Unlike most music producers, Jamar “Sonovic” Roberts does it all.

“Well as a producer, I am hands-on in whatever I produce. I make my own beats, I engineer my sessions, and I mix and master my productions. I also write lyrics as well,” Roberts, 29, told the Jamaica Observer’s Splash.

Roberts is currently one of the most in-demand producers on the local music scene. With a handful of hits under his belt, the sky is the limit for him.

Clarks Pon Foot by Jahvillani, No Underwear by Dexta Daps, Smile Now Cry Later by Chronic Law, and Trending by Squash are among the heavy hitters that he has produced.

“I wasn’t formally trained in production, and I never went to any institution to study music production,” he shared.

Roberts’ label is Sonovic Music and it emerged in 2010. He explained how he got into production.

“I’ve been a fan of music, no matter the genre whether old school or new school. I love music and I was curious about the process of how it is done. My friend Ricardo from Seaview Gardens where I lived at the time, had Fruity Loops (a digital audio workstation) so I took some time and learnt the software,” said Roberts.

He learnt how to build beats which he sold to producers. However, it wasn’t until 2016 that he decided to venture into producing music. He debuted with Love the Money by Dexta Daps.

“When I heard the song for the first time on the radio, my reaction was, ‘Wow, this thing is working!’ It was an awesome feeling. And it was exciting because everywhere I went people were hearing your work.”

He added, “It took me five years of beat-making before I really decided to do a project.”

Roberts grew up listening to productions by established producers, including Anju Blaxx, Mikey Bennett and Dave Kelly. He was also impressed with the work of international producers Shebib 40 and Lex Luger.

A past student of the Vaxhaull High School in east Kingston, he currently resides in Seaview Gardens Phase One.

“I grew up on Luke Lane in downtown Kingston, before my father moved to Molynes Road when I was about seven years old. We then moved to Seaview Gardens during my teenage years,” said Roberts.

Asked if his productions had a particular sound or what differentiates his work from others, Roberts explained, “I have various sounds and various styles of production. For example “If I work with Squash, Chronic Law or Daddy1, I have a particular style. If you listen to Public Figure by Daddy1 and Squash, Unborn Child by Chronic Law that’s more of a trap sound. If I work with Dexta I’d go for a crossover type vibe; listen to songs like No Underwear, Love the Money and Vent,” he said.

He continued, “Now I’m developing this new style of production which I call Binghi Trap. You’ll hear it on T’Jean’s album Unblemished Lamb that I produced as well as a reggae project called Divine Majesty.”

Divine Majesty features songs by Kabaka Pyramid, Imeru Tafari, Blvk H3ro, Jahbar I, T’Jean, Ras-I, Runkus, Indie Allen, Chronic Law, Davianah, 5 Star Celestial, Royal Blu and Jelliss. A medley video for the project was released on Thursday.

Roberts says it’s important to stay original.

“Being unorthodox is really important to me. I try to think everywhere when I am working on a project. I’m very experimental,” he said.

His upcoming projects include Dexta Daps’s debut album Vent and Cah Stay Suh by Chronic Law.