We were lucky to catch up with Chris Adjei-Bediako recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Chris, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

So far, I’d have to say executive producing Albion Road Demos — an EP by Toronto based artist Thelonious. Unbeknownst to me at the time, Thelonious went to the same high school as me but I was a whole generation (4 years) ahead of him. We came from the same place (Rexdale) and got connected through a cousin of mine who also went to that high school and happened to be in the same grade as him. We ended up collaborating on a few songs; first a single, and then, two other songs that ended up on his project Silverstone’s Own.

We decided it’d be cool to do a collaborative project together afterward, which became Albion Road Demos. It was my first time getting to fully produce a project for an artist, and it went on to be named Top 20 Canadian albums of 2022 by Complex Canada. A strong friendship and creative/business partnership was born since.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I originally began my journey in music in the church. Started by playing the bass guitar in my teens and would go on to teach myself rudimentary things about/around the piano. I didn’t start beatmaking until Spring/Summer of 2016 using FL Studio as my main program. Started to learn my way around the software and started developing slowly. Eventually I’d begin to share my ideas on instagram, mainly through a remix series where I’d put reputable artists’ acapellas on my beats and present them with a cool visual. As time went on, posts would be recognized by artists I’d remix like Anderson .Paak, Snoh Aalegra and Rapsody.

My social media became a sort of a portfolio as I’d network with other creatives outside of friends I was already working with and would release songs with occasionally. That content creation and networking would lead to collaborations and placements with at the time emerging artists/producers in the city (and the US) like Jordon Manswell and Savannah Ré. After a few collaborations and even a sync placement for CBC docuseries, primarily through networking and promoting myself on social media, I applied to the Remix Project (Round 16) and really made the transition from being just a beatmaker to producing and writing with artists primarily.

My journey has informed my desire to build a catalog of music that I have genuine involvement in as a producer. Beyond placements, I really am more fulfilled developing (with) artists and being a part of the nucleus of their projects. All the producers I look up to came up with notable artist partnerships unique to them, and I see myself forging a similar path. As a result, I navigate through the space pretty organically and relationship based. With a business background from my post-secondary education, and my current occupation outside of music, I often times support artists I work closely with on organizational/business-related aspects too.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In May 2018, just short of 2 years into beatmaking, my car was broken into in downtown Toronto late at night while my friends and I were eating at a Pho restaurant after a session.

Unfortunately my bag was taken which at the time had my laptop, headphones, and my interface. At the time it felt like a test to see if I really wanted to do music, so I ended up making an instrumental EP about the experience of the robbery using my mom’s laptop after downloading FL on it.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Mainly to do be able to do music full-time. The challenges and problems of this business are ones I look forward to waking up to and figuring out. I feel I’d rather spend 8+ hours of my day doing something that makes me feel that way rather than anything else.

I also want to know that I’ve contributed something musically. Whether that’s helping to develop artists to the point of stable careers, influencing region(s)/a generation with my catalog/sounds, and/or executive producing unique projects that impact the industry overall.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/cabbie96
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CABBIE96?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Image Credits

Personal photo taken by @filmbyshyshy

Album cover by Miguel Latigar (IG: filmofmin3)

Black and white photo on stage taken by Kian Gannonn (IG: Kiangannonn)

DJ’ing photo taken by @gloromy

Couch photo taken by @shylagray_

Remix Round 16 pic taken by @tigersaysavanh