Get to know Vugar M Beats, a confessed workaholic and one of the hottest producers in the game right now, having produced most of Gigi Lamayne’s latest album Set in Stone and worked with ScoobyNero, Money Badoo, Doowap + more…
Born in East London in the Eastern Cape, Vugar M Beats settled in Cape Town for a brief period before moving to Joburg to pursue his dream of being a musician.
Now steadily becoming the go-to producer in the game, Vugar M Beats has produced for the likes of Money Badoo, Doowap, Blxckie and ScoobyNero, who he works closely with. Vugar M Beats recently produced all of our June cover star Gigi Lamayne’s latest album, Set in Stone.
Below, we talk to him about his relationship with our Gigi and ScoobyNero, working on Set in Stone and what he is currently busy with.
How did you meet Gigi?
I met her through ScoobyNero, I’m his personal producer. There’s a record they did before, for which I had to do mixing and mastering. She liked my quality and from then on, we became close.
How did you meet ScoobyNero? And how has working with him been?
ScoobyNero, that’s my G. I’ve worked with him for like a year. I met him through a Nigerian artist he worked on a song with; they used my studio. That was around 2019. And from there, another artist hit Scooby up and told him there’s this guy Vugar M Beats, you need to meet him. And he was like, “Dude, I know this guy.” Then he hit me up and said he wanted us to work on a project. And from there, we were glued to each other. We started working. We’ve done a 50-track album – that’s the first project we did. All his recent singles, I produced almost all of them.
What do you like about working with ScoobyNero?
People don’t understand him. I think the spirit just made us gel together. People say he’s hasty and all that, but they don’t understand the type of person he is. He’s quite humble and he’s a freaking workaholic, just like me.
Set in Stone is a hip-hop album, but you use the log drum on almost every song. Was that a decision the two of you made?
Kinda. The ’mapiano scene has taken over. During the lockdown, people just wanted to dance; it’s not about hip-hop losing touch. But people felt like they were locked in, so they wanted to dance. So, amapiano dominated the music scene here and internationally. So, we thought let’s incorporate it into the production. Just being creative as well, trying to make it work. It’s a new thing, even outside SA, people are utilising the log drum. If you look at Afrobeats… it’s an African sound. It’s just a different feel that we introduced.
Gigi expressed excitement about working with you. How was your experience working with her on Set in Stone?
She’s a beast, bruh. She’s multi-talented, she’s a beautiful soul. When I started knowing her, I saw another side, besides just the artist. We became close, like family. She’s just out of the box, she’s very creative. ‘Oh My Gin’ is the first record we did for the album.
How did that song come about?
She was performing in PE. There’s a place called Oh My Gin in PE, it always gets packed, so she kind of incorporated the experience and all that. If you can hear, she talks about PE on the record. So, she hit me up like, “Dude, I’m outchea, can you make me a beat? I’m writing something, I already have an idea.” So, yeah, it just started there – she comes with ideas.
What are you currently working on?
Gigi and I are working on a deluxe [for Set in Stone]. I’m also finishing DJ Doowap’s album. I also have a single coming out with ScoobyNero featuring The Publicist.
Notable Vugar M Beats productions:
Money Badoo – ‘K.R.E.A.M’
Gigi Lamayne – ‘George Goch’ (featuring MuziholiQ & Majorsteez)
Gigi Lamayne – ‘Wer U R’ (featuring Vugar M Beats)
ScoobyNero – ‘OnlyFans Account [Remix]’ (featuring MusiholiQ)
ScoobyNero – ‘Who Dey Zoo?’
Mickey Monarch – ‘I Am the Problem Freestyle’
Mickey Monarch – ‘Nqobe [Remix]’ (featuring MusiholiQ)
Doowap – ‘Déjà Vu’ (featuring Money Badoo)