HOW TO BE: MARK RONSON

BY: Dante Fresse

The documentary How to Be: Mark Ronson tracks the career of the prolific music producer. Mark Ronson’s career started at age 16 when he DJ’d events and met big names like Q-Tip and Premiere and created beats for artists like Ghostface Killa, Nikka Costa, Amy Winehouse, Bruno Mars, and Lady Gaga. Ronson is an influential producer on the hip hop circuit and creates unique rhythms for many independent artists. The documentary’s highlight is when he works to produce the beat for Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk.” That project marked a change in music. It involved a departure from the ’60s sounds and replacing them with fresh new drum beats.

Ronson won an Oscar for Best Original Song working with Lady Gaga on “Shallow” for the film A Star is Born with Bradley Cooper. The film was a critical success and nominated for many awards, including Academy Awards for Best Picture and Actress for Lady Gaga, a Critic’s Choice Award, and BAFTA for Best Actress and Picture. Ronson works with singer/songwriters such as Abbey Smith and focuses on making remixed tracks of Radiohead classics like “Just.” This blend of live recordings plus session work broadens his experience and attracts other DJs and influential recording artists to his work.

Ronson works across a wide range of genres, including hip hop and funk. His sound keeps evolving as he collaborates with highly talented acts like Abbey Smith and hip hop icons like Ghostface Killa. For his Ghostface collaboration, Ronson mailed a beat off to Ouie–the Ghostface manager–who loved it and paid for producing a music video with Ronson and the Killa. From there, Ronson’s career as a famous producer skyrocketed, and he incorporated beats for acts like Boy George and Queen of the Stone Age. In this film, his presence in the music production world grows with each added artist collaboration. The film ends with Ronson’s comparison of his process and the raw energy infused into each track. PROVOKR loves this artist’s documentary and hopes you love it, too.