Conversations with Sonny Nitez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sonny Nitez

Hi SONNY, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’m from Toledo, OH.. I started writing music in 6th or 7th grade I would just fill up notebooks w lyrics in class instead of doing the work because my mind would always wander. After my 7th grade year I moved to Joshua Tree, CA. There I went to La Conenta Middle School. I was one of the new kids and didn’t really know how to interact with such a new environment after moving from Ohio. One thing that translates in every single school is Freestyle sessions. I heard some kids rapping one day and this kid told me to go next and I just started spitting. From then on it became religious. Everyday I was w those groups rapping and having dance battles (was the height of the Jerk Dance faze). I feel like moving out to the desert at this point in my life really brought me closer to music because it was my way of interacting with kids at my school. Also the people in that area appreciate music differently. Like it’s the only thing we have there other than the desert mountains. It’s very much expression. After middle school I started attending Yucca Valley High School where I started taking music very seriously. By then I was deep into writing music. Showing my classmates and family songs everyday, avidly finding and molding my voice . So finally I decided to get my first mic. With money I saved up from selling snapbacks, I bought one of those $100 mic bundles that came w pro tools and from then on, it was me and music. I remember downloading so many beats that day and just recording. The first song I made was on a beat that flipped “sweet child o mine” and I posted it on Facebook afterwards. I figured out how to record that night. I navigated it much slower than I do now, but it came so natural. And the way I recorded came so natural. I instantly knew how to do takes and splice things together. Soon i started uploading songs every week for friends and family to listen to on Facebook and YouTube. That started my love of recording! It’s become a daily thing for me to make music. Soon after these moments I started taking trips to La and got to record a couple times in my freshman year of high school. Eventually I moved back to Ohio to graduate from high school and there I lived w my grandparents who are Filipino so they’re very traditional. Even though they told me to constantly go to school and have a back up, they always supported. My grandfather and I took a bus up to NYC for the X factor auditions in my sophomore year of hs and even made me a mic stand for my recording equipment. He and I did a lot of yard work and helped a lot of our family and neighbors for money that we ended up using to upgrade my recording equipment which meant the world to me. Bc it wasn’t the best equipment but it was all I needed and I remember after getting that set up I never left my basement and that’s where I really began pursuing music. I would make full songs and buy rights to beats and make the cover arts just for my friends and family to enjoy. Word soon got around and I started performing. By my senior year I had done two shows. I got to open up for Kid Ink in my city as a 16 year old. While it became a lifestyle early, I feel like so did the “game” of music. I signed my first management situation with a cool dude from my city named Julius Darrington. He introduced me to his cousin TubbYoung who is a Grammy nominated producer and engineer. Both cool solid people who always gave me the best advice. Now he manages King Los and has his own motion. After that I graduated high school and left the label because I wanted to just live life and go to college. Then I was introduced to my bro Jon Beez who was Young Dolphs engineer and now Key Glocks. This guy brought me in and told me he wanted to work w me. He said he saw potential and felt like toledo, Ohio needed fresh representation. He literally took me and a few other artists under his wing and recorded us for free and really helped us mold our sound. From there we really built a brotherhood pursued music head on. I ended up dropping out of college and picking up DJing and also worked at factories and plants for money until he and I decided to move to Atlanta. There we met a lot of pivotal people in my life such as DrummaBoy who I had my first formal artist recording deal with. Drumma boy was a real influence to me. He taught me how to write hooks. Infectious, simple, timeless hooks. After a couple of years of working with Drumma Boy I decided to move from Atlanta to LA! That’s where I found a job with Studio Depot/ Film tools working at their warehouse which was by far my favorite job I’ve ever had. I was living in echo park at the time and walking to union station everyday to catch the train out there which has a stop conveniently a walk away from my job. that year because I was just working my job and paying for recording time. That’s all I had time to even do. I was able to meet and work with some amazing people which are some of the most genuine and most talented people I’ve ever met. Working with them helped me cultivate my writing style today. After a year of working and recording trying to break into the writing scene, I had to move back to Ohio for family reasons. Here I just worked the plant and took care of my family. During this time I was releasing singles here and there one being my song “NO TOMORROW” and in the midst of it all an A&R for the record label ARTium Recordings, owned by No ID, reached out to me about something he heard on SoundCloud. Skeptically I denied any offers of meeting or discussing music so we would share opinions on what’s happening in the world and one day I decided to welcome the music talk. They ended up flying me out to LA and then the next day I met No ID. He’s also a very genuine and solid person. Probably one of the most giving people you will ever meet. ARTium is an indie label so He literally paid for me to stay out here in La and cultivate the music I always desired to make. After meeting, he offered me mentorship and said he wanted to sign me as talent on his roster. After weeks of talking and back and forth between my team of trusted people and his, we came together and made an agreement that we felt confident in. After this I began working diligently with a lot of the artists on the label and I began attacking top lines for a lot of the production because I was so fast with recording. They also liked my fresh approach and perception to alot of classic themes we listen to in music. After almost a year of writing with any and everyone who came thru to United Recording studios I had a sit down meeting with Hipgnosis Songs who offered me a publishing deal. Soon after that I was offered a distribution deal with Mass Appeal Records.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Nothing was ever easy and to this day it isn’t, but when you look back it always seems like we could’ve taken even more which speaks to how I view my journey. I guess the only struggles were trying to maintain in LA when I first moved out and also trying to navigate being newly signed in the midst of COVID fallout.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am an artist. I write and produce music! I’m mostly proud of the growth I’ve made over the years in this industry and fact that I’ve been able to execute a publishing and distribution deal, and learn how music business works.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
It’s cliche but follow your heart and your gut but make sure those are not rooted in your ego.. accept reality and reflect your true hearts desires and the two will eventually sync up and things will make more sense.. I’m still working

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sonnynitez.lnk.to/OFF
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonnynitez?igsh=MmVlMjlkMTBhMg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr