AraabMuzik Has New Production Coming on Swizz Beatz’s ‘Poison’ Album

After quietly working behind the scenes in recent months to secure some power plays, producer AraabMuzik is back and looking to make 2018 another memorable year in his career. Recently appointed as the resident DJ of Peter Rosenberg's new late-night show Open Late with Peter Rosenberg, AraabMuzik also has a new project on the way as well as other album placements on some of hip-hop's most anticipated albums of the year. All of this new work will certainly keep his name afloat among today's best producers.

Best known for his hard-hitting drum patterns and live instrumental performances, Araab has managed to create a lane of his own with his sonically-charged sound. While successfully working on hip-hop tunes for some of the best artists in the game, the 28-year-old producer has also been able to dabble in the world of EDM, where he's created a name for himself with his contagious tone.

Aside from producing music for top-tier artists, AraabMuzik has become a brand ambassador and partner for License Lounge, a new website where established producers upload and post their beats for third parties to buy. Joining License Lounge at the start of 2018, Araab's reach has already helped the company create a buzz among young producers and artists in the industry. Araab's beats and sound kits can be licensed directly through his License Lounge store page.

While in New York City, AraabMuzik stopped by the XXL office to discuss the sequel to his Electronic Dream project, his upcoming album placements, his latest work with Swizz Beatz and much more.

XXL: Are you still planning to release the sequel to Electronic Dream? If so, when should fans expect the project?

AraabMuzik: Yeah, it's still dropping. It's been done but what I’m doing right now is that I’m just continuing the era of when I originally dropped the first one. So I was creating a lot of music at that time, you know? The hip-hop with the electronic music around 2008 and 2009, but I released the first part of the project in 2011, so what I did for this new project was I took 10 songs that were never released and just decided to put them on part two of Electronic Dream. Now I just gotta set a date for the project, but I think it's time.

How do you feel like you've grown as a producer since the release of the first Electronic Dream?

Sonically, I've grown a lot. It's important to evolve as a producer. You don’t always want to stay having the same sound. Everything changes in life. Fashion, music, trends, everything always evolve into something new, something fresh. So I feel like my style is still there. It's good to always have that distinct sound. Like you know what it is when it drops. Like an artist or a painter, you know? That's their drawing and style, but it's never the same or repetitive. With me, I feel like my sound has evolved but I'm just using new techniques and sequences.

How do you feel about the signature trap sound in hip-hop nowadays?

The trap sound is the "it" sound of the moment. But I feel like music will shift soon if someone decided to take it elsewhere because it's a follow the leader industry, so, it's just gonna take one big person to switch the sound or bring back a sound. Then everyone will follow that sound because the first guy did it. Right now, no one is doing it yet so everyone is going to the go-to producer that has that sound that everyone wants.

I’m just on the sideline doing what I’m doing. I don’t have a problem with today’s sound, but I just know where I’m at with my sound and where I fit with things. I can do all that but I don’t want to because I don’t want to feel like I’m trying to fit in. Hopefully, it starts to change soon.

Besides the work that you've done for your solo project, who else have you produced or worked with recently?

I've been in the studio a lot with Swizz Beatz. You know that's my mentor. That's my guy. So he’s working on his album called Poison. I got a lot of records on that. It's crazy. It's gonna be a game-changer for a lot of reasons and lot of big people on there spitting. A lot of heavy hitters. You know how Swizzy does. That’s coming soon. I also worked on Rick Ross’ next project. I did some stuff for Tory’s last album. But right now I got a TV show with Peter Rosenberg [Open Late with Peter Rosenberg]. I’m the DJ and producer on there, so a lot of things.

How has Swizz Beatz influenced your career? And what's the best advice you've received from him?

Yeah, he's influenced me lot throughout my career. I've always looked up to him. His sound, the way he puts the beats together, the way he plays keys. He's been a big mentor of mine and I've learned a lot from him. He's always told me to be a student of the game and always learn about everything. To not be scared and hold back, you know what I'm saying? He's hands on with everything. So I've been blessed to watch him in the studio.

Talk about your partnership with License Lounge and how you got involved with them?

I'm actually their brand ambassador and partner. It's a site where industry producers can lease their beats to artists who don't really have big budgets and want tracks from us. It's a list of producers on the website for artists to chose from. I'm one of the main people that's representing the company. I like to compare the site to the [sneaker store] Flight Club. So instead of going here for sneakers you're finding a whole bunch of beats from the best producers.

Besides Electronic Dream 2 and the show, what else do you have in the works for 2018?

Outside of Electronic Dream 2, I got more big album placements, you know?
This summer is looking really good in a lot of ways. I feel like it's time to start bringing that sound that's been missing for a while now. I don’t want to rush stuff. I want it to happen naturally.

See New Music Releases for May 2018