
Che Pope knows a thing or two about the landscape of popular music in the last quarter decade. He was there in the 90s, recording to tape and making use of sampling machines you now find on eBay described as vintage. But as he made clear at a roundtable discussion during the 13th annual Business of Hip-Hop/Urban Music Symposium, its not the gear that makes your career. For one, Pope won a Grammy using that equipment in 1999 with Lauryn Hill, and another Grammy with the Weeknd using current production technologies in 2015. In between, hes worked with everyone from Santana and India.Arie to Kanye West and Teyana Taylor.
[As a producer] Its your job to get the record finished, so that the artist is happy, but that also the record label is happy, because you are the bridge between the two.
-Che Pope
As he relayed in a conversation with fellow panelists Tonya Butler, assistant chair of the Music Business/Management Department, and Prince Charles Alexander, professor in the Music Production and Engineering Department, success for Pope is more about fulfilling the basic definition of a producer, being the person who takes a song from A to Z, he said, noting that his work isnt done until the song is officially released. If the songwriting needs work, fix the songwriting, he went on. If the chorus needs to be reworked or reorchestrated...its your job to do that. Its your job to get the record finished, so that the artist is happy, but that also the record label is happy, because you are the bridge between the two.
When asked about the right way to make and sustain a career as a producer, he stated up front that there is no right way, but at the core of success is to ensure your skillset is up to par. He cited Berklee students as being set up particularly well for production success because of their training as musicians. As he said, musicians are more prepared for real-life situations. Nothing can replace a musician. Because when youre in the studio and its 12 at night, and the song aint right, the fact that that person can sit at a piano or guitar and fix that song? Thats intangible.
Related categories:
News
Related Reading
Nashville Said Her Gender Was a Liability. Now Shes Starting Her Own Label. Emma White B.M. '10 talks songwriting, launching a female-centric record label, and navigating the unsolicited advice given to performers.
Night School at Wally's Berklee Today
Fall
2018
Volume
30
Number
2
New Law Could Help Cash Flow to Artists Berklee Today
Spring
2019
Volume
30
Number
3
More from Berklee Now
Most Popular
What Is Contemporary Music? Its practically Berklees middle name-but what are we talking about when we say contemporary music?
Latest
Kanye Producer Talks Modern Definitions of Success Grammy-winning producer Che Pope (Kanye West, Lauryn Hill, the Weeknd) reflected on his career as part of this years Business of Hip-Hop/Urban Music Symposium.
Nick Isherwood Named the 23rd Jimmy Lyons Scholar to Berklee Isherwood is the first bassist to receive the prestigious four-year, full-tuition scholarship.
Global Jazz Students Inhabit the Wonderful World of Garzone The Berklee Global Jazz Ambassadors, led by faculty saxophonist George Garzone, had no trouble making themselves heard at the Monterey Jazz Festival.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Berklee Blogs
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
Snapchat
Soundcloud
Spotify
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
15/06/2025
July 2025 in Dublin, Berlin, Amsterdam & London
Photo: Thea Martre
Music Production for Women (MPW) have announced that they will be running a series of fo...
15/06/2025
Composer/producer launches free virtual instruments
Sulcata Sound is the latest venture of Jason Graves, a two-time British Academy Award-winnning composer,...
14/06/2025
NEW YORK Pluto TV and the All Womens Sports Network have launched a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) AWSN channel in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and the Nor...
14/06/2025
NEW YORK and CINCINNATI E.W. Scripps has announced a new, multiyear agreement with the WNBA that will continue Ions regular-season coverage of the league on Fri...
14/06/2025
WASHINGTON The National Association of Broadcasters highlighted the hidden importance of spectrum in the production of major sporting events and described wha...
14/06/2025
WASHINGTON Sunsetting ATSC 1.0, expanding business opportunities for NextGen Broadcast and increasing international adoption of the ATSC 3.0 standard were top o...
14/06/2025
SAN FRANCISCO Samba TV and Acxiom have announced that they will dramatically expand their longstanding relationship....
14/06/2025
July 2025 in Dublin, Berlin, Amsterdam & London
Photo: Thea Martre
Music Production for Women (MPW) have announced that they will be running a series of fo...
14/06/2025
San Francisco State University's School of Cinema Uses Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton June 13, 2025
0 Comments
More than 40 Blackmagic Design came...
14/06/2025
Boris FX Mocha Pro Adds New AI Tools To Tackle VFX Tasks Fast
Jessie Electa Petrov June 13, 2025
0 Comments
The 2025.5 release helps artists work more...
14/06/2025
AJA Debuts DRM2-Plus Mini-Converter Frame at InfoComm 2025
Brie Clayton June 13, 2025
0 Comments
Next-gen frame addresses diverse rackmount needs wit...
13/06/2025
(L-R) Lindsay Utz, Michelle Walshe, and The Right Honourable Dame Jacinda Ardern attend the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Prime Minister at Eccles T...
13/06/2025
Photo credit: Atsushi Nishijima
If you're a true lover of rom-coms, chances...
13/06/2025
Pure Drama and Fierce Rivalries set to dominate the world's most iconic spor...
13/06/2025
Johannesburg, 12 June 2025 - The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an a...
13/06/2025
ABILENE. Texas A severe storm knocked down the tower and severely damaged the news studio and main facility of Sinclair-owned KTXS here on Sunday, June 8....
13/06/2025
Berklee's Music Business/Management Department Recognized by the Music Biz A...
13/06/2025
WASHINGTON The ATSC, the Broadcast Standards Association, honored veteran technologist Aldo Cugnini and Clarence Hau, Senior Vice President of Standards, Policy...
13/06/2025
(Editor's note: The 2025 UFL Championship Game between the D.C. Defenders and Michigan Panthers kicks off Saturday, June 14, at 8 p.m. Eastern. The game wil...
13/06/2025
New iPad/iPhone synth App announced
Following on from last year's release of Gradient Synth - which reached #6 on the App Store's Paid Music charts ...
13/06/2025
LONDON Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that HBO Max will launch direct-to-consumer in multiple new countries this July as the streamer becomes available in...
13/06/2025
AI voice transcription and captioning platform Verbit has added a new feature to its Captivate ASR solution the ability to identify specific features in automat...
13/06/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission member Anna Gomez has wrapped up two weeks in California visiting broadcasters, television studio executives, enter...
13/06/2025
WASHINGTON The U.S. House of Representatives voted mostly along party lines to approve a rescission package that would cancel $9.4 billion in previously approve...
13/06/2025
At InfoComm 2025, AJA Video Systems announced DRM2-Plus, an intuitive, high-capacity 3RU frame that can neatly house up to 24 AJA Mini-Converters. Tailored to s...
13/06/2025
Cinema advertising leader to leverage AOS and suite of AI-enabled solutions to optimize forecasting, yield management, and streamlined ad sales and operations a...
13/06/2025
Manfrotto has launched the ONE Hybrid Tripod, a new support system designed specifically for professional content creators working with mirrorless cameras acros...
13/06/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that its Media Edge Gateway (MEG), an ATSC 3.0 software-based IRD, now supports Device Security requ...
13/06/2025
LiveU, the global leader in live IP-video contribution, production and distribution solutions, is deepening its commitment to the German-speaking market with th...
13/06/2025
Chaos, the leader in architectural visualisation software, today announces Chaos Corona 13, giving archviz designers new ways to add eye-catching style and flai...
13/06/2025
PALI's Nena Music Video Shot with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton June 12, 2025
0 Comments
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K and DaVinci Resolve Studio b...
13/06/2025
OddBeast Powers Up iRobot's Newest Roombas with Suite of CGI Launch Assets
Brie Clayton June 12, 2025
0 Comments
The motion design and production ...
13/06/2025
On Chick Coreas Birthday, a Newly Uncovered Archival Release The Visitors, composed by Corea and performed by vibraphonist Gary Burton and pianist Kirill Gers...
13/06/2025
In fulfilment of a recommendation by the Government's Expert Advisory Commit...
13/06/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Backblaze's Gleb Budman Talks Products, Partnerships, and the ...
13/06/2025
SVG Sit-Down: DAZN's Walker Jacobs Calls Streaming the FIFA Club World Cup ...
13/06/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Vecima Networks' Paul Strickland on How Improving QoE...
13/06/2025
Pitch Perspective: Where's Next for Specialty Cameras in Soccer? Leaders from Sky Austria and ACS discuss the possibilities of camera placement pitchside B...
13/06/2025
Premiership Rugby Final 2025: Vintage clash between Bath and Leicester gets full...
13/06/2025
Premiership Rugby Final 2025: TNT Sports gears up for Bath vs Leicester battle w...
13/06/2025
NCAA Men's College World Series: ESPN Adds Two-Point SupraCam, Invests in Ne...
13/06/2025
New FSWX signal and spectrum analyzer with novel architecture overcomes limits o...
13/06/2025
Apple today announced the addition of iPad to Self Service Repair, providing iPad owners with access to repair manuals, genuine Apple parts, Apple Diagnostics t...
13/06/2025
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today previewed iOS 26, a major update that brings a beautiful new design, intelligent experiences, and improvements to the apps use...
13/06/2025
At Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple unveiled Apple Games, an all-new destination designed to help players jump back into the games they...
13/06/2025
Industrial AI isn't slowing down. Germany is ready.
Following London Tech Week and GTC Paris at VivaTech, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang's Europea...
12/06/2025
In 2018, Spotify launched Heart & Soul, a mental health initiative developed to ...
12/06/2025
50 Years Strong: SBS and NITV Supercharge NAIDOC Week 2025 in a joint 50th celeb...