Brooklyn’s La’Dell (@la_dell) has been building his own lane for a minute now, and “Stoop Talk” feels like one of the best examples of what that actually means in practice. His BKLYN Organic Tech identity has always sat in an interesting place, pulling from house, Afro rhythms, hip-hop, and R&B without sounding boxed into one formula.
That mix has already landed him chart positions across Beatport’s Afro House and Organic House sections, but this new EP on Tech Afrique feels more rooted in where he’s from than anything before it.
“Stoop Talk” taps into that grit directly.
The drums feel heavier, the vocal choices lean into that rougher Brooklyn energy, and the whole arrangement moves with the kind of swing that comes from digging for the right samples rather than overbuilding from scratch. It is a record that still carries the groove-first mindset of Afro House, but with a dirtier, tougher edge that makes it feel distinct from a lot of what gets lumped into that lane right now.
For this How It Was Made breakdown, La’Dell gets into the actual mechanics behind it, from Loopcloud as the creative center of the session to Ozone 10, Neutron 4, and Decapitator (which I just published a full 2026 review of here), handling the mix and tone shaping. What stands out most here is how practical the workflow is.
This is less about collecting endless plugins and more about knowing how to move fast, find the right pieces, and shape them into something that feels personal.
Loopcloud
Loopcloud is essentially my main creative workbench for organizing and finding sounds quickly. Technically, it is a cloud-connected sample engine that automatically matches any loop you browse to your project’s tempo and key in real time. It completely cuts out the standard hassle of digging through endless hard drives, letting you browse and slice audio right inside your software setup.
Loopcloud is my workhorse; I use it to generate ideas quickly and efficiently.
The flexibility to lock all samples to the same key or to create unique patterns from a loop provide endless possibilities and unique swing possibilities. At this particular point in time, I was beginning to really explore my roots. Up until this point most of my tracks were a lot more organic and melodic but it was time to tap into that gritty BKLYN side. I spent a few hours digging through trap and hip hop vocals until I found a combination that matched the vibe and direction I was targeting.
If you want to create your own signature groove, slicing up loops inside the platform is an amazing way to write custom patterns that completely change the rhythm of a track. Even if you aren’t a traditionally trained musician, the real-time key lock feature is a lifesaver when you find a bass line or instrument that has the perfect human vibe but is out of key. It allows you to immediately repurpose existing audio files into fresh building blocks without breaking your creative momentum.
Ozone 10
iZotope Ozone 10 is an essential audio suite designed to balance frequencies, polish your mix, and bring professional clarity and fullness to your tracks. It combines everything from equalizers to loudness maximizers in one simple interface, making your track feel complete and cohesive. It is a go-to tool for giving your music a high-quality finish that holds its own against any major club release.
I use Ozone primarily to glue my kick and bass together. A tip from a friend and mentor when he was showing me how to get more punch out of my low end. Specifically I create a low-end bus with Ozone 10 and use a combination of the exciter and maximizer to create punch and loudness. By bringing those foundational low elements together, the track gets a heavy, unified presence on a system. It keeps my creative mix feeling completely locked in right before I export the stems for the final master polish.
Grouping your low-end tracks onto a dedicated channel and running them through Ozone is an excellent way to get a clean punch out of low end. Instead of waiting until the very end and slapping a harsh limiter on your master track that chokes the life out of your song, let these modules smoothly round off your sounds while you design the groove. It’s a clean, simple trick that guarantees your tracks feel solid and balanced right from the studio.
Neutron 4
iZotope Neutron 4 is an intuitive mixing suite built to help you balance individual tracks and make sure separate instruments aren’t clashing in your song. It packs multiple processing tools under one hood, giving you a clean, simple way to EQ and clean up separate track channels. My favorite part is the Transient Shaper module, which lets you easily adjust the initial punch of a drum hit and how long that sound rings out afterward.
It has a really good exciter as well which I used on a couple of grouped tracks, but I really love the transient shaper and I use this on my kicks primarily. For “Stoop Talk,” I pulled up the tool on my main kick drum channel to make sure the snap felt clean and prominent against the background vocals and main elements. It helped the track maintain a solid, driving bounce that thumps nicely on a big sound system. It gives my creative mixes an immediate edge without making the low frequencies sound cluttered or muddy.
For anyone building rhythm-heavy underground tracks, paying close attention to your kick drum punch is essential. Neutron is great because it lets you sharpen your drum hits easily without just cranking your volume slider and overloading your channels. It’s a great habit to keep your kicks punchy and short so your tracks stay tight and have all the breathing room they need to drive the groove.
Decapitator
Soundtoys Decapitator is an iconic analog saturation plugin that adds character, grit, and warmth to digital sounds. It simulates the natural vibe of old-school studio gear, tubes, and preamps, helping flat or thin samples sound more present. It is an essential tool when you want an individual track or sample to cut clearly inside a busy project.
My swiss army knife, I use this on individual samples to help them cut through the mix. On this track, I used it directly to boost the apparent loudness of key elements, which helped me balance the creative mixing phase perfectly. It brought out the natural grit and texture of the vocals and percussion, ensuring everything held a clear place in the mix. It’s a simple, reliable way to make sounds punchy so I can get the most out of the mix.
If you want your tracks to have an authentic raw edge, using analog character plugins is a massive upgrade for your workflow. It lets you add flavor to pristine digital samples, making them cut through a dense section without muddying things up. A good trick is to apply it to percussion or vocals and dial it in until the element feels right in the arrangement.
Quick Fire Hot Takes
Hot Take #1: We need much better genre classifications in electronic music instead of lazily throwing every track with a rhythmic groove under the generic “Afro House” banner. This total lack of nuance is a rampant issue across the industry right now.
Hot Take #2: I miss the days of extended tracks that actually took you somewhere instead of copy-pasting basic arrangements for short radio edits. I understand the streaming game, but the purist in me refuses to compromise the club floor.
Hot Take #3: Stop forcing generic “best practice” social content that clearly isn’t you. If it feels fake, people can tell immediately.
Hot Take #4: Switch up your production environment and take your setup somewhere new. Nature, a coffee shop, another studio, whatever. Breaking routine is one of the easiest ways to keep the process interesting.
Hot Take #5: Longevity is built on independent groundwork and consistency, not chasing hype cycles. Build the foundation first and let the results speak for themselves.
Will Vance is a professional music producer who has been involved in the industry for the better part of a decade and has been the managing editor at Magnetic Magazine since mid-2022. In that time period, he has published thousands of articles on music production, industry think pieces and educational articles about the music industry. Over the last decade as a professional music producer, Will Vance has also ran multiple successful and highly respected record labels in the industry, including Where The Heart Is Records as well as having launched a new label with a focus on community through Magnetic Magazine. When not running these labels or producing his own music, Vance is likely writing for other top industry sites like Waves or the Hyperbits Masterclass or working on his upcoming book on mindfulness in music production. On the rare chance he's not thinking about music production, he's probably running a game of Dungeons and Dragons with his friends which he has been the dungeon master for for many years.
