We had the opportunity to speak with Composer Alexander Hitchens, who has seamlessly navigated various genres and platforms while leaving an indelible mark on the industry. With credits that include Music for Grammy-winning hip-hop albums like “Gravity” by Lecrae and GMA-winning albums like Andy Mineo’s “Neverland,” Hitchens has proven his ability to excel across diverse musical landscapes. Over the course of his career, he has contributed to Emmy-winning commercials and provided theme music for major sports broadcasts.

In a candid Q&A, Alexander shares insights into his creative process while working with iconic figures like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, the significance of his work on impactful documentaries like Two Trials, and his commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion in the world of sports composing. 

Could you share the key milestones and experiences that have shaped your successful career journey up to this point?

So I’m a black kid from the east side of Cleveland who grew up classically trained in the violin, but obsessed with studying and learning hip-hop production. Definitely safe to say I had a bunch of formative moments (laugh). Landing my production of “No Regrets” on rapper Lecrae’s 2013 Grammy award-winning album Gravity was a very special milestone. Lecrae was one of the very first artists to give me an opportunity professionally, so to have my early efforts validated was massive in my confidence and development. This was followed by opportunities to collaborate with Nike on campaigns for LeBron James and then the late, great Kobe Bryant. With the former, I was able to tap into my orchestral chops and compose a piano-based score for a fellow Northeast Ohio native. A few weeks after the LeBron campaign dropped, I got a call from Beaverton Oregon. Not knowing anyone in Oregon, I ignored the call wondering to myself, “What’s in Beaverton?” The lightbulb came on a few minutes later…”Nike is in Beaverton!” I called the number back and Nike Global Communications director Chad Kersman was on the other end of the line. He told me that Nike believed 2016 would be Kobe’s last season and they wanted to create a very special campaign for his final signature shoe. Typically they sourced library music, but based on my work for the LeBron campaign, they wanted to have me write an original piece for Bryant. Leaning on my versatility, I created a piece of music that wove epic strings between digital synths and further cemented my confidence as a producer and composer. 

Your work for the NBA has been extensive, including projects like the Social Justice campaign and mixtapes for legendary players like Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Can you share with us how you approach composing music for such iconic figures in basketball history?

The NBA has been incredibly kind letting me work on so many pieces for them. To write the soundtrack for legends like MJ and LeBron is the highest of honors. I grew up watching NBA highlight tapes like NBA JAMS: The Music Videos, so to now be the guy providing music that everyone hears is something I’m still wrapping my mind around. My approach is centered around creating a sound that is both relevant and timeless. For the NBA, I love combining orchestral elements with hip-hop. Instruments like strings, horns, and piano never go out of style, they’ve been around since Mozart and Bach and will be a hundred years from now. What better sound to sonically support a sport that’s been around for 75 years and counting? Adding hip-hop dynamics helps bridge the music into modern relevance as well as providing a nod to the cultural relationship basketball has had with hip-hop for a few decades. 

Two Trials was a poignant documentary about Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. Can you tell us about the creative process behind scoring a documentary with such important social and cultural significance?

Working on documentaries is so unique because as a composer you find yourselves immersed in real lives and real stories. Two Trials’ focus is aimed at the legal proceedings that followed the deaths of both George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. My aim as the composer for this project was to create a sonic support that both engaged a viewer’s critical thinking and also drew out the emotional weight and brokenness of the circumstances. I went for instruments and tonality that were sparse and spacious to represent the loneliness that many minorities feel in the judicial system. I coupled this with dissonant melodies that echo the uncertainty of the same system. I love helping tell stories and I’m incredibly grateful for the creative freedom that producers Sam Sandweiss, Carlos Crooks, and Ethan Moore gave me. It’s something that we’re all very proud of. 

As a minority in the sports composing space, how important is it for you to represent diversity and inclusion in your work? Can you share some experiences or insights into breaking barriers in this industry?

Representation is huge for me as a composer. Whether it’s sports, film, or TV, I think visibility is both a privilege and a responsibility. When I was a kid growing up playing the violin, one of my biggest struggles was feeling so embarrassed and alone, because I didn’t see anyone who looked like me doing it too. My peers were playing the drums and keys, meanwhile, my mom was taking her 5-year-old brown-skinned son downtown Chicago to play his violin outside (laughs). I remember it like it was yesterday. These feelings have been a huge driving force in my wanting to let others know there’s space at the table for us. I strive for excellence in what I do, music that is undeniable because I know I’m paving roads for the ones coming behind me too. I invest in my craft and those around me, sowing seeds that not only I will reap, but others will too. I prioritize consistency as well, I want you to confidently know what you’re getting from Alexander Hitchens. Music is about so much more than just me. So when I’m tapped to write the theme music for NBC’s BIG 10 broadcast by the same people that contracted John Williams, I want to look around and say, “Hey, we can do this too!” 

Could you describe your experience composing and producing the complete music package for NBC’s Big 10 football and basketball broadcasts? It also sounds like there’s quite a story there: How did you secure this opportunity?

Oh man, getting the NBC-BIG 10 gig is like something out of a TV show. I’m at Burbank Airport on October 2022 at 6:30 am as my wife and I are getting ready to fly to Jackson Hole for a conference. I’m a huge golfer..like a borderline nerd. I look over and see Max Homa, #7 player in the world. He’s half asleep and nobody is bothering him. I wasn’t going to break the seal, so I snapped a half-selfie and tweeted at him “Too early to say hi to @maxhoma .” He replies, “Good morning. Very early indeed” The tweets take off, getting several likes and retweets. A few months later, my wife and I are in Japan for our delayed honeymoon and I get an email from NBC producer Tripp Dixon asking to jump on a call. I return to the States and jump on a TEAMS meeting with him and NBC exec Mark Levy. Levy says, “You’re probably wondering how we found out about Alexander Hitchens…We’ll I’m a big golfer and I saw your tweet exchange with Max Homa.” He proceeded to tell me how it led him to my Twitter page, where he saw that I was a composer. He then checks out my website and sees that I could potentially capture the sound they’re looking for, a hybrid of contemporary trap, classic college marching band, and a touch of Marvel superhero energy. Just an incredible butterfly effect and a reminder that it pays to be in the right place at the right time. Writing the subsequent music was so much fun. I pitched 4 motifs (melody ideas) and we eventually developed the one that was my favorite, incorporating a combination of live brass and samples, marching band drums and hip-hop drums, epic hits, and cinematic strings. I’m very proud to have delivered what I did, and NBC, Tripp, and the team were a blast to work with.

What advice would you give to aspiring composers, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, who aspire to make their mark in the sports and entertainment music industry?

My encouragement to up-and-coming composers and producers who share my cultural trajectory is to be authentically you. Become so distinct that people have to come to you to get the sound you offer. NBC reminded me of this, “Don’t put on the NBC sweater-vest, be you. That’s why we tapped you.” I’m authentically classical and authentically contemporary, and pride myself in blending the two. Young composers who find their sound should refine it and become relentlessly consistent with it. Like the athletes I provide music for, finding your go-to moves and making them repeatable while striving to grow and evolve, will create longevity in an industry that often proves volatile. Lastly, treat people well and be reliable. Sometimes that’s all you can control and that will forge a reputation that goes before you. For me, music isn’t the end, but a means to the end. And that end is amazing relationships that last a lot longer than whatever project I’m working on. And those relationships are the vehicle for future work! 

Lastly, could you highlight a particularly memorable or rewarding moment in your career that has had a significant impact on your musical journey? 

 It’s so hard to pick one moment, I’m so grateful for the peaks and valleys, and people I’ve met along the way. If I had to pick one, it wouldn’t be a placement or an award, but it would be the day I moved from Cleveland, Ohio to Los Angeles, California. I like to say Cleveland raised me, LA made me. Having done a lot of work back in Ohio, including my music for Nike, I knew it was time to raise the ceiling. I debated between Atlanta, Nashville, and Los Angeles, having relationships in each city. But the people who knew me best told me that LA was the place for me to go. I vividly remember a fellow songwriter friend telling me, “Nobody is walking in the rooms playing what you’re playing.“ They let me know that of all the cities I was debating, one would best allow me to wear all the hats I had. In LA I can write a hip-hop record in the morning, record pop vocals in the afternoon, and then score a film in the evening. The day I moved to LA was the day I bet on my versatility, and gave it roots, and it’s been bearing fruit ever since.

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For more information on Alexander, check out his website, and Twitter