Creative Spotlight: How Timothy “BOS” Bullock Pioneered the NCT Sound
NCT U, the first sub-unit of SM Entertainment’s rotational boy group NCT, debuted with “The 7th Sense” on April 9, 2016. The single introduced five members of NCT: TAEYONG, DOYOUNG, TEN, JAEHYUN, and MARK. The hip-hop song, with elements of R&B, was described as experimental and a risky choice for a debut by critics.
However, three weeks after its release, it peaked at number two on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart. Seven years later, the song has garnered over 115 million views on YouTube. Moreover, K-pop groups such as BAE173 and OnlyOneOf and contestants from reality shows like Produce X 101 and I-LAND have covered it. To commemorate the seventh anniversary of “The 7th Sense,” EnVi sat down with the track’s producer, Timothy “BOS” Bullock, in a studio in Accra, Ghana.
Linking up in Accra
Timothy “BOS” Bullock touched down in Accra with fellow producer Gerald Keys to work on a project for American rapper Ludacris. The producer arrived at the Black City Recording Studio at 2 p.m. He had finished a session at the gym, freshened up, and grabbed his first meal of the day before making his way to the studio. Strolling through an alley of studios, he searched for a quiet spot for the interview. He arrived at a lounge and settled on a sofa, double-checking the venue to ensure it was appropriate for a chat.
This trip marked his second visit to West Africa. At 14, he visited Senegal with his family. This time, he found himself in Ghana to work on an album, just as he flew to South Korea to work on “The 7th Sense” years ago. Dressed in his custom black “BOS” cap — an acronym for “Bent On Success” — BOS sat comfortably on the sofa. He was sporting a reddish-brown t-shirt with camouflage shorts, smiling with his dark sunglasses on.
Raised by the Church
The interview starts with a chat about Timothy Bullock’s childhood. A multi-instrumentalist, he is skilled in the drums, bass guitar, lead guitar, and piano, having learned to play them in his father’s church. The church organist, Terry Jackson, taught him to play the piano at age seven. ”He taught me for about two years.” He then attributed his knowledge of drums to two teachers, George Smith, and Charlie Bannister. He further revealed he taught himself to play the bass and lead guitars. At ten, BOS was the church musician, learning harmonies and arranging different parts. He described that experience as “his introduction to producing.”
Growing up in a Christian home, BOS listened to gospel musicians like Andraé Crouch, The Winans, and The Clark Sisters. Aside from the gospel singers, BOS enjoyed music from Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye. “A lot of soul music, because being from Detroit, it’s a lot of Motown hits,” he concluded of his childhood favorites. In addition to listening to Detroit vocal groups like The Temptations and Four Tops, BOS also enjoyed classical music acts like Ludwig van Beethoven. In summary, gospel, Motown hits, classical music, and other sounds make up his musical DNA.
Beginning of a Booming Career
A workstation keyboard was all BOS needed to take his skills to the next level. At 14, he received the instrument from his father for Christmas. “It allows you to program 16 tracks, and you can put on different instruments,” BOS broke down the use of the workstation. He became inseparable from his workstation and described it as his world. Spending time with the workstation, BOS learned to program tracks, make beats, and layer sounds.
After mastering the fundamentals of production with his workstation keyboard, BOS worked with American R&B musician and record producer Michael J. Powell. A high schooler at the time, he was allowed to play songs for Aretha Franklin, Anita Baker, and other singers. However, it wasn’t until 2006, when he played the additional keyboards on “The Inspiration (Follow Me)” by Young Jeezy, that the world started paying attention to BOS. This is after the rapper’s The Inspiration album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 in the first week.
Two years later, BOS hit another number on the Billboard charts with Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” as a member of the songwriting team, The Outsyders. The lead single from the pop singer’s Circus album, “Womanizer,” earned Spears her first number one since ”Baby One More Time” in 1999. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 96 and jumped to number one. “When that happened, it gave us a huge amount of success and notoriety, and people started to take notice,” he pointed out.
K-pop Debut
NCT U’s “The 7th Sense” was the first Korean pop song BOS ever produced. Before working on the NCT debut track, he had no prior knowledge of K-pop except that “EXO was huge, and SM was responsible for EXO.” BOS told EnVi he landed the opportunity through his songwriter-producer friend Tay Jasper, responsible for hits such as “Ko Ko Bop” by EXO and WayV‘s “Moonwalk.” “This opportunity comes where he’s in Korea, and he’s like, ‘You guys need to bring my boy,” BOS explained.
When the SM Entertainment team called, he flew to South Korea without preparing any beats because he “did not know what to expect.” “I went to Korea with no music,” he said, letting out a laugh, leading us to laugh together. BOS recalled the artists and repertoire (A&R) team was perplexed when he arrived at the SM camp empty-handed. “They were like, ‘You didn’t bring anything for us to listen to,’” he said, quoting the A&R team. “I don’t like to come with stuff that has nothing to do with the energy here,” he admitted.
BOS’ time at the SM camp led him to make 21 songs in four days, “and they ended up taking about 14 or somewhere in between,” he revealed. The 14 songs included title tracks like Tiffany‘s “I Just Wanna Dance” and NCT U’s “The 7th Sense.” B-sides like “Artificial Love” by EXO, NCT 127‘s “Another World,” and SHINee‘s “Feel Good” were also created during BOS’ first attempt at making K-pop. “I made all of them in one week,” BOS said with a big smile and, in turn, received a big round of applause from EnVi.
Working in K-pop
“I just saw it as an opportunity to be more creative,” BOS said about creating K-pop songs. Talking about his K-pop entry, “The 7th Sense,” he told EnVi, “If you notice, that song is so unorthodox. I had so much fun doing something so brand new and fresh.” Following the success of “The 7th Sense,” BOS worked on “Quiet Down” by NCT Dream, “90’s Love” by NCT U, and “Really Bad Boy” by Red Velvet. Fan favorites such as NCT U’s “OK!” “Love On The Floor” by NCT 127 and “I’ll Make You Cry” by aespa also feature production from BOS and were created at the height of the pandemic.
BOS mentioned “OK!” from NCT U’s Universe album as a song that completely blew his mind after its release. The song features vocals from TAEYONG, YUTA, TEN, MARK, HENDERY, JENO, and YANGYANG. His collaborator Tay Jasper also spoke to EnVi about the track, praising NCT’s energy on the record. BOS was particularly taken aback by the rap verses, to which he remarked, “The way they delivered that was amazing, and I know it’s not easy to mimic what we did, but they did a good job.”
Looking back at his first camp in South Korea, BOS recalled making “many good songs.” “I would love for the people and the fans to hear the songs in their making stages. I would love to show a behind-the-scenes look. There is so much good music you guys don’t get to hear.” The writing camps were not the only highlights of BOS’ trip to South Korea.
Sharing a memorable moment in Korea, he recalled hanging out with Henry Lau, who had just bought a BMW i8. While with Henry Lau, they cruised through the streets of Seoul and ate good food at a barbecue restaurant. BOS also mentioned receiving a jacket from Henry when it was cold. That period in South Korea got him thinking, “I want to live here.”
Creating History with Myles Yachts
A quick scan through BOS’ Instagram account shows many posts tagging American rapper Myles Yachts. BOS describes Myles as an artist he is developing, having worked on the Memphis native’s entire discography. His relationship with the rapper stems from his desire to develop artists. “I feel like a lot of guys have talent, but they don’t get the chance to develop,” he said of why he decided to work with Yachts.
Myles Yachts and BOS have been working together for the past five years. The duo met in Los Angeles, and according to BOS, Yachts had wanted to work with him from the onset. “The first day we met, he never left my side,” BOS revealed. A character trait BOS admires in Yachts is his trust in BOS. Together, the duo has chalked up success with the release of “Walkthrough,” which BOS describes as a breakthrough single for Yachts. In addition to going viral with “Walkthrough,” Myles Yachts has been featured in a Nike commercial and the Louis Vuitton tribute to fashion designer Virgil Abloh. He is also set to make his acting debut in the movie, C.O.D.E.
Artistry
“I consider the energy in the room and who’s present,” BOS said about his creative process. He believes the vibe of a song is the main element when making a song. Important questions he asks include who should be listening to it, whether it is perfect for the club, commuting, a date, or an intimate moment. He believes “every part of life is made better by music.”
BOS’ production credits cut across various genres, from K-pop, pop, and moombahton down to Amapiano, which he explored during the camp in Accra. When asked what genre he would love to try next, BOS looked up and pondered for a while before answering. “I feel like if there is, I haven’t created it yet,” he said. “If there is something I haven’t done,” he repeated, pointing his fingers at his brain, “I think it’s in here, and I need to create it.”
Despite not having any genres he would love to work on, BOS has a long list of artists he wants to make music with. Without hesitation, he mentioned Nigerian singers like Tems and Burna Boy and Brazil’s Anitta. Thinking deeply about an American artist he wants to work with, BOS said, “I think I want to make a record with Cardi B.”
Greatest Honor
BOS has a couple of nominations and awards under his belt. However, he deems Ledisi‘s Best R&B Performance nomination at the 2018 Grammys the most significant. Despite not winning the award, it was memorable because his father attended the event before he passed on. While about to narrate the story, the interview got briefly interrupted as Ghanaian singer Efya walked in with her manager. BOS stood from the sofa to introduce himself to the award-winning singer and complimented her, before resuming his seat to continue the interview.
BOS recounted taking his father to the 2018 Grammy Awards ceremony. He remembered the look in his father’s eyes as he watched BOS interact with his peers. One of BOS’ biggest fans, his father realized how successful he had become. “It was such a fulfilling moment for me,” he said with a smile.
Philosophy and Legacy
“I had a manager who encouraged me to create a sound for an artist or be responsible for bringing an artist back,” BOS replied when asked about a piece of advice he received in his early days. Following the manager’s advice, he worked with Britney Spears, contributing to her comeback to the charts with “Womanizer.” At the time, he preferred working with already established artists, playing a role in their success.
However, BOS believes in having a balance because “those small things become big over time.” This ideology led him to work with Myles Yachts and NCT before their debut. With this mindset, BOS is working on a platform to empower rising artists to take control of their songs. BOS said, “One of the things I do now is showing people that you just don’t have to make the music but own the music.” His vision is to overcome the exploitation of young artists by industry personnel and instead have them benefit from the revenues and returns of their creations.
Bent on Success in 2023
BOS has had a packed 2023. The producer gladly shared his plans for the rest of the year, including a song on NCT DREAM’s upcoming album, giving EnVi a glimpse of the song title. He also participated in Ludacris’ rumored Afrobeats project featuring artists from Nigeria and Ghana.
In the United States, he has an upcoming project with his artist Myles Yachts and one with former Mindless Behaviour member Mike River. He also revealed he would be executively producing R&B singer Raiche’s project and has worked with a Bermudan singer.
Connect with Timothy “BOS” Bullock on Instagram for updates on his activities.
Want to discover more music content? Read all about our Creative Spotlight on Jeffrey the Kidd here.
