Producer Dre London at the forum in Minsk: you need to go to the end and go crazy about what you believe

On October 17, at the ATOM GLOBAL AI EXPO forum in Minsk, Dre London delivered a lecture “Music and AI: how technologies strengthen artists and change the industry” – an American producer and one of the notable figures of the modern music industry.

London began his speech not with technology, but with a proposal: for guests to stand up and applaud themselves for the fact that everyone is here and alive.

According to the producer, Minsk made a strong impression on him.

- For my first trip to Belarus, I am delighted. It's a special place. It's very clean. No offense to America or London, where I was born, but do you have janitors cleaning the ground every five minutes? The music of the local artists is very lively and good - it's amazing! - said Dre London.

He said that at 10-11 years old he bought records, at 12 already DJ at family holidays. It was a hobby, and London didn't think it would become his profession. In 2008, he decided to leave London for America to take the biggest stage in the world.

- My main advice to my young self: save more money, better understand what is happening around, and remember – there is a long way to go. When you’re on that path, you often don’t know what road you’re going on because you’re just living in the present. I would also advise you to delve deeper into technology – what we are all doing here today.

Also, the producer quite harshly answered the question of how to break into the music industry: no one will open the doors there from the outside.

- As with anything, in AI, in technology, in music, you have to go all the way and go crazy about what you believe in. No one will say, here's a million dollars, here's a million pounds. No one will say you can be the biggest. You have to be yourself. And if you think you're giving 120 percent, you're going to have to give 150 percent. Because what you think is 120%, others may not see. There’s so much technology that wasn’t there when I started. Like AI, he said.

He also told the story of meeting his ward – American rapper Post Malone. Dre London moved to Los Angeles in 2014. He went to a house where producers and musicians gathered. Suddenly a guy left the room. At the time, he had just arrived from Texas and looked uncouth.

- I looked at him and thought there was something in him. He wanted to rap, but in the evenings he would take a guitar and sing in the kitchen. I listened and thought, who is this? I had a feeling I could make this guy a star. I already had experience working with artists from New York, and I brought it to Los Angeles.

A true artist must be addictive: if a product doesn’t pull you back again and again, if it doesn’t have a strong addiction, it won’t work. In addition, you need to believe in a musician no less than he believes in himself, otherwise nothing will work.

Separately, London dwelled on the topic of “madness”.

- Everything I did with Post Malone was a risk. People thought I was crazy: a black guy from London with a London accent tells everyone that a white guy with pigtails will be the biggest in the world. But when people say you're crazy, take it as a compliment. In the beginning, Einstein was called crazy. If you’ve never done something before, you’ll be looked at as crazy. You don’t have an imagination that others don’t. Ten years ago, if you'd been told that we'd be sitting at an AI conference, you'd think that was crazy. And today we are all here and thinking about how to use this tool to take it to the next level.

He concluded by thinking about community: even if one person believes in a project, then there will be ten, then 100, then 1,000. The main thing is not to be distracted by the noise and believe in yourself.

- When you open your phone, how many things distract you from why you opened it? You have to be able to stay in your way, take away all the noise and believe that I will do it and no one will stop me. That’s what distinguishes yesterday from today, said Dre London.

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