Music producer and composer Miykal Snoddy has composed chart topping tunes for hit-makers like Sean “Diddy” Combs, Drake, Estelle, Janelle Monae, Lupe Fiasco, Trey Songz, Ludacris, Ty Dolla Sign, Ne-Yo, and many more artists.
He has also composed music for worldwide campaigns for Coca Cola and TJ Max. Additionally, Snoddy has toured with Maze featuring Frankie Beverly.
Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Snoddy spent his formative years in Chicago, Illinois, since he was in the seventh grade.
“I was moved to the suburbs. My dad had a good job, so I didn’t live in the thick of Chicago,” said Snoddy. “There were gangs and things in Chicago, so me being in the suburbs and then getting into the music scene, I gravitated and started meeting those groups of people.”
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In the Chicago music scene, Snoddy says, the people who had the money to successfully produce music were often drug dealers or gangsters. Because of this, he found himself in some unsavory places he should not have been.
“There’s so much great talent there, but the music just must make it out of Chicago,” said Snoddy.
Snoddy remembers his musical start beginning with classical music and the violin. When he finally moved to Chicago proper, no one Black was listening to Beethoven. He says they were listening to artists like “Too Short.”
Snoddy soon found himself acclimating to the same style of music as his then-contemporaries, but he began infusing it with classical music.
Snoddy’s foray into working professionally in the music industry started in Chicago with Ernest Wilson, also popularly known as No I.D. According to the Jay-Z song “Death of Auto-Tune” (D.O.A.) featuring Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), No I.D. was a mentor to West.
“He [No I.D.] also worked with [the rapper] Common. No I.D. liked my classical music skills and he had me playing on tracks on top of samples to get more feel,” said Snoddy. “That’s how I first got in the room and started working with artists. I did my first song with Jamie Foxx. It was called ‘Three Letter Words.’”
After Jamie Fox, Snoddy worked with Trey Songz. He recalls wanting to work with then popular singer Carl Thomas, but it did not work out in Snoddy’s favor. However, on the same day while at Thomas’ house he met music producer Troy Taylor, and one of his new artists.
That new artist was Trey Songz. Snoddy collaborated with Songz on the track, “Sex Fo Yo Stereo.” The song was featured on Songz’s second album, for which Snoddy was also one of the producers.
In 2006, Snoddy relocated to Atlanta, Georgia. While there, Snoddy began working with champion boxer Evander Holyfield and his label “Real Deal Records.”
Next, Snoddy worked with Ludacris, Usher, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Drake, Ella Mai, Estelle, Janelle Monáe, and many other popular artists.
“If you’re going to do music, you’ve got to come to Atlanta,” said Snoddy. “There’s a piece of the culture musically here that you have to experience.”
In addition to his success creating chart-topping hits for many popular artists, Snoddy has also scored for the Fox television series “Empire” and “Star.” Both shows were produced by Lee Daniels.
“Most recently, I worked on a feature-length film with Juhahn Jones, LisaRaye McCoy and Michael Colyer called ‘You Married Dat,’” shared Snoddy. “I ended up scoring that entire film.”
Snoddy wants up-and-coming artists to know that their music can live in other forms of media beyond radio.
Keith L. Underwood is the host of the KBLA Talk 1580 entertainment radio show, “Black In The Green Room.” A former entertainment publicist, he currently develops platforms for performers, creatives, and show biz professionals to shine and inspire. IG: @umaworldwide.
