The path of Jake Fridkis is anything but conventional. With deep roots in classical flute performance and a career now embedded in the heart of modern rap production, Fridkis represents a rare creative bridge between musical worlds. His work has landed on records with artists like Drake and Sexyy Red, but today his focus extends beyond placements.
Through his community-driven initiative Starter Gang, Fridkis is channeling his success into mentorship, collaboration, and opportunity, creating a pipeline where talented producers can transform shared ideas into major records.
What is Starter Gang?
Starter Gang is a collective of producers I created around my “starters.” It’s opened up my vault of unreleased ideas to a whole new group of unsigned and less experienced producers, as well as some incredibly successful platinum and Grammy-winning producers who I hadn’t been collaborating with yet.
Starter Gang is a collective of producers I created around my “starters.” It’s opened up my vault of unreleased ideas to a whole new group of unsigned and less experienced producers, as well as some incredibly successful platinum- and Grammy-winning producers who I hadn’t been collaborating with yet.
At what point did you start thinking not just about making beats, but about building an ecosystem around creativity?
For a while, I had been wanting to do something that solved the issue of having to ignore everyone in my DMs asking to work with me. I wanted to collaborate, but since I don’t really use loops, it didn’t make sense for me to receive loops from all the producers asking to send them.
At the same time, I’m very protective of my own loops. I only send them to a select group of producers I work closely with, and I curate who I send what to very carefully. I also didn’t want to just send the same ideas to everyone.
Starter Gang is where I send unfinished ideas, and anyone can finish them. Then I send the completed beats to producers I work with or to artists, writers, and A&Rs based on who I hear using them best.
What’s the philosophy behind Starter Gang?
Outwork everyone. Make the best possible music. Win together.
What made you realize the timing was right to start giving back to the producer community?
Honestly, I had no clue if it would be a good idea or not. I just wanted to try it. Then the reaction was so great that I realized how inspiring it was for me to see what all these producers I had never met were coming up with.
Who can join Starter Gang? And what core values should they have?
Everyone can join. I want to work with all of you.
The values are: no shortcuts, make great music, and stay consistent. We aren’t chasing placements, but placements are going to come faster than you can imagine if the work is good.
Who are some of the key collaborators you came up with, and what makes them special or connects with you creatively and personally?
There are too many to name, but it’s been really cool to see everyone I came up with establishing themselves in the industry and getting their hits and huge cuts. It’s crazy how far we’ve come in the last few years.
Seeing their success makes me genuinely happy on a completely different level.
When you’re listening through the beats that come back from the community, what are you listening for?
A good beat is just a good beat. You can tell instantly. But the drums have to hit right.
What is your dream outcome for this movement?
I want to see people getting their first placements. I want to see people with placements getting signed. I want to see producers I know discovering new producers through the loops I send them.
Really, I just want to open up the world to everyone who’s working hard and sending their beats and loops in. It’s already happening too, which is the really cool part.
What are some habits and routines you’ve developed over the years to stay creative in a ruthless and unpredictable industry?
I genuinely love making music, so I look forward to the time I get to spend in the studio working on it. It brings me a lot of joy.
That keeps me going when things aren’t going my way with releases and drops, because even if I wasn’t doing this for my job, I’d still be making music.
What you’re doing coincides beautifully with our mission at Postal. Has the platform made it easier for you to build this momentum with the community?
Postal is the future of file sharing in music, and I’m not just saying that because this is a Postal interview.
The level of detail on the platform is insane. The fact that I can run this whole infrastructure in a way that not only makes it incredibly easy to upload and distribute ideas, but also keep track of everything people send back, and allows them to upload directly to different folders within the same ecosystem, is amazing.
Honestly, I don’t think I would be doing this without having met the Postal team when I did, because the setup would have been too intense without it.
Are there a few key people in your career who helped you in a way that inspired you to pay it forward?
Rex Kudo is someone who put me in positions I didn’t deserve to be in when I was just starting out. He inspired me, and a lot of other producers who came up through his studio, not just musically but in how to treat people.
Tay Keith is another one. When I signed with Tay, he put me in rooms and let me run sessions when I had never run one by myself. He went above and beyond to support my career, shouted me out in interviews, and introduced me to people I never could have met on my own.
I learned a lot from how he treats everyone he works with, and I’m very grateful for that example.
When approaching a new production, how do you balance familiarity vs innovation? Do you think about it or just let it flow?
Nothing is really “new” in music. I would never try to do something just to be the first person to do it.
Personally, I just try to make the music I want to hear. That can be very different depending on the day. My taste is all over the place, so it ends up being a crazy mix of styles from day to day.
When it comes to placements, how has your relationship with patience evolved over the years?
I learned that you can’t control anything besides your own output. So I just try to stay productive, do good business, and let the rest take care of itself.
What’s something NOT to do when working with you?
Don’t take shortcuts. The music has to be great.
When Starter Gang succeeds at the highest level, what do you imagine it becoming?
We have a lot of cool things planned.
Next up is a free community loop pack that we’re going to drop. It will introduce the work of everyone involved to a much wider audience, and people can use the loops free of charge in their beats. If those beats get placed, everyone will get royalties, so it’s a great way to create opportunities and work with an even broader audience.
We’re also planning beat reviews and collaborations with some major producers for submissions. It’ll be another way for members to get noticed by big names. We might also do some with managers and A&Rs.
Live producer camps are definitely in the works too, so stay tuned.
The first and second drop beats have already gone to major artists in the industry and some heavy-hitting writers. We’ve already been getting placements, which is really exciting, and I’m looking forward to changing some lives when we land some big ones.
Is there a fee to sign up?
No. This is something I’m doing completely free of charge.
I’m really just trying to do something positive for the community, because the community has been really good to me. There are always scams out there, so I wanted this to be something where people can work at the highest level and truly get their chance to be heard.