Alex Lustig transforms rap beats into ambient soundscapes and is making an Impact

You’ve also worked with some pretty high-tier hip-hop artists though, which is quite different from your own sound. Which came first?

My first idol was Elvis, then Michael Jackson, then Eminem. When Eminem came, it was only Eminem on the iPod. It naturally came when I started producing, then I got into all these rappers. I tried copying Kanye’s ‘Stronger’ beat a million times.

When you don’t know how to do something, you’re so much more creative than when you do. You’re just trying everything. Some of the beats I made, I remember were so creative. That’s where I came from, listening to rap beats and trying to make them.

I was just messaging people on Facebook telling them I wanted to make a song. One of the first artists I worked with was SRH, a rapper singer, and we made this project called ‘No Big Deal’. After that, some rappers start hitting me up and I did more and more.

When I started making the ambient, weird beats, people didn’t want to take them. I kept wishing for someone to take them because I just wanted to put them out. I’d play them for people and they’d tell me it was crazy but they didn’t know how to rap on it. It never hit me just to put it out as it was, until later.

You've worked with Young Thug, Hoodie Allen, Machine Gun Kelly and more. How did you connect with them?

When I was young, I really would not think things through, but I think it ended up being a blessing in disguise. I would hit up everyone on Facebook, asking to make a song. I would get messages back, asking if I produced and I’d be like, “Yeah!”, even though I was only like, 15.

I had Hoodie Allen’s email from someone I had worked with before, but had never sent him anything until one day when I said fuck it and just did it. He responded to my surprise and actually liked and took a lot of my beats, and I ended up producing half of his project ‘Happy Camper’. Hopefully we're going to work on more together in the future too.

That's why when people complain nowadays, I just say there's really no excuse. All it takes is an email. I used to spend my time hunting down emails, even guessing them sometimes just looking for a shot.