Super Producer Larrance Dopson of 1500 or Nothin’ — Teaching the Beats

Keeping secrets just doesn’t work for Larrance “Rance” Dopson. As the CEO and co-founder of the LA-based production collective 1500 or Nothin’, it would make perfect sense for him to keep it all close to the vest.

After all, his tricks of the trade are quite valuable, seeing as how they’ve made him a two-time GRAMMY Award-winning producer who’s worked with Just Blaze, Bryan Michael Cox, Teddy Riley, Tim & Bob, Bobby Valentino, Tyrese, Marsha Ambrosius, Lupe Fiasco, Alicia Keys, Travi$ Scott, Kendrick Lamar, T.I., and Emeli Sandé. Add in his drumming, guitar, and piano skills, and its why he’s MD’d on the road with the likes of Jay-Z.

Larrance Dopson has some sound advice to share. (All photos shot by 1500 or Nothin’ Films (Jez Pix, Caliivision, & Mike Wallz)

But bottling it up all inside isn’t the way for Dopson and the 1500 or Nothin’ crew, a prolific force founded in 2006 that also includes Charles “Uncle Chucc” Hamilton, Lamar “Mars” Edwards, Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Kenneth “Bam” Alexander, Alexandria Dopson, Carlos “Los” McSlain, Jeret Black and Rebekah Muhammad. Their list of hits together is just too long to list, but some recent names you can add to Dopson’s credits above include more platinum clients like Justin Timberlake, Asher Roth Jay-Z, Kanye West, T.I., Bruno Mars and B.o.B. Megahits like Timberlake’s “Filthy” and Mars’ “Finesse” have been battling it out atop the charts this year.

Beyond spreading joy in the form of beautiful sounds, Dopson and friends have just doubled down on sharing with the opening of the new 1500 Sound Academy, an LA audio educational complex that’s about much more than perfecting beats and bass lines — the hard-won career knowledge and life lessons gathered by the 1500 or Nothin’ members will be equally emphasized on the curriculum. Meanwhile, the multiple studios onsite mean that the platinum artists Dopson and friends work with every day just might drop by as featured guest lecturers, in between sessions.

Can’t wait to attend class at the academy? Good news: school time starts right here, right now. This interview with Dopson kicks off with an invaluable songwriting tip 100% guaranteed to banish writer’s block forever…and it just gets better from there.

Larrance, I know you’ve been behind so many hits and I was curious, do you know a song is a hit while you’re working at it? How often have you been right and how often have you been wrong?

Well, it’s a feeling: You always get a certain feeling. I can’t say, “This is a hit or this is not a hit,” but I’ve done enough homework and research to know there’s formulas to hit records.

The secret is to take a little bit from each hit record song you really like and make your own song out of it, that way you have a really good chance of it being a hit. I’ll play around and take a rudiment of some high hats from The Temptations and I’ll make that the rhythm of the verse of a song, so you wouldn’t even know it’s a high hat. You know what I mean? Little secrets like that.

And I don’t mean we sample. The good thing about us being musicians is that we actually are the people that make samples for everybody, and they sample us. As a producer cheat sheet, let’s say if I take the song “All Night Long” (by Lionel Richie), I could take that rhythm — just the rhythm not the melody or the words — and use that and then a kick. I can go, “kick, kick, kick, kick-kick, kick-kick, kick.” You feel me? That’s all, and I know that rhythm works already.

So that’s just a cheat sheet…It’ll be a whole other song that you would never know, but that kick pattern feels so right. And it’s the “All Night Long” song. And often I’ll use a total different instrument, so, if it’s a song where I like the melody, I’ll just switch it up so you could never tell. If it’s a bass line, I’ll use a bass line rhythm for a high hat. Secrets like that.

What you’re saying sounds so simple, but it’s a great thing to hook onto for inspiration or for direction. We’re taking advantage of the music history that you’ve got in your head.

Yeah, the secret is to not have writer’s block ever. Even with writing songs, go through movie titles and get inspiration from them.

That’s such a great tip. To follow that up, I know one of 1500 or Nothin’s most high profile songs this year is the single “Finesse.” How would you characterize Cardi B as an artist? Why do you think she’s captivating so many people right now?

I think Cardi B is killing the game because her raps are honest. A lot of rappers talk about things that aren’t true or things we can’t relate too. We actually were able to witness Cardi B’s life, see what she went through. So she has stronger support from the streets, we want to see her win   because she was honest with her life. She’s killin’ the game.

What happens when you combine two artists like her and Bruno Mars? What’s the art of matching up two superstars — what’s the best that can happen and what’s the worst that can happen?

The worst that could happen is it’s a corny song   and everybody hates it. The best thing that could happen is you do a song like “Finesse” where it gives you a familiar feeling to being in the ‘90’s, and people love it . People love the 90’s era regardless. So, it was genius that Bruno & Cardi went in that direction. Also wearing all the cross colors gear and keeping it how it really look in the ‘90’s, we believed them and could feel the difference. That’s why the world loves it.

It’s Academic

I think that’s such a great way of distilling it. So, for you now Larrance, how has the craft of songwriting prepared you for some of your newer or bigger projects, like opening up 1500 Sound Academy. I’m interested if there’s similarities between those endeavors — writing a song and then doing something like that that’s so much bigger.

Well, going through being a song writer and being a musician and going through all of these endeavors resulted in trial and error – you basically become the greatest problem solver of life. Being able to fix situations under pressure helped me grow a lot, it made me want to start this academy because there are so many moving parts to this industry that don’t get taught at other music academies.

Music academies, especially. As a musician, there are very far and few schools, that will really teach you how to be a musician. For example there’ll be so many talented musicians that may never end up getting their shot simply because they didn’t realize that being super-emotional could get you fired. There’s no one telling them that half these people you’ll be dealing with can be assholes or just super difficult to work with at times –   you have to learn exactly how to not react.   I’m trying to reshape the way students are taught so they can truly generate an income for themselves. The tiny differences between the musician that gets super emotional and irritated quickly and the other musician that just understands the way in which you should carry yourself in a room – can be the very thing that makes or breaks your entire gig. That’s what’s important.

We’re teaching Ableton, production, song-writing and absolutely all the secrets of how to make your life easier when it comes to the actual portion of making music of course. But, most importantly it’s about so much more than that. I’m a musician forever, I’ m 34 now, but I’ve been realizing since I was 26-27 what my purpose was, and what I’m truly here to do.

I was making money but I didn’t know how I was making money. There’s a formula to everything, bro. Mediation, and a lot of books. I started tapping into more outlets like that, where now I know I really have the power to get anything I want. And that’s what we’re obligated to teach these kids, we’re so distracted with iPhones and bullshit not realizing that life has nothing to do with any of that – it’s about becoming in tune with your inner self, and when that happens, you can have anything.

That’s what we want to teach, I mean bro, we’re from the hood, and we’re still in the hood. We may not still live in the hood, ‘cause everybody has grown to a successful place now, but we’re in the hood every day because that’s it. That’s where the truth comes from. And that’s where our honest music comes from. We just believe in training them right.

1500 Sound Academy is about more than beatmaking.

When did you and 1500 Or Nothin’ crossover from just being focused on success for yourselves and your music and to something bigger like this, to wanting to make it happen for others and being educators?

To be honest, this has been my dream since I’ve been in this business – it’s one of my end goals. The past five to six years, me and my partner James Fauntleroy, who actually wrote “Finesse” and also wrote the single I did with Justin Timberlake, called “Filthy”, wanted this. It’s been a family goal for us.

I always had intentions of going to school, and everything I learned, I wrote down. I used to write down tips even if I’d be on tour, I had a notebook where I wrote and said to myself, “Okay, I’m gonna teach that. Situations like, this guy was an asshole, and I could’ve   done this, but instead I did this. But now because I did this, I actually ended up with more money.” I always knew I was gonna write everything down to put in a book and explain.

This is all of our real-life curriculum. We’ve been planning on doing this for forever. It’s been God’s timing and when the world was ready. We were ready. We hit our ceiling — honestly hit the ceiling, for a band. I’ve been a musical director for everyone for over a decade, from Snoop, to Jay-Z, to Usher, Soul Train Awards, to every TV show you can ever think of, we’ve done.

So, “I hit that ceiling, and now what’s next?” I want to work with every artist now. So we worked with every artist we wanted too that fortunately hasn’t passed. Now, we’re ready to give back. It’s time for us to start train others, to get em’ there faster. I learned the hard way. I was in a fucked-up publishing situation for years so I had to learn everything about publishing myself. We went through a lot of bumpy roads. Now, with this school, I can really teach the students hands-on and tell them which way to go and not go because I’ve done it already.

So who do you expect to attract? What kind of musicians and producers and engineers, do you think are going to be drawn to your academy. Maybe who is it not for?

Everything is about high vibrations: As long as you have high vibrations, we can work with you. But the academy will be the best of the best. The baddest mother-fuckers in the world. We have a 21,000 square-foot facility. Around 5,000 square foot is just the school, and the other 16,000 square foot is where we’ll have seven major studios including SSL boards. A live center stage, a live rehearsal hall to work with artists. As well as have tours running in the same building.

Our facility will also have a 60-seat movie theater to score films.We have a cool space for shows. Clothing stores, think tanks, massage rooms, a basketball court and etc… It’ll be an environment where every artist we work with can feel comfortable enough to create amazing work.

The thing about artists is that they love education, they love making great music and being involved, but they don’t always have the time. So we decided to create one place where we can do everything. Now when we’re working with Jay-Z or whoever else, they can come check out the school/education side all in the same building.

The whole point is to have the best people in the world that we work with teaching and giving back while creating jams. Every single day, just get in the game. Not to make it seem like they’ll be speaking all day … But people will be dropping by to give some legendary talks and advice. It’s an amazing concept I’ve been dreaming about my entire life and it’s finally coming to fruition.

A Super Producer’s View from the Studio

I wanted to ask about some of the productions that you’re involved with right now and the people you work with. Right now, I know you’re working with Nipsey Hussle, Sam Smith, Kendrick Lamar again. What’s the common thread you see among the artists who achieved this level of success?

Kendrick Lamar is in sync with his production team.

They respect their producers, and they aren’t working with numerous individuals at one time. Those are the ones that become the most successful people with the most records. For instance, Bruno, has 4-5 people he works with religiously, throughout the entire process. Not to say that you can’t work with different people here and there, but have a core. The reason Usher’s Confessions sold diamond is because he works with the same producers. Same thing with Adele. Same thing with Sam Smith. Even Nipsey Hussle, his collaborative is gonna be more of a success because he allowed himself to be produced. And with that we created one cohesive sound, telling one cohesive story.

Normally when you work with a lot of different producers, you risk the story not being told correctly. I could do a track, and then you could get a track from two other producers, but we’ll all tell different stories. You gotta be in the same room… It’s chemistry. You can’t do the “Imma-email-you-a-song” thing, when it comes to records that you want to impact the world. It takes a bit more thought.

What advice do you have to emerging producers who want to get on that short list, for a Bruno Mars or an Usher?

Well, to be totally honest, I’ve never gotten a placement from an A&R or from a label ever in my life. Me and my partner James, out of around 130 placements or something, I think he’s only gotten like one from an A&R, and that was actually a friend of ours.

It’s only about being the absolute best you can be in your craft. The reason we got our buzz was because at that time, 10-13 years ago, we were the best musicians in LA, period.   There were so many producers that had talent, but no one really played the keyboard like that. That’s why we did “Show Me What You Got” with Just Blaze, and Just Blaze trusted us to use more instruments because he believed in us.

There’d be times where he’d be in the studio, and add the drums, then be like, “Alright, I’m gone.” He’d go play video games, come back, and we got a mix now. We had the whole beat finished. We just had chemistry, it was a vibe, man.

It’s really about learning your instrument. Getting so good at it, that people feel comfortable enough to trust that you really understand your craft, and in result will pay you to do it. Then, from there it’s all word of mouth. That’s how we’ve grown. When people hear 1500 or Nothin, the majority that know of us say, “Our music is tight – and they’re experts at what they do.” I love that reputation. And we worked very hard to get that reputation.

If you’re a piano player, you’re supposed to know all the secrets to everything. So, now when Dr. Dre brings you in or if he wants to work with you, you’re prepared for any situation. You know what I mean? If he says, “Play some dark chords,” you understand what dark is. You can’t not know your craft.

You describe 1500 Or Nothin as a movement, as a family of individuals. It may seem obvious to you, but what would you tell young producers is the benefit of forming a collective like 1500 Or Nothin, rather than going at it alone? And then what’s the key to sustaining that group so everyone keeps benefiting?

The key to sustaining the group is no egos. When I go into a room at 1500, I know everybody here is amazing. It humbles you. When you’re in a room, you know everybody is the best of the best, and when we all come together, we turn into the Power Rangers, it makes our lives easier.

Not only does that mean that you can be more successful, but honestly, you can make more money. If somebody wants to pay me x amount of dollars for a beat, versus if I had a strong collective such as Brody, James, Mars and then a couple of our other really incredibly versed members at 1500 to work on a project,  they’re gonna have to give us more because we’re way more valuable together. All of literally the best in one room, on one project.

In this industry, you don’t see a lot of production groups sticking together. It’s not about the money with us. It’s never been about the money. We’ve all done music while being broke for years. We’ve been rich, we’ve been broke, and now we’re rich again. It’s just about realizing that it’s more than money. It’s about our craft and about our love for God, music and family always.

Here’s my last question, Larrance, to kind of pull back. I’m really interested to get your perspective on how you would characterize the current era in hip hop and R&B. To me it feels like it’s changing so fast and in such fascinating ways. How do you see it? What’s changing and why?

I feel like it’s changing fast because no one knows what to do. The labels are panicking. The streaming, the laws are changing, nobody knows what’s going on.

But, I think it’s really great for creatives because before, you couldn’t get a rap song on the top 100, because it was rap, you know what I mean? Two years ago you wouldn’t hear R&B songs on the radio, but now we’re hearing all these awesome people.

So, I feel like it’s a perfect time for us to get really creative and start creating our own sound where we can be the first. That’s all we’ve been working on, even for Justin Timberlake’s “Filthy”. We coulda made a rap record, we coulda done anything, but that baseline that Danja did was so fucking crazy; it was futuristic. Everybody brought their best to that song.

It’s about being first. Whoever creates the sound, whoever invents it first is the man. So, this is the time to really get creative and be first. There are many different genres, so many different techniques and ways you can create sounds that will change the game — and if it’s the best, the people will follow.

— David Weiss

Special thanks to Herb Trawick of Pensado’s Place for helping to make this interview happen!

Please note: When you buy products through links on this page, we may earn an affiliate commission.