How I produced “Normalized” by Bungalow Collect

“Normalized”, a song I produced, was the first single released off the album “Disco Rap Saved Me” by Bungalow Collect but it almost never happened.

It was May 2022 about a week before their first music festival performance at So What, when Marcus aka MI (from Bungalow) hit me and told me I should fly out to Dallas with the guys to cook up with them.

I thought to myself, “It’s not like they’re asking me to come out and perform a song with them. I mean yeah they’re covering my entrance into the festival and my place to stay but I still had to cover everything else (flights to Dallas from NYC and back, food, ubers, etc.)…”

I told him I appreciated the invite and it sounded dope but I needed to think about it and I’d let him know.

I was living in Bushwick serving at Modern Love at the time, paying off debt and not really in a position to fly to Dallas to (in my eyes, basically) watch Bungalow perform (when I could catch them in New York).

However, I also felt that it would be a unique and remarkable experience, one I’d probably never forget.

How many times do you get the call to see your friends and collaborators perform at a music festival with Big Krit, 2 Chainz, Wacka Flacka Flame, 24kGoldn, Trippie Redd, Blackbear, Rae Sremmurd, Tyga, & more?

I don’t remember much about what Marcus said to me (or what I said to myself) to help sell me on going other than the idea that it could be a good opportunity to network, to make a vlog, & to work with the guys in Dallas.

Out of curiosity, I looked up the cost of the flights and was discouraged, but then I remembered I had some points I could use.

The price of the ticket after using my points came out to $11.20. My birthday is 11/20. I took that as a sign to go.

I got off work for the weekend, basically packed my entire bedroom studio up in a suitcase (speakers, mic, headphones, keyboard, etc) with some clothes for the weekend, and called a lyft for the airport.

After making a beat on the flight, that Friday (the first day of the festival) I landed in Dallas and the boys were at a studio so I went straight from the plane to the studio.

The 2 studio rooms were occupied so I set up my studio (speakers, interface, and all) in a green room.

I didn’t come to Dallas to do nothing.

I didn’t know it at the time, but it was that session (with my suitcase studio) that we made two songs; “Dozen Plus” & “Right or Wrong”.

That night we hit the festival and I got to watch 24kgoldn & Trippie Redd perform from back and side stage.

It was surreal being in the same space, because of my music, as a couple of the biggest artists in the world.

We stayed at Serges spot, that night, a college friend of the guys who is also a multitalented creative and musician.

The next day we hit the studio again, and the guys re-recorded a demo we started in my Bushwick apartment, “I Got Two” (you can watch the story behind that song here).

They also worked on another 2 songs (unreleased at the time of this writing) one that I wasn’t involved in and another that I produced.

That night Bungalow had an invite only event, so me and a couple other people there for Bungalow(EQ their engineer and Del Mar, who produced “Things So Mean”) stayed at Serges homies spot.

We were all just laying on the couch, listening to New Music Friday while scrolling instagram… but then I decided to make a beat.

I remember feeling the flow, feeling locked in, and out came a groovy funky chill dancy beat.

That beat went on to become “Normalized”.

The trip in and of itself (plus the perspective, the inspiration, and the deepening of relationships (especially Zay Suav, Rshad, Apollo J, & MI on top of Del Mar, Serges, EQ, etc.)), alone would have made for a cool story.

The bet on myself going to Dallas with absolutely zero guarantees of anything coming from it turning into 3 songs alone would have been awesome.

But on top of all that, a beat I happened to make in Dallas the night before their performance ended up becoming a song that Bungalow held out from releasing for over two and a half years, until after they signed a distribution deal with Preach Records.

I didn’t realize until they announced it publicly but “Normalized” ended up not being a one off release (like “Right or Wrong” or “Dozen Plus”) but being the first single for an album called “Disco Rap Saved Me”.

“Coincidentally”…the project was released on my birthday…

11/20… the exact numbers that inspired me to go to Dallas in the first place.

After the album dropped, I was kind of baffled at the synchronicities, but I was also genuinely curious about what made me take the leap to Dallas at all… Like in hindsight, it makes sense, but in the moment, what was I thinking?

There was no guarantees other than spending money (there was even a moment where we didn’t know if I’d be able to get into the festival to see them perform because of the amount of people that were there for Bungalow including photographers and family)…

Bungalow Collect ultimately killed their performance on Sunday. However, it’s not like they were headlining the festival. It wasn’t tens of thousands at their set, hundreds might even be a reach. They were the 4th act of 24 acts on the Rap stage on Day 3. They performed at 1:25 PM…

I promise I don’t say this to diminish their achievements or to put them on blast or “expose” them… but to highlight how irrational it seemed for me to go out to Dallas to see them perform at the time.

After their performance I remember MI being grateful for the people that showed up and commented on how the goal was to overdeliver for everyone in attendance and how he didn’t seem discouraged because he knew that literally everyone has started somewhere.

I’ve always respected the guys’ work ethic and skills, their street smarts paired with their book smarts. It makes them super unique in this industry on top of the sound and the cohesion amongst the 4.

For me there’s a few takeaways:

• Be aware of the universe and acknowledge signs from G-d or whatever you believe in, take risks

• Work with people you admire and want to see win, bet on them and support them as much as you can and work with people who believe in you (sometimes more than you believe in yourself)

• bet on yourself, and be patient… do things for the love not just for what you can get out of them

P.S. they had thousands of RSVP’s and after the capacity, hundreds and hundreds of people at their release party in LA for “Disco Rap Saved Me” @guesthouseexperience

P.P.S. Keep Going!

Listen to “Normalized” here.

Listen to “Disco Rap Saved Me” here.