MILLZ MIX

MILLZ While his hustle stems from his Queens, New York roots, it was Atlanta, GA where the stellar recording engineer earned his stripes. Known simply as Millz, the 24 year-old music wizard quickly rose from intern to icon in a matter of months, which reflects an honest humbleness that also speaks volumes about his desire and work ethic. Never aiming to be the one on the mic, Millz was far more intrigued with the art behind the boards, favoring production and engineering as his passions of choice. Millz was a musically gifted child, but he was never formally educated aside from a few piano lessons in 1 st grade. He began experimenting with production programs in middle school, which was also around the time his mom moved the family down south. He managed to teach himself how to play the drums well enough to join his high school band. Although he didn’t take the class seriously, the young prodigy grew increasingly obsessive about crafting beats. Millz, along with a fellow band member, became a dynamic force dedicating every available moment to locking into an artistic groove in the studio. It was this teenage brashness that led him to print up business cards advertising his production services and pass them out at industry events. Millz skillfully executed plan worked, catching the attention of music veteran Fred Marshall who admired the ambitious producer’s grind and took him under his wing to mentor. It was through that relationship that Millz gained invaluable life wisdom and professional insight that he immediately applied to his beast mode mentality. With an intense focus on success, Millz sought to enroll in the creative media institute SAE, but his mom rejected the idea of taking on student loan debt. As fate would have it, and in less than a week, he met Big Zar of production outfit FKI who turned out to be the connection he had been searching for. Through persistence and hard work Millz was invited to sit in on a session at Defiant, Grand Hustle’s studio, which led to him being offered an unpaid internship. In his mind, he wouldn’t be working for free. He would be receiving a high-quality education, as well as an entry point into the business he’d dreamed of being in. Millz took full advantage of every opportunity to shadow established producers and engineers, learning through observation, listening and researching. Whatever he didn’t understand he’d cross- reference via Google, putting him on the fast track to mastery. As his skillset improved and in an attempt to gain invaluable experience, Millz offered to engineer the projects of the studio’s clientele at no cost. He clocked 17- hour days, recording upwardly of 30 artists per week and made the studio booth his bedroom for 5 months. His “get it done no matter what it takes,” attitude paid off in a major way. Within 3 months he was given a set of keys to the building and in 6 months he landed his first placement, all while still taking out the trash as an intern. Millz engineered Young Dro’s Billboard charting album High Times, which was followed by projects with Young Thug, Rich Homie Quan, TI and Kevin Gates. Gates, who had been recording at Defiant for several months, immediately recognized Millz star potential and invited him to go out on tour. He was responsible for setting up studio equipment in Gates hotel room before and after each show. When Gates was featured on The High Road Tour starring Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa, he suggested Millz to be the Front of House Sound Engineer for the 10k+ nightly crowd despite not having any formal training. While anxious, Millz embraced the challenge and exceeded all expectations. He went on to receive RIAA platinum certification for recording, mixing and producing on Gates’ Islah album, which included the song “La Familia” that received over 40 million YouTube views. The in-demand engineer has also racked up soundtrack credits including The Fast and the Furious 7, The Fast and the Furious 8 and the Suicide Squad which also received RIAA Platinum certification. While some may think Millz has “made it,” the magic sound maker feels as if he’s just getting started. ​ - Bio by Tamiko Hope