Alexander Tumay (born July 19, 1986) is an American
audio engineer
An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduc ...
and
DJ from
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, Georgia. He has recorded and mixed songs for major artists across the American hip hop industry, including
Young Thug
Jeffery Lamar Williams II (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper. Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, he is considered an influential figure in modern hip hop music, hip hop and trap music ...
,
Travis Scott
Jacques Bermon Webster III (born April 30, 1991), known professionally as Travis Scott (formerly stylized as Travi$ Scott), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Scott has had five number-one hits on the U.S. ''Bil ...
,
Future
The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ex ...
,
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...
,
Drake
Drake may refer to:
Animals and creatures
* A male duck
* Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon
People and fictional characters
* Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...
, and
21 Savage
Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph (born October 22, 1992), known professionally as 21 Savage, is an American-British rapper. Born in London and raised in Atlanta, he began his recording career in 2013 and released three independent mixtapes to regiona ...
. He won a Grammy award for engineering the track "
This is America" by
Childish Gambino
Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his musical stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American actor, comedian, musician, and filmmaker. While he studied at New York University and after working in Derrick ...
.
Early life
Alexander Tumay was born on July 19, 1986, in
Queens
Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
, New York City, New York. He is of
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
and
Puerto Rican descent. He was raised in
Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...
, Florida, for most of his teen years. He learned to play piano and guitar growing up, as Tumay's father is a classical pianist, which influenced him to do so. He also listened to
hip hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
and
heavy metal. He was in his high school's band and in small garage bands.
Tumay struggled to find a college major that met his desires, ultimately switching between eight or nine majors before dropping out. He then worked various restaurant jobs, including as a pizza delivery driver for
Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza, Inc., commonly referred to as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware General Corporation Law, Delaware-domiciled and headquartered ...
.
A friend introduced him to
Logic Pro
Logic Pro is a proprietary digital audio workstation (DAW) and MIDI sequencer software application for the macOS platform developed by Apple Inc. It was originally created in the early 1990s as Notator Logic, or Logic, by German software devel ...
, a
digital audio workstation
A digital audio workstation (DAW ) is an electronic device or application software used for Sound recording and reproduction, recording, editing and producing audio files. DAWs come in a wide variety of configurations from a single software pr ...
program, sparking his interest, though he initially struggled to understand how to use it. This experience inspired him to enroll in
Full Sail University
Full Sail University is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university in Winter Park, Florida. It was formerly a recording studio in Ohio named Full Sail Productions and Full Sail Center f ...
in
Winter Park, Florida
Winter Park is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 29,795 according to the 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Orlando, Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Winter Park was foun ...
, just a month later, to study
audio engineering
Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to:
Sound
*Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound
* Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum
*Digital audio, representation of soun ...
. Tumay graduated from the Full Sail in 2010 with a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in recording arts, and then scored an internship at Maze Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, to where he later relocated, and worked frequently with another record producer,
Ben H. Allen, who taught Tumay more about recording and mixing for an additional three years. He also assisted Allen on projects for the
experimental pop
Experimental pop is pop music that cannot be categorized within traditional musical boundaries or which attempts to push elements of existing popular forms into new areas. It may incorporate experimental music, experimental techniques such as m ...
band
Animal Collective
Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore County, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Geologist (Brian Weitz), and Deakin (Josh Dibb). The band's work is cha ...
and
experimental
An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...
musician
Youth Lagoon, before fully going into working in the hip hop genre.
Career
Tumay visited many recording studios around Atlanta with his résumé looking for another internship, and got one as a technician at
DARP Studios (later renamed as UAMG Studios) through his manager, Monica Tannian, due to his work with Allen. As he was in DARP Studios often, he got the opportunity to work with major artists such as
T.I.
Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980), known professionally as T.I. or Tip, is an American rapper and singer raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris is credited as a pioneer of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Georgi ...
,
Waka Flocka Flame
Juaquin James Malphurs (born May 31, 1986), known professionally as Waka Flocka Flame, is an American rapper. He first became known for his 2009 single "O Let's Do It", which entered the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and led him to ...
,
PartyNextDoor
Jahron Anthony Brathwaite (born July 3, 1993), known professionally as PartyNextDoor (often stylized in all caps), is a Canadian singer, songwriter, rapper and record producer. He was the first artist to sign with Drake's record label OVO Sound ...
, and
Tinashe
Tinashe Jorgensen Kachingwe ( ; born February 6, 1993), known mononymously as Tinashe, is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. Born in Lexington, Kentucky, Tinashe moved to Pasadena, California, as a child, where she pursued w ...
, among others. In 2012, he met
Metro Boomin
Leland Tyler Wayne (born September 16, 1993), known professionally as Metro Boomin, is an American record producer and music executive. Widely acclaimed for his dark and cinematic production style, he is regarded as one of the most influential p ...
at UAMG Studios, which lead to Tumay working with more artists and record producers such as
Young Thug
Jeffery Lamar Williams II (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper. Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, he is considered an influential figure in modern hip hop music, hip hop and trap music ...
,
Rich Homie Quan,
Migos
Migos () were an American hip hop group founded in Lawrenceville, Georgia, in 2008. The group was composed of rapper Quavo, his nephew Takeoff, and their "cousin" friend Offset. Quavo is from Athens, Georgia, while Offset and Takeoff were bo ...
,
DJ Spinz,
Southside,
TM88,
808 Mafia,
Sonny Digital
Sonny Corey Uwaezuoke (born March 5, 1991), better known by his stage name Sonny Digital, is an American record producer, rapper, and DJ. , and many more.
Tumay is Young Thug's personal and most trusted recording and mixing engineer. He met Thug in early 2013, and the first song they worked together on was "Some More" from Metro Boomin's debut mixtape ''19 & Boomin' '', on which he also mixed most of the songs and
executive produced it. Metro approached Tumay and asked him to record that song due to Thug having issues with his former recording and mixing engineer, whom Thug removed from that studio session. Tumay has been working with Thug closely ever since, as well with Metro Boomin and more recently, 21 Savage, for which Tumay recorded and mixed their debut EP, ''
Savage Mode''.
Selected engineering discography
* ''19 and Boomin'' –
Metro Boomin
Leland Tyler Wayne (born September 16, 1993), known professionally as Metro Boomin, is an American record producer and music executive. Widely acclaimed for his dark and cinematic production style, he is regarded as one of the most influential p ...
* ''
Days Before Rodeo'' –
Travis Scott
Jacques Bermon Webster III (born April 30, 1991), known professionally as Travis Scott (formerly stylized as Travi$ Scott), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Scott has had five number-one hits on the U.S. ''Bil ...
* ''
Rodeo
Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...
'' – Travis Scott
* ''
Barter 6'' –
Young Thug
Jeffery Lamar Williams II (born August 16, 1991), known professionally as Young Thug, is an American rapper. Known for his eccentric vocal style and fashion, he is considered an influential figure in modern hip hop music, hip hop and trap music ...
* ''
Slime Season'' – Young Thug
* ''
Slime Season 2'' – Young Thug
* ''
I'm Up'' – Young Thug
* ''
Paperwork'' –
T.I.
Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980), known professionally as T.I. or Tip, is an American rapper and singer raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris is credited as a pioneer of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Georgi ...
* ''
Remember My Name'' –
Lil Durk
Durk Derrick Banks (born October 19, 1992), known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper. Regarded as a pioneering artist in the Chicago-based hip-hop subgenre drill music, he is often considered the subgenre's most commercially suc ...
* ''
Slime Season 3'' – Young Thug
* ''
The Life of Pablo
''The Life of Pablo'' is the seventh studio album by American rapper Kanye West. It was released on February 14, 2016, through GOOD Music and distributed by Def Jam Recordings. Recording sessions took place from 2013 to 2016, in Italy, Mexico, ...
'' –
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...
* ''
Savage Mode'' – Metro Boomin and
21 Savage
Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph (born October 22, 1992), known professionally as 21 Savage, is an American-British rapper. Born in London and raised in Atlanta, he began his recording career in 2013 and released three independent mixtapes to regiona ...
* ''
Jeffery'' – Young Thug
* ''
Beautiful Thugger Girls'' – Young Thug
* ''
Issa Album
''Issa Album'' is the debut studio album by British-American rapper 21 Savage. It was released on July 7, 2017, through Slaughter Gang Entertainment and distributed by Epic Records. The album features production from frequent collaborator Metr ...
'' – 21 Savage
* ''
Camila'' –
Camila Cabello
Karla Camila Cabello Estrabao (; ; born March 3, 1997) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence as a member of the Pop music, pop girl group Fifth Harmony, one of the List of best-selling girl groups, best-selling girl gro ...
* ''
Slime Language'' – Young Thug
* ''
On the Rvn'' – Young Thug
* ''
So Much Fun'' – Young Thug
* "
Sum Bout U" –
645AR featuring
FKA Twigs
Tahliah Debrett Barnett (born 16 January 1988), known professionally as FKA Twigs (stylized as FKA twigs), is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and dancer. She was a backup dancer for numerous musicians, and made her musica ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tumay, Alex
People from Atlanta
Living people
Musicians from Atlanta
Musicians from Fort Lauderdale, Florida
American hip-hop record producers
American audio engineers
Southern hip-hop musicians
20th-century American guitarists
21st-century American guitarists
1986 births
Guitarists from Florida
Guitarists from Georgia (U.S. state)
Guitarists from New York City
American male guitarists
Engineers from New York City
American male pianists
21st-century American pianists
Record producers from New York (state)
20th-century American male musicians
21st-century American male musicians