineering at Full Sail University in Orlando. Within a few months, he shifted his focus to music producing. Driven to succeed, he packed up and moved anywhere he needed to be to get his career off the ground as a music producer – first Miami, then Virginia Beach, then Los Angeles until he settled in Richmond.
"You have to follow the signs," Hypes says. "Things kept happening that led me to believe I had to keep going. Finally, all these years later, music is now my full-time gig. It was one of those things I always chased. I love waking up and knowing I have the power to change my situation. That’s what excites me. Motivates me."
Q: Can you explain what it is you do with sounds?
A: I make music out of obscure items. I purposely seek out the most unique sounds and try to incorporate them into music projects or songs. They are not so much music themselves. They are sound bites or sound waves that I manipulate into chord progressions or lead sounds in song.
I made a beat out of bike spokes, an electric razor, wine bottles, a high school marching band, my wife walking in flip-flops, butter knives, an elevator and throwing a key chain in the air and recording the sound.
Q: How did you connect with Shaquille O’Neil?
A: Shaq sent me a message when my VCU DJ video went viral. He said he liked the "Swag Surfin" mix that I did. From there, I just consistently hit him up, trying to build his trust and would check in once a week. He was working on a project, and I started sending him beats. Once he got these beats, he saw that this kid not only DJ’s, he produces music really well. I ended up producing a couple songs for him, and we ended up releasing the remix for Cardi B.
Q: What is a typical week like for you?
A: I spend 14 hours a day making music. I wake up at 10, and I’ll work until 4:30 when Shasta (his wife) gets home, and then I cook dinner. I get back to music around 9, and I’m on it until about four in the morning. When I’m gone, I’m bouncing between studio sessions or DJ gigs. My last trip to L.A., I had three different DJ gigs and seven different studio sessions. It’s a lot of running around.
That’s one of the things that drives me is that I’m able to go to L.A. or Miami and be busy the entire time. When I used to go to those places I had to wait hours to potentially meet somebody just to see where that will lead. You can’t ever slow down, and you can ever get discouraged, especially in this industry. None of this was guaranteed for me 10 years ago when I started. That’s why you just grind it and you push.
Q: What are some of the challenges you encounter?
A: The biggest challenge is just breaking in, whether it be a group of people or one individual. Really just getting in with the right people. It’s very cliche-y.
Q: What’s happening in music that really excites you?
A: Everything is more accepted even if it is super different. Everyone has a niche. Back in the day you had your genres, but there was never any cross breeding. I love how there’s no boundaries these days. No rules. You can make music as freely as you want.
Q: Are there any producers or artists that inspire you the most?
A: As far as inspiration, Pharrell Williams. This guy is known for being a great guy and incredibly talented. He’s always been someone I idolized because of that. He’s professional, and he knows he’s a role model. I think that’s one of things I loved and looked up to. He wasn’t going crazy because of fame. None of that changed him. He sets a good example. He takes his level of celebrity and does good things with it.
Q: What do you love the most about producing music?
A: The power to affect how a person is thinking. It's about the emotion at the end of the day that you’re giving. I love having that job of providing that kind of emotion for people.
Hypes will be at the Augusta Expo in Fishersville on Friday, April 13 to do a show with Mad Skillz, a Virginia-based songwriter and DJ, who was nominated for a Grammy for writing a record with Nicki Minaj.
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Reporter Monique Calello can be reached at (540) 430-0620 or mcalello@newsleader.com. Follow her on Twitter @moniquecalello.