Beyoncé producer and multi-instrumentalist Raphael Saadiq says he’ll never use a bassline from “any digital domain”, arguing that only “people who can’t play an instrument” depend on loops from DAWs.

Saadiq makes the comment in the latest issue of Music Business Worldwide’s ‘World’s Greatest Producers’ series, where he discusses his creative philosophy and the reason he prefers making music “the authentic way”.

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“People like pushing buttons because it’s faster and easier for them,” says Saadiq. “But I can make better music than people pushing buttons, fast.”

“People who can’t play an instrument, or can’t come up with a certain line or a melody, depend on loops and take basslines from Ableton [Live] or Logic [Pro]. I will never take a bassline from any digital domain in my life! That will never happen.”

While the producer is open to drum loops, “even 99% of those, I’ll play it faster than I can find it, and I can find the best drummer who can play better than me,” he says. “I’d just rather do what the authentic sound is; it breathes more, it has that sensibility. And, if everybody’s doing something, I want to be the one person that doesn’t do it.”

With how musicality is “getting lost in the business”, he says, those who have it will stand out instead.

“It’s like driving a Tesla versus driving a Porsche that takes gas,” Saadiq muses. “I’d rather drive a Porsche, but there are a lot of Teslas out there.”

Elsewhere in the chat, Saadiq — who worked on three tracks from Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album — also shares his thoughts on the rise of AI and its potential effects on producers and songwriters.

“I’m not nervous about it,” he says. “There are people doing some amazing things with AI. I’m not against it, but I don’t want to use it. I’d rather just figure it out the way I’ve been figuring it out.”

“I love the technology, it’s amazing. But I don’t think it’s going to write Let It Be. It’s not going to write Try A Little Tenderness. So, knowing that it’s not going to do that, I know I can’t get the best out of me if I’m using AI.”

In August, producer Afrojack also shared his “disappointment” in artists using samples from services such as Splice. Speaking directly about the track ten by British superstar Fred Again.., he said: “It’s based off three Splice samples. To me, that was disappointing when I found out. ‘Oh my god, that’s four Splice sample loops on top of each other!’ I love Fred again.., and he’s super talented, but when I found out that was a sample…”

MusicTech writer Sam Roche defended the use of sample packs in an opinion piece titled Sample libraries are here to stay – so why do some producers still find their use illegitimate? In the piece, Splice’s Kenny Ochoa asked, “There will always be producers with more technical skill than others, but why would anyone gate-keep creativity?”

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