Dallas producer Sikwitit has had an enviable start to his career. He’s performed with rap superstar Lil Wayne, produced viral beats for hip-hop magazine XXL, and his music was featured on the Showtime series “Power.” He’s also earning recognition locally, because of his documentary "Sound Collectiv #DallasUp" and his winning of the Dallas Observer's award for "Best Producer."
Inside EMP Recording Studios in Arlington, Dallas producer Sikwitit prepares for an evening of work with Dallas rapper Bobby Sessions and 17-year-old producer Brown Royal.
“Right now, we’ve already kind of got the beat laced, but we wanted to revisit some parts of it and get it in a good place for Bobby to finish writing to it, so that we can record him,” says Sikwitit.
Just before they kick things off, Sikwitit queues up a ridiculously long commercial featuring famed producer DJ Khaled promoting McDonald’s “Dollar Menu.” The trio recites the words to the commercial and laughs.
“This is something we do before we work together,” says Sessions. “I do not endorse McDonald’s or the ‘Dollar Menu,’ but if you can be as passionate about a topic as DJ Khaled is about this ‘Dollar Menu,’ you can pretty much do anything.”
Sikwitit shouts out, “Khaled for President!”
This is all in a day’s work for a couple of North Texas’ rising stars. Sessions pulls out his cell phone and begins rapping over a beat that Sikwitit and Brown Royal put together for him the last time they worked together. He usually comes into the studio with previously prepared raps that he wants to use for specific tracks. Sikwitit and Brown Royal discuss drum beats and samples that they want to work into the track and suddenly the sounds are flying.
“It’s all about understanding the purpose of what you’re trying to do,” says Sessions. “That’s why picking the right producer is so important. I’m making the producer responsible for the sound that’s going to accompany my message and it has to be right, because that could stop somebody from killing themselves.”
Sessions’ music has a message. So yes, he does want a track that will make a listener bob their head, but it also has to be good enough that he can still inspire people who may be dealing with struggles in their life.
Read Sikwitit’s full Artist Spotlight profile on Art&Seek.
