SoJones: Where do you get your inspiration from to start producing?
Roy Hamilton: Well for me I grew up listening to a lot of hip hop and rap music, rock, soul music…inspirations from Al Green to Aerosmith. A lot of different kinds of music and different things inspire me. I come from a musical family. My Grandfather was a singer in the 50’s and 60’s, his name is Roy Hamilton and you know, it’s just in my blood to do this. and I just found myself at around 14 years old having a serious interest in producing tracks and DJ’ing and just getting into it. So it was really organic the way it happened.
SoJones: In your career you’ve done so much. Not to discredit anyone you worked with but working with Michael Jackson for the song “Shout”, that kinda got my attention. What was it like working with MJ?
Roy Hamilton: It was a great experience to work with Michael in two ways. One: It pretty much desensitized me to the whole thing about artists and being starstruck. Another great thing about Michael was his passion with what he did and in the studio when a track comes on, how he moves and gets into it, you know he’s just amazing to watch and work with in the studio. You know he’s Michael! One of the best ever in history.
SoJones: Right now, the single “Number 1″ is doing well on the charts. Being under the tutelage of R. Kelly for so long what was the most important thing he taught you?
Roy Hamilton: He taught me to work hard. To be aggressive and work hard and that you gotta seize the moment. He was the guy that I saw at 17 years old coming into the studio at 11 o’clock at night and not leaving till 8 o’clock or 9 in the morning just working. Sometimes not getting out till noon the next day. So at an early age I learned that. And I was always a hard worker myself before I got signed; I kept working two jobs in the summer time but working with him it showed me that that kind of work ethic is not only acceptable it’s what it takes to become the best and make it to the top. It’s not for everyone, it’s for the strong!
SoJones: Concerning your micro-mixtape venture “The International”, how will this upcoming mixtape be different than what others like DJ Drama are putting out with huge rap stars?
Roy Hamilton: Well a micro mixtape is a lot different than your conventional mixtape in the fact that most mixtapes are filled with records and things and a lot of it, you don’t remember any of it. I just decided to take my best four tunes, shoot four music videos to them, and make something small (micro), and release it. That way you can put out more quality vs. quantity. It’s something I came up with and DJ Whoo Kid loved the idea and he decided to endorse it and I’m gonna be the person to kind of spearhead micro-mixtapes, and micro albums and things where you do less. It’s about doing less and giving people more for their money and giving the listener or viewer an experience as opposed to throwing all this stuff at them at once.
Read the full interview here:
SoJones - Hitmaker Roy Hamilton III Speaks With SoJones
Learn more about Roy Hamilton here:
royhamiltoniii.com
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