In the 7th grade after listening to Kanye West’s album, “The College Dropout,” Gainesville native Sean Momberger began experimenting with music on a $100 drum machine. He’d have no idea that 20 years later, he would be producing a song off of West’s most recent album, “Vultures 2.”
Now, the 34-year-old record producer and musician has been nominated five times for the 67th Grammy Awards airing on CBS Feb. 2, including Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song and Best Music Video for Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
Momberger pulled samples from 1960s funk artist Monk Higgins for his songs “tv off” and “Not Like Us” by Lamar, but he also pulled career inspiration from Tom Petty — the man who blazed the trail before him.
“I was always looking up to Tom Petty — just that he made it out of Gainesville and was able to win Grammys despite being from a small town,” Momberger said. “I felt pride knowing that I went to the same high school as him.”
After Momberger produced a song for R&B singer Trey Sonz in 2013, he realized he wanted to try to make a living off of creating music.
Momberger also produced songs, “tv off” and “peekaboo,” off of Lamar’s latest album, “GNX.” Momberger said “tv off” was a B-side to “Not Like Us,” while “peekaboo” was created based on the street sounds of Los Angeles.
“I think Kendrick wanted to embody LA in this whole album,” he said.
Jordan Ortiz, a 25-year-old Gainesville resident and hip-hop DJ, said he believes that’s exactly what Lamar and Momberger did.
“[‘GNX’] put LA on the map again,” Ortiz said. “You really feel the artist — that it’s him.”
While Momberger said his success wasn’t possible without the help he received from the people around him, Ortiz said musical success is a matter of consistently presenting yourself as confident.
As someone who is an active member of the Gainesville hip-hop scene, Ortiz said the city serves as a stepping stone for many musicians’ careers.
While Ortiz said he believes Gainesville remains a creative breeding ground for music, Momberger said the lack of resources he had when he began producing music might have put his career at a disadvantage.
“Each year, you climb the ladder a little bit,” he said. “I’ve grown a little bit in the industry, but it's definitely a slow process. I’m very grateful for the journey and all the people I’ve met.”
Momberger’s success is an example of how Gainesville, once a small town with a few bars, has evolved into a mainstream music scene. It was once hard to become a rap artist, but it’s easier now, he said.
Despite the small hip-hop scene of the early 2000’s, now-legends Kanye West and Lil Wayne were some of the few artists who performed in Gainesville. Ever since Momberger saw them perform in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center, he said he knew he had to at least try to make it as a producer.
So, when Momberger moved to Los Angeles after connecting with California rap artist Skeme, he went back to his roots: Kanye West’s “The College Dropout.”
A mutual friend of Momberger’s linked him to projects with West. Looking back at this career step, Momberger expressed gratuity toward his friends and family members.
“I’m blessed to have a lot of friends and co-producers that I’ve met throughout my years that elevated me and let me work with these amazing artists,” Momberger said. “Even though I’m just a small part of the production sometimes, just being able to have my name by the side of those great artists… is just surreal.”
New to the Gainesville scene with a passion for music is Stefan Daley, a 19-year-old UF philosophy freshman who is minoring in music theory. While Daley is a fan of progressive rock, characterized by odd time signatures and creative compositions, he said he also loves modern rap and frequently listens to artists like SZA, Kendrick Lamar and The Weeknd.
The reason he was drawn into rap was because of its genre-mixing creativity, he said, and the popularity of R&B and the more bluesy sounds of rap go together.
As a musician, Lamar’s influence inspired Daley to create more music. As a fan, it encouraged him to listen to different genres outside his comfort zone.
“There’s a lot of great studio musicians who are making creative jazz-rap music that I don’t think people would be listening to otherwise,” Daley said. “Kendrick [Lamar’s] older music… has a lot of jazz-rap.”
Knowing music entrepreneurs like Momberger have originated from Gainesville, Daley said it’s important to see people like him who are making it big.
So, as Momberger watched the telecast of the 2024 Grammy nominations Nov. 8 in Los Angeles, he kept in mind his humble beginnings back in Gainesville.
“I kind of expected it for [Best Rap Song], but when it was nominated for Song of the Year and Record of the Year, it hit me that it was definitely a cultural-defining song,” he said. “The little kid inside me thought it was a dream.”
Contact Autumn Johnstone at ajohnstone@alligator.org.. Follow them on X @AutumnJ922
