Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Randolph.
Chelsea, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Music has always been a passion of mine since I was a little kid. I remember growing up and singing or rapping my little heart out to a song verbatim in the back seat of my mama car. My mom used to say “I wish you knew your homework like you know them songs” hahaha! Growing up my mom made sure to have me involved in a lot of extracurricular activities, from being on the choir in church, dancing, and band (played the alto saxophone for 4 years)…music has always been in my DNA.
I never had my eyes set on producing, although I always connected with the beat of a song. To me the beat of a song is the soul of a song, without it you have nothing. Rewind to 2018, I am married living in beautiful San Diego, California and I’m trying to figure out the next steps in my life. I wasn’t where I wanted to be or where I thought I should be; I was 25, recently graduated from college, married to a man who truly didn’t love me, and depressed (and what’s worst is that I didn’t realize it)…I was lost. During this time my ex got into producing music and being that we lived in an apartment that was less than 600 sq ft, I started to take notice of what he was doing that eventually, I started looking stuff up on YouTube to send to him to help him get better with producing. This was my first time truly seeing what it took to produce music, my first time knowing what a drumkit was. After a few months of watching him make beats and providing my feedback and insight, I found the courage to ask him “Ayo I want to make a beat!”. I was immediately shut down with “This ain’t for play, I’m not playing around”…From there I hopped on his laptop and with full intention to make a beat, but if you’ve ever been on FL Studio you know you’re not just hopping on there making a beat, so I just left it alone.
Fast forward to March 2019, I left my marriage and California to head back to South Carolina to figure out what my next steps were. Before my journey across the country, I discovered female artists like Megan Thee Stallion, Rico Nasty, Queen Key, Tay Money, Coi Leray and so many other similar artists. These women helped me find the strength and the courage to find my voice again. My relationship had caused me to lose myself and my identity; I truly didn’t know who I was as an individual anymore. Before leaving California, I told myself that this next journey in life is all about me! I was determined to no longer let my fear get in the way of what I wanted! I kept the promise to myself when I moved to Texas in June 2019; 10 weeks after leaving California I landed a job at Texas A&M University Recreation Center as the first African-American to work as the Aquatics Coordinator of Operations. This was the first time I was truly proud of myself because I proved to myself that I’m really like that! I’m THAT girl!
Moving to Texas forced me to learn how to be by myself again, how to love myself…how to be comfortable with my uncomfortableness. This helped me find myself and find my true passions in life again…one of those passions being music. I knew I wanted to be a part of the culture (music is the culture, in my opinion) but in what way I wasn’t sure especially since in this day and age, anyone can be an A&R (no shade to the A&R’s out there) but all you need is a talented artist(s) that’s equally hungry to make it and great connections; and VJ’s died once shows as 106 & Park went off the air. So here I am watching YouTube and an interview with WondaGurl comes on…If you don’t know who WondaGurl is she has produced for artists like Travis Scott, Don Toliver, Kanye West, and more. She’s one of my inspirations for sure!; but I’m watching her interview and at the end of the interview she goes “If you’re a woman who produces or is thinking about producing, just do that sh*t!”, that really gave me the motivation to say “F*CK IT! I’m not going to be afraid anymore”. From there I purchased a computer in February 2020, I copped it from my homeboy Tyler in San Diego (he produces music too and has motivated me to get where I am now). After that the pandemic hit and I really took advantage of being in the house, I purchased FL Studio 20 and after that followed some drum kits, a midi keyboard, and a tutorial on how to go from a beginner to intermediate with FL (HAHA)
Since then I have just been working on getting better, learning different things from YouTube, time in the studio, the people I’ve met over social media. I am starting to see that my dedication to my craft is starting to get noticed and it’s only motivating me to go harder! Being a female producer is not for the weak, we are always overlooked. When I tell people that I produce music it’s so funny to me because they are so taken back, and surprised because it is so rare. When I go to the studio I’m usually the only woman there, it’s very RARE to encounter another female producer in the studio but when I do it’s like a sigh of relief because I can automatically relate to someone there.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Not at all! There have been a lot of struggles on this journey. From learning the software, making connections, and just having people take me seriously, period. Being a female producer is hard because it is such a male-dominated field. Being a male I’m pretty sure it is hard to make it but being a female is 10x harder than that because we ALWAYS have to prove ourselves. Especially when it comes to your beats actually sounding good. No journey is easy tho, the lows keep you on your toes.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I produce music, I would say I make trap beats but I’ve become very versatile. I’m most proud of the brand I am creating for myself. I’m proud that my hard work has gotten me into rooms that I was trying to get into a few months ago. I think what sets me apart is 1) being a woman in production and 2) actually having the talent to go far. I’m always looking to learn and get better with my craft; always hungry to get better.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I see my industry having a major increase with women producers/engineers/songwriters. The shift started with female rappers in 2019, I think it has now spread to inside the studio. I can’t wait for that!
Contact Info:
- Email: bigblancocartel@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.beatstars.com/cartelblanco
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cartelblanco/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/cartelblanco
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxhUyUEn4yLZcyPUnmLJcVg
Image Credits
@louallencreations
@callowaycaptures
