The REAL story behind mixing Kanye West's "Stronger" with Manny Marroquin

On today’s DeadWax, Jack and Ryan sit down with legendary mix engineer Manny Marroquin to dive deep into the creation of Kanye West’s iconic track, "Stronger". Manny reveals the creative process behind the mix and what it was like working with Kanye. Get an inside look at the technical and artistic decisions that made "Stronger" a groundbreaking hit.
HUGE thank you to our guest for this episode: Manny Marroquin!!!
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Hosts: Jack Conte, Ryan Lerman
Guest: Manny Marroquin
Executive Producer: Ryan Lerman
Production Manager: Rachel McGowan
Video: Ricky Chavez
Audio Lead: Jack Light
Editor: Phineas Alexander
Theme Music Mixed by: Caleb Parker
#jackconte #ryanlerman #thedeadwaxshow #deadwax #musicians #musiciansreact #music #mannymarroquin #kanyewest #mixing #producer

[@popolokross444]

Gotta say guys, i love the hour long format like this! Keep it up!!

[@JoseAv-tx4yl]

Kanye being the kick pusherman is crazy

[@ChadHensley]

So glad to have a new Dead Wax offering!!!

[@mateuszbrzezniak6451]

Dead Wax is back! 🔥

[@jrdougan]

It's a new school year miracle!

[@ghesak]

I loooooved this guy, I’m a designer and a lot of what he discussed has been so relatable to my experiences in the creative and technical process. What an amazing person and discussion. And as a Mexican the shoutout to cumbia was just pure gold. What an amazing piece full of knowledge and emotion. Thank you so much for doing this!

[@wingbird8197]

So happy - this video was great, and I missed you guys

[@theDyingArts]

Aw man it's way too early in the morning to make popcorn .... you guys fucked up my day dropping this video. xo

[@chilllikepeace335]

Facts!!!

[@codysennpaintings]

what a gem of a video

[@Alfred_English]

Great questions, fantastic interview

[@brendanmartin1628]

Ok Ok I get it now, Yall needed to take a break so Ryan could grow that sick stache!

[@DeadWaxShow]

🥸

[@cooldebt]

So good to hear the song again! Thanks for a great interview - so glad the mix wasn't abandoned! (Also reminds me of the brilliant Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Pomplamoose 😉)

[@jiat_spacejams]

First time stopping by and I have to say I love what you've done with the place. Great guest, good questions, and fantastic example cutaways. I might just have to cozy up to that subscribe button and give sweet mama a smackeroo.

[@echodream]

It's crazy how many times Marroquin's profile made me think of Joe Rogan during this interview. Very good interview by the way, thank you!

[@donotoliver]

Best podcast episode on mixing ive probably ever heard

[@Mobius1989]

Thank God for you guys. We've missed you 😊

[@morbidmanmusic]

Thank them for them...

[@artpinsof5836]

Fantastic interview with Manny! I left hearing about how much he emphasizes emotion and authenticity over the technical side of mixing!

[@GABETHEGOAT1K]

Just found this page, and I'm happy I did

[@rickdabass]

Omg they are back! I love professional musicians react so much!

[@MANNYLATE]

Wow, I've never seen a channel handle educating us with such ease. What an incredible episode and channel!

[@shinecurious]

Soo Soo valuable, just riffin of each other and inviting the wisdom to the forefront, could use more of that...THANKS guys!!

[@reliablechild]

Thanks for going into excruciatingly detail on the "four on the floor" def 👌

[@jonnygeld9510]

it's good to have you back guys

[@rome8180]

For all those people that want to whine about Kanye, how about you focus on what Manny Marroquin is saying instead? He's one of the wisest and most humble guys in the business. And he says things here that transcend music. Personally, I don't get the current tendency to see people as totally bad based on a few actions. It seems like a juvenile and naive view of morality to me. I'm not a fan of things Kanye has said, done, or tweeted either. But that doesn't mean he's not interesting to hear about an artist and a personality. The world just isn't that fucking simple.

[@TheZooropaBaby]

a few actions....as if Kanye just one day started being horrible Nazi lol that shit was somewhat persisting since....maybe 2017, that's when the crack started to show when (supposedly) Rick Rubin showed him Candice Owen videos

[@r0flgal0re]

While what you're saying is true, the first 7 mins are just hyping a VERY problematic and antisemitic person. Many people including me are just going to turn it off at that point. I resumed a bit later and it was okay, but that first impression is just... I didn't want to be part of that.

[@Bran_Flakesx7]

@@r0flgal0re they're hyping someone who has legitimate reasons to be hyped. Nothing there to "not want to be a part of". Going around calling people problematic like all that matters is what you don't like about them. Lame as shit.

[@pastense]

Ignoring a problem makes you a part of another problem. You can be indifferent instead of “picking sides”. The word ‘ignore’ stems from ignorance. Imagine if we all ignored Hitler.

[@ScottThePisces]

There are so many incredible artists, inventors, philosophers who can teach us so much, who have provided us with so much... if all we do is break them down to their flaws, we'd gain nothing.... In regards to Kanye, dude, this song was made in 2007, he wasn't saying the things he did in 2022 back then. Different person and there's nothing wrong with admiring his work.

[@blahblah6787]

brilliant interview! kudos to you

[@SodaPeople]

dude I love you guys, thank you so much for the content

[@bettorup_]

DEAD WAX IS BAX

[@BahanWako]

Great great talk! Thank you guys ❤‍🔥👍

[@lambrosmarkousis7546]

really loved this!

[@bryan_truong]

So good. Did I hear that he will go over mixing Gravity on Patreon? I also would love to have an episode with Ryan as the "guest" to hear him talk about his work on Lizzy McAlpine's album

[@DeadWaxShow]

yes! join us on Patreon! patreon.com/scarypockets

[@eggsrsweet]

Man... something must be up with my algorithm because I'm subbed to y'all and have watched almost every video you've put out but I didn't come across this till just now. Anyway, looking forward to watching!

[@donnaevans9894]

This is amazing! I always learn so much! THANKS

[@adamrodriguez5298]

Love Dead Wax. So awesome

[@rundajulesproductions7735]

No four on the floor Hip Hop beats before through the wire? I actually had the argument with older people in the 1990's that Hip Hop was actually not anything different than disco. Push It, It's Like That, You Can't Touch This, Pump up the Jam...

[@SweepsBeats]

Interesting that they didn't talk about the kick that was already in the sample on Stronger. I imagine that is what made all the layering so difficult.

[@KramitDaFrog]

Love the longer video! A video on Justice would be sweet!

[@Le_Mer]

I drop everything when I see that Dead Wax notification

[@JanJustyna]

U freakin' nerds! I love U!!

[@andremansa1]

The Brian McKnight song he’s referring to is “never felt this way“ I loved the Alicia Keys version as a kid!

[@EdibleGlue369]

Eyyyy an hour of Dead Wax!👌👌👌

[@AndresAcostafamily]

This was fucking wonderful

[@schoovaertssimon7904]

dope Hip Hop artists/producers: Diamond D, Havoc, Large Professor, Kool Keith and most of all: Q-TIP

[@schoovaertssimon7904]

I remember Nappy Roots well, was dope

[@nyigs]

That PL on the floor is killing me

[@ChrisCanMakeStuff]

Yes! More dead wax!!!!

[@Slinks34]

Finally!!

[@schoovaertssimon7904]

oh, it's pronounced "marrokwinn"! damn, thanx

[@DanielJimenez-il9vr]

A DEAD WAX EPISODEEEE!!!!!!!

[@KoendeJong]

19:34 the perfect LUF was walking in the room?

[@bendavies8129]

Haven’t watched one of these in a minute. Why oh why did you guys switch to headset mics? It sounds like a phone interview, that insanely compressed, no bottom end, super boxy. Please dear god switch back to lavs or fixed position condensers or something, so it sounds like an interview in a studio rather than a sportscast 😅

[@DavidOstMusic]

this is cinema

[@JimVictor-w9f]

Larson Trafficway

[@redeemerthedreamer]

lit

[@colewilliams9716]

Where did you get that laptop table? I need like 3 of those asap

[@ericpeters0n]

There were 26 mixes of this track done (by a variety of mixers) iirc...

[@hijkellamellap6655]

Speaking of some cool Korean bands,,, check out Silicagel, Hyukoh & parannoul! They’re in the middle of what Korean culture is calling the band boom.

[@dynoburger]

Love it

[@ScottThePisces]

Imagine complaining about Manny talking about Kanye West, when YOU clicked on a video with Kanye West's name in the title. 😂

[@richardlehoux]

So you think it’s not good practice to actually watch a video before criticizing it? You are perfect for social media.

[@JoaoVictordeLima-yo1cc]

yeaaaahhhhhh

[@nimblybimbly4002]

I miss the professor in the educational moments. (No offence, Jack. lol)

[@RicardoGarcia-vf5jl]

Could you please add subtitles?

[@michaelfasko267]

No southern hip-hop before Nappy Roots?! Love Nappy, don't get me wrong. But Ghetto Boys and Scarface? UGK? Devin da Dude?

[@parktoday]

finalfuckinly

[@freddie5ive]

kanye wasn't 19 during blueprint lol he was 23.

[@thedozenclub]

He didn’t say the black album he said during blueprint 1 sessions

[@freddie5ive]

@@thedozenclub yeah fair

[@bambizilla5433]

Just to let you know….. the moment you broke down what 4 on the floor was i subscribed This is my first time tuning in thank you

[@RicardoGarcia-vf5jl]

Legend in vídeo?

[@t61gae]

When is Jacob Collier coming?

[@KC-bi9jw]

The apostrophe "s" in your thumbnail belongs on the word, "What", not on "it". (I hope I got all that punctuation correct!) What's it like -> What is it like? What it's like -> What it is like? (that only makes sense if you're Borat) Unfortunately I won't be able to watch the video further because that's all I can think about. And I have playlist labelled "Manny mixes" so I really want to watch this.

[@BluePhoenix476513]

I miss Musicians React.

[@blahblah6787]

shit song, great mix

[@jukpulfer]

is there a version of this without the mansplaining interludes? 🤠

[@MrMurkosullivan]

Yeah... Not a fan of glaze fests for people like Kanye.. There are too many artists who are at least kinda decent people and rarely get recognition or notice. Disaapointed in this, to be honest. When you guys got Darren King on it became obvious that Kanye utlises his power to make other musicians write stuff for him so he can take the credit... and he has so much rich and fame that they dont even care. Well Darren didn't. I find the whole thing qquite strange to be honest.

[@vinylarchaeologist]

Less than 10% of this is about Kanye. Better to watch a video first.

[@MrMurkosullivan]

@@vinylarchaeologist I agree with you. I thought it may have just been provocative marketing in the thumbnail and title. But I had to stop after 2 n a half minutes. Can't stand people treating a person that doesnt even respect music composition and crediting artists like they are a god. And thats before you consider the ignoring the racism etc. Noped right out. My apologies, but I will watch the next one.

[@kwyatt261]

​@@MrMurkosullivan If ideas you disagree with make you turn your back on art, were you really into the art in the first place?

[@MrMurkosullivan]

@@kwyatt261 you see.. you didn't read what I said. I don't turn my back on the art. I just know that a collection of talented songwriters made it and deserve credit for it. I turn my back on the guy that took the credit for the art.... And plastered his shit rapping on a lot of it. But the latter part is my subjective tastes

[@kwyatt261]

@@MrMurkosullivan Interesting

[@ivanheffner2587]

Conflicted on this. I really like Jack and Ryan and this channel. Never liked the “artist” being discussed. Even before the racism and fascism, I thought he was conceited and far less talented than everyone else seems to think.

[@rome8180]

Well, don't focus on Kanye. Focus on Manny Marroquin and his wisdom. He's offering tons of advice that transcends the music.

[@mdptg1990]

Him being “far less talented” is subjective and probably tainted by your personal opinions towards him. Especially if you’re not a fan of hip hop and hip hop culture

[@ivanheffner2587]

@@mdptg1990 I didn’t like his music _before_ he started doing some of the insane $#!7 in the last 10 years. Listening to one of his “hits” being played and talked about how great it was on one of the music podcasts I listened to at the time I thought the actual mix sounded amateur. It sounded like someone cut a bunch of tapes a glued them together without equalizing levels between samples. It sounded like garbage. If anyone other than _that_guy_ had put it out, others would have agreed. Again, this was _before_ he started doing the insane [1930s Germany political party] sympathizing. Hip hop is not my go-to, but I have no issues with it if it’s actually good. _That guy_ is not good.

[@mdptg1990]

@@ivanheffner2587 if hip hop isn’t your go to, then you’re probably not the one to judge the quality of his music. And again, music is subjective. In the hip hop and black community he’s revered as probably the most influential artist of the last 2 decades - especially with how he pushed the genre into new landscapes 3 different times throughout his career (as a producer and a rapper). If you’re not embedded within hip hop culture and not a listener of hip hop in general, you wouldn’t know that

[@ivanheffner2587]

@@mdptg1990 Just because an industry is following a new trend, that doesn’t mean the trend is good; it just means it’s profitable. Profitable and Good are not the same thing.

[@worldofcricketchannel]

😂 Who cares?

[@seandwyer448]

There were loads of producers/rappers before Kanye. Rza, Large Pro, Lord Finest....

[@GiganticPloy]

Guys love your content. But please don't forget Kanye is an outspoken anti-semite not to mention a ton of problematic stories we now know about him. There's literally hundreds upon hundreds of artists and tracks you can ask Manny about that don't involve Kanye.

[@Bran_Flakesx7]

Please don't forget he's a generational talent and he merits positive coverage even if you want to act like a lame ass "social germophobe" like a bunch of other people.

[@GiganticPloy]

@@Bran_Flakesx7 acknowledging he is a massive and unapologetic anti-Semite is a fact. This is a man who has expressed admiration for Hitler not to mention his support of Trump. He is soneone with massive influence who seeks to influence the masses on his views therefore criticism of his views is wholly appropriate. He doesn’t need any more promotion and his talent has been long recognized.

[@batautomat]

@@Bran_Flakesx7yeah ignore the Hitler praise and other fatal character flaws that show a total disregard for others because he makes dope beats XD

[@rundajulesproductions7735]

Edwin Birdsong's Cola Bottle Shaped Girl is the Kanye Song and the Daft Punk song. Like other people didn't write Kanye's lyrics? I'm not saying he is not a good producer, but making the distinction like writing lyrics is the difference btw him and Dre and Timbaland is ridiculous. What about RZA? Pete Rock? J-Dilla? Large Professor? Diamond D? Eric Sermon? Basically, every member of Heiro, Daz, Warren G? Manny may be legendary as a mixer but if you don't know Hip-Hop, mixing an album for Kanye doesn't make you an expert in that. Kanye was not the first successful rapper who makes beats by any stretch of the imagination. To call him a rapper is actually a stretch, in my opinion.

[@TheZooropaBaby]

you guys had scientologist, a guy who worked with Nazi on this show...amazing lineup

[@BockwinkleB]

Cry harder.

[@VIIVIIV]

I'm waiting for the questions like, 'So how do you feel about the Kanye you knew then saying stuff like 'Hitler wasn't that bad' ?"

[@MrMurkosullivan]

@@TheZooropaBaby I feel like the show should be theoretically able to put aside comments against whole races of people (maybe).. but after Darren king talked about his experience but was obvious that Kanye just lets musicians do the writing, and then takes the credit. Considering subject matter if this show, I find that behaviour far more concerning... It unnerved me when Darren celebrated being treated that way. I personally chose not to consume about a guy so desperate for attention, and has already shown he will use it in such harmful ways.

[@veroneliot277]

He stoped working with him as soon as he talked about stuffs with trump/ hitler and so on. Manny left his home country due to civil war to come to USA. So please shut up instead of saying stupid things here.

[@natem966]

There’s no equivalence 😂

[@gpwaltz]

I get that this video is about a producing a track, but this seems way out of touch. There are so many other artists' tracks to dive deep on, it's a major disappointment to see Kane's face on the Dead Wax feed.

[@rome8180]

Or maybe they just don't buy into the current simplistic, puritanical internet view of morality where people are either irredeemable and canceled or good people worth celebrating. Maybe they understand that people can have flaws and say shitty things and still have some value or do something interesting? What you label as "out of touch" used to be being an adult with perspective and an understanding that life is nuanced.

[@hunteradammusic]

I would’ve loved to hear him talk about some Post Malone mixes such as Rockstar, I think the mix on that song is stellar

[@LP-123]

This video was over 90% speaking on mixing/production and not the song in question. You should try watching the actual video before critiquing it.

[@emanggitulah4319]

Kaynler?

[@alexanderednie1205]

How cool must it have been to rip off Daft Punks song and just add a hiphop beat. Wack as hell. He’s also antisemitic which super cool. Come on guys. Do better.

[@LP-123]

Over 90% of this video is about mixing, generally, and not the specific song at all.

[@elbowspeak]

Whenever I see "Kanye" I don't watch.

[@morbidmanmusic]

But you comment...? That is worse.

[@Bran_Flakesx7]

The social germophobe fad will die soon.

[@charlesbarclay8181]

Ok

[@EthanTheMighty]

More for me

[@grandpanda2791]

No one asked

[@mandroidboogie8658]

I love Stronger but why is more credit not given to Daft Punk because lets face it thats why the song worked. Daft Punk was next level pioneers and were more obscure artists and Kanye west music was super commercial. They act like they invented the wheel on this track. The credit should go to daft punk. Also he literally credited Timbaland with sorting out the kick because about 10 people tried to sort it out he did it in 5 minutes. kzbin.infoz8jgCkpdwd4