What do you need to produce your own songs?

I want to produce several dancehall songs because I'm a beginner and have no idea what it takes. So I have to buy a laptop and a microphone? Believe there has to be more which are very important, which program is the best? I want to upload my songs to Soundcloud, Youtube and Instagram. But what do I need?

This is a broad field that can hardly be explained in a few sentences.

Yes, you need an up-to-date computer, but it doesn't have to be a HiEnd device, a "middle class device" is completely sufficient. Only the disk and the main memory should not be too tight.

Then in my opinion you need an audio interface and a standard microphone. I advise against using USB microphones, in my experience they are not good and the large diaphragms are also heavily dependent on good room acoustics.

Then you need a software for recording (Digital Audio Workstation, DAW for short), there are on the one hand these modular programs with which you can assemble your music using samples (not my area) or the recording programs for live recording of singing and music. A free representative would be the Audacity program, with which you can definitely start recording. Purchase programs are sometimes quite expensive. By the way: where should the music come from?

Everything else takes time and more to explain, would be pointless without knowing the specific situation. But be aware of one thing: it takes a lot of time to find your way and without basic knowledge you will hardly produce anything useful. So start small first, get started as cheaply as possible and then see where the journey should go. Greeting