Today we’d like to introduce you to Raney Antoine Jr..

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?

Music has been part of my life since I was 7 years old. I’ve played drums and piano live, improvised on my old Yamaha keyboard with the built-in speakers in my childhood bedroom and learned songs I loved on the radio by ear. Between drum and piano lessons, church, concert and marching band in school, my foundation has been firmly built. I then sought to learn what to do with the skillset I’d built. Making records and producing recording artists was the goal once I saw Jermaine Dupri and Bryan Michael-Cox on TV doing it. Under their names, it said “Producer.” That’s when the dream was really solidified.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

As smooth as one could expect. Gratefully, I haven’t had any “industry catastrophes.” I’ve managed to cultivate a community and network within the industry solely based on our human connection. Everyone I call a trusted collaborator or friend in the entertainment industry, respects and admires one another on a human level first and foremost, then the creative. This is key to navigating the wild wild west that is the entertainment industry.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?

I am a musician, producer, songwriter, composer and professor. All of these roles are expressions of my core, I’m a communicator. I especially love helping artists communicate their thoughts, experiences and ideas through art. I specialize in helping creatives birth their art. Generally, when I work with collaborators, the consistent feedback is, “I’ve never done a record like this before” or “This is exactly what I needed to feel.” My goal as a producer is always to bring the artist’s vision to fruition, not project myself on them. Flexibility with true collaboration is generally freeing for artists. That’s what I’m most proud of, taking an auto-tune singer that does trap music and placing him on a crooner soul record. Navé stopped me when he heard the music for what would eventually become my single “Roses” and said, “Let’s work on that, I’m getting in a different bag with this one.” It’s not my job to box an artist in, it’s to help them execute their desired vision. That’s what we did. We gave Navé a different voice and vantage point.

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?

Our food is consistently hailed as some of the best in the world, and as a foodie, I love it! I love the culture of our city. I love the pace of our lifestyle. While it can be inhibitive at times when getting things done with others, the laissez-faire energy is very refreshing in comparison to our Western society’s hustle mentality. The deficits of our city lie squarely on infrastructure both physically and socially. What we have in rich culture, we lack in infrastructure and vision. Our city can be very antiquated and slow to get with the times. We relax in our nostalgic allure and neglect the need for city-wide progress. We were recently ranked one of the worst places in the country to raise a child. Only seven other cities ranked below us.

Pricing:

• I’m always open to collaboration if it makes sense. Everything is negotiable.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.raneyjr.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raneyajr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rantoinejr/
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/raney-music
• Other: https://vyd.co/RaneyRoses