Meet Soyisreal

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Soyisreal. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

SoyisREAL, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

First and foremost I am a forever student and a passionate fan before anything. I’m constantly on the hunt for new sources of inspiration whether it be thru the consumption of art and media or even just life experiences. Whenever I hit a slump or I’m feeling unmotivated, I go back to my roots and revisit the works that made me a fan of this music in the first place or I go out and get my fingers dusty at the local record shops to discover new artists that I’ve never listened to before. Those methods have worked for the last 20 years I’ve been doing this.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Hi my name’s SoyisREAL and I am a Filipino-American music producer, DJ, bboy, proud father, and loving husband. I was born in Los Angeles, CA and raised in the Inland Empire and I’m now living in Orlando, FL where I’ve been making music officially for the past 20 years. I got inspired to pursue making music initially inspired by my father who was a DJ in the 70s and 80s and I found what route I wanted to take after hearing Wu-Tang Forever for the first time at my cousin’s house in LA.

I produce mostly hip hop music with a focus specifically on golden era boom bap with my own special twist of flavors to go along with it. This year marks the 20th year of my music journey and it’s been an especially interesting and fruitful last 5 years. During the pandemic, I decided to share my music production process live streaming on Twitch and that decision has led to me working with and meeting some of the artists I’ve always looked up to and been a fan of. The most exciting part of what I do is getting to connect with other artists by using my platform to uplift and educate others about hip hop culture and show that you don’t have to follow the trends to get to where you want to be.

As far as recent/upcoming work, I just released a posthumous album for my best friend Chris “Crescendo” Mercado titled “Crescendo Forever”. Chris unfortunately passed away in a car accident a little over a year ago and it hit me particularly hard because he was the very first artist that ever wanted to work me on music when I was only a year into producing back in 2005 and we have been collaborating regularly ever since then. Unfortunately we never got to collaborate on an entire album together so I took it upon myself to produce an album using recordings he left behind before his untimely passing. I’m also working on various other albums with the likes of Knaladeus, Shinobi Stalin, Wordchemist, and J-Biz and I also have the 4th and final installment of my ongoing beat tape series called “Just Add Rain” which is available on soyisreal.com as well as all DSPs along with the other projects I’ve put out over the last few years. If you’re in the central Florida area I do host a monthly producer showcase over at The Commission Beer Chamber every last Thursday of the month and I also have a monthly DJ residency at that same venue called “Sucio Saturday” with my brother from another mother DJ Sureshot. You can keep up with my upcoming events and projects at soyisreal.com

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I think the 3 things that really helped me get to where I’m at in my musical journey the most has been getting involved in my local music scene, sharing my art and process on social media, and really being open to feedback and criticism. Those last 2 things kind of go hand in hand but I think it’s really important for artists to put their work out there and just start building a footprint both in your local scene and online. The one piece of advice I would share with anyone that’s just starting their journey or is even a few years in and looking to find their way is to never stop being a student of this culture. Keep and open mind and cultivate the thing that you think sets your art apart from the rest of the pack and eventually you will end up in the rooms and on the stages with the people who will ultimately help sharpen your sword and get you to the next level.

What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?

In my humble opinion, when it comes to music I truly believe it’s better to build on your strengths rather than to stretch yourself thin trying to learn and do everything. There is nothing inherently wrong with being well-rounded but there is a fine line between being generally knowledgeable and being a jack of all trades but master of none. For example, when I look at some of my favorite producers like J Dilla, Madlib, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Alchemist, etc…those are all producers that are considered LEGENDS in the game and their catalogues speak for themselves. What do they all have in common? They all have their own distinct sound and style and they have never strayed away from that in the pursuit of work or exposure. When you need an Alchemist beat, you wouldn’t go to Timbaland and ask him to make that for you and vice versa. I do think it’s valuable to study and learn a little bit of everything of course because there is always something to be gained by learning, but ultimately I think if you’re really really good at something specifically, it would be a more fruitful endeavor focus on that and make that your superpower.

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Image Credits

Eddie Maldonado, Camila Mojica

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