Häzel

Yannick Beaucaine (born 1 July 1983), best known as hxzel(Formerly known as Häzel), is a French-Brazilian music producer, based in Melbourne, Australia. He is most recognized for his Hip-Hop and R&B productions and produced one of the songs on Gallant's Grammy-nominated album Ology.

hxzel
Birth nameYannick Beaucaine
Also known asHäzel, Hazeldizzy
Born (1983-07-01) 1 July 1983
Brasília, DF, Brazil
OriginFrance
GenresHip Hop, RnB
Occupation(s)Music Producer
LabelsSupreme Crate
Websitewww.thisishazel.com

Biography

Yannick Beaucaine was born in Brazil to a Brazilian father and a French mother. He moved to Paris, France at the age of 15. His involvement with music started at an early age when his father would take him to work as a baby at the national radio station Cultura Fm in Brasilia, where he was operating as a radio host/disc jockey.

In 1998 Yannick enrolled at the Culinary Arts School of Paris where he studied for 4 years for a Professional bachelor's degree in Culinary Arts and 1 year for a Degree in Molecular Gastronomy- a period during which he discovered Hip-Hop music. At the age of 15, he found himself immersed in the music of J-Dilla and Erick Sermon which inspired him to learn music production. His brother, DJ Delaze, taught him how to use a computer and particularly a software called Fasttracker 2 for DOS, which he used until 2003 to make music at an amateur level.

2003 marks a new era when he switched systems to an AKAI MPC3000. Unfortunately, one year later, working on his first paid project, Häzel lost his gear after the recording studio got robbed overnight, setting him back a whole year without being able to make music.[1]

In 2004 hxzel returned to make music on a windows PC and stands out with his productions on the Myspace community, leading him to meet people such as Ebrahim Lakhani (Eebsofresh), Slakah the beatchild and Drake.

In 2005 he formed a duo called Zebrahim with Ebrahim Lakhani, together, they have been working on many independent projects but their first release didn't come out until 2011. Zebrahim – "In my heart I Am" was considered to be one of the best independent records on its release date, reaching the top charts of multiple independent websites such as bandcamp, and is still critically acclaimed around the world today. The project was originally released to raise funds for cancer awareness[2] and have reached ten thousand downloads on its release trimester only.

In 2006 two of his productions were selected by Beatchild (Formerly Slakah The Beatchild) for his upcoming project "Soul Movement Vol.1" on legendary UK's record label BBE. Both tracks were featuring debuting artist Drake, but only one of them made it to the final version of Soul Movement Vol.1. The track "Share" was also featured on Drake's Comeback Season, which was a stepping stone in his career. Being the first release under the OVO label, Featuring artists like Dwele, Little Brother, Trey Songz and Producers like J Dilla, Kanye West, Boi-1da and Häzel. Comeback Season was released in 2007.

After working on numerous projects and features, in 2011, he released two solo projects."Playground EP" – a self-produced vocalized project with a genre he calls " Porno-Romantic" which was released on Parisian label Favorite Recordings. "Playground EP" was featured on several media platforms such as MTV and on Apple's Japanese iTunes main page. In the same year, he also released "The Lost Tapes", a collection of unreleased instrumentals and tracks featuring Drake, Eebsofresh, and Beatchild. For many, The Lost Tapes is considered a classic. It quickly gained the first position in sales on Bandcamp in its first week of release, pulling Häzel to the top 100 most influential producers on the planet. The Lost Tapes was re-released on Vinyl and Cassette in 2012 on New-York based record label, The Beat Down.

In 2013 hxzel meets TFOX (Travis Fox) who would go on to create the producer duo "Grawlix"

In 2016 with the help of his brother, he creates his own record label, SUPREME CRATE, on which they release the first official Grawlix project "We Are Grawlix". The vinyl release sold out its first original press of 500 copies during the first week of release.

In 2017 he is nominated for a Grammy for his participation in the production of Gallant's Ology record, Best Urban Contemporary Album of the Year.[3]

Discography

Studio albums

  • The Lost Tapes (12", Cassette, Digital) The Beat Down (2011)
  • We Are Grawlix (12", Digital) Supreme Crate, Word and Sound (2016)

Singles & EPs

  • Playground (12" EP, Digital) Favorite Records (2011)
  • Zebrahim – In my heart i am (Digital) ADAR (2011)
  • Turn The Lights Off (Flexi, S/Sided,Ltd) The Beat Down (2013)
  • Ebrahim – Daddy's Girl (Digital) ADAR (2019)

Production credits

  • Drake – Comeback Season (Digital) October's Very Own (2007)
  • Slakah The Beatchild – Soul Movement Vol 1 (CD, Digital) BBE ( 2008)
  • Onra – 1.0.8 (LP, Digital) Favorite Recordings (2009)
  • Mad Clown – Anything Goes (Digital) Starship Ent. (2011)
  • Tokimonsta – RA.270 (Digital) Resident Advisor (2011)
  • Union – Analogtronics (12", Digital) Fat Beats (2012)
  • Gallant – Ology (LP, Digital) Warner Bros. (2016)

References

  1. "Häzel : Favorite Recordings". www.favoriterec.com (in French). 29 April 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  2. "Zebrahim "In My Heart I Am"". MOOVMNT.com. 6 June 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  3. "Gallant". GRAMMY.com. 14 May 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.

Articles

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