Melina Nguyen
Melina Nguyen
The Midwest-raised producer shared details about his upbringing in Indiana, musical inspirations, and ADL camp.
Credit: DATACLUB
When Mathaius Young finally gets a chance to hop on the phone for our interview, he’s en route to grab lunch before weaving in and out of LA traffic.
“Sorry, I had to honk at somebody,” he beeps his horn in the middle of explaining Zenology patches, followed by a joke, “I’m doing God’s work, honking at everybody.”
He’s got an easy demeanor, noticeable even through the tinniness of the cellphone. Every sentence is punctuated by a chuckle, and it makes sense when he says he’s finally wrapped up a two- to three-month period working on Yeat’s latest album.
After what he calls the ADL camp ended, Young says it’s time for him to lock in, looking toward the next opportunity for his steadily flourishing career.
Young has been featured on Apple’s “The Producers” playlist and has earned production credits with Big Sean, Brent Faiyaz, Denzel Curry, and more.
Breaking out with his beats for the 2017 XXL Freshman Cypher, Young later produced Don Toliver’s early breakout record “Situation.” But securing a placement on ADL was a feat that cemented Young in the elite tier of hip-hop producers.
Born in Cleveland, the 29-year-old rapper and producer cites his upbringing in the early 2000s as the start of his music journey.
“It’s just so nostalgic for the new generation, but it’s like… I lived it,” Young recounted, pointing to regional sounds in Atlanta, the Midwest, and the West Coast.
His childhood was a medley of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony in his mom’s musical library and the soundtrack of his neighborhood, as well as T-Pain, Usher, and Pretty Ricky.
Fun fact, Young divulges: Kid Cudi attended the high school down the street from his, albeit several years earlier. But after ninth grade, the then-13-year-old moved over to Indianapolis, where he really matured as a person and grew as an artist.
Young described his school as extremely diverse, full of both inner-city and rich kids. Being around a little bit of everything, his first exposure to music production was with the other students who were on FL Studio, GarageBand, and Logic during class (big shoutout to his school for not being super strict, he says).
One of those guys, who remains one of Young’s closest friends, taught him how to use FL Studio. In an environment where everyone was playing sports in their free time, producing became Young’s outlet.
“I remember the first couple of times I was making stuff on FL Studio, I was like, ‘Wow, I feel like I have some identity now,’” he shared. “It just felt right. It felt like my destiny.”
Young was later scouted on SoundCloud by Sonny Digital, who he quickly established a “big homie, little homie” relationship with.
The two eventually linked up in Los Angeles for a cook-up session, but not until Sonny fell asleep at the computer.
“I just made some beats,” Young said. “He had started off while he was still awake, but then I finished in the evening.” By the time Sonny woke up and listened to the beat and Young was already on his way back to Indiana, his mentor was praising the beat up and down. Young’s work at that time ended up being the soundtrack for the 2017 XXL Freshman Cypher, featuring Playboi Carti, XXXTentacion, and Kyle, among other prominent rappers of the era.
Credit: DATACLUB
The most significant turning point for Young’s career, though, arguably began when he connected with BNYX, who anointed Young as the first signee to his production label Dataclub in 2024.
“I didn’t know who he was,” Young said of the “random dude.” “Then I heard his beats. I was like, ‘Oh, where has he been all my life? Why are we just now meeting?’”
Then, over the last year, Young worked on demos at the ADL camp, resembling a factory run by producers going in and out of rooms to share their ideas. He had already worked on Yeat and Esdeekid’s single “Made It On Our Own” but starved for more.
“[Yeat] still needed one more song for the album, and in my mind, I was just like, ‘Man, if I don't get one on the album… I’m gonna be so mad with myself,’” he admitted. “I had a point to prove.”
Young sent the rapper the "Griddlë" beat at least three times. Perhaps he overlooked it during the bustle of the rollout, Young hypothesized, who re-sent it a final time the week before the album release when it was finally noticed.
Young relived that memory on the call, sighing in relief, “We finally got one.” The cherry on top: Don Toliver eventually hopped on the track. He added, “That’s gonna change everything, like you get Don on this, this shit outta here.”
He said his approach to "Griddlë" wasn’t particularly unique, but the bounciness, uniqueness, and chords were anything but ordinary. Young used an attention-grabber of a melody made by a friend, BNYX suggested ideas for sound selection and structure, and the rest was plain old elbow grease. With Don’s feature added to the mix, the team worked on the song up until the album dropped.
“It just felt like a regular beat to me, but I knew it was special, though,” Young explained. “Especially when I did the part of the song where Don’s singing on it… put that lil’ bridge part in there, that’s when I knew like, ‘OK, yeah, it’s gonna be one of them ones.’”
When asked about how he’d describe his style, Young said his music aims to be head-bobbing, body-moving, and fun. He doesn’t have to try too hard because his groove is innate, and it shows in his beats.
“I just make what I feel,” he said. “The computer is my instrument. My computer is my pathway to express myself.”
The bounce in his music is “primal” to him, Young said. The straightforwardness he brings to music production is echoed in his workflow: a laptop preloaded with plugins stuffed into his Supreme duffel bag that’s ready to be slung over his shoulder whenever he needs it. No fuss—just ready to go.
Eventually, the interview comes to a close as his car sings its farewell jingle. He leaves behind a lasting piece of advice before going off to enjoy his well-deserved lunch:
“Just network and be a good person. Be humble, but also don’t be afraid to let people know what you got going on,” he shared. “Show people your talents ‘cause you never know who’s watching.”
Young has a ton of motion behind the scenes, with more content, projects, and a new album called Champagne Dreamz brewing in the works.
For now, he’s taking one day at a time, planning out what tour dates he wants to attend and preparing to finally hear "Griddlë" live.