PRODUCER OF THE WEEK: Chris Forte
Our Producer of the Week is 26 year old Chris Myers, who is more commonly known as Chris Forte or Forte. He was born in New England and raised in VA, but he is currently Richmond based! Aside from being a producer, he is also a music engineer as well as a studio manager at our very own theMSQshop/CNTR! Chris has been producing for 7 years now, and I was delighted to get him on our segment this week because he has a special announcement to drop at the end of this article! Stay tuned and keep reading!
Vy: Who are some artists that you have worked with?
Forte: Some artists I have worked with include Illwilliam., CPdaprince, and C. Spicy.
Vy: What inspires you to produce?
Forte: Honestly, one day I would like to make this my full-time job.
Vy: Briefly describe your sound.
Forte: The best way I can describe my music is hand-crafted based on the vocalist I work with. A lot of my inspiration comes from Kenny Beats and how he builds with each of his artists.
Vy: What is your work process like when building a beat?
Forte: I always start off with the element that I will build the rest of the beat around. Sometimes it is the bass, the drums, or the melody. No matter what, it’s gotta be something that I can build upon. From there I let my drum kits, samples, sounds, and creativity take hold until I feel like I’ve got just the right groove.
Vy: Who are some of your dream artists to produce for?
Forte: Some artists that I'd love to produce for one day include Vince Staples, Dominic Fike, and Denzel Curry.
Vy: Any new or upcoming projects you'd like to talk about?
Forte: I have a project where I am the executive producer dropping April 7th, 2023 called Darker Side Of Things by Illwilliam!
The album was inspired by Billy Joel’s album “The Stranger” which has many similarities to the theme of the Darker Side of Things. The album explores the duality of having your vices/issues/problems but still having to face the world and be a human being. With a focus on boom bap and dusty hip-hop sounds, we explored many different ways to make the lyrics stand out while still keeping a coherent album. Through executively producing the project, I learned how to really mend different sounds into a seamless flow of one after another without the feeling of every track being a standalone track. Taking 2 years to finish a project gives you perspective on something you may have jumped the gun on and dropped too early, but instead be patient and make the most of it!
Vy: What was the hardest project you've worked on and how did you overcome it?
Forte: My current masterpiece with Illwilliam, Darker Side Of Things, was a long and arduous task that I am very proud to have put together. As a whole, the project took many turns and pulled from so many different areas of influence. I think taking the time to redo instrumentals, change beats out entirely, and really letting things settle before making decisions was quite a challenge. However, after remaining focused on the vision, I realized how much a carefully crafted project can make a difference than one you just throw together. I want to thank Illwilliam for the opportunity to executively produce this project, Darker Side Of Things.
Vy: Lastly, what's one fun fact about you?
Forte: I was a sponsored skateboarder at 14 years old!
It was so fun being able to get to know Forte through this segment. Like he said, stay tuned for his upcoming project with Illwilliam dropping this Friday! And be on the lookout for more from Chris Forte as well as our next Producer of the Week!
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Written by Vy Truong, @avocavy on IG