The Difference Between A Beatmaker And A Music Producer with DJ Khaled

Photo Source: Billboard.com

By Paul Laughlin

For the most part, anyone who makes beats digitally calls themselves a music producer. I've done it myself and probably still do it sometimes as a result of the misunderstanding of the term in most of my circles. After 20 years as a vinyl DJ (and Serato ScratchLive control vinyl DJ), I finally started making beats of my own thanks to my work with Totem Star artists. I started calling myself a producer, as every other beatmaker was doing. But was I wrong? I guess it really depends. Let's dive further into this topic by listening to DJ Khaled's explanation of a what a music producer does, self boasting and all, and why it is so much more than a beat maker in his interview with New York's Hot 97.

Although I am not a huge DJ Khaled fan myself, I can't deny that he produces huge tracks and a lot of big artists continue to want to work with him. In the interview, DJ Khaled explains that a  producer, as the leader of a teams of artists, musicians, and more, create and sell musical ideas/projects, bring together artists and other musical creatives for a project, promote an artist and/or release, and, most importantly, find the resources to make the project come to fruition. 

Here are some highlights from the interview:
"A producer gets the job done and makes the record come out, come to light and 90% of the creative process...I come to the artist with an idea and they either love it, and if they love it, they contribute to it and make it ten times bigger. Producers get the job done. From getting a beatmaker with you in there, sometimes I got to call a guitarist in, a keyboard player in, sometime I got to call a guy that plays the flute. I tell them sometimes what to play out my mouth. That's producing. That's getting played. That's writing. That's putting the masterpiece together...I make records, I find records, I put records out...Not everybody can do those three steps."

~DJ Khaled

And for those that think DJ Khaled has no musical talent, check the video below: