John Mbata, better known as Its2ezzy (@its2ezzy) is a 21-year-old producer from North Carolina. He’s been producing for two years and is the beatmaker behind hits like NBA YoungBoy’s “AI Nash” and XanMan’s “Paris” amongst others. Recently, he landed his first No. 1 album with YoungBoy’s 38 Baby 2. The NC producer is making major tides within the music industry, not only because Carolina is peaking its golden era, but Ezzy is consistent. Â
Many people recognize him from his catchy produced tag ” 2ezzy on some other sh*t” and his energetic-sounding beats. Alongside working with some mainstream acts, Its2ezzy is an underground producer king. He’s worked with SoundCloud artists such as Lil Tecca, Ty Fontaine, and Ronsocold. In our recent interview, we talked to him about the Carolina singing, producing, and his career down the line. Check it out below.
Walk me through your childhood, what was it like growing up in NC? It was actually good, I’m from a small city called “Raleigh” everybody knows everybody here, North Carolina is really known for its sports and I was playing baseball and basketball like the regular kid coming up from here. Â
How did you initially get into producing? Well I started to get familiar with music when my cousins use to watch me and my siblings when we were kids. They would have MTV music, vh1 hits , and bet in rotation so all I saw growing up were artist like Soulja Boy ,Chris brown and bands like maroon 5, 3 doors down and etc, So that rubbed off on me when I turned 19 after I made the decision to stop playing sports and to make music my main focus from there on out. Â
Who were some of your influences then and now? Back then I was really into Rock music I loved everything about it and how it made me feel. listening to paramore and other bands like red jumpsuit apprentice really had an influence on me then, but as I grew more into the hip hop sound I found out about Zaytoven , everything about his keys made me want to teach myself how to play the piano so I did that I pick up on stuff fast so I learned the piano in about a month. Â
How did you land a placement on NBA YoungBoy’s “AI Nash” and how did it feel? Funny story about how this happened was in 2018 I had a “MIDI” kit which is melodies that are premade for producers to choose from when they need an idea to start off with. I’ve sent that kit to only 3 producers , then fast forward to 2020 me and my brotha Sportvvs were talking about what if nba youngboy and cole Bennett came together to make a video , we thought the numbers would be crazy on YouTube if that ever happened. So literally a few minutes later I’m scrolling on Instagram and I see a cole Bennett video with nba youngboy I pressed it and heard my melody from that “MIDI” kit I sent out 2 years ago and I seen my brotha BJbeatz was the producer that used it but the beat was so old when he had sent it to youngboy he didn’t know the melody was from the kit. We got everything cleared then It was up from there. The feeling felt like a normal day to me honestly I don’t really get excited about stuff like that because I work hard for it and I know I can do it.Â
What’s the Carolina music scene like and how are you contributing to it? The Carolina music scene if finally getting the recognition it deserves, its a lot of producers that’s big time out here making hits and nobody knows about. I’m doing my part by bring a sound and bounce the music industry isn’t familiar with known as the “Carolina sound” S/O to my brotha Jetsonmade for pioneering the sound and making it easier for me to get my crazy ideas out there so hits can continue to be made.
Where do you see yourself within the next few years? In the next few years, I see myself in a mansion full of plaques and awards that I’ve worked hard to get, surrounded with my gang constantly looking for new talent to help bring up and constantly making the best music I can possibly make. Â
