Today we’d like to introduce you to Louie McDon.
Hi Louie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I started rapping in 2016 with friends in college and quickly decided to start taking it seriously. By early 2017 I created my own LLC (The Lyrically Obsessed Universe) to protect my creative ideas from day one. By August 2017, I released my first self-titled project, the ‘Louie McDon – EP’ & later that year on November 11th, released my first full-length project titled “The Silver Lining, Act 1: ‘ill-advised'”. After pushing these first two projects for a year, in 2018 I decided it was time to evolve and stop leasing beats.
I wanted to get more involved with the creation of my music, so in May of 2018, I went out and bought FL Studio and my first AKAI MPK261. May 2018 to May 2019 was a year of trial and error. Really learning how to use the program and translate the thoughts in my head into something real. May 2019 was when I really got the hang of producing and felt confident enough to start using my own beats for my next project. In January 2020, I released my follow-up album “The Silver Lining, Act 2: ‘Beautiful Demise'” which featured the first works of my own production.
Act 2 immediately started receiving notoriety from the sampling site “Tracklib’ which wrote an article about the production I did for my track ‘disGraceful’ with my partner Damn AD (Austin Davis). The project began spreading fast after the write-up and helped me establish a small fanbase worldwide that I would work to build on. I have now released two-full length projects, an EP, and several singles since Act 2, building off the foundation that project laid for my marketing strategies and listening trends around the world.
The Act 2 project pushed me to be fully involved in my overall production going forward. Not only have all my own songs been produced in-house since 2020, but I have now built an extensive beat catalog and credit sheet with my production that I plan to grow immensely over the rest of my music career.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been a rugged road, to say the least. I feel I started off progressing very fast. In the first year of putting out music, I was getting booked on live shows with artists such as Joyner Lucas, Afroman, and Prof, R.A. The Rugged Man, Jarren Benton, and many more. I quickly showed distinctive energy in my live performances to show promoters in the city and had a reliable reputation growing. That is until Covid hit.
When shows got shut down for a period of time, I had to figure out what my next point of attack was going to be to set myself apart. Being locked in the house for months was really when I fell in love with making beats,
Even along the path of making beats, I’ve had friendships and partnerships fall apart by letting my ego get involved.
Learning how to bury my ego and focus on the music first has been the hardest road to conquer, and I must admit is still one I am traveling along to this day.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Ever since I established my LLC, I have had the goal of being a production and publishing company. I have recently taken a big step in establishing my online merch store and online beat store. (Louiemcdon.beatstars.com) Artist development has more recently become a focus for my business because I have grown to specialize in helping artists see their tracks all the way from the writing and the music to the release and promotion. However, I am used to working with more established artists as well that are well educated on the distribution and publishing of their music.
I like to keep the mindset that what sets my business apart from others is that, taking or keeping my team and me out of any room is just a subtraction. No matter how far along any artist may be in their career, my team and I can always find one aspect of the creative process to bring value. Whether it involves providing consistent quality beats, song ideas, merchandise ideas, resources, or even new marketing techniques. When it comes to all these different aspects of the creative process and branding, there is never too much knowledge one can gain on each and every subject.
I am proud though that the brand has become a sign of hope for artists who may feel like misfits at times. I personally feel like I never fit into a group of creatives in the city, so I created my own Universe. I have worked with and found several other artists who feel this way and we have combined to create our collection of mega producers, rappers, singers, and artists.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up I was very talkative. My brother and dad used to always say they thought I was going to become a comedian. I always strived to make other people laugh, even if it meant saying such inappropriate things that got me in trouble as a kid. I like pushing buttons.
I was always very competitive too. Played every sport as a kid and developed a competitive mindset with everything early in my life. When it came to making music, that mindset translated in the same way. Starting out rapping with my friends the motivation was to try and spit a verse harder than my friend. I remember the first time I got the recognition for having a harder verse than my friend who had been rapping much longer than me, it was a natural high I had never felt before.
Ever since then I compete with myself. Ever since my first original song, the goal has been to continue to make another song better than the last. I’m a competitor at heart, always have always will be.
Pricing:
- MP3 or WAV Lease – $50
- Track Out Lease – $75
- Unlimited Lease – $100
- Exclusive Beats – I take Offers because some beats are just harder than others
- Features – I work with all budgets but the quality of song and dedication of the artist is a big factor
Contact Info:
- Website: https://louiemcdon.beatstars.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louiemcdon/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/luke.mcdonald.528
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz6b_aCeuVrJhHXC5SOFcPA
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/08hnQZYGP2hEhoy9XcB41G?si=ltI9Mxm-SL-fEBfM2NiYSQ
Image Credits
Ian Dunn
