Prince Hakeem: A Producing Engineer

As we all know it takes more than just an artist to make a hit. There is so much talent behind the scenes and sometimes they don’t get as much credit as the artist.  Prince Hakeem is a self-taught producer and engineer but you would never be able to tell by the diversity and unique sound that he delivers. He has been doing music for 8 years. Growing up he wanted to be a brain surgeon until one day his uncle introduced him to Fruity Loops. He was intrigued by the program and was immediately hooked.

Prince Hakeem graduated from Flannigan High School in 2009 and then continued his education in Audio Production at the Art Institute of Miami.  He was unable to finish but is currently attending Broward College and will then transfer to Full Sail for his Bachelor’s in Recording Arts.

What is interesting and a little different is his stage names. He has two stage names, Prince Hakeem of course and Frank Love. He compares his situation to that of T.I vs. T.I.P. They are his two alter egos. Prince Hakeem came from one of his middle names. His older brother Ph-Lobby gave him the name one day when they were watching Coming to America. Frank Love is his more loving side. Frank Love is a photographer and a lover.

Prince Hakeem draws his producing inspirations from Prince, Swizz beats, Ryan Leslie, Arab Music, Kanye West and Dr. Dre.  There are a wide range of genres he produces including Reggae, R&B, Hip—hop, Dub Step and is starting to work on electronic music. The types of music that Prince Hakeem listens to are classical, R&B, old school hip-hop, dub step and of course reggae.  His favorite rappers include Jay-z, Nas, Tupac, Biggie, Eminem, Rakim, Eric b, J-Cole, Cyhi da Prince, Common, Fabulous, Kendrick Lamar, Asap Rocky and A Tribe called Quest. Some R&B singers he listens to are Al b sure, Al green, Andre 3000, Darnel Jones, Erykah Badu, IsleyBrothers, Mary J. Blige, Musiq Souldchild, Sade, and Robin Thicke.

He currently owns and works in a studio in Pembroke Pines, FL. Since he does own his own studio he has several artists he is working with. He is currently working with Ph-Lobby, Avery Futuristic, Young Shadow and Tim the Toolman Taylor on their mix tapes. Aside from music Prince Hakeem is also a photographer and is starting to dabble in videography. He has some current film projects in the work, which include Duffle Bag and a Basketball documentary with Ryan Moore. He is also working with Melly Starz on YouTube shorts. With all his talents and interests you may be wondering what he uses to get things done. The current programs he is using are CS5, Motion, Fruity LoopsStudio (FL Studios), Logic pro, Mainstage, Soundtrack Pro and Pro Tools.

Prince Hakeem eats, breaths and dreams music. He will stay up all night just working on music and learning new things. This is true dedication. In the future his ultimate goal is to own his own company named Thinking Cap Entertainment alongside his brother Ph-Lobby. Their company will include t-shirts, graphics, film, photography, and of course music. He also wants to finish school. He would eventually like to get married and hopes to have four kids with two dogs. That however is in the far future since his main focus right now is finishing school and getting his company off the ground.