Major Seven (Rick Ross, Jay Z, Rihanna, DJ Khaled)

Omar Walker, a.k.a. ‘Major Seven’, is a hip-hop producer from Atlanta who first came to mainstream attention for producing the song The Devil Is a Lie, the lead single for the Rick Ross album, Mastermind. Subsequent credits for the multi-Platinum producer include Jay-Z, Future, Rihanna, DJ Khaled, Buju, DJ Snake, Blackpink, Ozuna, Megan The Stallion, Bryson Tiller, T-Pain, Kodak Black, Dave East, Jacquees, Tech N9ne, Wale, Boys II Men, and Verse Simmonds.

Tell us about your studio setup.

I use an Omnirax Presto 4 studio desk while running Pro Tools and Logic Pro X. I mainly use the Yamaha HS8s because they were my first speakers and I’ve learned them well over the years. I’m predominantly in-the-box and I use a lot of UAD plugins, Waves Audio, Soundtoys, and Antares, amongst others.

Having worked on so many songs over the past few years, how do you stay fresh and excited about producing music these days?

Discovering new talent and collaborating with other inspiring creators always keeps things fresh for me. I try to remain a student of the craft and keep learning new tools that keeps the job exciting and creative. 

How do you typically approach the producing of a song?

The process of producing a record varies depending on the artist. There are times when the song is already written to a piano or guitar chord progression, so I will record the vocal arrangements and build the production around the song itself.

Other times, I will already have beats made that I think will fit the artist’s style and vision and we will write a song to the beat. Then there are times when I put together a group of live musicians and songwriters and have a jam session to inspire the entire process.

I try to center my production style around the vision of the artist and processes that they are already comfortable with.