We were lucky to catch up with Samyr “Hey Samyr” Antoine recently and have shared our conversation below.

Samyr “Hey Samyr”, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

One of the most meaningful projects that I have worked on recently was Executive Producing Iman Shumpert’s lasted album titled “This Car Aint Stolen” which released in August of 2022, however the Deluxe version will be dropping the end of February 2023, which includes new music videos and new music.

This project was meaningful to me because I was able to work first hand with Iman to be able to hand craft each record with him. This album took about 2 years to complete. Iman would fly in to Miami or we would fly to him to complete the records. I was able to produce the beat, vocal produce Iman while he was recording, mix and master the album, and also help with the creation and filming of the music videos.

Samyr “Hey Samyr”, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a Haitian-Canadian producer who was born in Montreal, Canada. I moved to Miami for school when I was young, this is where I found my love of music. This is also when I created my music production group.

I returned to Canada for college where I quickly realized that music was definitely the route I was meant to take. I moved back to Miami where I then worked out of Cool and Dre’s studio called “Record Room Studios”. I definitely credit this as a boot camp to my career as I learned quite a bit about my sound and completely revamped my creative style.

I then moved to “Audio Vision Studios” where this was and currently still is my home base. In moving to Audio Vision I have rebranded and taken on the name of “Hey Samyr”. I am more than your average producer as my love for the music drives me to create the best record for the artist. I song write, vocal produce, and guide the artist through video treatments and marketing strategies. I love to be involved in the process from the beginning all the way through to the release of the record.

I have produced records for Duncan Morley Featuring Rick Ross “Find You Now” which spent 12 weeks on the billboard chart and reached the top position of #6. I have also worked with artists such as Jada Kiss, Jim Jones, and GunPlay. I have also worked with several athletes and entertainers such as Gerald Green, Michael Beasley, and Jay Ajayi.

Currently I am working with DeRay Davis. I have two singles coming out very soon with DeRay which are titled “Make you my Heart” and “Gurlz in the Front”.

I have Executive Produced Iman Shumpert’s current album entitled “This Car Aint’ Stolen” and have 7 songs on the album that I produced. You can see us working on some of the records from the album on the E! Network TV show “We got love”. I also produced Iman’s previous single entitled “Gohan” Ft. Dj Drama of the Gangsta Grillz mixtapes which was featured in the Real Housewives of Atlanta TV show on the Bravo Network. Also, most recently, I have produced Iman’s new single “Drop Ya Glasses” which is an interpolation of Eve and Gwen Stefani’s record called ” Blow Ya Mind”.

I have also been producing and recording some of my own music and have my singles “Moon” and “Shake Sumn” that will be dropping very shortly on Iman’s record label called “A Sinner’s Peace”.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect about being an artist and creative is being able to create on my own terms and do what I love to do. I am able to travel to different cities and meet new people, new artists and new creatives. I love to be able to have the freedom to express myself creatively in any way that I see fit. As a producer, I am able to help other artists express themselves.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think some things that non-creatives have a hard time understanding is the amount of time that it takes to build your craft and learn the sonics to produce or create the music. This does include countless nights in the studio, time away from your family and loved ones. Not every project or song is guaranteed to succeed so there are times that we will put countless of numbers into a project and it does not make it. Just the reality of creatives in this industry.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @heysamyr

Image Credits
@KhamenLenz