Playing collegiate sports is all about having trust and being close with teammates. Two seniors on Emerson’s baseball team are doing exactly that, using their skills off the field to explore another shared passion of theirs: music.
Baseball senior captains Jake Hatch and Thai Morgan have known each other since their first team practice freshman year. They almost immediately discovered that they shared an interest in making beats: music made almost entirely by using digital tools like Logic Pro.
“Thai was in my room freshman year and I was making beats on my laptop,” said Hatch. “Thai asked what I was doing and I explained.”
Working together as teammates—Hatch at third base, and Morgan at shortstop—has helped their beat-making dynamic.
“Especially since we’ve done a lot of baseball together, I feel like we’re not afraid to say that sounds good or that sounds bad [and] giving each other feedback,” said Hatch. “It’s the same as if I give Thai feedback on his swing or he’ll give me feedback on the way I’m fielding a ground ball.”
Hatch’s music ranges from hip-hop and R&B to some trap music. He started getting into music at seven years old—playing the piano—then soon got into making beats.
“It’s a hobby and [it] got more serious when I got further into high school and college,” he said
Morgan has always had a passion for music—both of his parents, he said, are musically inclined —but only started making trap music recently.
“I didn’t really get into making beats until freshman year [of college],” said Morgan. “I never thought it was something that you could do on your own on your laptop until Hatch pulled it up on his laptop one day and showed me a bunch of beats he made. I started right after that.”
The two players have a unique way of composing their songs. Morgan said one of them usually works on the melody while the other works on the drums. They send each other their beats and add on or work together simultaneously on the melody and drums, putting stuff in and seeing what works and what doesn’t.
With baseball season kicking off, Hatch said it’s become harder for both of them to devote the time and energy for their musical pursuits between games, practices, and classes. It depends on their schedule—and if they have inspiration.
“I’m not going to prioritize making music over [school and baseball] because they have a more rigid schedule and there’s deadlines and practice times,” Hatch said. “It’s just when I don’t have anything to do. Instead of watching TV or playing video games, I usually get on my computer and make these [beats] because it’s something I enjoy doing.”
“For me, [making beats] kind of comes and goes in waves,” Morgan said. “Whenever I hear a song with a really good beat or a really good element of a melody, it gets me excited to go make a beat.”
Hatch and Morgan will be done with baseball soon as they are both seniors. Both expressed interest in pursuing music further once they’ve graduated.
“I just want it to be something that I do on the side whenever I have free time just for my own enjoyment,” said Morgan. “If it takes off and it’s something I could actually do, that’d be amazing.”
Both Hatch and Morgan post their beats online. Hatch has an Instagram page called jhatchbeats and Thai has a Youtube channel titled prod.thai where people can listen to their music.
