Milwaukee-born producer Bizness Boi went from being homeless to making hits for Lil Baby

In October, Andre Robertson, better known as Bizness Boi, reached a milestone he's been working on for much of his life.

A track that the Milwaukee native co-wrote and co-produced, the absorbing love song "Forever" by hip-hop superstar Lil Baby, debuted at No. 8 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart. And the album featuring "Forever," "It's Only Me," debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

"It takes a little while to achieve bigger things," Robertson told the Journal Sentinel. "The spirit God put in me, I just felt I couldn't give up. We have one life to live. You have to find something that you love and keep at it until it works."

But there was a moment, about seven years ago, when Robertson thought about giving up.

In 2015, Robertson was in Los Angeles, where he'd been for about a year, trying to make his way in the music industry. For a few months, he found himself homeless, surfing from couch to couch, and sleeping in his car.

He confided to a friend in L.A., David Hughes (another Milwaukee-born producer and songwriter, behind the stage name Prep Bijan). Maybe, Robertson said, he needed to go home.

Hughes told him to stick it out, and Robertson found further inspiration from a sign Hughes had in his studio. It read, "Your test is your testimony."

"That was my storm to weather through," Robertson said. "Even if you want to quit, keep going, because there are blessings on the other side."

After the storm passed, Robertson got his big break. Hughes was engineering music for an up-and-coming R&B artist PARTYNEXTDOOR, the first act to sign to superstar Drake's OVO Sound label. Hughes made an introduction, Robertson started sending beats to Party's team, and ultimately contributed to four songs on the 2016 album "PartyNextDoor 3."

"I got some money from that and stability," Robertson said. "People were wondering who I was and how I got four songs on there. I was kind of brand-new, and used that to my advantage."

Inspired by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

He was new to a lot of movers and shakers in Los Angeles, but at that point, Robertson had been honing his craft for 15 years.

While in elementary school at Grace Homes Lutheran School in Milwaukee, "one of my friends put me on Bone Thugs-N-Harmony," Robertson said. "It was the melodies, the beats and how rapping was back then that inspired me." In 2001, further inspired by Three 6 Mafia, Robertson's grandmother gave him the MTV Music Generator video game.

He became more serious about producing music while at Harold S. Vincent High School. He graduated in 2006, mastered pro music software FL Studio the following year, and picked up credits with local rap scene stars including IshDARR, Wave Chappelle and Ray Nitti.

In 2011, Robertson moved to Atlanta — "I learned a lot about networking and simplifying my beats," he said — before relocating to Los Angeles in 2014.

"This game is all about relationships," said Robertson, who prides himself on his "chill" demeanor in the studio, and candidness with artists when they're seeking feedback. "L.A. was better for me. I could work with all types of artists from overseas and across the nation. Everybody flies to L.A. to work."

Working on tracks with Lil Nas X, Rihanna

After racking up the PARTYNEXTDOOR credits, Robertson started working on songs for artists like 6LACK and Swae Lee, contributing to four tracks on the latter's "Swaecation" album. In 2019, Rolling Stone did a feature on Robertson. The following year he had credits on two Grammy-nominated projects — Lil Nas X's EP "7" (nominated for album of the year) and the compilation album "Revenge of the Dreamers III," released by J. Cole's Dreamville Records and nominated for rap album of the year.

A 2020 PARTYNEXTDOOR track that Robertson co-wrote and co-produced — "Believe It," featuring a buzzy Rihanna appearance — has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. A 2020 Teyana Taylor track he co-wrote and co-produced, "Bare Wit Me," has been certified gold.

Staying connected to Milwaukee musicians

Following his success in the City of Angels, Bizness Boi strives to express his gratitude and stay connected to Milwaukee and its artists, even bringing out brothers Kevin and Will Bush from local synthpop duo Immortal Girlfriend to L.A. for some session work.

"I know God is the source of my blessings, and me being here, I just never want to lose sight of that or get big-headed," Robertson said. "When I was coming up, I had a lot of support (in Milwaukee). I just want to do the same thing for the next generation and lead by example. … I just want to show people, from where I'm from, that you can make it."

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How Milwaukee producer Bizness Boi went from homelessness to hit songs