Music game shows are becoming popular again thanks to shows like The Masked Singer and Beat Shazam. But have you ever seen a show that highlights and celebrates the very important role of a music producer? DJ and producer Dan “Dilemma” Thomas, who has produced for the likes of Jazmine Sullivan, Meek Mill and Beano French, has created just that. His live music game show Trakmeet is entering its second year as being the premiere interactive game show where producers go head to head to prove their knowledge of some of the greatest and often overlooked hitmakers of the industry: the producers behind the scenes. We caught up with Dilemma to talk with him about what makes Trakmeet so fun and why continuing to innovate and collaborate is imperative to Philadelphia’s music scene.
PSL: So tell us about Trakmeet! How did it get started?
Dilemma: Oh wow, Trakmeet? Trakmeet is My Baby. It’s a producer game show event that spotlights producers in a different way. It has tons of crowd participation so it’s interactive, fun and different.
It all started when I was working at Sigma (Sound Studios). We had just built the sound stage on the top level and the owner was telling everyone that they had to come up with their own event. So I was really thinking about something different that can spotlight producers because I’m a producer myself and I’ve judged plenty of showcases and producer battles. What I’ve noticed is that sometimes they just get really boring and dry. After your friend plays their beats, everyone leaves so I didn’t want to just have a normal producers showcase. I wanted to have something that was a little bit different and fun and just get back to the essence of when we as producers first started making beats. For myself, I was hunting down other producers, (finding out) who was producing what records, where were they produced you, credits… all of these things like a new producer would do. I feel like we got away from that so I kind of want to just put that together and create a game out of that and also spotlight the producers and their music; change the narrative from it’s all about “me me me” and make it about “team team team”. So the Trak is really about building community among the music producers in the city.
PSL: That’s great! How many years have you been doing Trakmeet in the capacity you’re doing it now at the Hard Rock Cafe?
Dilemma: This will be year one coming up. We do Trakmeet once every quarter. We sold out every single one and we’ve had so many great new producers and producer captains that we’ve been able to spotlight. We have had such an overwhelming response from the producer community. The goal is to take it to other cities and to get on television
PSL: One thing you said was that you like to see how it has formed community and that’s really important particularly for a city like ours. Can you talk about where you see that going?
Dilemma: Well coming up from Jersey and looking at Philly, I saw Dre and Vidal, Carvin and Ivan, The Roots clique, etc. We would come to Philly and see that there was a community mobbing together. Then there was a shift when technology started to happen with making beats; just locking yourself in a bedroom and not coming outside. What pushed me to make it more of a community was my first beat battle. I didn’t win. I came in third. (Producer) Versatile came in second and we became really good friends. A couple of months later, we both ended up getting a placement together because we collaborated and that’s what it was really about. So I wanted to continue to push that it’s not really about who’s the best and who’s nice and this, that, and the third. It’s that your next placement can come from someone standing right next to you.
PSL: When it comes to Philadelphia music, the public mostly thinks about singers and musicians. You don’t really hear too much about producers outside of Gamble and Huff. Would you agree?
Dilemma: I agree to a certain extent. I feel like there are some key players in the city that just decided they want to live in Philly. During the time of Neo Soul, there were big named producers in Philadelphia. Philly was a hot spot because we were breaking the sound. Now that’s changed a little. You still have producers from this area. They may not have stayed here but they’re from this area. They might have moved to more music business cities which makes sense, you know. Going to L.A., Nashville, and Atlanta, these are music business cities and we don’t have that type of structure of music business here in Philadelphia. I feel like Philly still has the respect. There are still cats here making amazing records, not just musicians but producers as well. It’s just we’re looked over because we just don’t have the structure of music business here so most of our producers have to leave which is normal.
PSL: Do you see us soon having a structure of music business here again?
Dilemma: Yes absolutely. The city is changing as a whole. Entertainment is changing in the city. You already see how they’re changing downtown. Sports bring crowds to the city. The changes in The Gallery downtown, the Rec Philly crew…
PSL: Everything helps each other.
Dilemma: Exactly. It’s only going to be a matter of time. Maybe it’s not even the typical idea of music business because the business has changed. It’s more digital now. You can do a lot of things from anywhere but I feel like Philly will still be a staple in that because we still produce amazing artists: Tierra Whack, Lil Uzi, Meek, PnB Rock… just so many talented artists. So I feel like it’ll be a little different. It won’t look like what it’s looked like in the past but we’ll be within the top 5 cities for music.
PSL: The next Trakmeet is coming up really soon. For someone that has never been to Trakmeet before, what can they expect?
Dilemma: If you’ve never been to Trakmeet, you can expect good energy, entertainment, interaction and amazing beats. You’re gonna learn something. Music appreciation is key. You’re going to see the people behind the curtain. We always spotlight the artist but this is really focusing on the people behind the curtain. It’s fun! I can’t say it enough. It’s like Family Feud and Wildin’ Out mashed together, just with producers.
PSL: So how does it flow?
Dilemma: You have two producer teams, a red team and a black team. Each team has a producer captain and that’s the spotlight producer. These teams go head to head for four rounds. Each round is pretty much based around producer things that we do in the studio.For example, Round One is called Name That Producer and Round Two is Name That Lyric. Round Three is called Penjamin Franklin. It’s kind of like Round One but you’re not naming the producer, you’re naming the songwriter. We will play a song and it’s up to you to really know who wrote that song. Listening to the lyrics for cadence, the timing, the artist… all these clues could help you figure it out. Like, okay the song was released in the early nineties. who was popping in the early nineties? Okay Babyface. Babyface probably wrote it.
The last round is Drop the Beat and this is where we spotlight the producers themselves.The captains will select the producer to walk up and play a record or a beat. The other team will then play something. They will continue to go back and forth. After that whole round is done, the crowd decides which producer team is the best. This way we’re not spotlighting one person. We are spotlighting the whole group. The crowd then decides which producer team they would want to work with. Whoever wins gets a point. We then add all of the points together and find out who the winner is.
PSL: We can’t wait to see the next one. As a producer who continues to create opportunities for other producers in Philadelphia, is there any advice that you have for other producers coming up now?
Dilemma: Just continue to create, continue to push. Push the envelope. Be different and be intentional.
The next Trakmeet takes place on February 27th at Hard Rock Cafe at 12th and Market in Philadelphia. For tickets and information, click here.