“Empty” is one of the most popular songs from Juice WRLD’s No. 1 sophomore album, Death Race for Love, peaking at No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100. The opening track covers the familiar topic of self-medicating with drugs, and is produced by the young Chicago rapper’s frequent collaborator, Nick Mira. The Internet Money producer sat down with Genius to break down the making of “Empty,” which he started from scratch while livestreaming online.
Mira kicked off the beat with a grand piano sound playing three chords that loop throughout the song. After those chords were laid down, he added a Rhodes keyboard from the Keyscape VST. “I just layered the chords on the bottom so there was more feel to it and it was more spacious,” he explained. “I don’t like my beats very monotone and very centered, so I put the Rhodes in. There’s a lot of reverb on it… When it’s just right in the middle you’re not getting the same vibe.”
On top of that, Mira layered three more melodies. The first was an ElectraX arp from fellow Internet Money producer Roy Major’s Pluto Bank. “After that, I went in ElectraX again, took the chords again from the Rhodes and the Keyscape piano and just played them out on this arp,” he said. “The last sound for the melody is this Kontakt vocal. That sound is definitely tucked way in the back and you’ll never notice it.”
After all the melodies were combined, Mira programmed the drums. He started with a two-step hi-hat pattern before adding the kick and the 808. “A lot of producers nowadays do not have their 808s in tune with melodies. That’s a big no-no for everybody. It just sounds so off,” he noted. “If you just bring them an octave up, you can listen to the actual tone of the note. Producers, tune your 808s please.”
Check out the full Deconstructed episode above to learn more about how the song was made, and read all the lyrics to Juice WRLD’s “Empty” on Genius now.
