Mike Will Made It

Early life

Williams was born in Marietta, Georgia, the youngest of three children; he has two older sisters. His father, Michael Williams Sr., is a former IBM executive who worked as a club DJ in the 1970s. His mother, Shirley Williams, a former bank loan officer, was once in a gospel group, singing for Dottie Peoples. He grew up in a musical family as his uncle was an accomplished guitar player and one of his older sisters was a drum major in the Olympics.

His life also centered around a love of hip-hop music. Williams first developed his talent for music by re-playing popular instrumentals that he heard on the radio while he and his friends would freestyle to them.

At age 14, Williams began to develop his own beats on a Korg ES1 beat machine, which his father bought for him as a Christmas present from the local music store Mars Music. As he became more accomplished, he also began to use production equipment, including the Korg Triton, the Akai MPC1000, the Yamaha Motif, and the Roland Fantom. He was initially ignored, but eventually one of his beat tapes made its way into the hands of Gucci Mane, who then invited WillIams to Patchwerk studios, an Atlanta recording studio.

Upon graduating high school, Williams enrolled at Georgia State University to pursue undergraduate studies mainly due to pressure from his parents, but chose to take a hiatus and eventually dropped out after several semesters, with a 3.1 GPA, to focus on his music career.

Career

2011–2012: Production and mixtapes

In an interview with XXL, Mike Will said, "Gucci Mane was the first [major artist] to ever rap on my beat." Mike Will first met Gucci Mane at Atlanta recording studio, PatchWerk Recording Studios, and upon introducing himself and giving Gucci Mane a CD of beats, Gucci Mane proceeded to freestyle over each of the instrumentals. He then offered Mike Will $1,000 for one of his beats. The two artists began releasing songs together, such as "East Atlanta 6", and a number of songs from Gucci Mane's mixtape, No Pad, No Pencil. After developing this close relationship with Gucci Mane, he began working with other big-name Atlanta rappers such as Future, Waka Flocka Flame, Rocko, and 2 Chainz.

In 2011, Mike Will released his first single, "Tupac Back", performed by Meek Mill and Rick Ross, from the compilation album Self Made Vol. 1. The single was released on April 5, 2011, and peaked at No. 31 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Billboard chart. This came after Mike Will submitted some of his beats to an A&R for Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group label.

Also in 2011, Mike Will worked with Atlanta rapper Future, producing several popular and noteworthy songs together, including "Ain't No Way Around It", "Itchin", and three songs from Future's 2012 major label debut album Pluto: "Neva End", "Truth Gonna Hurt You", and "Turn On the Lights".

On December 27, 2011, Mike Will released his first mixtape, Est. in 1989 (Last of a Dying Breed). It was released in conjunction with popular mixtape website LiveMixtapes.com.

On March 23, 2012, Mike Will partnered with popular music site The FADER to announce the second installment of his mixtape series, Est. in 1989 Pt. 2, and to release the mixtape's first single, "Back 2 the Basics", which features his manager/rapper Gucci Mane, founder/CEO/president of Brick Squad and Waka Flocka Flame. The project Est. in 1989 Pt. 2 features songs with Diddy, 2 Chainz, Juicy J, Future, Lil Wayne, T.I., Mac Miller, French Montana, Jeremih, and others.

Will has also worked extensively with Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz, producing "La La", which features Busta Rhymes, from 2 Chainz, then known as Tity Boi, Codeine Cowboy mixtape and "Got One" from 2 Chainz's T.R.U. REALigion mixtape. According to an interview with Complex magazine, Mike Will has been working together with 2 Chainz "since 2008, when he was Tity Boi...We're kind of like family." In 2012, Mike Will produced the lead single, "No Lie", from 2 Chainz' debut album, Based on a T.R.U. Story, released via Def Jam. The single has been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, selling over 500,000 copies digitally.

In 2012, Mike WiLL Made-It produced "Bandz a Make Her Dance", a single for Taylor Gang rapper Juicy J that also features Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz. The song was listed as one of the 25 Best Songs of Summer 2012 by Complex magazine, and as of September 2012, the single had peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Mike Will, alongside producers Kanye West, Mike Dean, Lifted, and Anthony Kilhoffer, co-produced the G.O.O.D. Music single "Mercy", which features vocals by Kanye West, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, and Pusha T. "Mercy", released April 3, 2012, served as the lead single from the G.O.O.D. Music compilation album Cruel Summer, and peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, while reaching No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. Other notable production efforts for Mike Will include the single "Way Too Gone", featuring Future from Young Jeezy's 2011 studio album Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition, "Just a Sign" from B.o.B's second studio album Strange Clouds and "Pour It Up" from Rihanna's 2012 studio album, Unapologetic.

In 2012 interviews, Mike Will mentioned upcoming work with Kanye West, Brandy, Big Sean, and Pusha T.

The third installment of the series, entitled Est. in 1989 2.5 was released on December 24, 2012. The mixtape featured guest appearances from Gucci Mane, Future, Rihanna, Big Sean, Trinidad Jame$, Lil Wayne, and other artists.

2013–present: Debut studio album, collaborations, and ''Creed II'' soundtrack

Mike Will executive produced Miley Cyrus's fourth studio album Bangerz (2013), including its lead single "We Can't Stop". He produced eight tracks on Bangerz and six tracks on Cyrus' other project Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz.

On September 9, 2013, Mike Will premiered his commercial debut single "23", featuring Wiz Khalifa, Juicy J and Miley Cyrus. He revealed that he had signed with Interscope Records to release his debut album. His debut album will also feature Beyoncé, Future, Kendrick Lamar, and 2 Chainz.

He was named producer of the year by HipHopDX on December 18, 2013.

On June 17, 2014, Mike Will Made It released the first single from his mixtape, "Buy the World", featuring Future, Lil Wayne and Kendrick Lamar. On December 15, 2014, he released his fifth mixtape, Ransom. Featured artists include Big Sean, Juicy J, 2 Chainz, Lil Wayne, and Kendrick Lamar.

On March 24, 2017, he released Ransom 2. The bigger names showcase a quick flip through Mike Will's contact list: Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, Future, Pharrell, Lil Wayne, Big Sean, Migos, YG, and more.

In 2018, the soundtrack for the action-drama film Creed II was released, entitled Creed II: The Album. The album featured all original songs written and produced by Mike Will Made It (with the exception of three tracks).

On August 21, 2020, Mike Will released the single "Bang Bang" with rapper Chief Keef. He also announced that his upcoming project is "74%" done. On November 6, 2020, Mike Will released the song, "What That Speed Bout!?" with rappers Nicki Minaj and YoungBoy Never Broke Again. It is the lead single to his upcoming album, Michael, which failed to meet its 2023 release date.

In 2023, Mike Will partnered with ESPN’s Custom NBA Music Strategy as its first-ever lead producer to curate music for the 2023-24 NBA season. ON October 16, 2023, Mike Will released the new single ‘Different Breed’ featuring Latto and Swae Lee on ESPN.

Influences

In interviews, Mike Will has named several musical influences on his own production work. In a "Behind the Beats" interview with Complex magazine, he says that he "always admired Dr. Dre's drums", and calls Timbaland "the first crazy pop producer... He brought so many artists to the game." As a southern producer, he says, he "was also looking up to Shawty Redd. He was the first producer to really bring that dark trap energy and sound."

Production equipment

Mike Will uses a variety of production equipment to create beats. His gear includes the Korg Triton, Akai MPC 1000, Logic Pro, FL Studio, Yamaha Motif, and the Roland Fantom-X.

Ear Drummer Records

In 2006, Mike Will started his own production company called EarDrummers Entertainment. In 2013, he founded Ear Drummer Records (initially known as Eardruma Records) and signed the label to Interscope Records on December 19, 2013. In 2014, Mike Will signed Rae Sremmurd (whose name is "Ear" "Drummers" backwards) and Two-9 to the label.

Artists

• Mike Will Made It
• Shotta Spence
• Two-9
• Rae Sremmurd
• Swae Lee
• Slim Jxmmi
• Eearz
• Andréa
• Trouble (formerly)
• Rico Pressley

In-house producers

• 30 Roc
• DJ Fu
• Blue Cheeze
• DJ Fu
• Ducko McFli
• GT
• J-Bo
• Marz
• Mike Will Made It
• Pluss
• P-Nazty
• Randy Lanphear
• Resource
• Scooly
• Shawn Ferrari
• Whatlilshoddysay
• F1Jo
• Todd Gleeful

Discography

Studio albums

Soundtrack albums

Mixtapes

Singles

Promotional singles

Notes

Awards and nominations

BET Hip Hop Awards

The BET Hip Hop Awards were established in 2006 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate hip-hop performers, producers, and music video directors.

Grammy Awards

!Ref. |- |Lemonade (Beyoncé) |Album of the Year | |- |Song of the Year | |- | |- | |- | |- |2019 |"King's Dead" | |- |2024 |Endless Summer Vacation (Miley Cyrus) | Album of the Year |

iHeartRadio Music Awards

References

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