Making rap beats while he should have been studying paid off for Ryan Barouch.
The 2005 MSU alumnus is one of three finalists for VH1’s “The Score” contest for hip-hop producers.
MSU alumnus makes top 3 in VH1 hip-hop competition
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Barouch was selected from more than 8,000 entries of 60-second clips of original instrumental music, according to VH1.
The entries were judged by a VH1 panel of experts, and listeners can vote once a day online at thescore.vh1.com for one of the three finalists.
Voting ends Sept. 9, and Barouch said the winner will be contacted Sept. 10.
Reginald “Reggie” Thompson and Antonio Gonzalez, aka DJ Satisfaction are the other two contestants in the final three.
The winner will receive a trip for himself and a guest to New York City to attend this year’s “Hip-Hop Honors Award Show” and a studio session with Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson from The Roots to create the show’s theme song.
A few days before the contest ended, one of Barouch’s clients at his financial business, American Credit Restoration, encouraged Barouch to submit his work.
“I was one of the final submissions,” Barouch said. “I went home that night and uploaded five different songs onto the VH1 Web site.”
Barouch said he had no idea that he would be a finalist.
“A few days later I got a call from VH1 saying, ‘Congratulations, you’re one of the three finalists,’” Barouch said.
He was shocked. And so was his brother Jayme.
“I kind of didn’t believe him at first,” Jayme Barouch said.
Jayme is all too familiar with Ryan’s music.
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“He used to stay up ‘til four or five in the morning annoying me while we were in the apartment working on perfecting beats,” Jayme Barouch said.
Jayme and Ryan, born 17 months apart, lived together for two years at MSU.
“I was always making beats when I should have been studying,” Ryan Barouch said with a laugh. “I lived in The Landings (at Chandler Crossings). That was my studio.”
Sean Lederman, another roommate of Ryan’s at MSU, said the beats were a hit in college.
“A lot of people loved them,” Lederman said.
The beats ranged in style from southern hip-hop to ones that sound like The Neptunes, Jayme Barouch said.
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Although Jayme didn’t believe Ryan when he first told him about the contest, he’s now doing everything he can to help him win.
“I’m voting daily and I made campaigns on (Facebook.com) to try and get him to win,” Jayme said. “I think it’s great. I hope he gets pretty far with it.”
