MixedByAli’s Decade, in His Own Words: Stories Behind Some of the Best Albums of the 2010s

MixedByAli worked on some of the biggest and best albums of the 2010s.

Over the past 10 years, the mix engineer, born Derek Ali, was behind the boards for classic projects from Top Dawg Entertainment artists like Kendrick Lamar, SZA, and Schoolboy Q, as well as other beloved rappers like Mac Miller, Nipsey Hussle, and Roddy Ricch. 

Ali joined the TDE family in his late teens. “I lived at Top Dawg’s house, and all we had to do was just record all day,” he tells Complex. “Me being the only engineer, I was lucky enough to be around the early Kendrick, Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, and Schoolboy Q. I’m the only guy recording all of these guys at one time, so I sharpened my sword as they were doing that for themselves.” 

In the 2010s, Ali’s won three Grammys for his work on Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, To Pimp A Butterfly, and “This Is America,” and was nominated five times. But he says he’s not in it for the accolades. “We definitely are grateful and appreciate it, but we work to create good music,” he explains. “We just wanted to create the best, most positive music we could, and whatever comes after it is the cherry on top.” 

Looking to the next decade, Ali is ready to help others learn the engineering business. He will be launching an online platform called EngineEars in 2020 that he says “pairs independent artists with independent mixing engineers, and gives engineers a way to have a home to conduct business properly, to have a personal manager, take payments, and to handle things to where it’s more streamlined and more professional.” 

“Engineering has always been a niche, behind the scenes, type of thing,” he adds. “I want the kids from the hood to know you don’t have to be a rapper or producer to be successful in the music industry. You can learn mixing at anytime by going to EngineEars.” Ali will be embarking on his Seeing Sounds Tour in 2020 to teach mixing techniques to aspiring creatives. As for what music releases he has in the works for 2020 (including a rumored Kendrick Lamar album), Ali is coy: “You’ll have to wait.” 

Celebrating the final days of the decade, Ali walked us through each year of the 2010s and shared stories behind some of the best albums of the past 10 years. This is MixedByAli’s decade, in his own words.

Highlight: Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Section.80’

When I was in high school, I used to make ringtones. Back in the day, they used to have these Nextel phones that let you manipulate the ringtones. I found an old program that hacked the phones to put real audio on there. I turned it into a small business where kids, after football practice, would come over to my grandma’s house, and I would record makeshift, parody ringtones like, “Don't answer the girl’s phone,” or funny shit that you would want to hear when somebody rings your phone as a kid. It turned into a love for recording. Then I started recording full songs. 

Dave Free worked at my school as a computer tech. I always knew he was into music, so I approached him like, “Hey, if you can help me get to know what music is about, I’d be grateful.” Then he invited me to Top Dawg’s house. From there, it was history. 

We were all super broke, living and sleeping at Top’s house on the floor. It was me, K. Dot, Sounwave, who is the in-house producer, and Schoolboy Q. 

I started as TDE's engineer. 2011 was really a big year that started everybody’s push in the music industry. That's when we dropped Section.80. It was the album that put Kendrick into mainstream eyes. We were all super broke, living and sleeping at Top’s house on the floor. It was me, K. Dot, Sounwave, who is the in-house producer, and Schoolboy Q. 

It was a good time because there were no responsibilities. I was maybe 17 or 18 years old. I was kicked out at the time, so I lived at Top Dawg’s house, and all we had to do was just record all day. Actually, I can say we all got $10,000. Me being the only engineer, I was lucky enough to be around the early Kendrick, Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, and Schoolboy Q. I’m the only guy recording all of these guys at one time, so I sharpened my sword as they were doing that for themselves.

Kendrick is a creative genius just in general. Everything is subject to change up until the release date, so that’s one thing about him that shaped my work ethic: triple checking things and making sure things are perfect to my standards. At that time, certain songs like “ADHD” resonated with me heavy. I was a kid that had ADHD, and songs like that shaped the generation and told the story of everyday life, and what we’re all dealing with. It was a voice that I didn't know I had for myself that Kendrick could speak for all of us.

I did everything from the Kendrick Lamar EP, Overly Dedicated. I did all the early joints. Of course, financial gain is always a goal, but at this point, it was really a passion. In our eyes, we saw that we were good at something. It was something that took us off the streets. It took us away from the negativity in the city. On the release of [Section.80], Ab, me, and Sounwave would drive around in his old ass Range Rover, listen to the mixes, and be like, “Damn, we really have an album.” When it came out, we ended up touring the world, and we’ve seen a lot, all through this music. It showed me that a career could be built off of mixing, and I honed into the engineering art. From that point on, I knew I wanted to be the best engineer ever.

Highlight: Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Good Kid, M.A.A.D City’

After the success of Section.80, we [went on tour]. It’s funny, because as we were on that tour, I got a call from somebody at Aftermath, and they were like, “Yo, I’m Dr. Dre.” I thought it was bullshit, so I hung up on him twice thinking it was a prank call.

Jay Rock was on tour with Tech N9ne, and I was DJing for them. Somebody from Dre’s camp called me and was interested in K. Dot. I didn’t know what the fuck was going on. Several months later, Dre signed Kendrick. We started working on Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, and that shit shaped this generation.

During the album process for Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, when Kendrick signed to Aftermath, one of the things that he spoke about was, “When it comes to mixing, I want to make sure Ali’s involved.” Dre is the master mixer, you can never take that from Dre. But there was a particular sound that we created that we wanted to keep. 

I’m still one of the most sought-after engineers because of my specific sound, and that’s because Dr. Dre taught me the analog board that not too many other engineers use.

It was intimidating as fuck being in the room with Dr. Dre. But after I opened up and got comfortable in the space, it turned into Dre almost-training me. At Interscope, there were two studios. It was studio A and studio B. [Dre] had the room in the front, which was A, and I always worked in the back, which was B. We were both working on the album at the same time, and I remember Dre coming into the studio to listen to my mixes. He would grade me with a thumbs up or thumbs down, and my confidence boosted a lot from there. I feel like that was a pivotal moment in my career, having somebody that I looked up to all these years, and now this guy is appreciating my work. I even got old footage of me and Dre mixing in the studio. 

The way I mix records is unconventional because everything is in the computer. The way Dre taught me how to mix is 100 percent analog. I was able to fuse the computer mixes, which is digital, with the analog board mixes, and that’s why I have my sound today. That’s why I’m still one of the most sought-after engineers, because of my specific sound, and that’s because Dre taught me the analog board that not too many other engineers use. He showed me tricks that he’s accumulated over the years that are unconventional in the sense of learning how to use dispersion in your favor, and doing things that are taught in school as what not to do. 

As far as [the Grammys snub] and those accolades, we definitely are grateful and appreciate it, but we work to create good music. Like I mentioned about Section.80, [Good Kid, M.A.A.D City] was a classic project. We just wanted to create the best, most positive music we could, and whatever comes after it is the cherry on top.

Highlight: Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’

In 2015, we got into To Pimp a Butterfly. Doing that album, I had no formal musical training. I couldn't afford music schools, so everything was done by trying, failing, and trying again. To Pimp a Butterfly was one of my most challenging projects because there were a lot of live elements, a lot of musicians, and live sessions that we dealt with. I’m a kid who didn’t know what the fuck none of that shit was. Everybody wanted to know how comfortable I was with it. “Do you have it, Ali? Can you help with that?” Me being the type of person I am, I was like, “I got it,” and I’d just figure it out along the way.

‘To Pimp a Butterfly’ is the type of music Kendrick really loves. I know for a fact that he had a lot of fun recording it. Those sessions were like parties.

I studied a lot of jazz albums and the Mo' Better Blues soundtrack. I studied Abbey Road, the Beatles album, and listened to the way they placed the drums, the way the vocals sounded, and how to get that analog feel. I merged what they were doing back then with what I’m doing today. It definitely was a project that almost defeated me, but it made me, if that makes sense. There was a lot of experimenting. The song “Wesley’s Theory,” produced by Flying Lotus—that session alone had 218 tracks. There were live drum elements mixed with programmed synth bass. There were a lot of textures and a lot of layers. It took me roughly seven days to make that song, because there were so many different versions. What’s right? What’s wrong? Just trying to find pockets for the vocals, trying to figure out how to make it all fit together sonically. It wasn’t a mess. It was just a lot of learning, a lot of going back and forth. There was a lot of understanding what was in front of you and figuring out how to mesh this analog and warm sound with a lot of older instruments. 

That album is the type of music Kendrick really loves. I know for a fact that he had a lot of fun recording it. Those sessions were like parties. Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, Thundercat, everybody came by, and lent a hand on certain records. It was a real big moment, and it showed me the collaborative effort of putting together a classic album. There were a lot of late nights in the studio. There was a lot of groundwork, a lot of studying on both parts. Even on Kendrick’s level, studying, assigning stuff for how he wanted to project his voice on the mic to make it sound a certain way. That time was like a history lesson because we took it back and appreciated what the past legends created to inspire us today.

Highlights: Bas’ ‘Too High To Riot,’ Mac Miller’s ‘The Divine Feminine,’ Vince Staples’ ‘Prima Donna,’ Schoolboy Q’s ‘Blank Face,’ Danny Brown’s ‘Atrocity Exhibition,’ and YG’s ‘Still Brazy’

2016 was maybe one of my busiest years. I was on high demand, and the industry wanted me to mix everything. I was happy people were even interested in me mixing the records, so I was taking everything. I did Bas' Too High To Riot, Mac Miller’s The Divine Feminine, Vince Staples’ Prima Donna, Q’s Blank Face, Danny Brown’s Atrocity Exhibition, and YG’s Still Brazy, in the span of four months. 

Working on Mac Miller’s ‘The Divine Feminine,’ we slept on the floor for months, laughing, joking, getting drunk together. It was a good time. I’ll always remember how young he was, and how good of a f***ing kid he was.

[My favorite memory of 2016] was Mac Miller’s The Divine Feminine. Bas’ Too High To Riot was a really great time also, but Mac Miller’s album was special. Mac always felt like a close friend to TDE and a close friend of mine for years before we even got to work together. [The Divine Feminine] was a musical album. After coming off To Pimp a Butterfly, I feel like he felt confident enough that I could tackle his album. Just like Kendrick, he wanted to come out with a musical album that he really enjoyed. We were able to really bond. During that time, we slept on the floor for months, laughing, joking, getting drunk together. It was a good time. I’ll always remember how young he was, and how good of a fucking kid he was. I'm kind of choking up on it. He knows how to handle things in a way where he doesn’t let them show. His energy was always good.

Mentally, I was drained [in 2016]. I was at a real low point. Honestly, it was the most lucrative, and on the outside looking in, I was in the best place ever. But mentally, I was at an all-time low that didn’t feel human. I wasn’t sleeping. I was going from session to session. I was taking pills to stay up, and doing certain things that brought me into a dark place that I didn’t know I could get into. It was a real learning experience and a roadblock that I had to handle. I didn’t self-care at all. It was a lot of, “I got money now. I’m moving different.” I got the wrong people around me. All this is still new to me, and I’m 25 at this point. I didn’t know how to handle certain circumstances. I hit a brick wall fast. After that year was over, I had to look at myself, and change some things, or I was going to ruin myself and my career.

Highlights: Kendrick Lamar’s ‘DAMN.’ and SZA’s ‘Ctrl’

I was coming off a heavy 2016, so I was still struggling to get myself together. That’s why, if you look at my discography, there's not too much stuff that I did that year. It was just the TDE stuff because I needed time to reflect and look at the structure of how I wanted the future to go: the daily scheduling, things like exercising, organizing your days in a way so you’re not over-committing to certain things, and learning how to say no. When it comes to business, I’m only taking projects that I want to take, rather than taking everything that’s thrown my way. I realized that a lot of my issues came from myself. I was putting the stress on my shoulders. All I got to do is say no to people, and I wouldn't be stressed the fuck out.

Hearing the high energy on DAMN. uplifted my spirits. It was a lot of fun to make the records.

I was basically taking myself out of the studio, because I couldn’t be around everybody. I was super negative and gloomy. You know, how people go through shit and you don’t want to bring the energy to other people, especially while they’re working. I came in towards the fourth quarter when Kendrick was wrapping up with recording and getting into mixing [on DAMN.] Hearing the high energy on DAMN. uplifted my spirits. It was a lot of fun to make the records. It was the high tempo energy that I needed. It inspired me to want to do music. Again, because of 2016, I wanted to quit. So, hearing DAMN. for the first time gave me that spark that I needed to keep going.

I hadn’t done too much R&B before [SZA’s Ctrl]. It was interesting getting into that genre. [SZA and I] clashed heads a lot. There was a lot of going back and forth. It was just finding a way where I can lend the sonic sound to somebody and create a classic project. I'd listened to all her early shit and it was a nice level up from there. When it comes to studio shit, I have an ego, me thinking I know it all, so there's certain things that I don’t budge on just out of respect for the record. But as a creative like SZA is, if you’re not pushing back with the engineer, then they both don’t need to be there. There has to be that give and pull on each side to create that classic project, but that’s a lot of stress. It’s her debut mainstream joint, so there was a lot of stress on her shoulders. There’s a lot of eyes on her waiting for the drop. Being the engineer, I’m stressed the fuck out because I’m thinking people are going to critique my mixes. Being a good engineer is knowing how to handle those situations and understanding that you are simply a tool inside the studio. Don’t get above yourself. 

When I approached the album, I approached it in the way which I shouldn’t have. That way was trying to go the conventional way to mix “R&B” type of records. When I approached it that way, and it didn’t work, I had to re-route, look at it from the outside, and see what was going on. When I started finally pulling from my hip-hop influence and added the vocal effects into the slow R&B type of beat—or the slow emo type of beats—everything fused together. That’s when we found the niche and that sound came about. 

Highlights: Nipsey Hussle’s ‘Victory Lap,’ ‘Black Panther: The Album,’ Jay Rock’s ‘Redemption,’ and Donald Glover’s “This Is America”

In 2018, we did Victory Lap with Nipsey Hussle, the Black Panther soundtrack, “This is America” with Donald Glover, and Jay Rock's Redemption. That year I was in high spirits. I was getting back to the work. I was inspired and back to creating great music.

For Nipsey’s Victory Lap, we worked on that album for three months. I was living in the studio with Nip every single day. We worked at Paramount in Hollywood, and they had an apartment type of situation where the pantry was upstairs with the shower, so we all camped out and created that project. At that time, I had my first daughter, so it was hard finding a balance between working late nights in the studio and being a dad. I’m still struggling to find that balance, but I’m more conscious now. Nip [was a father] too, so we used to have talks about it, and he was like my mentor when it came to that situation.

One day [in the studio] would turn into a week-long session. We’d be in Monday, but wouldn’t leave until Thursday, and that was considered one session. We might take power naps here and there, but he was so focused on his album. He was so inspired by the album. He would bring in producers and set up five production stations inside the booth. While I was inside the room mixing the album, he was pumping out music. It was like a factory in there. It was great to see. He definitely took advantage of the space. He led the energy in the room at all times. 

I was living in the studio with Nip every single day.

Tunji [Balogun] who is Childish Gambino’s A&R and a great friend of mine, sent me the record [“This Is America”]. He said, “I got a Donald Glover record for you.” I listened to it, and at first, I didn’t understand it being the first single. It wasn’t what you would hear on the radio during that time. I was kind of confused, but when it came out and the video dropped with it, I was like, “Okay, fuck!” And that’s when the whole world exploded.

It was so exciting to hear Jay Rock release his fire album. It was fun to work on. His energy throughout the process was ecstatic. It’s fun to work on a project where you can see how excited the artist is. It adds that special spark to the project that makes you want to add your two cents to it. It’s just a different feeling. This is the analogy I look at engineering: Look at two friends that go on a road trip, the engineer’s the guy driving the car and the artist is the guy with the map. The artist knows where he wants to go, but it’s up to the engineer to get him there. If you take artists the way he wants to go sonically, that’s a really good feeling.

Being a fan of Black Panther as a kid, it was dope to be a part of it all. I’m grateful for that opportunity. Kendrick always knows how to pick and choose all the dope shit. He fully produced the album. Kendrick is a master at putting things together, hearing the artist’s voice and knowing how he could use that voice as an instrument on his records. Everything is real strategic on how he puts together his songs, and I admire that. [The album showed] unity. It showed there’s talented creatives everywhere, whether they’re up-and-coming, whether they’re mainstream, whether they’re across the pond, or whether they’re on a different continent. Kendrick’s whole thing is to shed light on talented creatives from all over the world, and he’s always down to lend his hand and do anything possible to spark the next generation. He was able to do that. 

Highlights: Schoolboy Q’s ‘CrasH Talk,’ Boogie’s ‘Everything for Sale,’ Summer Walker’s ‘Over It,’ Roddy Ricch’s ‘Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial,’ YBN Cordae’s ‘The Lost Boy.’

I would say this is the best year ever. I got my daughter; business is booming; I’m able to put my friends in certain situations to help them and their families. I started a new business, EngineEars, which is an online platform that pairs independent engineers with independent artists worldwide, which will be launching in 2020. I also launched a series of workshops where I travel the world with up-and-coming producers. We’re launching a second leg to our tour in 2020, so things are moving. I couldn’t be more blessed to be where I’m at today.

In 2019, I worked on Schoolboy Q’s CrasH Talk, Boogie’s Everythings for Sale, Summer Walker’s Over It, Roddy Ricch’s Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial, and YBN Cordae’s The Lost Boy. 

I’ve grown up in this industry. I’ve cried in this industry. I became a man in this industry.

Summer’s Over It was dope. London [on da Track] was there for most of the process. I respect London’s work ethic. He has an incredible vision. He told me personally that this album was something he always wanted to do afte growing up in the churches and loving R&B. The fact that he was able to do it on this album, I know it meant a lot to him. It was great to have somebody like him in the studios with me every day, and critiquing everything. That type of work ethic, I admire, because it makes me have to be on my job 10 times harder. Steel sharpens steel. 

One of the dopest memories of 2019 was at the end of mixing Roddy Ricch’s album. He got the Grammy nomination for “Racks in the Middle” with Nipsey, and during that time, he was in the studio nervous, talking about it. When [he got nominated], I FaceTime’d him hella early in the morning, probably five in the morning, once the nominees came out. He started crying. It’s dope to see a young kid really in his space in his career. I'm looking forward to the longevity in his career. 

I have good memories of all the albums [I worked on]. I feel like a lot of artists work with me and continue coming back to work with me because there is a relationship. It can’t be all about music. A lot of these artists I work with, we can go out and have a drink. We can go out and have dinner. We can talk about life. They’ll check in on my daughter. You need to have these type of relationships to be able to put your heart and soul into these records. A lot of engineers, I feel like they take projects and it’s just a job to them. That’s why they lose a lot of these projects. It’s all about putting the love and energy into a project, and the people that are behind them, and really being genuine about it.

I’ve grown up in this industry. I’ve cried in this industry. I became a man in this industry. It made me who I am today—the good, the bad, and the ugly. I’m moving forward more calculated, more structured, and more advanced. I’m looking forward to the next decade. Hopefully, the next time we talk, we’re talking about me being a tech entrepreneur.