Rising from the rapidly growing Toronto contemporary R&B scene, Francis Nguyen-Tran, now known as “FrancisGotHeat,” has built a strong reputation for himself as one of the hottest producers going.
In an interview with Noisey, Francis reveals how Drake’s manager discovered him.
I had been sending Oliver beats through my manager at the time, who knew him from the music scene in Toronto, I kept emailing him my stuff and then he listened to this one track and said, ‘I like that. Hold it.’
The piece in question is now under the title “4422,” Drake’s Sampha assisted ballad featured on his 2017 “playlist,” More Life.
As well as working with Drake, Francis has joined forces with another OVO star, Roy Woods, working closely on many tracks together. The producer has also branched out to the TDE camp, producing hip-hop tracks for both Ab-Soul and Isaiah Rashad, as well as even dropping beats for Detroit’s biggest stars, Big Sean and Eminem on “No Favors,” along with fellow producer,
WondaGurl — the pair also linked up for Bryson Tiller’s “Blowing Smoke.”
After admitting to producing beats since the age of 13, the now 20-year-old star told Noisey about his first break:
I’ve been producing, technically, since I was 13, so like seven years now. I was always just making beats and putting them online and people started really liking them, I guess I didn’t officially get into the industry until 2013 when I got my first album placement with Tre Mission.
As his production pallet expands from R&B to hip-hop, while his reputation expands from underground Toronto to worldwide recognition, FrancisGotHeat continues to prove why he is one of the best producers in the game.