During a recent interview, Dutch-born engineer Koen Heldens recalled working alongside XXXTentacion on some of the late performer’s most popular songs. He detailed his recording process during a conversation with Studio Talks, as well as what he was able to learn. “When I heard ‘Jocelyn Flores’ for the first time, and it completely took me by surprise. I had this image of XXXTentacion as a face-tatted SoundCloud rapper, but the raw emotion in ‘Jocelyn Flores’ was completely different from what I expected. X also had another track for me to mix: ‘F**K Love’ featuring Trippie Redd. That’s how we started working together—almost by chance. X had a way of manifesting things quickly, and it felt like fate that I mixed ‘Jocelyn Flores’ on my birthday,” he began.
“In November 2017, we worked on A Ghetto Christmas Carol EP, which we completed in one weekend. I remember trying to clean up the 808s on the title track, but X and producer Ronny J insisted, ‘No, no, no, don’t clean it up! It’s supposed to feel like an electric guitar for white people but felt through the bass in the trunk.’ That experience taught me that sometimes being technically correct doesn’t serve the creative process—music is about emotion and feel,” Heldens continued.
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Koen Heldens Discusses Working With XXXTentacion
He went on, remembering how XXX FaceTimed him right after recording “Sad!” According to him, the Florida-born artist had a feeling it would be a hit. “He sent me the track and said, ‘I need the mix back in an hour.’ Naturally, I thought, ‘An hour? That’s impossible.’”
Ultimately, however, Heldens was inspired. “I immediately felt compelled to push the snare way out front—making it loud and prominent,” he said. “There was no second verse, despite some discussions about adding one, but it didn’t need it since the song didn’t follow a typical structure.”
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