Mike Herard

Mike "Heron" Herard is a New York hip-hop producer and songwriter. He is a vice president of A&R for Shady Records and a producer and co-owner of the label Hydra Entertainment, as well as the founder of the music platform BeatHustle.[1][2] Mike Herard has worked with a variety of artists, including Joell Ortiz, Cool & Dre, Murda Beatz and Metro Boomin.[2][3]

Mike "Heron" Herard
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • songwriter
  • record producer
Years active1997–present
Labels

Early life and career

When Herard was a child, his family moved to New York and settled in Elmhurst, Queens.[4]

Herard began his career in 1997, when he formed a label Hydra Records along with Jerry Famolari.[4][5] During this period, Herard produced the song "H-O-S-T-Y-L-E" from the Screwball's debut album Y2K: The Album.[4]

In the mid 1990s, Herard used to find obscure samples in music stores, re-record them onto LPs and sell and trade breakbeats to producers like No I.D. and Dr. Dre. Later in his life, Heron admitted that this experience would motivate him to create a digital platform for musicians, but legally and with the focus on helping creative people.[3]

In 2000, Herard was hired for his first job by Rawkus Records, music label. At the age of 25 he took up handling Big L's album, The Big Picture. After Big L's death in 1999, Herard worked with the deceased's brother, Donald Phinazee, to preserve his legacy. Herard helped secure the publishing rights to Big L's debut album Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous with another partner to control the rights and get Sony royalty payments for the album to the author's relatives.[6]

Since 2013, he has been vice president of A&R of Shady Records.[3]

In January 2017, Herard founded BeatHustle, a management company dedicated to sample composers.[7] Some of the BeatHustle clients have provided samples and production on Muni Long’s "Hrs & Hrs", Migos, "Bad and Boujee" and Drake’s "Knife Talk".[3]

Reception

Herard has been discussed in various media outlets by music industry critics with mostly positive reviews for his work, including in publications such as Rolling Stone and Pitchfork.[1][8] Rolling Stone magazine notes Herard's intolerance of injustice and readiness to fight for musicians' copyrights.[6] Entrepreneur magazine lists celebrities that Herard helped create their hits: Migos, Rihanna, Jay-Z and Travis Scott.[9]

Discography

Solo albums

  • Mike Heron, Ghetto Pros - Hydra Beats Volume 10 (LP, 1997)

Credits

  • Screwball – "H-O-S-T-Y-L-E" (Tommy Boy 1999)
  • Big L – "Flamboyant" (Rawkus, 2000)[10]
  • Screwball – "Y2K" (Tommy Boy, 2000)
  • Big Pun – "Brave In the Heart" (Loud Records, 2001)
  • Kool G Rap – "My Life" from the album The Giancana Story (Koch Records, Rawkus, 2002)

See also

References
  1. "Sample Snitching: How Online Fan Chatter Can Create Legal Trouble for Rap Producers". Pitchfork. 21 January 2021. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  2. "The Musicians Behind Your Favorite Songs Are Coming for Their Credit". Complex. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  3. Rys, Dan (29 June 2018). "The New Business of Hip-Hop Beats: How One Company Gets Musicians Paid For Creating Samples". Billboard. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  4. "Hydra Special – Mike Heron Interview – unkut.com – A Tribute To Ignorance (Remix)". unkut. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  5. Golianopoulos, Thomas (1 August 2019). ""How to Rob" and "Who Shot Rudy?": The Story Behind the Two Most Controversial Rap Songs of 1999". The Ringer. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  6. Leight, Elias (18 May 2021). "Big L Is 'Rap Royalty.' Why Is His Legacy in Disarray?". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  7. Staff, WalletAlly (25 November 2018). "Mike Heron Wants to Make It Easier For Musicians to Get Paid For Their Work". WalletAlly. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  8. Leight, Elias (22 January 2020). "How a Trusted Group of Producers Jammed Their Way to an Eminem Album". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  9. Abo, Jessica (23 November 2018). "Why One Music Exec Created a New Platform for Musicians to Get Paid". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  10. "Hot Rap Songs". Billboard. 2013-01-02. Retrieved 2023-05-12.
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