Cubeatz (sometimes stylized as CuBeatz) are a Germanhip hop production and songwriting duo from Hildrizhausen, consisting of twin brothers Kevin and Tim Gomringer. Originally embarking on their careers within German hip hop in 2008, they have since expanded and are now best known for their successful collaborations with international hip hop artists such as Drake, Future, Gucci Mane, 21 Savage, Lil Uzi Vert, and Travis Scott, among others. Cubeatz have specialized in creating melodies specifically for the purpose to be sampled by other producers to produce the final beat.
Early life
Kevin and Tim Gomringer were born as twin brothers on 15 March 1991 in Sindelfingen. They grew up in nearby Hildrizhausen,[3][4] what Kevin described as a "forest village", where, for them, it was "rainy" and "lonely", which led them to build their craft, or, as Kevin says, "fantasy in their minds".
Their parents had a radio receiver and a CD player, with various "classic" records by Björk, U2, Michael Jackson, and more, which further helped them as inspiration to start making music. They started making beats with the DAW software Cubase, which led them to making their stage name "Cubeatz". In the late 2000s, they started putting their beats on YouTube.
In 2008, they earned their first record with German rapper Vega. During this time, Cubeatz relied strongly on unlicensed samples, a practice they later said was only possible due to their produced songs staying relatively unnoticed at the time.[5] They began producing for more rappers in Germany, such as Fard and PA Sports.[3] Through Fard, they were connected with Haftbefehl, one of the bigger names in German hip hop at the time, producing the song "An alle Bloxx" on his 2012 album Kanackiş.[3] They garnered attention in the German gangsta rap scene and began producing beats for other German rappers such as Summer Cem, KC Rebell or Farid Bang, eventually signing a publishing deal with Sony Music Publishing in Germany.[6]
As their popularity grew, Cubeatz changed their production process to omit the use of samples and began playing all melodies by themselves. In a 2014 interview, they said they tried to position themselves more as "producers" instead of "beatmakers": "We used to finish the beats at home and then send out packages of five or six instrumentals. Today we take care of the complete production of an album."[5]
International hip hop
In late 2014, a "friend" of them sent a composition of theirs to American record producer Vinylz, which, in mid-2015, evolved into the song "R.I.C.O." by rapper Meek Mill featuring Canadian rapper Drake, with additional production by American record producer Allen Ritter.[4] Cubeatz explained that the R.I.C.O. placement opened multiple doors for them, such as being connected with American record producer Cardo, with whom they ended up working on multiple songs.[4] Since then, they were able to send their "original samples" off to other major record producers such as Metro Boomin, Boi-1da, Tay Keith, Murda Beatz, and much more, gaining momentum in US hip hop production and garnering a lot of high-profile collaborations with Drake, Travis Scott, Future, 21 Savage, and Don Toliver, among others.[6][7] Since 2014, their work mostly consists of composing their own melodies that they send off to be sampled by other producers.
List of singles as either producer or co-producer, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released, performing artists and album name
^"Summer Sixteen" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number six on the NZ Heatseeker chart.[11]
^"That Part" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number six on the NZ Heatseeker chart.[14]
^"No Frauds" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number three on the NZ Heatseeker Singles Chart.[25]
^"MotorSport" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number two on the NZ Heatseeker Singles Chart.[35]
^"Tati" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number eight on the NZ Heatseeker Singles Chart.[44]
^"Nephew" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 5 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, which acts as an extension to the Hot 100.[49]
^"Everybody Dies" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 22 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.[58]
^"Everybody Dies" did not enter the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, but peaked at number nine on the Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart.[59]
^"Everybody Dies" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 37 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.[60]
^"Vacation" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 23 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.[81]
^"Heavy" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 14 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.[92]
^"BRIT Certified – bpi". BPI. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Enter Summer Sixteen in the search field and then press Enter. Retrieved 20 September 2018.