Life & Work with Shango Upton of Cleveland

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shango Upton

Hi Shango, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was partly raised on the westside of cleveland up until the split of my parents. I was 9 or 10 years old. I was homeschooled until around the age 13. My whole childhood I was filled with curiosity I liked dismantling things to understand them. After my parents split, music became my focus when my dad and uncle introduced me to Fruity Loops 3. Inspired by artists like Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz, Dre Dre, Timberland, and Kanye West.

I immersed myself in beat-making. I wanted to know how it worked, how my favorite producers make beats, and wanted to learn how to do it the way they did. Throughout my journey I never stopped learning but I had several developments. I end up formed a rap group with my friends and brother. Created a small buzz but ultimately not very successful. I Transitioned to solo work, I expanded into diverse genres from Rap and R&B to Pop, EDM, and more.

I’ve recorded artist for money for number of years. I had a home studio I work out of for some time. I recorded and worked with artists in professional studios around the city of cleveland. At one point, I was looking into getting a loan or an investor to open my own studio. Unfortunately, that never happened. COVID-19 really stopped everything I had planned. During COVID-19, unable to record in person, I innovated by producing beats around acapellas. When I got pretty good at this I created a unique “Beat Tape – Yellow.” This method, producing music tailored to artists’ vocals, became a cornerstone of my production approach, delivering exceptional results.

Now, I work with artists in this fashion. I started an online/remote production company. For now its me and a talented songwriter/guitarist. I work with Artists and hopefully bands soon. Using what I consider my signature technique. Its how I start my production sessions.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It had not been a smooth road. I almost had my big break working with Hella Sketchy. I had a manager at the time and he was in talks with him. I sent some beats over while he was in the studio and recorded a snippet of a song.
Really dope song. Everybody was proud of the song including the label he was signed to. I was waiting to hear back when he finished the song.

Unfortunately, I got a call from my manager saying Sketchy died from drug overdose… I was shocked. I only got a chance to talk to him once but we knew we were gonna make great music and we made a small bond over the beat. The song endup being shelved, my manager stopped linking me with artists, and in the middle of this I was practically homeless.

I was sleeping in the back of my sister’s office for several weeks.

This is not everything but it’s definitely have not been a smooth road.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Im a music producer and mixing engineer. I started out as a music producer but my curiosity drove me to learn how to mix down tracks. Id say my specialty is production for sure. I mostly work in Trap/Hip-hop, Rap/Hip-hop, and EDM. Im most recently been exploring other genres: Indie Pop and Electro Pop.

I think what sets me apart is the process to produce a song. I like to start with a vocal and add sounds/elements to build around the vocal. The vocal can be a professionally recorded, it can be recorded of a phone, it can be an acapella that was ripped from a released song. it dont matter, I can find the sound that works with it. Sometimes multiple sound ideas i’ll dive into with one vocal.

What were you like growing up?
Before I started going to public school I was very quiet and shy. I was a smart kid that knew a little bit of everything. I was very creative(Drawing & Music), loved sports(Mostly Basketball), and was into card games like Yugioh and Pokemon. lol Not really into it now either though I did play Pokemon Go for a bit and Duel Links.

I was wise for my age. Adults use to say I was an old soul. I understand things differently than other kids. I didn’t get mad super easily and I was pretty good at problem solving.

Pricing:

• $300
• $600
• $900

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goshanbeatz__/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Goshanbeatz
• Twitter: https://x.com/Goshanbeatz__
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@goshanbeatz
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/goshanbeatz