For the love of the real stars, the producers, we created #Beatsmith — a series that focuses on the connections and inspirations that led to the creation of that hit song or album.
Rema is easily the biggest breakout star of 2019. In less than a year, he’s dropped three impressive EPs, all filled with really fantastic tracks. Out of all them, however, one that truly stands out is “Lady” — an infectious afropop gem off his third project, Bad Commando.
Considering that it’s one of Rema’s most dynamically produced tracks, we simply had to reach out to Altims, the Mavin Records beatsmith behind it. He discussed meeting Rema, finding diving inspiration for the beat, and noticing the effect the song had on women.
On meeting Rema:
I met Rema in early 2018, through D’Prince. He was recording a bunch of songs with a couple of producers, and D’Prince played me some. I thought he sounded unique, and we met a couple of days after at the Mavin HQ.
On first discussing “Lady”:
I actually don’t remember us having a conversation about “Lady” in particular. When we linked up, we recorded between 5 and 7 songs within the span of a couple of days, and “Lady” just happened to be one of them.
On main influence:
I actually made the beat an entire year before the song was recorded. I had the full idea for it before I even sat down to put it together. It happens like that some times. I call it divine inspiration.
On difficulty level:
Making “Lady” was really, really easy for me, especially when I compare it to the other projects I’ve worked on. The instrumental was done in 45 minutes, from start to finish.
On coolest memory:
After we recorded vocals and bounced the rough cut, every babe that heard the rough version danced and asked for it to be played again, without even knowing the artist. I thought that was really cool.
