You know that moment when you hear the first piano notes of Kanye’s “Runaway” and you can’t help but “play” your imaginary keyboard—no matter where you are (first Tinder date included). Or perhaps you’re more mystified as to how you naturally turn on your best Lana Del Rey pout as soon as the first beat of her “National Anthem” single blares from the speakers. It’s okay to admit it; we’ve done it too. While each of these Vine-worthy music moments may seem completely different, the man to blame for the catchy-ness—and shame-worthy impersonations in public—is the same: Emile Haynie.
While you may not recognize the name, the under-the-radar musician has been writing and producing some of your favorite tracks and albums for over a decade. His list of collaborators—Bruno Mars, Eminem, FKA twigs, and Kid Cudi to name a few—is more star-studded than the front row at Yeezy’s Fall/Winter 2015 runway show. Tomorrow, the hit-maker is looking to add his name to his list of peers with his debut album, We Fall.
Featuring a drool-worthy tracklist of contributors—think Dev Hynes, Sampha, and ya girl Charlotte Gainsbourg—We Fall is the debut album set to officially put Haynie on the map.
We caught up with the producer and talked about working with friends, the future of music, and what’s up with new work from Cudder.
CHLOE DEWBERRY: When did you first realize that you wanted to pursue music?
EMILE HAYNIE: I was making what they used to call pause mixtapes. I was just obsessed. I had every hip-hop cassette tape and I would take my favorite songs and just make compilations with a double take back—which was a big deal in 1991. In 1992, Juice came out and that’s the first time I really saw a DJ do that kind of thing: DJ battles and making beats with turntables. When I saw that, I realized it was kind of what I was trying to do with cassettes and tables. I obsessed over becoming a DJ. I think that movie inspired a lot of DJs my age. Two years later, I dropped out of school in the ninth grade and went full-time into music all day, everyday.
I was raised on full albums and the experience of enjoying a whole cohesive album. I feel as though it’s harder to sell a full album today because people only want the one single. How does your album breach that?
It’s a concept album. There’s not really one song—I really hope people listen to it front to back and that’s kind of like a lot of the albums that I’ve worked on. They’ve been full-length conceptual listens and that’s my thing. I’m not the one you go to for a single or one tune. I make full, cohesive albums. My album is completely that—I produced the whole thing; there’s an orchestra over the whole thing. I’ll always stand by listening to an album front to back.
Can you tell us what the album name We Fall signifies?
“We” is everybody on the record—all my friends. “Fall” is just a word that kept appearing, whether it’s a negative or a positive. It just popped into my head instantly and I stuck with it. We fall
While you may not recognize the name, the under-the-radar musician has been writing and producing some of your favorite tracks and albums for over a decade. His list of collaborators—Bruno Mars, Eminem, FKA twigs, and Kid Cudi to name a few—is more star-studded than the front row at Yeezy’s Fall/Winter 2015 runway show. Tomorrow, the hit-maker is looking to add his name to his list of peers with his debut album, We Fall.
Featuring a drool-worthy tracklist of contributors—think Dev Hynes, Sampha, and ya girl Charlotte Gainsbourg—We Fall is the debut album set to officially put Haynie on the map.
We caught up with the producer and talked about working with friends, the future of music, and what’s up with new work from Cudder.
CHLOE DEWBERRY: When did you first realize that you wanted to pursue music?
EMILE HAYNIE: I was making what they used to call pause mixtapes. I was just obsessed. I had every hip-hop cassette tape and I would take my favorite songs and just make compilations with a double take back—which was a big deal in 1991. In 1992, Juice came out and that’s the first time I really saw a DJ do that kind of thing: DJ battles and making beats with turntables. When I saw that, I realized it was kind of what I was trying to do with cassettes and tables. I obsessed over becoming a DJ. I think that movie inspired a lot of DJs my age. Two years later, I dropped out of school in the ninth grade and went full-time into music all day, everyday.
I was raised on full albums and the experience of enjoying a whole cohesive album. I feel as though it’s harder to sell a full album today because people only want the one single. How does your album breach that?
It’s a concept album. There’s not really one song—I really hope people listen to it front to back and that’s kind of like a lot of the albums that I’ve worked on. They’ve been full-length conceptual listens and that’s my thing. I’m not the one you go to for a single or one tune. I make full, cohesive albums. My album is completely that—I produced the whole thing; there’s an orchestra over the whole thing. I’ll always stand by listening to an album front to back.
Can you tell us what the album name We Fall signifies?
“We” is everybody on the record—all my friends. “Fall” is just a word that kept appearing, whether it’s a negative or a positive. It just popped into my head instantly and I stuck with it. We fall