If you listen to hip-hop with any regularity, chances are you’ve heard Ashanti Floyd. The 32-year-old Atlanta-by-way-of-Tallahassee artist has more than 50 production credits between his efforts with artists like T-Pain and Nicki Minaj, and the innumerable hours of studio time he’s clocked with fellow Florida native producers J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League (which includes work on Rick Ross’ Maybach Music 2 and Jeezy’s Word Play) and Kane Beatz (on tracks like Lil Wayne’s “Right Above It” and Lupe Fiasco’s “The Show Goes On,” the latter earning him two of his five Grammy nominations).
His primary instrument? The violin. Hence his nickname: The Mad Violinist.
“I’ve been playing music ever since before I can remember,” Floyd explained in a recent interview. His mom was a professional violinist (she currently tours with trumpet virtuoso Phil Driscoll) and started teaching him at age 3. His dad was in law enforcement but played piano, too, and Ashanti performed with him in church growing up. After high school, he received a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music, tested out of his first two years, and graduated by 2004. When he finally relocated to Atlanta in 2007 to pursue a music career, “all I had was a computer and some clothes. I was sleeping on floors, refusing to go back to Tallahassee, not knowing what I was going to do.”
His breakthrough came a year later when he met Grammy-winning producer Malay, who approached Floyd after seeing him gig at a crowded club. “‘I produce for John Legend, I’d like you to come over sometime and lay down some music,’” he told Floyd. “At the time, I thought it was just another guy blowing smoke in my ear, because everybody in Atlanta claims they do something. But I took a chance and went over to his house, and he played me this song he did with John Legend, ‘Green Light.’”
The track blew up, and Malay and partner K. Prather hired Floyd and guitarist/best friend/collaborator Matt Barrett to back up a then-unknown hip-hop talent — Yelawolf. It made for a rather surreal experience. “Coming from being in Atlanta just trying to get my feet wet, to a situation where all these powerful A&Rs were backing this guy, it was real powerful. I went from that, to jumping off stages, helping create records, and selling out shows, independently. When that happened, I told myself, ‘Wow, I can really do this.’”
His production work continued all the while, and he gained valuable studio know-how working with Kane Beatz and J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, not to mention mainstream edge to add to his live capabilities, more finely honed arrangement skills, and a broader musical arsenal that now encompasses more than 30 instruments. His studio skills and name recognition have grown so much, “most of the time, I get personal calls from the artists.”
Among these are Lupe Fiasco, who contacted Floyd after hearing his contributions to “The Show Goes On,” and tapped him to play the tour behind 2011’s Lasers (“all of a sudden I’m in front of tens of thousands of people and he’s shouting out my name … That was a big turning point for me”); and Nicki Minaj, who’d recognized his work on her first two albums and rang him up directly to appear on her third, 2014’s The Pinkprint. “She flew me over to LA, twice, and I worked with her personally on her ideas, and it was just magic, bringing out everything. I remember her in the studio, holding her heart, almost crying when she heard one of the songs.”
His Symphony Crack Orchestra came to fruition after he and Barrett parted ways with Yelawolf. Each member of SCO (which also includes bassist Mikey Belluso and drummer Casey Crogan) brings diverse influences to the table, which account for the innovative fusion of hip-hop, soul, alt-rock, electronic music, gospel, R&B and even Americana. “It was a perfect marriage, to create something new and fresh.”
So far, SCO has released two full-length studio albums — 2010’s The Addiction and Fiend in 2012. Forthcoming The Most Beautiful Obsession finds Floyd and SCO entering a new creative phase while maintaining a high level of meticulousness and chemistry. “We mesh better after years of playing and recording, we have a great system down now, we’ve grown as artists and musicians.” The new LP includes what Floyd describes as “our really experimental heavy side” along with more accessible pop and soul-oriented numbers. “It’s also us letting our guards down, saying, ‘OK, we’re going to make what we want to make without caring about anybody’s opinion, whether it should be mainstream or not.’ It’s just beautiful music from our hearts. Whatever goes, goes.”
Part of the impetus behind his series of violin-driven covers by artists like Beyonce, Ellie Goulding and Avicii is a means of reaching a broader and younger fanbase. “To get a certain crowd, to get all people, you have to be willing to speak their language.” These re-imaginings are also a means of reigniting appreciation for live (as opposed to digital) instrumentals, and offer an alternative means of inspiration for young people. “Unless you show them these things, they don’t know they can do it. Violin is such a stereotypical classical instrument; stepping outside of the box on things that people are familiar with, a lot of times, works in my favor and is something that I love to do.”
His live show is “a fusion of everything” that draws all sorts. “What everyone can expect is, a very diverse and energetic show, a show that’ll make you want to lose yourself, make you wanna jump off stage, make you wanna cry; a show that evokes every emotion.”
The Mad Violinist & the Symphony Crack Orchestra perform with Dropin Pickup on Fri., Aug. 14, 9 p.m., at Crowbar, Ybor City, $10, mvcrowbar.com.