Jameil Aossey was a happy man.

He had just gotten some amazing news. The track list for Beyoncé’s Renaissance had just been posted on social media, and Aossey discovered that the song “I’m That Girl,” which he had co-produced with Larry Griffin Jr., professionally known as S1, would be the first song on the album.

Renaissance, Beyoncé’s first solo studio album since 2016’s Lemonade, is out Friday. 

Aossey bounced all over his futuristic-looking basement home studio in Sylvania, where he creates his music and sound designs. He was celebrating the news. This was a major triumph for the 38-year-old producer. Now that he had achieved something he once upon a time could only dream about, it was time to work on the next dream. And the one after that.

A 2002 graduate of Southview High School, Aossey was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and moved to Toledo when he was a kid. He began playing piano at age 3 and could play drums by 6. His late uncle Mohamed Shousher was a disc jockey at WIOT-FM 104.7, and young Aossey used to watch his uncle spin records on the radio. Aossey would later inherit his uncle’s vast vinyl collection.

By the time he was 16, Aossey was recording his own albums. He released The Gift: The Book of Screilosophy the summer after he graduated high school. Aossey enrolled in the Recording Workshop in Chillicothe, Ohio in 2004, where he became a certified audio engineer. Then he continued working on his craft at New Realm Recording Studios in Toledo, where he was allowed full run of the studio to perfect his skills in all aspects of recording.

In 2008, Aossey produced and independently released the album The Euphonious Suite. 

Aossey and S1 also produced the song “All Up In Your Mind” on Renaissance. The duo said they’re currently working with X Ambassadors on its next album and previously worked with Eminem on his song “Bad Guy.”

Aossey and S1, who lives in Dallas, work together in a company called S1AO. The duo are preparing to release a new audio plug-in software called the Flux, which is based on the flux capacitor in Back to the Future.

“[The Flux] was our main focus, but then the Beyoncé thing kind of crash landed right in the middle of it,” Aossey said, walking around his basement collection of analog synthesizers that make up his work tools. “It was almost like a launchpad. It was like we’re making software, but then the Beyoncé thing happened.

“We could never have timed or planned it to happen that way, and that’s when you know when things line up how they’re supposed to. You can’t predict when things happen when they’re supposed to, but you just have to keep working.”

Aossey didn’t get a chance to actually work with Beyoncé in the studio, but rather he and S1 sent the tracks to her management, which he said is how most songs are produced in the post-pandemic age. 

S1, who has produced songs for Kanye West, credits Aossey for his encyclopedic knowledge of music production and praises him as a business partner. 

“Since we’ve known each other, we’ve always been collecting and creating ideas,” S1 said.

He’s proud of his one-time protege’s work with Beyoncé. 

“The music industry is very cut-throat and brutal, and it’s so hard to make these projects at times,” he said. “Jameil learned through prior projects to still be patient and not have too high expectations. But then Beyoncé’s people flew into Dallas just to play us the tracks and at that point, we were pretty sure it was a done deal.”

Aossey’s philosophy is simple: Dream big, work hard, and don’t let time trip you up.

“I never set a date for when I wanted to be at a certain point,” Aossey said. “I never said, ‘I want to be there by the time I’m 40.’ For me, I never set that date. I said however long it takes, two years, 20 years, I’m good with that. I’ll find a way to make it there.”

Renaissance is a big achievement. But Aossey hasn’t forgotten who he is and where he comes from.

He even recently deejayed his 20-year high school reunion.

“I was doing music in high school and I wanted to deejay the reunion, not because I wanted to go ‘Hey, look at me,’ but just look at what can happen if you keep at it.”

First Published July 29, 2022, 12:00 p.m.