Grammy Winning Producer Mustard Plans Recording Workshop at Dorsey High School

Dorsey High School welcomed home recording artist and producer extraordinaire Mustard, who recently visited the campus. After accepting a recognition award from the alumni association, he discussed plans to develop a recording arts workshop at Dorsey.

Dijon Mc Farlane, aka Mustard, attended all four years of his high school career at Dorsey and graduated in the class of 2008. While in high school, he gained a reputation as the DJ for the school pep rallies, sporting events and various school functions. Also, through his work as a DJ, Mustard gained notoriety in the Los Angeles music circuit.

His career took off in 2010 after connecting with L.A. based rapper YG as a DJ. As Ty Dolla Sign, another L.A.-based artist who produced YG’s first big single “Toot it and Boot It,” wanted to focus on his career as an artist and performer, he encouraged Mustard to start producing beats.

Through his connection with YG and Ty Dolla Sign, Mustard then created the beat for Tyga’s “Rack City,” which became a 4X Platinum Seller. After that, the phone started ringing and he’s never looked back.

https://lasentinel.net/cycling-club-raises-funds-for-dorsey-track-team.html

Over the past 15 years, Mustard has produced, written and collaborated with some of the top names in R&B and hip hop such as 2 Chainz‘s, Young Jeezy, Bow Wow, Ty Dolla Sign, Kid Ink, Nipsey Hussle, Lil Jon, B.o.B, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj, Quavo, Dom Kennedy, Kid Ink, Jeremih, Soulja Boy, French Montana, Kanye West, Migos, Meek Mill, Roddy Ricch, Jhene Aiko, Ella Mai, ASAP Rocky, Rich Homie Quan, T-Pain, Trey Songs, Wiz Khalifa, Chris Brown, Keyshia Cole, Fergie and others.

Many top artists have worked with Mustard in his production lab. (Courtesy photo)

There was a period of time during the mid-to-late 2010s where nearly every song on the radio had Mustard’s trademark sound and began with his trademark anthem, “Mustard on the Beat.” Mustard is currently one of the most highly sought after and respected producers in the music industry.

In 2019, Mustard’s third album, “Perfect Ten,” was released, and spawned the Grammy-nominated single, “Ballin’,” with Roddy Ricch. He won his first Grammy Award in 2019 for the single “Boo’d Up” with British singer Ella Mae, which is also one of his five songs to hit the top 10 in the Hot 100 Chart.

His other top 10 hits are Jeremih’s “Don’t Tell ‘Em” featuring YG, Rihanna’s “Needed Me,” Tyga’s “Rack City,” and Lil Dicky’s “Freaky Friday” featuring Chris Brown.

This year, after netting his first No. 1 record with Kendrick Lamar’s “They Not Like Us,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100, Mustard is dropping his first full studio album since 2019’s “Perfect Ten.” On social media, he posted a trailer along with the message, “FAITH OF A MUSTARD SEED SUMMER 2024: A GIFT FROM ME TO YOU.”

Mustard performing on stage. (Courtesy photo)

During his visit to Dorsey, Mustard told the students that if they can envision success in their future, it is very obtainable for them. Also, he emphasized the importance of staying focused and being persistent.

“I came from here, the same place that you are from, and I want you to know that it is really possible to be whatever you want to be. If I came from here and I did it, you can do the same thing. You can do way better than me. Hard work will always beat talent,” he said.

“Wherever you want to go in life, it’s there for you if you are willing to stay focused and put in the work.”

Dorsey’s Principal Orlando Johnson described Mustard as being a “driver of culture” which he defined as one individual who influences millions of individuals. Johnson told students that they should strive to be in that position in whatever field that they take, so that they drive culture and have influence in their own communities.

Irvin Davis, right, presents the Dorsey Alumni Association Award to Mustard. (Courtesy photo)

The vision of the DJ Mustard Recording Arts Workshop at Dorsey High School will be to expose students to the fundamentals of music recording, production and engineering and to teach them about copyrights, publishing and monetization. They will participate in seminars and workshops with industry professionals, which will expose them to careers in the music industry. They will also have lessons and instruction about the history of Black music and learn about the production styles of some of the all-time greats.

Students will learn to develop their own individual projects and use various platforms to market and distribute their own original material. Students will receive certificates of completion upon finishing the program.

The workshop will start this Summer and carry over into the Fall Semester.