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From Bad Bunny to Bangtan Sonyeondan (BTS), Ricky (NITTI MUSIC) is redefining what it means to be a global producer. Fresh off the success of BTS’s ARIRANG, Ricky sits down with Angel to discuss the three Billboard Hot 100-charting tracks that changed everything.
This episode explores the eclectic production of “FYA,” the soul-searching “One More Night,” and the cinematic finale “Into The Sun.” But the story behind the interview is just as remarkable: a K-ALL Reel about BTS’s connection to gospel music bridged the gap between Angel and Ricky, leading to a profound conversation on faith, creativity, and the “insane” talent of the BTS members. Dive into stories of Flume’s experimental stems, V’s natural “band-mate” energy, and the hidden “vocals” Jimin left behind in an unreleased ARIRANG track. This tell-all segment also explores the emotional impact of seeing 50,000 fans in Mexico City sing BTS’s tracks a cappella and how Ricky’s personal faith journey became the foundation for his success.
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NITTI MUSIC Interview Transcript:
ANGEL: Hello everyone and welcome back to K-ALL. I’m your host Angel and today we are here with a brilliant producer behind your favorite tracks on BTS’s fifth studio album Arirang. From Bad Bunny to Bangtan Sonyeondan, this Latin Grammy-winning producer is a true trailblazer in the music industry. Give a warm welcome to Nitti Music aka Ricky.
RICKY: What’s up? Wow, that was a pretty awesome intro.
ANGEL: Oh, thank you. Well, you’re a pretty awesome person, so you’re worthy of an awesome intro.
RICKY: I appreciate it.
ANGEL: Of course. It’s so great to have you on the show. And for listeners who are just discovering your magic, how would you describe the Nitti Music sound in just three words?
RICKY: Uh, three words. Um, I would say all-around experimentation.
ANGEL: I love that. That’s beautiful. And I think that it’s pretty amazing how we connected because it was quite unconventional. I posted an Instagram reel about V singing gospel music and you commented that you always pray before going into the studio and wished how you asked the guys beforehand. So if you don’t mind me asking, what does that prayer generally sound like for you before you go into these sessions?
RICKY: Yeah. Um, first of all, yeah, I actually even was trying to remember how we initially got connected and I didn’t even realize it was from the comment, too. Or I remember I saw the post and everything, but yeah, I forgot about the comment part. But yeah, it’s like uh it’s kind of a thing I’ve just this past two years really actually found um my faith again. I was a missionary kid growing up and stuff. So yes, now it looks a lot different than it did when I was growing up cuz I think growing up I wasn’t as much of a firm believer in terms of, you know, actually knowing Christ for myself.
So, my prayer life has blossomed to say the least in the last like two years where it’s actually genuine. And so yeah, just in general, before even knowing I would have the opportunity to work with BTS, I was in this, you know, kind of interesting world where I was touring as Nitti Gritti for a while and then might change my name to Nitti. And, yeah, I was trying to find my way with that with this moniker, this name, and I prayed about it a lot. And kind of the time when I got into the BTS situation is when I was like at the height of coming back to Christ. And like the more I did production and music for other people, I kept finding more and more I guess joy or you know, not that it’s all about happiness cuz I think that’s kind of a misleading thing for Christians is to be like “do what makes you happy.” That’s not always true.
But it seems like during the suffering or things that was bad in my life, this was a direction where God was like, you don’t need to be an artist. You don’t need to always do these things. Like you can, you know, maybe prepare me for other things. So, fast forward a year later since I’ve worked on those records. Now, I wish I had, you know, had the opportunity to like kind of ask them more things like that. It was obviously like could be a different vibe when you’re in the studio. Just everyone’s there to work on music and you know you can’t be that person necessarily that’s distracting from it. And obviously there’s a little bit of a language barrier. Not that—V, RM, and like Jungkook were all pretty good at English to be honest. So it wasn’t always so much of that as an issue, but yeah. No, it was just something where I just was like, you know, I’m just going to like trust God in this moment and I didn’t know if I was going to get one song on the album or any to be honest.
ANGEL: You got three! Worked out pretty remarkably. I don’t know if you believe in divine providence, but I think it’s really beautiful that when you were going through a certain type of suffering and figuring out your way and your faith and finding yourself, this all kind of just unfolded so miraculously through the work that you’ve already been doing, honing your own career, honing your own name and brand, making this music, experimenting, and then somehow that pouring into BTS and working on these sessions. So, I’m kind of wondering if you could take us back to the very beginning. How did you first get started on the BTS project?
RICKY: Yeah. So, I work with Diplo very closely in terms of production. So, yeah, you know, people probably understand bands and things of that nature, but most people don’t understand producing and songwriting. It’s usually a group of people behind the scenes making music for other people. The BTS army seems very aware of it now and they obviously like presented us as a part of the rollout and put all our names on it which was you know almost like educational and I think was good for fans to kind of know this whereas, you know, some other A-list artists—not that it’s wrong, I don’t think it’s always wrong, they don’t have to do this, it’s their art—but yeah, a lot of people don’t do that.
So how it works basically is, you know, teams work for months on end writing songs and yes, they pick them later on. And at the very beginning of this process, Diplo told me he’s like, “Hey, I’m talking to Bang,” the HYBE, you know, kind of main guy.
ANGEL: Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
RICKY: quoting Diplo “And he has this idea for a new BTS album and they want to be a little bit more unconventional in terms of the sound and we want to try this.” So, we tried for about a month and none of those songs were like what they were looking for. So, then they told us, you know, they were going to go into LA and you know, Diplo hit me up. He’s like, “Hey, we got to go work more,” because they didn’t take any of that first set. And for us, like I’ll say this as someone that works with Diplo who’s like, you know, his time is very valuable. You know, he’s even much more established than me and so a month of working on one project is a lot for especially someone like him. So even me, I was like, “Wow, we’re really chugging away on this stuff.” And they didn’t use anything for that first month. So for him to be like, “All right, we got to go to LA and get this,” I was like, “Okay, he means business.” Like he really wants to get this done.
ANGEL: Absolutely.
RICKY: So then once we, you know, went in there and actually hung out with the guys and Pdogg actually helped a lot with like helping us understand the sound that they were looking for because they kind of didn’t know. But it was like, you know, we don’t want to sound like we did exactly the same. Like obviously hints of it, but they were like, we just want a fresh start. So I thought it was really cool that they were willing to do that because they could do the same thing every album and the fans will be happy because K-pop is K-pop and nobody’s mad at that, right?
ANGEL: Exactly.
RICKY: But to take the risk and get some people being like, “Why did you change?” You know, you get a little more hate from people. You get haters when you try to change it up.
ANGEL: When you change it—
RICKY: Everyone knows as an artist that like taking that leap of faith takes more courage.
ANGEL: 100%.
RICKY: I think Wes kind of liked that, you know, he’s also kind of a pioneer when it comes to like taking huge risks. He’s always been that guy. So, yeah, you know, he was just like, “Just we’re going to try. Let’s go in.” And three months later, you know, we landed a bunch more songs and they were into the ideas and, you know, Ryan Tedder was in there and Teezo and, you know, we had that one little session with Flume and JPEG which ended up being “FYA.” Yeah. And yeah, just a bunch of random things that in those three months it made a big difference versus the first month.
ANGEL: Yeah. That’s amazing. And for those sessions, do you feel like your prayerful energy kind of translated into those last three songs that you made when it came to praying for the sessions?
RICKY: It definitely was like during the time while I was coming back to Christ. It was like I was getting more and more and more into this process. So right now I’m kind of at a great place in my faith where I’m like actually trying to make real changes in my life. And you know people—like I don’t know if you ever watch like Philip Anthony Mitchell—but like people don’t want to talk about being pure, staying away from sin and all the boring stuff, but like to me that’s what has impacted my life was when you actually understand like the ten commandments and why prayer is powerful; it cleanses your life. It’s not—rules aren’t rules because they’re boring and “oh I hate following them.” They’re like “no, wow, I’m free from a lot of things.”
So yeah, just to answer your question, like during that time I was being worked on. I’m still being worked on, but I was like building up more and more. I would say now I’m even more conscious that I try to actually literally read my Bible and pray every day versus a year ago when I was going in, I was like, “Okay, I’m going to at least, you know, give a prayer and see what happens and keep going.” But it’s like, you know, I was in the middle of that. This is the first time in my life I’m almost through the entire Bible for the first time. So, it’s not like I’ve ever done it before. As much as it sounds crazy that a missionary kid—I grew up Christian—
ANGEL: Doesn’t sound crazy to me. You have to have your own spiritual journey.
RICKY: Yeah. A lot of kids have the opposite effect and they get really torn up once they get to the real world. Mine wasn’t so insane. It just was like numb, vague, and really like, you know, I wouldn’t like claim it. So yeah, that was kind of what the process was is, yeah, now looking back, I’m like, wow, like that was a time when God was kind of like leading me through and like giving me these opportunities and then, you know, obviously seeing what you posted, I was like, man, I just never even thought to ask those guys. Yeah. Uh, about any of that stuff.
ANGEL: But it’s amazing because “Into the Sun,” for example, I take that song in a very spiritual manner. Like, it has such a beautiful feeling to it, and obviously into the sun with Christ too. Like that really connects to me personally. But since V is very much into gospel music and he’s very soulful, I know that he was like the member who picked up the crazy vocoder with you in the studio when you were working on that piece. So I’m kind of wondering what was that like creating that song within those 20 minutes? I know Diplo mentioned that on Billboard News. And why are you the proudest of that track?
RICKY: Yeah, I mean that was such a cool one because it just felt like a lot of the like—just to put into perspective, I’ll get right back to “Into the Sun,” but I mean not “One More Sun.” “One More Night.” Yeah. So, cuz I was going to say “One More Night” was almost the second first or second day ever with Pdogg.
ANGEL: Oh, wow.
RICKY: Ironically, that was one of the only songs that we did 3 months before everything got picked. That was the only one that made it from like the first week, I think.
ANGEL: That’s crazy.
RICKY: And that one was the opposite. It was just me and Pdogg made a beat with Wes and with—sorry, with Diplo—and then Beau, a really dope writer on “One More Night,” took it and like kind of did vocals separately with the track we made. And so that one was like a little bit more common where you just you make parts and you’re not always just in the room together, of course, having a lot of fun. Not that I’m complaining at all. I’m just showing the difference between like a work in progress versus you know, “Into The Sun” and both “FYA” were like in the studio, came up with the core elements and everybody was vibing and we were all like, “That’s amazing. Wow, this is cool.”
So that one specifically was because I like playing in a band, playing instruments. Yeah. Tyler Johnson was—he always used to set up this drum kit with this like TASCAM, which is like an old like 80s piece of crap VHS tape player, but it sounds so cool, you know, it has that like Tame Impala indie rock vibe to it. So, he would always set that up with his engineer Owen actually. So Owen and Tyler would get there earlier before everyone and they would have the drum set set up and then we came in and I you know I had a guitar but V was like he had like a reference—I think it might have even been like a Korean—maybe not gospel—maybe like a soul Korean soul song. I wish I could remember the reference.
ANGEL: I know he’s got a lot of that on his playlist so I’m sure I could find it.
RICKY: It probably was one of those songs to be honest. I wish I remember cuz I like remembering the references we use. But I basically, you know, like inverted and messed around with a similar chord progression just to get him in the vibe. And then we were just all kind of playing this thing and Owen was recording it. And then, you know, I honestly don’t even remember how many. It was like a pretty big room with people in and out and just once we started playing, everybody would come in and be like, “Whoa, this is sick.” So I remember a few people coming in and out. A few members—like I’m pretty sure like RM and you know maybe Jungkook probably—they probably came in the most during that too just to like you know hear it and be like, “Whoa, this is pretty cool.”
ANGEL: Yeah.
RICKY: Yeah. Exactly. So yeah it was just one of those things where we jammed out you know that’s what was so fun for me.
ANGEL: Yeah that’s why you loved it so much. That’s incredible. I think that—you could correct me if I’m wrong—but I believe that Jimin also worked on like the bridge for “Into the Sun” perhaps working on the melody.
RICKY: That’s actually a cool—that part is even cooler because that part I wasn’t there for. I remember the next day after we kind of had this like verse and the part where he goes “dawn” and he like kept screaming “dawn.” That part was so cool. I love it. We didn’t have the the best part of the song like “I’ll follow you.” Like we didn’t record the vocals for that. We did this like big guitar part at the end and the drums. Yeah. With the fill. We didn’t do any vocals though the first day and then I remember Teezo, Wes, Kaein and Jimin they they were coming up cuz I remember we were working on like a totally different song and Diplo comes in he’s like, “Oh yo I think we just nailed the chorus like the last chorus is crazy,” and I was like, “Oh what let me see.”
So I came into the room and I remember like all those—they kind of went and worked on the last part like the big epic part afterwards and it was just this really cool thing. I was like, “Oh, this feels—it—this feels like the ending anthem like at the show.” Which is also another cool thing that they ended up doing that you saw the show live. It’s like the last song and everybody’s—it’s exactly how we pictured it. It was crazy.
ANGEL: Yeah, that’s amazing. I’m going right into that question. So, you kind of just brought us there because “Into the Sun” is the closing song of the entire set list and it almost feels like the perfect cinematic ending to the entire thing. So, when you were standing there in Tampa on day three, watching the guys take their final bows to your music, seeing the fireworks going up, what was flowing through your mind with that experience?
RICKY: Yeah, it was cool. My manager Cheryl was there with uh someone I used to be in a band with, her name’s Deja. Unfortunately, like our seats were not next to each other. It was so obviously because it’s such a sold out thing. So, I was with my wife and my two nieces because my one niece is like actually a super Army. Like, she knew all the chants. She knew everything. She bought her little light up thing. I didn’t know about the light up thing. I didn’t get one. The Army Bomb.
So, yeah, it was like cool because I just was with them and my niece like cried and you know I I know my manager was there watching it. It was mainly because I got to like share that and just see the impact of like the fans. Mhm. It’s the biggest thing I’ve been a part of in terms of like globally.
ANGEL: For sure.
RICKY: So having that as like an ender as like you know that kind of moment. It just was very—that was very fulfilling to be like, “Wow, this is like—feels like something I’m like proud of in the sense that like everybody—you know, I make a lot of music that is just for fun and partying.” And so something like that was a little bit more uh fun for me to be a part of especially in my new you know kind of era of faith where I’m like in in this crossroads of like the type of music I make I do care about and the lyrics and everything really matters um a little bit more to me now. So that song really really hits it.
ANGEL: That’s wonderful. That’s so beautiful. And I feel I had the chance to see it in Tampa, too, for day one and day two. So just witnessing everyone sing in perfect unison to that song. It felt just like a spiritual experience. Like everyone was one. And that’s kind of what our faith is all about is about being one with each other and being one in love and treating everybody as if they’re your brother or sister. And that’s kind of what you felt in the room. So the fact that you worked on that song so intimately with the members and with your other collaborators, it’s really special that you got to witness that firsthand at the show.
RICKY: Definitely.
ANGEL: Yeah, for sure. And technically the song undergoes quite a transformation live. It’s very different from what we hear in the studio version because you kind of don’t have that vocoder part as much. It’s more their raw vocals that we get to hear. So, I’m wondering for you, how does that kind of change the soul of the song for you? Or like what do you feel hearing it—the studio version as opposed to the live version?
RICKY: Yeah. I mean, I’m not even going to lie to you. I actually like the live one better. I think hearing V—cuz there was moments where we in the studio like we had it on and off and we were like deciding which way to go and I think you know at that point it was past my opinion and anyone else’s and they kind of picked what they picked.
ANGEL: Exactly.
RICKY: But I kind of always thought in the back of my head I was like, “Man, it does just sound really good with no vocoder.” Yeah. So, when I got to hear that live, I was like, “Ah, this is how I probably would have—it’s not like the vocoder is—it’s a tool to be used.” So, I don’t think it’s like good or bad, right? It’s not like vocoders suck and they’re bad. Like, that’s not the point because they could be really cool tools and they would creatively—it helped him come up with the vibe. You know what I mean?
ANGEL: Exactly.
RICKY: As producers, we use tools that no one will ever hear to get us to the song to get it finished. So, that was one of those that just ended up—creatively they decided to keep it the whole time. I honestly thought it wasn’t—I was like, “That’s too crazy.” I mean it was fun. I thought it was sick but I was like—I’m almost impressed. Yeah, I’m impressed that they kept it because it’s very bold, you know. It takes a lot to include something like that in the album. So it’s—I’m happy about it either way. It’s—the song’s—people love the song. It’s doing great and you know but hearing it live definitely brought me back to like, “This is how it sounded.”
ANGEL: Yeah. That’s really cool. I love to hear you say that because for me the live version—I personally prefer it. I love hearing their vocals like that and that beautiful atmosphere. But I do think that technically that element with the vocoder has a cool vibe too and it’s cutting edge. It’s experimental. It’s not something you would expect in a BTS track. And I think that’s what they were trying to push with this album. They really wanted to go outside of the creative bounds of what they’ve done previously. It was cool.
RICKY: Definitely. Yeah, definitely agree.
ANGEL: For sure. And going back to “One More Night,” since we spoke about that a little bit before, this track has such a lush, dreamy soundscape, and you’re credited with using like the synth melody, working on that in the track, which is a staple of ’90s house music. So, how did you come up with that kind of throwback sound? And what was it like working with RM, Suga, J-Hope, and Jungkook to bring those ethereal textures to life, because they did the writing.
RICKY: Yeah. So, I just remember that one—like the track originally—like me and Pdogg were kind of just doing—it’s like considered an M1 organ and you know it’s it’s been made insanely famous from all the ’90s house records. Yes. “Show Me Love” specifically is everyone would know. Like you could almost have that in every album—like you could find it in a lot of pop dance even hip-hop sometimes. It’s such a common staple that like—people use 808 drums, people use M1 organ, right? It’s one of those common things.
My goal was to try to use it in a way because the drums we were trying—I produce a lot of house music under SIDEPIECE and with Diplo all the time—but me and Pdogg were like trying not to make it house. We were trying to make it that—a little bit closer to like almost breakdance breakbeat—but with 808s and trying—I don’t know we were just trying to do something a little bit different than just four on the floor. And that’s kind of what made “One More Night” special trackwise is that, you know, it was a mixture of that instead of just it being the 90s house kick and the M1 organ. It was like, “Oh, these drums could have been on something else but we took the organ over.”
And then the part I’m most proud of is I did the uh that kind of bridge where it goes halftime. I remember—like I wish I could—I love having these Easter eggs—so I wish I could remember—but I remember the day of literally—I remember this—it was probably the first second day that before I came and I saw on Instagram this like tutorial. I still even as a producer at whatever level I’m at, you know, that I’ve done platinum albums or been nominated for Grammys, I still like watching other people teach me stuff.
ANGEL: Yeah.
RICKY: So, I remember watching this like flutter technique where if you can kind of hear in the background when it like goes into the bridge, it goes—
ANGEL: Yes, I know what you’re talking about.
RICKY: Like that synth was something that I literally learned that day from an Instagram tutorial. And I remember just like adding it into the beat and like—I don’t know if it’s going to make it. But Pdogg’s like, “Yeah, we just got to change drums and do this and we, you know, we’re going for more like hip-hop drums.” Yeah. I forgot. I probably did it more like trap or dubstep at the time just for fun. But yeah, that was another little part of that one that I remember like an Easter egg of like almost putting a drop cuz I used to really make as Nitti a lot of like future bass and dubstep and things of that nature. So that’s like a little bit of my like real like the “Nitti Gritti DNA” from back in the day kind of mixed into there. Um but yeah, that was like just a really fun one that I can’t believe it made it onto the album cuz it was like the first or second day. Imagine 3 months goes by and they don’t take any, you know, I was really surprised. I’m like very happy that they kept it.
ANGEL: Yeah, I’m really happy they kept it, too, cuz it’s one of my favorites on the album, actually. Like, as soon as I listened to the album, that one stuck out to me cuz I love the energy and the members sound so nice. Like, the way that their voices hit with the production, it’s really satisfying. So, I’m kind of wondering—since that was one of the earlier tracks, did you not have the chance to really like hear the members writing the lyrics or like how did that fit in?
RICKY: So, Beau ended up, you know, writing that like a couple days later before they showed it. I’m pretty sure cuz like we wouldn’t usually just show them beats. It was always like, you know, we wanted to show them the idea. So I had this sample—I don’t even remember if it’s still in—I think it is very low but there’s actually like a sample originally when we made the beat—me and Pdogg—like I found this like sample that was like “one more night” and it’s actually a sample.
So that part was almost pre-written in a sense where I told—I was like, “Beau, I think you should kind of use that as an idea.” I was like—I don’t know if it’s a hook cuz sometimes you know he’s such a nasty writer he could make that the verse and then go write a better hook but I—yeah, I think it could work. Me and Pdogg both left it in there on purpose cuz sometimes you don’t want to have vocals cuz it’s distracting—
ANGEL: Of course.
RICKY: But I do remember that when Beau came back with like the full idea of the hook. Then everybody was like, “Oh,” cuz that was the only song personally that Bang took me in a room and was like, “I love this, but I want to change the baseline.”
ANGEL: Wow.
RICKY: And that was like another memory I have of that. Me and Pdogg went in with some of the other whoever—you know, people that work at HYBE basically—and Bang was like, “Oh can you bring the stems, Bang wants to change a chord,” and so Bang was like actually like producing and changing something cuz I brought in the—I was like, “Yeah, this is the project like just the track”—and then he was like, “Yeah that third chord”—it actually was totally different before and we basically changed it cuz he just was like, “I really hear it like that.” And that was another one I forgot at that. Um mhm. It was like totally separate. And then I believe once all the guys started doing all their parts and writing and doing those things, you know, they would—I think most of the time they would do a lot of that at the house they were staying at in LA. Yeah. Because I was a little bit more on the production side. I typically wasn’t there um while writing with the guys cuz I think they’re also more comfortable with each other, or you know, Aldae would probably write with them. Mhm. Um, you know, some like vocal production guys, but uh, you don’t want to have too many people in the room for those.
ANGEL: So, mhm. Yeah, definitely. That’s still a really cool story though, especially with Bang, with the fact that he was so into it and he just wanted to change certain parts of the elements. And I love your synergy with Pdogg cuz he’s been with them since like day one working on tracks with them. Same with GHSTLOOP. He’s done a lot of work with them, too. So, I’m kind of curious.
RICKY: GHSTLOOP was awesome, too. Yeah.
ANGEL: Yeah. I kind of want to hear a little bit more about that working with GHSTLOOP. Like, what was that experience like?
RICKY: Yeah. You know what’s—there’s this one record that we did and it didn’t make the album, but that was like the funnest day that I think it was me, Ghost, Pdogg, um Wes. There’s a couple other writers, um like Kurtis, and I think Amy Allen was there.
ANGEL: Oh, yeah.
RICKY: She won like songwriter of the year this year, too. So, she was probably coming off a crazy year, but yeah, I think she came in a couple days and it was just a song that didn’t make it. But I remember like that was one of the first sessions I had with GHSTLOOP cuz in the beginning it was just me and Pdogg and Diplo cuz they were kind of separating the original BTS producers to help all the other producers.
ANGEL: I see.
RICKY: So it was like they didn’t need Pdogg and GHSTLOOP together because they’ve already worked together. So they were like having them split into the rooms. Yeah. So, I didn’t get to work with GHSTLOOP until a couple days or honestly, I’m fuzzy. It could have been like two weeks or it could have been like four days. I don’t even remember. But, um that we had a really good time working on, you know, a lot of the—a lot of the songs, but I just wish there was this one that was so sick that I think we all really liked. But who knows, maybe it’ll be for one of the guys or yeah, uh solo projects or something.
ANGEL: Yeah, maybe. You never know. Is there any way you could talk about like what the genre was like, the vibe of that song you were working on?
RICKY: I don’t want to get—I don’t want to get in trouble with Bang or anything, you know. So—
ANGEL: That’s okay. You’re—you’re safe. We won’t pry with that.
RICKY: Yeah. You know how the fans are. I feel like I’ve—I’ve noticed how, you know, if they’re this, you know, into everything that uh—I’ll keep myself safe on that because I would—I would love to work with HYBE again and stuff. So, I think maybe I’ll just mention to them like, “Hey, this was a good one. Me and Diplo and Pdogg all love this song. Maybe something happens with it.”
ANGEL: Yeah, something to think about. Hopefully moving forward. I would love to hear you on more tracks with the members, especially for their solo work because they each have very distinct styles. So, I think that’d be cool.
RICKY: Yep. Definitely.
ANGEL: And now I also want to talk about “FYA” because that’s a huge song. Everybody loves “FYA.” And Namjoon/RM he told Rolling Stone how “FYA” started from the word “fire” because everyone was like throwing it around the studio like “that’s fire!” “This is fire.” So, I’m kind of curious. Were you kind of jumping around to see if the BPM was right when you were making that too? Like was that a full-on party mode making that song in the studio?
RICKY: This is the best story because I don’t know Flume—I don’t think Flume does many interviews. Um he’s such a like, you know, introverted guy. Obviously he’s such a creative genius. I think a lot of those—I’m—I’m creative too, but I think he’s like on another level deeper of like he just loves to like, you know, make beats by himself. So, I’m—I’m only sharing my part of it, but he was literally just showing everyone the craziest thing you’ve ever heard. Me and Wes kept like looking at each other like “this is it” and like a thousand—I’m not exaggerating—like he had—it was like funny cuz I’m pretty sure then I was like “dude this is insane” and he’s like “yeah yeah like I got a thousand of these,” and he wasn’t kidding.
His iTunes like—I always make fun of Diplo—and Flume I don’t know personally so I wasn’t gonna like roast him cuz I always make fun of Diplo for still using iTunes cuz I’m like in my generation we ended up like not using iTunes anymore and we just use like our Ableton stuff or Record Box or Spotify. So like the fact that Diplo uses iTunes and then I saw Flume I was like “ah he’s just like you an old guy,” you know? I was like—not really—like I didn’t want to like say it cuz I’m like I didn’t want Flume to hate me. But it was like yeah it was like really funny that he had like a thousand of the coolest beats you’ve ever heard and like there were so many good ones. We were all like stumped. Like I remember everyone like RM was like, “I don’t even know where to start. There’s too many.” Like he literally was like “I don’t know dude.”
So I remember when we went back to the—we kept calling it like the “chainsaw one.” There was something about it that like the stem was called like “Egyptian chainsaw” or like—okay something crazy Flume name—where it was like really—it was like such a cool name that we were like “yeah the chainsaw one.” So like I just remember JPEG—basically Flume did the whole beginning part of that beat and like how it comes in is like all him. Like we just were like “hey give us the stems. We’re just going to you know work with what you have. It’s so good. We don’t need to do, you know,” like I’m not going to paint over something that he’s already masterfully painted, right?
So, we took the stems and um I was engineering that day, so I was like, “Okay, let me just line it up, whatever. Put a couple things, arrange it, so it’s like twice as long.” Yeah. And then um we were like, “Yeah, like RM really wanted JPEG there.” He was a big fan of his. Um I mean, all the guys honestly were a big fan. Suga definitely was—for sure. So they were like, “Yo, like JPEG, like whatever you hear, bro. Like, you know, just lay something down,” and he was just like vibing in the back and he’s like—he was like breathing and I remember being like, “Oh, that’s sick. Can you—can I just like get your breathing?” And he was like “Ha ha,” so I was like, “All right, let me just chop like this.” No words, just we had breathing. It was just like—it was just the breath. And I was like, “Oh, that’s cool. Okay, breath’s cool.” And then he like did something and everybody was like, “Oh, that’s fire.”
And like I remember like six people being like, “Oh, that’s fire. Oh, that’s fire. Oh, that’s fire.” And then I’m pretty sure that because all of us were just saying that that JPEG goes like “everything lit is fire. Fire is fire.” And we were all like, “Oh!” Like it was like a moment. It was like exactly how RM said it was—like everybody was just like, you know, in the studio if something’s good, you’re just like, “Oh, that’s fire. Like, cool, we’re moving on.” And then it takes an artist to be like, “Oh, that’s fire” is a phrase to use for a song. So, precisely, it was just that cool thing where like once JPEG caught it that it was like a lyric, everybody was like, “Damn, that’s it.” And then from there, it was just like easy.
We um we kind of did more of the rap stuff, I think, the first day. Yeah. Cuz we were trying basically later like they weren’t going to use the song, right? And it kind of got resurrected. Uh me and Diplo kind of were going back and forth—were like, “Yeah, like I think the reason they didn’t use originally the song is cuz it didn’t have any melodic parts for the—you know, the singing line for—”
ANGEL: Yes.
RICKY: Yeah. For the vocalists.
ANGEL: The vocalists, of course.
RICKY: And that was one of the problems. It was just like the craziest beat you ever heard, but it didn’t have this like—you know, not to like simplify cuz like Flume is a genius with melodies—but it just didn’t have that specific part yet.
ANGEL: Mhm.
RICKY: So then me and Wes like we kind of like put chords down and made like a—a singable part for a hook.
ANGEL: Amazing.
RICKY: So when we sent that to like Aldae and Kurtis and they were just kind of like spitballing around, you know, making new melodies and new parts and stuff for people to actually sing. That’s when it like got back into the running cuz in the in the beginning it was just like “this is so cool but it’s too crazy for the album.”
ANGEL: Yeah.
RICKY: So then you know Diplo was like, “This song’s too good for us to like quit on. Let’s add something to it and make it—” So that kind of took it from like the beat part to like, “Oh now it has a big chorus and an arrangement so that the whole band can sing,” and that kind of like got it over the finish line which was cool because that was one of those ones where it almost didn’t make it and then once it got like a little bit, you know, more finished um—
I think I just saw JPEG’s uh interview too where he was like, “Yeah I didn’t—I just left,” you know, cuz him and Flume I think left. It only took them like 2 hours. Flume had the craziest beats. JPEG was super fast. He came up with “FYA” and that was it. They were like—that was it. We were like, “That was perfect. I don’t know what else.” And they were like, “Cool. Thanks. See you guys.” Like that was all he had to do. And so I remember like even how he said it on his interview. He’s like, “Yeah, I—I just left. Didn’t even know if they were going to use it or not.” That’s kind of how it was, too. We were all like stumped. We were like, “Damn, what do we do?”
So, you know, it was probably like almost a couple weeks later that we did the chorus and the melodic part and the bridge and stuff like that. It was just like for me as a fan of Flume and JPEG—like that was one of those moments where I was enjoying it. I was just like, “I get to listen to Flume beats. This is sick. I get to watch—I get to record, you know, JPEG just a breath and a this,” and, you know, actually work with them. So, I was like enjoying it. I—I almost was like, “I’m having so much fun. This isn’t going to make it because it’s too like crazy for them or too weird or whatever.” So, the fact that all the fans see the vision and like appreciate Flume’s production or our chorus and the chords and what JPEG did and and you know, obviously the guys rip the rap parts. The beat is so perfect. Um, for sure that that one has some of the best like rap I feel like besides like Hooligan and stuff, but yeah, it’s—it’s sick, man. That’s such a crazy—the whole story behind that one was such a cool thing for me cuz I’m a fan of everyone that worked on it. So, it was like an honor, you know, to—to be able to just add some—some stuff on it.
ANGEL: Yeah, it’s wonderful. And I mean, the whole melodic part that you got into it is really phenomenal. I love the part with Jungkook with like the “give me that gasoline, give me that make me fiend,” that whole part really blew up online and seeing the dance that everyone does to it too. It’s great. And the breathing that you were mentioning also, you could see the guys love that too cuz at the concert they’re all like—like they’re doing it really aggressively.
RICKY: That was like—at the show for me I was the most hyped. Like when I was watching that live I saw your videos—they did like a mashup with an older song where—
ANGEL: “FYA” and “Fire.” Yeah. “FYA” and “Fire.”
RICKY: And I didn’t know that. So like the girl behind me was also kind of like my niece like she really knew everything. That was like kind of a long learning to be honest cuz obviously I—I haven’t known the guys that this long. So she was like, “Oh, it’s a mashup between.” And I was like, “Wow, big brain. That’s a sick—as a DJ—”
ANGEL: Big brain.
RICKY: I love mashups. So I’m—I’m impressed. I’m sure like maybe Pdogg or GHSTLOOP or one of those guys. They probably helped with the show. And that was a sick idea on their part.
ANGEL: Yeah, I was really excited as a fan because when I saw the new song “FYA” was coming out, I instantly was reminded of their 2016 track “Fire.” So, I was like, “How is this going to measure up to it? How is that going to work out?” But I love this song because even though it’s very experimental and it was a new vibe for them with that kind of beat and the rapping and the melodies, it also calls back to their earlier works. Like they’re rooted in hip-hop, their earlier production, especially with Dark and Wild. I don’t know if you’ve had the chance to check any of that out, but they made that—
RICKY: Yeah. Yeah. For sure.
ANGEL: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like in 2014, they made that in America. Like they even worked on stuff in a garage here working on those hip-hop beats. So, it’s cool to see that kind of flow into their new work, but in a really eclectic, intense, aggressive way, in the best way possible.
RICKY: Definitely. It was—it was really fun to like kind of learn more about the history and then go back. My—my niece kept showing us uh like on the drive up from Tampa, she was like, “Oh, you got to dive into the old stuff.” And you know, cuz she was able to defend when people were like, “Why does it sound like this?” And and then some people that knew were like, “It’s actually the right direction because they did come from hip-hop.” And they did. It’s not like this “Butter” and “Dynamite” are way later. So it’s not all should be sounding like that. You know what I mean? So, you know, as someone that was less, you know, informed about that. It was like all this learning where I was like, “Yeah, I mean, first of all, I like the music, but second of all, it actually makes sense. I feel like they were pretty true to themselves, but in a new way.”
ANGEL: In a new way. Exactly. And kudos to your niece for kind of guiding you through that a little bit and teaching you the ropes of their older music. I think that’s really cool.
RICKY: Yeah, she was having a great time and uh it was awesome.
ANGEL: That is—that’s super awesome. And another question I had for you is kind of just—since you produced these three tracks and they all landed on the Hot 100, which is huge. Congratulations, by the way. Big deal.
RICKY: Thank you.
ANGEL: You’re welcome. What is it about these specific three songs that you think resonated so much on a global scale?
RICKY: I mean, I think “FYA” was like it kind of had something cool out the gate because having Flume and JPEG and Diplo—yeah, uh—and BTS kind of as a background. I mean, I know I worked on it, but I’m obviously not as much of a, you know, big celebrity artist or anything like that. I think that kind of like helped that one. Yeah. And it made people just be like, “Even if I don’t like them, I have to hear this.”
ANGEL: Exactly.
RICKY: That’s what I think happened with “FYA” where it’s like everybody had to hear it because it’s just so insane to see that collaboration. So, I think that was—and I think that’s the best streaming of the three and I think that’s a big reason you’re just like if I wasn’t a fan or like I didn’t know I’d be like, “I’m listening to this cuz that’s crazy.” It is. So, I think that’s what had it like something good going for it.
And then I think “One More Night” actually is like similar to what you said. It’s like a sleeper. They don’t play it live, I think. But I think the real fans—I’ve seen a lot of people be like, “That’s my favorite song. I wish they would play it.” And I think it’s because that’s one of the most original sounding ones in terms of like it sounds like them.
ANGEL: Exactly.
RICKY: It doesn’t sound too new, which I can understand. They—they really like playing their new stuff because they’ve been playing K-pop for so long that—
ANGEL: Exactly.
RICKY: Hey, you know, as an artist, you get a little bit bored of that sound. I can understand. But it seems like that one with the fans, they’re—they really seem to like catch on and be like, “I wish they would play it,” because it’s actually like most reminiscent of something style.
ANGEL: Mhm. Yeah.
RICKY: And then “Into the Sun,” like probably the most special regardless, you know. I think some things also with Spotify just have to do with like the order. Like if you actually look at the songs, they’re pretty much like highest streaming to lowest. It’s very common in albums. Yeah, granted what we’re talking about is hundreds of millions of streams anyway. So, it’s not like this isn’t good cuz it’s still amazing. You know what I mean? It’s not like, oh, one has 100 million, one has like a thousand. It’s like, oh, they all have 100 million. Like, who cares? They’re all—they’re all doing well. I don’t think it’s about streaming to me. I just—I’m glad that people recognize that one uh as like an epic cinematic ending closer because that’s how we all felt. We were like, “This is where you leave off.”
ANGEL: Exactly.
RICKY: This song ends it. You feel—you feel happy to leave the show after you hear this song. Cuz it doesn’t make you get so hyped that you want to keep raging and having fun. It makes you be like, “Wow, what am I going to do after this? How am I going to recover?” You know?
ANGEL: Exactly. You captured it perfectly. That’s 100% the energy that you feel from that song. But I don’t know if you’ve had the chance to see this yet. There was 50,000 Army who recently gathered outside of the presidential palace in Mexico singing Arirang tracks such as “Hooligan.” So I’m wondering for you as a producer, what is a pop culture moment like that signify to you? Because it was crazy to see.
RICKY: Yeah, that was—my manager like sent that in our chat the other day, and I saw it on like Instagram just like—so I’ve seen it a few times and it’s just uh first of all, Mexico is—they’re some of the best fans. Like I would say obviously the majority of Asia has really high amounts of like fans that would do a lot and go places to see their you know favorite artists but Mexico is like also one of those countries that I think because I’d played there enough as a DJ and seeing, you know, been there enough to know that like, wow—I remember playing myself in Mexico and being like these kids and you know all ages are just such you know nice people that really are there to like see someone whereas you know sometimes in America—I won’t say always cuz BTS obviously makes everyone come out of the woodwork and you know they’re—they’re like a different case—but a lot of times like places in America are a little more used to—I don’t want to say like spoiled cuz I—I don’t want to be like mean—but a lot of people in the like—the states we get a lot of artists all the time—like we’re getting the Drakes, we’re getting the Weeknds, whereas like certain countries like they’re not getting these—these A-listers, so they really appreciate even a smaller artist. And to me, it’s not just that—
ANGEL: They show up.
RICKY: Yeah, exactly. It’s not just that they show up for BTS. What I can say about Mexico is that they show up for a little artist, too. So, I think that’s why—even more exciting—they’re, you know, they deserve to have someone like BTS or, you know, there’s—Mexico City is massive. I’m not even saying like it’s like a small—Mexico City massive. I just mean, you know, a lot of times getting the artists getting there and they care. You know, sometimes we miss that in the States of like we’re a little bit used to it and it’s like we shouldn’t get used to it. These people are—are awesome. Like it’s—it’s—it’s rare we get to see, you know, this type of talent and um yeah, my rant is over, but I just—I actually really thought about it deeply because I’m a person that’s played all over the world and I actually noticed the difference between, you know, smaller cities or certain countries that, you know, they—they don’t take it for granted and I always appreciate that as someone who’s, you know, played a lot of shows.
ANGEL: Yeah. And I think that’s why the sight was so particularly moving because you could hear them all singing together so passionately and it was just so powerful to witness that on such a grand scale. But for them that was like such a big moment having the seven members right in front of them and before they’re even there they’re singing all the songs that passionately—like that’s how excited they are for the fact that they’re in Mexico. So it is a testament to that.
And another question I have for you is that ARMY, they welcomed you with open arms into the fandom as soon as they saw your name on that producer tag. It was very exciting for everyone to witness what you were creating. So, are there any other behind the scenes stories or small details about the members that you haven’t shared yet you might remember that you could tell ARMY about?
RICKY: Yeah, there was this one song at the end. I’m not going to talk about the song necessarily, but—
ANGEL: That’s okay.
RICKY: I remember recording Jimin and I think it was J-Hope.
ANGEL: Okay.
RICKY: And they were at the end of the song and like they were just like messing with each other. So then at the end of the song it’s like—in a little bit of like vocal stuff like delays, reverbs, a little bit of odd tunes and then Jimin was just like, “Oh yeah, BTS. Oh, Mr. Bang.” And they’re just laughing saying some like—like stupid stuff like for fun. And um I just—I always have that memory where like I recorded it and then I would like play it back at the end of the song and everyone was like, you know, enjoying that, having a good time. So I always thought that was funny that like they actually were able to have a good time. And Jimin, especially—Jimin’s a jokester. He’s really funny. I was having a good time with him.
And uh yeah, RM was definitely the most—like he really cared. Like I—I just felt him. He was like, “I don’t just want to do what people expect. I want to like push the envelope.” That—I thought—I was really impressed with his like—I guess ability to like not settle. Like, would show him some cool stuff and be like, “I like this but that this—” you know, some people are always like too harsh or too—say yes to everything. He was like really balanced and I like—I really respected him. I can understand why he’s like kind of seen as the leader cuz um he just has a great you know head on his shoulders and he really cared about the uh the songs.
And then um I think the most impressed too—like Jungkook’s voice live just in the studio’s insane. Like that guy can sing. V can really sing, but yeah um JK was just hitting everything. We were just like, “Yeah do this,” and he would just immediately get it. Um, so that—that was always cool to see. And then yeah, obviously the moment—I think obviously my favorite moment is with just like jamming with V and uh kind of having that moment with like, you know, feeling like a band or feeling like a—a jam was going on. That was like my most memorable moment.
ANGEL: Yeah, for sure. Those are like the most powerful songwriting sessions to have when you’re there with the producers, with the writers, getting to be one and making the music and it’s not as separate how it is so oftentimes, especially during the pandemic. Everyone was doing everything separately. You wouldn’t even be in the same room together. So, it’s really cool you got to do that for “Into the Sun.”
My last question for you today, because I know your time is valuable and I appreciate this very much, but I talk a lot about dreams on the show. K-ALL is very big about people’s dreams. So, although you’ve achieved the ultimate dream already with this album, I’m kind of curious, what is your current dream? It could be big or small. What are your next hopes for the future?
RICKY: I think my—I guess I would say my dreams are a little bit more geared toward prayers now in the sense that—like I think sometimes my dreams are what I want and I’m slowly learning that I don’t want to live my life based off just what I want. And I’m trying to like, you know—I’m act—I’m not like perfect at this, but I’m actively trying to learn to kind of, you know, put God in that place and have like my wants be what he wants, which is a really—it’s a hard thing to even get to, but I’m just—that’s what I want is like I really want to like, you know, hear God’s voice and—and have that lead me through, you know, who I work with, what I do, like how I’m representing.
I have a long career of not doing that. I’m not a saint. I’m not here to judge. I’ve released songs, saying stupid things, saying inappropriate things, right? I’m not a perfect person. I had a long history of making music that isn’t like that. So people are like, “Well, you released this song, you know,”—I definitely have. Yeah. Like I definitely have. You know, God uses a lot of sinful people. We all are like that. So, I guess my—my main dream and—and prayers right now is to like actually be able to live that out and not be a type of Christian that turns people off to God because like, “Well, you say this, but you support that or you do this and you say this” and um I just don’t want to—I don’t want to represent Christ in that way. I’m really trying to, you know, do it in a genuine way where it’s like you can see the change in my life. Um so hopefully musically and, you know, things I’m working on will—will get there as well.
ANGEL: Yeah, I think absolutely. I think that’s a beautiful dream to have. And I want to say that we’re all in a fallen world. So, we all sin. And the fact that you are working so avidly on yourself and you’re not perfect. I’m not perfect. It’s a whole journey to be with Christ and to be one with Christ. So, I think the fact that you already made these songs with so much heart and so intentfully and all of the fans are receiving them with so much love—I think that God would be very pleased. Look at what happened in Mexico. Like, look at that vision. Look at every tour stop they’re going to, performing these songs. That oneness and that collective love and consciousness is what God hopes that we pour into our work and into everything that we do. So, I’m really excited to see how your path unfolds and what’s next for you.
RICKY: I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.
ANGEL: You’re very welcome. Thank you for being here. And that concludes this episode of K-ALL. Make sure to stay tuned for Nitti Music and Ricky’s upcoming projects. You could follow him—I’ll link all the socials here—and thank you for a great show. It’s been wonderful to have you.
RICKY: Thanks so much. See you.
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