LA hip-hop Jedi training camp mentors the producers of tomorrow

Los Angeles Times

30-07-2025

On a recent Saturday in Inglewood, about a dozen acclaimed music producers including Dahi — who's worked with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and Drake — and DJ Khalil — who has collaborated with artists like Dr. Dre, Kanye West and Eminem — gathered with 80 students to geek out on the art of beat making.
The free three-day workshop, called the Audio Affect Series, was co-hosted by TEC Leimert, a South L.A.-based nonprofit that aims to bridge the gap between technology and entertainment, Serato (DJ and music production software company) and beloved street wear retailer Undefeated. The purpose of the event, which took place July 25-27, was to bring Black and brown producers of all skill levels together for hands-on instruction designed to help them level up their skills.
The idea for the workshop manifested a few years ago when TEC Leimert hosted a music production activation during its annual conference in the Leimert Park Plaza. Hours after the conference was over, attendees were still huddled in a small tent where a few producers were doing live beat making sessions and offering tips.
'It was like 8 p.m. and they were still going,' recalls TEC Leimert Executive Director Paris McCoy. 'It was just so clear that this was the type of space that artists wanted to be in, so I was just like, 'We got to make it happen.' By the time her nonprofit reached out to the Serato team about collaborating on a beat making program, they were eager to get involved because they were already in talks about doing something similar, McCoy says.
'We started to realize that there was a gap between some folks who were trying to get into the music production space but didn't have the [tools] and/or, depending on where they are, access to mentors who can help them kind of walk through things,' adds OP Miller, who is a DJ and head of artist relations for Serato.
The first official Audio Affect Series took place in 2023 at Serato's studio in L.A.'s Arts District. It featured four separate workshops that took place over the course of several months. About 35 people participated in each of the intimate sessions, which were beginner-friendly and were led by L.A.-based artists like Lyric Jones, Georgia Ann Muldrow and Dahi.
This year's event, which was held at Volume Studios in Inglewood, was even larger. Roughly 80 out of 200 applicants were selected for the program. Undefeated provided merchandise for the workshop, including a hoodie that many attendees wore throughout the weekend.
The participants, who ranged from teens to Gen-Xers, were dispersed in various studios inside the massive multi-production studio. With their headphones on, they bobbed their heads to the beats they were cooking up and watched intently as sound waves danced across their laptop screens.
The workshop, which was designed for intermediate to advanced skill levels, covered topics such as how to discover your personal sound as a producer, how to sample and clear tracks and how to create a strong online presence. Throughout the weekend, participants watched live demos from speakers and they were given time to cook up beats of their own. On the final day, each student was given the aux to play their beat for the entire group.
Among the speakers were pioneering funk artist and TEC Leimert board member Dām-Funk; Watts-born rapper and producer Dibiase; Inglewood-born musician and event curator Thurz; and multi-instrumentalist and singer Amber Navran.
Erika Jasper, a longtime DJ and self-proclaimed 'novice producer,' attended the first Audio Affect Series in 2023 and decided to come back because she wanted to build her confidence as a female producer.
'I figured it would be nice to learn from some of the best producers in the game,' says Jasper, who goes by the artist name q.sol. 'Plus, Serato always does a phenomenal job at providing the best instruction, step by step.'
After making beats for roughly 25 years, Thomas Phillips says he wanted to participate in the program because he's trying to take his music more seriously now. 'I'm a software engineer, but I want to switch over to audio [engineering],' says Phillips, who brought along his 7-year-old son, who was making beats of his own. 'So I'm just putting a lot more attention to my craft and being more intentional instead of just doing it in my spare time as a hobby.'
Linafornia, a producer and DJ from Leimert Park, says being able to participate in an event like the Audio Affect Series would've been helpful for her when she started making beats after high school.
'This is a necessary program to have for people who are interested in making music and they get to hear perspectives from people who look like them, who are around their age,' says Linafornia, who led a talk on the history of L.A.'s sound, ranging from jazz to G funk and hip-hop. 'I didn't have that growing up. I wish they had programs like this when I was a teenager.'
Dahi, an Inglewood-born producer who won a Grammy for his production on J. Cole and 21 Savage's song 'A Lot,' spoke at the first Audio Affect Series and was eager to return.
'Showing people the tools to make better music is something that I'm always championing and I think that is something that we need to do more of,' says Dahi, who walked students through his creative process when it comes to making beats. 'I think a lot of times, people complain about what they don't like now and that it's not good, and I'm just like 'Help the youth. Help people who want to get better.'
Many attendees said they could relate to Navran's presentation about finding her own sound after years of singing and playing woodwind instruments, then finally taking the deep dive into music production years later.
'I didn't produce for a long time because I thought I couldn't,' says Navran, who is also a member of the L.A.-based band Moonchild. But after 'receiving encouragement from friends, seeing other people do it and getting a starter kit of how different people approach stuff was such a nice way to jump into it.'
Like Linafornia, Navran wishes that a program like the Audio Affect Series existed at the start of her journey. 'To be surrounded by producers, people you can meet, collaborate with and be inspired by is so powerful,' she adds.
To wrap up the workshop, each of the participants will be given about two months to complete and submit a beat to be considered for the Audio Affect Series' compilation project. Legendary producer and DJ Battlecat will be curating the project, which will be released on vinyl next year.
After receiving positive feedback for the program, McCoy says she and her team want to make it an annual event so more people can experience it.
She says, 'There is a real hunger and need for this kind of space.'