Ivan Rodriguez on Making 'Fresh' Sounds for Netflix's Neon

Crafting the sound for a musical artist that doesn't really exist is a delicate balance; songs have to be both radio-ready and unique.

"We want it to be fresh, we want it to be different, but we also want to sound current," says Ivan Rodriguez, the music producer for Netflix's new series Neon, which chronicles the up-and-coming reggaeton artist. "We're being true to an emerging artist."

Neon, which debuts October 19, counts beaucoup behind-the-scenes talent to its name. Rodriguez, who is co-founder and chief creative officer of the talent incubator Neon16, creates the music as part of Tainy & One Six, composed of Rodriguez, Lex Borrero and Grammy-winning producer Tainy, and the show is produced by reggaeton superstar Daddy Yankee.

But while it has plenty of big-name talent, Rodriguez says he was attracted to the show because its story of humble beginnings and big dreams resonated with his own life. Just like Santi, Rodriguez moved to Miami. After growing up in the "Golden Age of Reggaeton" in 2000s Puerto Rico, Rodriguez pit-stopped in Miami before pursuing music in Los Angeles. "We really lived that life," he says. "All of us, we moved to LA to make our dreams happen."

The song that helps introduce Santi to both the Miami scene and Neon viewers is "Exagerao," which, just like a debut track from a real-life artist, has to both hook a listener and debut a new personality. The secret to doing that, Rodriguez says, is starting from the sound and assuring it's an easy listen. "You don't even have to understand the language," he said. "You're just vibing to it."

But the challenge went beyond producing a single song. They had to make songs that sounded different while all cohesive enough to live on the same potential debut album. Rodriguez says the producers and the songwriter, reggaeton artist RMAND, would perform a "kind of method acting" to channel Santi. "It was kind of imagining the artist instead of having the artist next to us."

Rodriguez hopes that those who encounter reggaeton through Neon come to understand the genre as not not only fun and well-made, but also as a cultural phenomenon. To him, you can't separate the music's sound from its ethnic roots.

"You could bring it down to the sonics and the drums of it all," he said. "But reggaeton is really just a Latin expression of freedom and being yourself."

Neon premieres October 19 on Netflix.