We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Scrilla Fulcanelli. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Scrilla below.

Scrilla, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’ve love to hear an interesting investment story – what was one of the best or worst investments you’ve made? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

By far the best investment I’ve made was committing to a meditation practice. While it doesn’t cost a dime to try, it does require patience and an open mind . I started several years back after reading Be Here Now and Autobiography of a Yogi. It was through those books I started to see not only how self awareness and the quality of our thoughts determine the quality our lives, but also how we can improve in those areas with some regular practice. I was a little shaky with at first, but I usually get in at least 1-2 hours a day (with a few short ones thrown in when I can) now. Many of us, when we think in terms of an investment, probably think of something that can be directly correlated to an increase in either profit or productivity, but this is something that operates at a much more fundamental level; so much so that it has not only improved my business and creativity, but has improved my life and outlook in all areas. Just being able to put a little bit of space between ourselves and our depression, anxiety and guilt, we start to become more aware of how much carrying all that baggage around is actually costing us. Meditation provides an opportunity to actually look at that baggage and consciously make the decision of which of those bags are serving you and which ones are no longer needed. Once we lighten up that load, it becomes much easier to move forward and the path becomes much clearer. In Letting Go, by David Hawkins, he breaks down all the emotional states and how our tendency to suppress them is really allowing them to guide our actions on a subconscious level. In meditation, we can start to become aware of these emotions and how they’re actually playing out in our lives. The hidden motives and the desire to try to force and manipulate outcomes starts to dissolve away. I’ve found that things start to fall in place more naturally on their own this way and I’m able to much more present in my day to day life. God works in mysterious ways, just as long as we don’t believe we have a better way.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

So I’ve been producing music for over 10 years now and really, I’ve been writing songs my whole life. I started out in punk bands in high school and eventually got into making beats when I downloaded a copy of FL Studio. In the early days I drew a lot of influence from guys like Kanye, Just Blaze, the Heatmakerz, etc. so I was doing a lot of sampling. I began getting positive feedback almost immediately so I ended up starting a fairly successful business licensing my beats online. Eventually that led to me getting the attention of many upcoming and established hip hop artists. It was an exciting time to go from making beats on a laptop in my living room to working with artists that I had been a fan of years. In those early days, I knew little music theory and was mostly relying on playing by ear or sampling other peoples work. Since then, I’ve expanded into learning music theory and composing my own samples, which have now been used by some of the biggest artist and producers in the world.

I would say whats different about me and also my partners, is in our approach and our principles. In an industry that’s become saturated with what I view as a toxic and often predatory approach to the business on all levels, not just the executives, we really value putting creativity first and also a win-win approach to doing business and working with artists. I was very inspired by Rick Rubin’s approach of creating an environment where everyone is comfortable sharing and trying new ideas regardless of whether or not we think they’ll work. This really allows a chemistry to form, which I think is not only necessary for creating the best music, but also building and maintaining solid relationships. I see a lot of people in this industry miss out on so many opportunities from a lack of vision, just trying to put a dollar amount on every situation. But the fact is the biggest and most enduring producers usually got to that level by investing their time in building a sound and chemistry with an upcoming artist.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Really I just want to positively influence as many people as I can. Whether that’s through the music or just personal interactions or whatever. I hope everyone I come into contact with leaves feeling better because of it.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

So around 2014, I had basically stopped making music. I had been producing for a few years at that point. I had just gotten a song on a major artist’s project and another that was the biggest of my career at the time. Everything was going as planned for the most part but mentally I was just feeling lost and unfocused. A lot of personal things had hit me at once and I kinda lost sight of what I was doing. I spent the next few years really committing to getting my physical and mental health on track, even looking at other business ventures. I was still making beats here and there and I still landed a few placements during that time, but I had settled into a regular job and was really no longer seeing myself as a music producer. I would hear it always hear it calling me in the back of my head though. Around 2018-2019, I had really started getting back into it and decided for sure I wanted to finish what I started. I had gotten a little too comfortable and knew I need a challenge if I was to grow to new heights. I also knew if I really wanted to do this I would have to make some major changes, which culminated in moving to Atlanta with my girlfriend and our dachshund. All these questions started to arise, like “do i really wanna be almost twice the age of my peers and basically starting all over again,” or “do I wanna risk everything I have for this”? Even a sort of guilt about having “wasted” so much time. At this stage in the game, I was able to let go of the fears, but I understand why a lot of older producers sort of give up. Sometimes we forget that we’re always exactly where we need to be. Those years away are what made me who I am today. I probably wouldn’t even be doing this now if I didn’t go through that. We all know at some level that success means nothing if you don’t have love. You’ll never be happy or at peace no matter what you do in the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.scrillafulcanelli.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/scrillafulcanelli
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/scrillafulcanelli
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/scrillabeats
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/scrillafulcanelli

Image Credits
Larry A Rose Photography 1200 Productions