The UCMG is a music label founded by producer duo Ayo N Keyz in 2012. Since then, the Grammy Award-winning pair have grown it beyond imagination. Using their connections, the two helped a tremendous number of songwriters and producers grow their personal brand and catalog.
In our recent interview, we sat down with their songwriters and producers about records they worked on for acts like Teyana Taylor, Chris Brown, and Kash Doll to name a few. Check it out below.
Teyana Taylor - "Shoot It Up"
Marco Mavy: Working on "Shoot It Up" came about through a collab with sangria at first. The melody was a sample that inspired my mentor's Ayo & Keyz to make a melody off of that into something special. I was in Atlanta in one of our UCMG writing sessions with Xe and she wrote to that beat within an hour or so with ease.
Xenia: This was one of my favorite solo sessions! Marco Mavy was back in town and I had a session with him, he played this beat and I just connected with it immediately. I had initially written it with H.E.R in mind but again you never know with these so it was so amazing to have not one but two songs on Teyana's album.
Teyana Taylor - "Wrong Bitch"
Xenia: This one was super fun to write! It was my first session with Marquis aka Pennyhardaway and we just vibed and made something not really knowing where it would place and for this to happen was super cool!
Chris Brown - "Trust Issues"
Marco Mavy: Working on trust issues happened through a collab with Clint ford another one of our producers. It was actually the first beat we ever made together in a session at parhelion. We then made the play with Derrick Milano who made the song with sage the Gemini. We then got word later on that Chris brown wanted the record and that’s how it ended up on Indigo.
Clint Ford: The Chris Brown record was unique for many reasons. We had just signed to the UCMG officially, and it was one of my and Marco's first collabs together. I remember working on it during one of our sessions, only to have it sit in the stash for a while. Next thing I knew, the guys were hitting my phone saying that Sage the Gemini and Chris got a hold of the record and that Chris loved the record. I knew things were official when they started asking for the stems so that they could mix and master. I'll always feel blessed for that record. To be able to work with such a top tier artist at the beginning of my music career, and then to have a couple of plaques off of it is incredible in itself. That record will always be pretty special to me.
Kash Doll - "Back Ends"
Ace Redd: This record was dope because it was my first huge placement on a television show. The vibe was right in the studio that night and it was dope to be able to knock out the record with my UCMG family.
Clint Ford: I'm always a fan of TV and Sync placements. My very first significant industry placement was actually on a show called Star with Kayla Smith. The Kash Doll record is a favorite for me, though because it was written and produced by UCMG family and friends, everything was in-house. Small fact, Saweetie was supposed to be on the record instead of Kash, but I'm assuming that the network decided to go with Kash Doll for casting reasons, scheduling, etc. Either way, that record turned out great. The fact that we were able to land a record on Empire's last season makes it even more special.
Asia Graves - "Brand New"
AVB: Brand New came about when I was scrolling through YouTube looking for samples I thought that could be flipped, at first I was looking for a 90s playlist, but I accidentally clicked a soulful 70s /80s playlist, and The stylistic popped up first, and I heard the chords, and instantly I was like hmm I got an idea for it, since I was going for a 90s bounce .i figured I'd flipped it to sound like a joint that biggie or a 90s artist would hop on but more 2019 drums in a sense. What's crazy is when I first sent that beat, I sent it to a writer we work with named Breland in a pack. He texted me like "yo this is a vibe, I'm with YK Osiris, and we are writing to it "so fun the fact that beat would've been a YK song is funny, he had posted it, and everything on his socials but me and the team listened to it, and we didn't think it fit him, so we scrapped it, then I think a day after or two Asia asked for a pack and I threw the brand new beat in it, and she killed it per usual.