Acclaimed Producer TOMMEE PROFITT Discusses His Debut Solo Single ‘Faking Love,’ Working With NF and Much More!

Today, the acclaimed producer Tommee Profitt made his debut as a solo recording artist with the release of his new single, “Faking Love (ft. Jung Youth & NAWAS)”. As evidenced on the song, Profitt, most notably known for his production work with celebrated hip hop artist, NF, proves his knack at generating widely successful hits. “Faking Love” seamlessly blends electronic, hip hop, and elements of dark pop into an engaging, hypnotic track that underscores his cinematic sensibilities. The accompanying music video, directed by Patrick Tohill (Andy Grammer, NF, Jonas Blue + Nina Nesbitt) and inspired by Black Mirror, is also out today, which follows the main character as he finds himself plugged into a virtual reality simulation. The dystopian visual has a sci-fi edge that further reveals the depth of Profitt’s artistry.

Check out the video for “Faking Love” here:

“‘Faking Love’ is about being done pretending, whether that’s in a relationship, a friendship, or any other life situation,” said Profitt. “The song reflects on finally feeling freedom where you can genuinely live and be true to yourself.”

Over the last few years alone, Profitt has achieved tremendous success as a producer, songwriter, and award-winning composer for TV and movies. A lifelong musician who taught himself to play piano as a child and started producing his own music at age 12, Profitt has earned accolades and acclaim for his genre-warping production work with platinum-selling artists like Migos, Hunter Hayes, and NF—the rapper/singer/songwriter whose Profitt-produced 2017 single “Let You Down” went five-times platinum, hit #1 on Billboard’s US Mainstream Top 40 chart, and surpassed a billion streams worldwide. In addition, his cover of Linkin Park’s “In The End” (featuring Fleurie) has accumulated over 855 million streams, landed on Spotify’s Viral 50 chart in 23 countries, emerged as the #52 most Shazamed song of 2019, and continues to impact TikTok users across the globe by driving 200 million views weekly.

Additionally, Profitt’s unique cinematic releases have not only clocked over one billion global lifetime streams, 500k YouTube subscribers, and a monthly listenership of over two million users on Spotify—they have also garnered widespread success in the sync world. His unique sonic fingerprint has landed over 200 sync placements with the NFL, MLB, NHL, ESPN, CBS, FOX, ABC, NBC, HBO, WWE, and Showtime, and in major network shows, films, and video games, with some of his biggest successes including The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt. 2, The Girl in the Spider’s Web, The Good Doctor, The Handmaid’s Tale, Assassin’s Creed, UFC2, Madden and many more.

Profitt is currently in the studio working on new original material, with more details to be revealed soon.

Connect with Tommee Profitt Here: WEBSITE

Learn more about Tommee Profitt in the following All Access interview:

Thank you for your time. So, given these unusual Covid-19 times, what does a typical day look like for you? How have you adjusted to these times?

As someone who always works from home, usually in the studio with the blackout shades down and the Philips Hue lights turned on, I’m sort of used to hunkering down in a dark cave and working by myself. Having several weeks of no one coming into the studio meant no additional songs being added to my plate, so I could finally do some catching up and work on a couple things that I had been wanting to get to for months, but didn’t have time. It was refreshing and reminded me of when I was 12 years old, sitting in my parents’ basement with headphones on making music. 

What has been the hardest/most challenging part about being quarantined?

I think it has been a little weird and challenging for everyone. Even for a family like mine who is already at home most the day (working from home, young kids, etc). You really realized even the SMALL things that you took advantage of, like running into a bank or grabbing a quick drink at a coffee shop. What was ‘normal’ before was actually a privilege, and you sometimes don’t realize it until it’s gone.

Let’s talk about your brand new debut single, “Faking Love.” What was the inspiration for this track? What does it feel like finally releasing it out into the world and your first as a solo artist?

It feels great! We actually wrote this song a long time ago and I’ve been waiting to put it out. This release is super fun for me. I’ve always put out music my whole life. I make a lot of ‘cinematic’ music for movie trailers and TV promos with featured artists singing on the tracks. So, we had the thought, what would it look like if we did the same sort of thing? Using my cinematic sound, but in a more commercial setting, and adding cool beats and making it more accessible. There are a lot of artists that I look up to that are the “DJ / producer” artists with featured musicians singing on their tracks, and I think they were my inspiration behind going down this route. This way, I can focus on being a musician and still create, but utilize these incredible voices as one more instrument in the score to play with. For this song, “Faking Love”, I asked Jung Youth and Nawas to join the song after the instrumental track was finished because I knew their sound would fit perfectly… and they crushed it! 

What was it like shooting the music video for “Faking Love”? How creatively involved with the process were you? 

I loved the process of shooting the video. Since I’m not singing or ‘performing’ on the song per se, we needed to come up with a narrative storyline. I love movies so much, and due to the cinematic nature of the song, I wanted something that looked cinematic and dark as well. I worked with a guy named Patrick Tohill and we brainstormed on some ideas and came up with this concept, which I think worked perfectly. I’m super into technology and smart home stuff, so I knew that I wanted it to have some of those elements as well, plus the two actors we found killed it. I’m super happy with how it turned out! 

Do you have plans to release an EP or a full-length album later this year? How would you say that “Faking Love” prepares listeners for more music from you? 

There is definitely a plan to release more new music like this. I have so many things started already. It’s probably been some of the most fun I’ve ever had creating music in my life. An album is definitely in the plans!

I understand that you were part of the team that created NF’s hit, “Let You Down.” Can you talk about how this song came together? In general, what do you find is the most rewarding part about working with other musicians?

NF is one of my best friends. Working together since the beginning and watching his career grow the way it has is definitely one of the highlights of not just my career, but my life. Sitting in the studio and creating music with your best friend is sort a dream job. Like most of his songs, the two of us love starting by just going through sounds. I usually play a couple things and he starts coming up with vocal ideas over top of the music, and then we land on something. I remember when we made “Let You Down”, it was basically one night and the song was finished. I think he tweaked some lyrics the next day, but that song came quick! I find that often the songs that come together fast end up being the special ones! I really just love collaborating with all artists. I think it’s cool when two or three people can come together, and everyone brings their strengths to the table that they’ve worked their whole life on to create something new. That couldn’t have happened with just one person. 

You have worked on music that has been featured in so many different projects, so I am curious which one stands out the most to you? Which has felt the most rewarding and/or memorable so far? 

Apart from the story of NF, probably the most rewarding thing I do is the TV/film work. I absolutely love making big, epic, cinematic tracks to pitch for trailers and promos, and then seeing the songs come to life on screen. There have been so many special ones, but probably the most memorable moment was my very first movie trailer –  it was Concussion, starring Will Smith. I was always a big Will Smith fan, so seeing music that I created in a Will Smith trailer was pretty surreal. I remember sitting down and watching it and just having chills. It’s always so fun seeing where these songs end up, sometimes multiple times for several different shows/movies/sports. 

What would your dream music video look like right now? 

I’m pretty happy with the “Faking Love” video! As you can tell from that one, I love future, science, technology, and smart-home stuff. As a Tesla owner, I would love to have Elon Musk star in one of my future videos. 

Do you have any pending projects at the moment? 

Yes. I have a massive project that I’ve been wanting to do for years – it’s finally coming out at the end of this year. 🙂