Marcus Boyd-Activist, Music Producer, and more....

THS: Who inspired you to move forward with your music?

MB: I was blessed to have a lot of people see my gifts and talents in music and push me towards my greatness. My grandmother saw it first, my sisters, my aunts, uncles, and a lot of my cousins said, “Your music is timeless, and the world needs to hear what we hear.” They were talking about my beats. My social worker, Dorothy Carr, used to listen to every beat I made when I was first starting, she used to smile or say, “Baby, I really like that one, can you play that back,” or “No, son you got to work on this one. The sound is off, or you didn’t do a good job with this one, but I know you can do it.” It was like a battery got put in my back because all I wanted to do was make her proud and show her my music because she was my biggest influence. I had some family members see it as well, but I would think I believed in myself too because I believed in the dream that I saw, and I wanted it more than anything, so I was ready to put in the work I didn’t care what I had to lose or give up. My sacrifice was being homeless. I ate out of dumpsters and slept in abandoned houses. I wore the same clothes for weeks. My hustle was off. I didn't realize you had to invest in yourself. I just wanted it but didn’t have a real direction.

THS: Tell us what made you decide to become serious about music?

MB: I think I always had a passion, a yearning, and a dream for music. As early as I can remember, I was always dancing or bobbing my head to beats and songs, having my yellow and black Sony Walkman with small foam headphones. I used to get on the train and the Marta bus and ride for hours listening to Biggie, Hitman Sammy Sam, and Three Six Mafia wanting to be just like them: a real dope music artist. But my problem was, I was nonverbal, and I have autism and I’m just beginning to learn how to make beats and become a music producer. I decided that I wanted to prove what you can do with having a disability. I didn't want to tell anyone that I had autism, I just wanted to fit in and do music. I started taking music seriously in the summer of ’98, learning from the group of guys I was learning from. They showed me so many different things about music and myself. I was so hungry that I didn’t care about the money or how long it took. I just wanted to make a sound that the world would love and say, “Man, Marcus Boyd beats is dope as hell.”

THS: Who are some of the artists you have worked with over the years?

MB: I have been blessed to collaborate with some amazing people like Dwele, Eric Roberson, DJ Flash and the Justus League, Sky Zoo, some gospel greats, Jamla Records, Blu and Exile, Phonte, Conya Doss, 9th Wonder, Marques Houston, P.R.E. My music has been in commercials, and I have done some movie scores as well.

THS: As a music creator, producer, and Autism advocate, how do you balance your time?

MB: I was always taught that doing what you are enthusiastic about will make the work easy. For me, I don’t see it as jogging. I see it as an everyday routine, I wake up and praise GOD for allowing me to see another day, pray for my haters and for them to have a blessed life, and pray for GOD to use me as he wants to that day. Then I clean my body get dressed and fix some HoneyNut Cheerios and some orange juice with no pulp, and then go to the studio and make 15 to 20 beats. I make 18 different genres, the difference between me and other producers is that I always change my drum patterns on every beat. I don’t have pre-sets or already-made loops or drum kits that I use. I create everything from scratch, except the vocal sample that I use in the beat, but that’s more on the composing side of things. So, then I spend some hours doing the beats. After that, I go back home and start on my mission to bring new laws rights, and benefits that would help the autistic individuals and families in the state that I’m trying to represent. Don’t get it confused, like every mayor or city official or senator that I meet with is saying, “ok Marcus, we going to get the governor on the phone and we are about to put in what you suggest as law right now.” It doesn’t work that way. Some of them don’t want to give me meetings and others don’t want to listen, and that’s why I have been fighting for years, and I will continue to until real changes are made.

Shelby Leigh

Interviewed by Kisha Green