How does a boy from Delhi end up being chief engineer for the biggest hip-hop stars on the planet? It’s a question Angad Bains aka Bainz gets often. “This one time, we were at Gunna’s birthday party,” says Bainz over a Zoom call from LA, “and NAV asked me to tell him my story, from start to finish. And we had this long discussion about our journeys, how they’re so similar.”
As creatives of South Asian-origin in LA’s burgeoning hip-hop scene – NAV is the Indian-Canadian rapper part of The Weeknd’s crew at XO Records, while Bainz is chief engineer for Atlanta rapper Young Thug and his label Young Stoner Life Records, and has worked with everyone from Future to Travis Scott – they’ve both had a uniquely upward trajectory in their careers. More importantly, they’re part of the culture, something Bainz is at pains to state has been a key factor in his success.
Bainz’s answer to how he got here is brief. “I was born in Delhi, I went to school in Sanawar, and I was never good at anything,” he says, somewhat sleepily. “Then I went to Australia for university, started DJing at some small house parties, and realised I had a knack for audio. I wanted to get into it deeper, so I went to Full Sail University, where I graduated valedictorian. That’s not normal for people like me,” he smiles, “and I realised that the Indian education system is just not built for someone like me.”
In 2008, he landed in New York, “worked at a bunch of studios, then set up our own studio”, Crosby Studios, with Michael Brian in 2010. “We started working with different tiers of artists. We were a small one-room outfit, but we did well and stayed relevant because we kept upgrading, trying to be bigger and better, ramping up our knowledge on engineering and new technology, not being satisfied with where we were at, constantly staying up with the times, to adapt and progress.”
Soon, they realised that their artists were moving to LA once they had a hit song, so naturally Bainz and Brian followed suit. By 2015, Crosby Studios had arrived in LA, and is today a multi-room, multi-million dollar, hi-tech compound servicing the needs of the hottest artists in LA and Atlanta. “It stays booked throughout the year, 24x7,” says Bainz.
The same could be true for him. “When I was leaving New York, someone told me that the worst case scenario in LA is that you’ll have the same amount of work,” he laughs. Gaining notoriety as one of the fastest engineers in the game, Bainz won accolades for multi-platinum tracks like “Hot” by Young Thug, Gunna and Travis Scott and “Go Crazy” by Chris Brown and Young Thug; Billboard Hot 100’s #1 “Franchise” by Travis Scott featuring Young Thug and M.I.A., “Goodbyes” by Post Malone featuring Young Thug. In 2020, Bainz was at the helm of a mammoth 154 tracks, born of 33 collaborations, 18 of which were with Young Thug. “Ever since I moved here, it’s been so busy. But the good thing is that it pays really well too. You just have to be on call all the time.”
Continue reading your story on the app
Continue reading your story in the magazine
The Wild Arrival Of Web3 Fashion
The metaverse is coming, and to embrace your style in the virtual realms, you might first have to completely change the way you think about fashion.
Bad Bunny - One Of The Most Streamed Artists Alive
In the six years since he quit his job bagging groceries, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio has become one of the most streamed artists alive, a professional wrestling champion, and a whole new kind of cliché-shattering sex symbol. Now, the Puerto Rican superstar is poised to make his next big jump: to Marvel leading man.
THE FRONT-LINE CHEF: JOSE ANDRES
He became a star feeding the fortunate and a saint feeding the unfortunate. Now chef is working to balance his epic calling to respond to the world's emergencies via World Central Kitchen with growing the restaurant empire he's built along the way. We follow Andrés from his operations on the Ukraine border to his kitchens in Washington, D.C., and everywhere in between-and find something much more complex and interesting than a mere saint.
Going Deep On Watches. Extremely Deep
You may not need a watch capable of functioning 6,000 metres below sea level, but that's what makes the new class of extreme dive watches so damn cool, says GQ watch columnist Nick Foulkes.
PRATEEK KUHAD'S Sonic Surge
Armed with a new deal with Elektra Records, the folksy singer-songwriter has added swelling synths, susurrating strings, and a horn section to his repertoire. Which makes his new record one of the most hotly anticipated Indian albums in recent years.
CRYPTO.COM IS COMING FOR YOU (With a Little Help From Matt Damon and LeBron James)
All of a sudden, they're everywhere. Matt Damon's pitching us their services. LeBron James, too. They're plastered all over the NBA, the NHL, Serie A, Formula 1.... But what exactly does Crypto.com do? And what exactly do they want from us?
FAZE CLAN'S GRAND PLANS
How a ragtag collective of infamous gamers, esports stars, and YouTube creators-plus the people who are transforming their exploits into a billion-dollar valuationis aiming to change the entertainment industry as we know it.
BORED APE GOES HOLLYWOOD
It's already the world's most coveted NFT collection, but the BORED APE YACHT CLUB is becoming something else: highly lucrative I.P. With buyers racing to make their apes the stars of movies and books and albums and shows, GQ goes inside the quest to cash in on a decentralized version of Disney.
META MODERN
With an armful of breezy songs and a breakout role on Euphoria, singer-songwriter DOMINIC FIKE has become the multi-hyphenate face of the Web3 era (complete with Apple tattoo). So we enlisted him to help us figure out what, exactly, we'll wear in the real world when life moves into the metaverse.
Goa Standard Time
The best time to visit is when the tourists have left.
Crazy Horse's Final Vision
THE PROPHETIC LAKOTA LEADER'S FINAL DAYS STILL HAUNT US TODAY.
Measuring How Effective Smokeless Fire Pits Actually Are
HUMANITY'S RELATIONSHIP WITH FIRE GOES BACK hundreds of thousands of years.
Days of our lives
Paulina is released on bail. Chanel invites Abe to have dinner and he accepts. Later, Abe and Paulina agree to get married the next day.
POP LIFE
Dad style is better than ever. We got some of the coolest dads we know to show off the easygoing casual gear and effortless tailoring that's helping make fatherhood fashionable. All with an assist, of course, from their kids.
ZEN AND THE ART OF POLITICAL ESPIONAGE
How did a Gore-Tex heir and onetime Transcendental Meditation devotee end up bankrolling America's strangest right-wing spy op?
The Mother Trap
Kerry King never hurt her children. Why is she in prison for more time than the man who abused her daughter?
What is the best and worst thing about filming a soap wedding?
Roundup
Dearly Beloved
Eight stars open up about their real-life weddings.
Somatic Therapy for Addiction
A mixture of cognitive and physical therapy can help with this difficult health issue.
PROBLEM SOLVED How to Kick Summer Foot Troubles
Sun's out, toes out! Prevent or get rid of pain and stink this season.