Illmind
| Illmind | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Ramon Ibanga, Jr. |
| Origin | Bloomfield, New Jersey |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupations | Record producer |
| Instruments |
Pro Tools Keyboard Sampler |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Associated acts | Fortilive, Smokey Robotic, Skyzoo, Supastition, Little Brother, Strange Fruit Project, 50 Cent, Jared Evan |
| Website | illmind.biz |
Illmind (often stylized as !llmind) (born Ramon Ibanga, Jr.) is a Filipino American hip hop producer from Bloomfield, New Jersey.
The name !llmind first popped off on the Beat Society scene (circa 2001), one of the first live producer events in existence, where he showcased with heavyweights like Kanye West and Just Blaze. He soon began to make a name for himself, producing tracks for underground legends such as Little Brother (Good Clothes, Nobody Like Me), Boot Camp Clik (Let's Go), Akrobatik, El Da Sensei, Diamond D, KRS-ONE (Survival Skills) and more. In 2005, he produced and released an entire album on BBE with fellow producer Symbolyc One (Kanye's "Power" producer & now G.O.O.D. Music family) called "The Art Of Onemind", which featured a slew of underground artists, including Ghostface Killa.
In 2006, Sha Money XL (former G-Unit records president & current VP A&R at Def Jam) signed and upgraded the New Jersey beat-smith's seat from economy to first class, bringing new !llmind produced songs with Erykah Badu (Get Live), 50 Cent (Queens, Make A Movie, All His Love), Ludacris, Lloyd Banks, Prodigy, Kool G Rap, Redman, Scarface (Who Are They, It's Not A Game), LL Cool J, and even The Jabbawockeez (America's Best Dance Crew season 1 Champs).
Since then, he's released multiple full-length albums, one with acclaimed lyricist Skyzoo called "Live From The Tapedeck" (released on Duck Down Records & considered a modern day classic to some), along with his own full-length instrumental album called Beh!nd The Curta!n(released by Nature Sounds Records). He is also plays executive producer for three separate groups (all of which he is also an official member of); Fortilive (Mushmouf & Slo-Mo), SunZoo (Drunken Tiger, Yoon Mi-rae, Roscoe Umali & Styliztik Jones), and Smokey Robotic, a band which has garnered the attention of multiple Hollywood superstars such as Lindsay Lohan, Samantha Ronson, and more.
llmind has also been featured in multiple magazine and online publications, such as Scratch Magazine (Top 20 Best Producers), Hip Hop Weekly, Mass Appeal, The Source, XXL, Hiphopgame.com, and Hiphopdx.com.As an advocate for education in music business and production, !llmind taught Music Production Business classes at one of NYC's largest non-profit organizations, Harlem Children's Zone, from 2007-2009. Recently, he was hired at the prestigious Clive Davis Department Of Recorded Music at NYU as a Technical Music Instructor for a program called "Future Music Moguls".
Taking his entrepreneurship even further, !llmind started his own bi-weekly producer showcase event in NYC called "Beats, Love, Alcohol & Party" (B.L.A.P.), which gives up-coming and established music producers a chance to showcase exclusive music in a club atmosphere. The event has been a huge success, with participants such as Amadeus (Hitmen/Bad Boy), Mr. Fingaz (Ja Rule/Fabolous), Digga (50 Cent/Jay-Z), and more.
With an on-going digital compilation series called "Blaps, Rhymes & Life" (touting over 200,000 downloads worldwide & 5 Volumes), an exclusive bi-monthly event for his fellow producers, and a handful of music for both underground and mainstream/pop artists in the works, things can only get bigger. "Reach for the stars, and the sky can never be your limit." - !llmind
Recently !llmind has been producing music for Hoodie Allen's new mixtape, Crew Cuts. The single "Cake Boy" premiered on February 11, 2013 via YouTube with over 30,000 views in the first day.[1]
Discography
Sources
- Illmind in Scheme
- Illmind in prefixmag
- Illmind in the NYT
- Illmind in Akrobatik review in Seattle Post Intelligencer blog