17 – Kris “BerjaBeatz” Berja / Producer, Live Beatmaking, Hip Hop

Kris “BerjaBeatz” Berja is an up-and-coming producer based out of San Francisco, California. Born and raised in The City, Kris is currently pursuing the craft of music production—consistently releasing beats and collaborating with local artists. We open this episode with a beat he threw together IN 15 MINUTES—dude can work fast. We also have a few more freestyle sessions throughout our talk, with Kris walking through his process of producing beats, from finding a melody that he likes to building the percussion of the song. This one is a fun and bouncy episode!

Kris shares how he started producing music in high school and talks about the current struggles in terms of maintaining consistency and working with other artists. At times it’s tough, but Kris shares his personal reflections in terms of what keeps him going. His brother, Joshua Berja, also jumps in a few times throughout the episode to drop some freestyles. It’s all family vibes! With the two brothers being local to SF and alumni of Balboa High School, we have an interesting perspective of Filipino Americans growing up in this area. Kris specifically shares his experiences in regards to other Filipino Americans, saying that he was pushed away from his culture because of some conflicts and tensions with Filipinos in other cities. This is an important topic to discuss! Overall, we have a good conversation about art, music, family, and goals. Take a listen!

 

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