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- ALI: Songs are getting mixed differently
nowadays, you know, what I'm sayin'.

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Before... it was, you know, really just
a kick-snare heavy type situation.

3
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Now, they're in a way texturely...
they're super tough.

4
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So, you know,
if you can't adapt to the times

5
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then you're gonna really,
you know, fall behind.

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When I start to mix
on my way to the studio

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I kinda just don't listen to anything.

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You gotta treat every song an-- and every
sound accordingly and with fresh ears.

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The first thing
I hear for the day sonically

10
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is when I hear the reference track.

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Labels don't wanna pay big budgets
to get into the studios, why?

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Because they feel like
a kid can do it better or do it faster

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or more efficiently at home.

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You know, they're just gonna
sound like shit.

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'Cause we mix analog,
you know, these are our plug-ins.

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You know, there are physical things
that we can touch

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rather than the mouse that's scrolling
around on a computer screen

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where we can actually go in
and touch the music.

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My boys! How you doin'?
- MAN: Hey!

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- Ali's... We from the same place.
You know what I'm sayin'?

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We from LA.

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Um... My music represent West Coast
on every level.

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So having somebody
that's from where you're from...

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- ALI: Hey!

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- YG: ...that knows
about everything from the past...

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You know what I'm sayin'?
The Drake shit, Snooke shit, all that.

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Knowing how that supposed to sound
is very important.

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- The low end of a lot of records
it sounds super dark

29
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so they're trying
to find, like, a nice blend

30
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with this nice sample
that's super textured...

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Now, we've know each other for years.

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I'd say go back to 2009,

33
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2010.

34
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I mixed one of his first songs.

35
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It was YG - "Bitches Ain't Shit".

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[music playing]

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- YG: I come into the studio, like, Ali...

38
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I hear the mix and I'm, like,
I need this to sound darker

39
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or I need this to sound brighter.

40
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And if I say that he knows
what bars to punch...

41
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- ALI: The producer obviously,
he produces the music,

42
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he, you know,
puts the drum patterns together,

43
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he gets the sample together.

44
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Then there is a recording engineer

45
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that takes the, the final product
that the producer had made,

46
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uh, sits that artist down,
he records that artist over that beat,

47
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the mixing engineer takes the elements,

48
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the, the broken down stems
to kick, drum, snares,

49
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uh, base lines, samples, whatever
is involved with creating that beat.

50
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He starts to adding in cues,
he starts doing what he does.

51
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I would mute all the vocals first...

52
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and then I'll go up to each sound...

53
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and I'll kinda just listen to 'em,

54
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kinda see what type of energy
it brings to the track

55
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and find how I can make
every sound blend together.

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Just think of a mix as, like, a painting

57
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and all your plug-ins are,
are your different colors

58
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and paint brushes, you know.

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And I scored ideas from Tyga, shit,
crazy reverb shit make em kinda flow.

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[rap music playing]

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- YG: It's important
Ali mixes my music because

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a bad mix could turn a song that is a hit

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into a song that is not a hit.

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All that... how you grew up,
and where you're from

65
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that shit play into your mixes
in your everyday life

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and how you do what you do.
You know what I'm sayin'?

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You will say our mixes is not perfect.

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That like represents where we're from.

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We from Compton wise, gotta ding along DC
or south central, wherever.

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Ain't nothin' perfect.
You growin' up in the streets is rough.

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- ALI: I mean, it's noisy. It's not quiet.

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I've always kind of wished
that I could do what I do in a studio

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with all the stuff
that I'm hearing around me.

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You know, just make everything sound
a little more beautiful.

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[vehicle beeping, engine revving]

76
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[lawn mower running]

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[indistinct chattering]

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[music playing]

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Man, having that kind of power
in the real world...

80
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[bass drops]

81
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that would be amazing.

82
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People think
that the school way of doing it

83
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or one way thinking of one track mind

84
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that of the book way of doing it
of engineering is the one way to do it

85
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when, you know,
the more creative you are, there ain't...

86
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there's no limits to creativity,, so...

87
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Like what colors you see...

88
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This shit like mad purple like

89
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and lavender be like...
You know what I'm sayin'?

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- Lavender...
- Lavender...

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- ALI: Imagine like a block of ice
and I'm trying to chisel it down

92
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to, like, to get it to a circle.

93
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I'm, like, taking certain frequencies out
and I'm adding certain frequencies

94
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to make things fit into these
sound spectrums that I'm talking about.

95
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Yeah, it's a little tight,
it's a little more aggressive.

96
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T-- Try to tone it down a little bit.

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- Hey, Ali?
- Huh?

98
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- You're probably the only nigga
that can, like, fix that shit

99
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and make that shit work,
you know that, right?

100
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[YG laughing]

101
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[music playing]

102
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[music playing]

103
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- ALI: There's just certain tricks
you can do, like,

104
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for example, if you need some vocals
to sound more aggressive

105
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boost up the lows, take out the highs,

106
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and add just a little bit of distortion.

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- WOMAN: Fuck you,
you motherfucking piece of shit!

108
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- ALI: Then other times you might
need stuff to sound less aggressive.

109
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- Damn, she's trippin'.

110
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- ALI: So you turn the volume down,

111
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add some reverb
just to soften things up a bit.

112
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In my mixes I use a lot of delays,
and a lot of panning,

113
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there's a lot of, like, reverb throws

114
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and just finding ways to make it sound
like kind of shoot out the speaker

115
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and kinda just touch you in a way.

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- [distorted] Also understand the club

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to understand the people.
It's very important...

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[normal voice] like, I just can't handle
a random person

119
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from the studio mixing my music because...

120
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that is, like in the studio all day...
or they probably grew up

121
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livin' another type of life.

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- ALI: I feel like this is one process
in music that can't be streamlined

123
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or shouldn't be streamlined, you know?

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Every song has its own identity,
every song has its own thumbprint.

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Find a passion,
find a love for it first...

126
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you know, be greater,
put your 10,000 hours in,

127
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and, you know,
then everything else will follow.

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I basically try to listen to my mixes
back o-- on devices

129
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that people are, like,
listen to their music in everyday.

130
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So, you know, iPhones,
I listen from my earbuds on the airpods,

131
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uh, laptops, speakers, my iPad.

132
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Any and every other way
I can hear the mix.

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I always try to listen to it

134
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just so I can hear different imperfections
and to see if the mix translates.

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The thing about mixing, brothers,
is not is... you're never done.

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The thing is when you are ready
to walk away from it.

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[music playing]

138
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All you're really tryin' to do

139
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is to make that song jump out the speakers
and grab people.

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[volume increases]

141
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And once it's out there in the world...

142
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you know, you get to see
the real effect that it has on people.

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[music playing]

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[music stops]