HXNS was only in elementary school when he produced his first hit song. Sure, it was only a mashup on the now-defunct JamGlue, a music editing website, but he was able to rack up significant plays by mashing together the beat from “Vans” by The Pack and the vocals from “Tell me When to Go” by E-40. 

While he didn’t stick with music consistently at the time, it was only a few years later in high school when he downloaded FL Studio “out of boredom” and got to work. Dropping his own beats and remixes to popular songs, he built hype over SoundCloud during his college days, earning over one million streams.

Six years ago, he dropped “Chill With Me,” and it still stands as one of his biggest songs on SoundCloud. Other songs like “Work” and “Rockdaboat” also come from that time period and remain impressive pieces.

His earliest songs are some of his most popular, and show a young producer eager to prove himself by taking on a wide range of genres and styles with finesse. 

He compared his style to the majestic strength of Dragonite, an ultra-powerful dragon/flying type Pokémon, but said in terms of physicality, he’s far closer to Machop, a smaller, muscular beast.

But he said his evolution came when he earned a co-sign from Soulection Records.

On a whim, one of his friends sent Soulection a link to “Work” on Twitter, and HXNS describes what came next as nothing short of life-changing.

“[Soulection] spread it like wildfire, and the next morning my phone and email were blowing up and my SoundCloud followers skyrocketed overnight,” he says. “Ever since then, we’ve been in contact… Much love to those people.”

Of any co-sign in the industry, Soulection’s might be the most potent. Their deep appreciation for the artistry of music combined with a large and dedicated following make their words all the more powerful.

“They’re all about the music,” he says. “If you go to their shows you can tell the crowd is there for the music. They’re not there to look cool or because someone else is there. Everyone legitimately loves the music.”

The fact that HXNS has been featured on their radio show a series of times is impressive, and he’s used their connections to create a producing portfolio that’s eclectic and thorough.

Beyond Soulection, he gave credit to Kanye West, Tyler, the Creator, and Toro y Moi as artists that changed his perspective on music. But the piece of art he spoke most effusively about was Soul, Disney’s recent movie about a middle school music teacher that wishes he could have another shot at making it as a concert musician.

“That movie low-key changed how my brain works,” he says. “I feel like I needed to see that as a creative. I don’t really cry at movies, but that one almost brought me to tears.” 

“[After seeing the movie], I’m much more lenient with myself now,” he says. “I know that when I’m happier, I’m going to make better music.”

And the mindset has paid off; he’s been taking 2021 to even his work-play life balance, and the results have been fruitful. After signing to Cautious Clay’s publishing company last year, HXNS has a series of production credits on Deadpan Love, Clay’s album that came out summer 2021.

With friendships and connections across the industry, HXNS continues to show he’s a worthwhile collaborator aware of the importance of strong friendships and the power they can have in creating lasting and impactful music. 

If anything is for sure, HXNS is on his way to a long and successful producing career, so make sure to check him out. He left his listeners with the following thoughts:

“Thank you everyone for all of the love. I know it’s not a lot of people, but I feel it. It makes me so happy. I’m glad I could inspire people. Feel free to hit me up if you need any help or just want to chat and live your life. Drink a lot of water and get enough sleep. And also, don’t let anybody tell you shit. Do whatever you want because you ‘bout to die at the end of life.”

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Thanks so much to HXNS for the interview! Check him out on Twitter and SoundCloud 🙂