We had the good fortune of connecting with Brandon Smallwood and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brandon, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I learned early that risk were part of life and you had a choice to either be brave and take the risk or not depending on what the situation was later on as I got older I learned that if it feels right take the risk because it’s usually the right thing to do so I decided to take a risk on myself I made it my goal to become an official artist that had music on all streaming services I was going to do the independent route and I was going to do it on my own everything I did from finding a distribution company to getting my artist name certified was walking into unknown territory for me every step was a risk especially when it came to put in my own money behind my ideas and this year when I file my taxes I paid in officially as a business for the first time while paying taxes aren’t fun I did it with a smile on my face

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started producing in 2006 for my wife’s cousin who was trying to start rapping and needed beats. I decided to give it a try with each beat I try to outdo myself it became addictive and one of my favorite hobbies at the time fast forward I moved from my home City to the same city where Hindu the revolution was living at the time he had an in-house Studio and also he was going to school to become a certified audio engineer he was being taught by the same guy who was an engineer for the Beatles after being certified he taught me different ways to approach beats different frequencies different notes he was naturally gifted on the piano so I just watched him make beats and I studied how he would produce and naturally eventually collabed on numerous of beats. A few years later Hindu and his family moved to another state which left me without a studio to go to so unfortunately I let time pass by telling myself that eventually I was going to get my own Studio and start producing again but it was because I lacked initiative I would watch YouTube videos of other producers producing and get the urge for just want to hit the studio but because of my lack of initiative there was no Studio to go to eventually I got tired of that feeling and I realize that I had the thing I needed to start producing right under my foot the whole time my wife’s old computer that she used for school that had been sitting collecting dust I use that to download an old version of FL Studio and started producing eventually I got a computer desk went out and bought an office chair and things just accelerated from there before long my laptop was starting to really show it’s age and it was time for me to decide if I was going to buy a new one or not. I took a risk on myself and bought a laptop that met the current specifications that I would need to run the current version of the producing software that I use now with that being said getting the current producing software was $199 and yet again I asked myself am I willing to bet on myself so I bought the producing software officially and from there I figured I’m already this far in I might as well take this serious and turn it into a business and start producing instrumentals as a certified artist after that I found myself a distribution deal that allows me to release at any time as a independent artist I own 100% of my royalties now I’m thinking about expanding into sound libraries I want to be able to make music for everything artists, commercials, T.V, movies etc… When I look back on my journey to this point I realized it wasn’t easy but it was definitely worth the journey when I get to look at what countries listen to my music which so far has been played in 26 different countries around the world for me that’s one of the greatest feelings for me about music, the fact that somebody took the time out to listen to something I created means the world to me as a producer and is the most rewarding feeling

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I definitely will have to take them to Dallas and it’s because of the culture I feel like you’ll get the experience of Texas in downtown there’s a barbecue spot on every corner you can’t go wrong with any of them the week will start with hitting up downtown Dallas JFK museum and explore surrounding downtown historical Dallas next day it’s all about going to the Mavericks game oh and I can’t forget about Razzoo’s Cajun restaurant they have the best Cajun pasta I’ve ever eaten and lastly you have to hit up Six Flags it’s a must

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First and foremost all praise is to God for giving me the opportunity to Obtain these dreams secondly I would like to thank my brother-in-law/musical mentor Hindu Tha Revolution and his wife for their support and their kindness and always keeping it 100 love yall and also to my beautiful amazing wife for her support and always believing in my ideas and lastly I would like to thank everybody who has been apart of my projects and who I’ve done business with let’s continue to build

Instagram: @karizmaonthebeat

Youtube: Karizma on the Beat

Other: Karizma on the Beat on all streaming services

Image Credits
@solelyart_

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutAtlana is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.