In his first Deflowered, Derek “MixedByAli” Ali told us what his first time in the studio with Dr. Dre was like, and in this episode he tells us about his first hustle—cutting grass around his neighborhood. He was 13 years old and charging 20 dollars a lawn and making a lot of money not knowing really what to do with it. Ali didn’t know what he was going to do with all the money so he bought his first computer with it and the rest is history.
Believe it or not, Ali used to make personalized ringtones for people (remember when that was a thing?) and would charge people 10 bucks a ringtone. This worked perfectly for him since he lived across the street from his high school, where all his “clients” were, and would bring them over to his studio house as soon as the 3 o’ clock bell rang. He would make personalized ringtones for every person that came through his door by using their vocals recorded right then and there. Everyone wanted a personalized ringtone, and Ali was the only person who could not only give someone a unique ringtone but one that was so good they wouldn’t want to answer the call. Making about 500 dollars a week, Ali was onto something and now, something that started off as a side job has become his profession, talent and legacy.
To think, if he was making 500 dollars a week from just ringtones…imagine how much his beats cost…
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