MADE BY YOU
MADE BY CHEFFHABIB
My name is Cheff Habib, I’m a producer based in Toronto, Ontario. I been making beats for about 8 years now and have worked with some artists such as Kwazii, Astrokidjay, 100ootd and more. Most people know me for my first producer album COOKBOOK, a project that really showcases the underground Toronto sound helping myself create a platform for myself and these artists.
Q/A
MBS: What is your earliest memory of music?
CHEFF: When I was in the back of my dad’s car driving on the way to daycare, I remember hearing the same songs over and over again. One of the songs was Love lockdown by Kanye West, the following day he went and bought the album 808s and heartbreak for me on a CD. That essentially kick started my love for music.
MBS: When did you know that you wanted to take music seriously?
CHEFF: It clicked for me after I visited Atlanta in 2021. The love I felt from the city and how much they connected with my sound made me realize I had something real. Even back in high school, I was skipping class and blowing off homework just to make music. I really fell in love with the process.
MBS: Would you say that your music influences or matches your sense of style?
CHEFF: Yes and no in the sense that whenever you see me 9 times out of 10, I am wearing black, but my beats don’t always portray a dark vibe. They’re more about how I feel than how I look. But I also like when people hear my music and go, “Oh yeah, this makes sense, that fits him.”
MBS: What is your favourite song you have made?
CHEFF: Shit, if were doing released music I would have to go with lean stain on my upcoming tape COOKBOOK FRVR, its such a swaggy song and honestly one of the most unique songs I have ever made. If not lean stain, I love chrome hearts from my last prod album. I used a loop which I made back in 2019 so that song represents the purest versions of myself both past and present.
MBS: If you could use one word to describe your art form, what would it be and why?
CHEFF: Different. I know it’s simple, but it’s real. When you hear one of my beats, you’re getting something you’ve never heard before. Whether it’s simple or complex, it’s gonna make you feel something. That’s the goal every time.
MBS: What is a genre you would like to make that you have not made yet?
CHEFF: Lowkey I would say rock, just because of the chaos and aggressiveness that comes with it, and sometimes with my own music I love chaos. I’ve done R & B, I also have experimented with EDM so I would say that for sure.
MBS: You play a beat for someone for the first time, what is the word they would use to describe a cheff beat?
CHEFF: Wow, because whenever anyone hears my beat for the first time their expression is always wow. It’s a new feeling when you hear a beat come from me because you never actually know what to expect. No matter what beat is playing as long as I made it there will always be a wow factor.
MBS: What does cookbook mean to you?
CHEFF: Cookbook allowed me to be myself and showed people that you can literally be whoever you want to be. You don’t need to be the most known producer to accomplish set goals, just set your mind on it and do it. Cookbook is honestly my baby like, it’s what made me, it allowed people to see me for me, it got me in rooms. Cookbook is everything to me. Without cookbook there is no Cheff, Cookbook is Cheff.
MBS: What is your favourite food spot in the city?
CHEFF: If you know me you know I’m always gonna say Dav’s hot spot, no bap it’s the best soul food spot in the city. Shoutout them man, I deadass pay their electricity bill that’s how much I eat there.
MBS: Who are you listening to currently?
CHEFF: Um I’ll name a few, my current rotation gotta be 1300saint, Diorvsyou, and of course my opium boys as always Ken, Lone, Carti. I listen to a lot of underground shit but that’s my main rotation right now.
MBS: What are your favourite clothing brands currently?
CHEFF: I love anything made by the mandem so, Headless, MBS, Abcent. Outside of the mandem though, I mess with Rick Owen, Balenciaga and Margiela for sure.
MBS: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
CHEFF: One of the producers in the city that brought life to the underground music scene in Toronto. I feel like in a couple years my work will be stamped as the representation of other producers and artists in the city.
CHEFF HABIB'S MESSAGE TO THE YOUTH
"Be yourself. Do whatever you want to do. People might not like it, but trust someone always will. And as long as you’re happy, that’s what matters. There’s so much swag in being authentic and true to yourself. When people see that being yourself is cool, they’ll follow. Just don’t let outside voices throw you off. Do it for you."
-CHEFF HABIB
CHEFF AND SEKOU CIRCA 2023
flick by drew