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Producers - Discussion / Samples - Chopped, Skrewed and Sliced If it ain't funky...Who cares?

« on: April 26, 2010, 04:12:33 PM »

I find that when I'm kicking it with other beatmakers and we discuss Producers like DJ Premier or The RZA or Dr. Dre or which ever hardcore hiphop producer worth their shit, the haters always critisize them for looping a hot peice from an older song and rhyme over it as is. Now I've always had an attitude like, "Who cares if something is dope its dope whether or not I recognise the loop, thats all that matters the dopeness." I've heard Puffy and Dr. Dre loop Ryo Kawasaki's "Bamboo Child" and both of them did marvelous things with it. They sample the same place and their respective end products aren't that different from each other. I mean hey its a killer loop. Now don't get me wrong, I commend producers when they can give a fresh approach to sampling as DJ Premier did with Galt McDermont's "Coffee" sample for "Werdz From A Ghetto Child" but does that mean I must hate Automator and Prince Paul for sampling it as is? I mean its a really phat loop. Their song, "The Truth" was phat and you know what when I discovered that they actually just looped the first couple of seconds I didn't give a f***. It was still a phat beat. So know who actually really gives a f*** how hard a producer worked on a track if the shit don't hit? And why should it bear merit if the end product is solid?

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Producers - Discussion / Hip Hop Is Dead - Redundency is the new original

« on: March 16, 2010, 11:32:13 AM »

Underground niggas seem to be stuck in this early 90's East Coast state of mind. To a point where they go to websites like Kevin Nottingham to get original sample set compilations of their favouirite rap records. They still dig or rather download obscure records from the 60's and 70's (wow thats flexing your creativity..)and loop their favourite bits in exactly the same way its been done for the past 20 years now since Marley Marl and Ther Bomb Squad started the trend. Commercial niggas think that by biting the sound thats hot (which is now crunk)they're gonna be just as rich and as acclaimed despite not even knowing what College Park, South West Atlanta or New Orleans looks like let alone how they get down. Y'all niggas need to get a clue and really start flexing your creative muscles coz the shit still sounds second rate to your favourite artists. Be original and think outside the box, you have the potential you're just not using it right. I've heard cats make beats that sound just as hot as Pete Rock, DJ Premier and Dilla in SA but they also sound like them too, so c'mon Man up and grow some creative balls.

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Producers - Discussion / SAMPLING PRODUCING BEAT JACKING(where Do You draw The line?)

« on: January 26, 2010, 09:48:10 AM »

I recently saw some replies on a few threads where they said Dr Dre doesn't actually produce his own beats and that he jacks from other producers. Now I've heard past collaborators like Snoop tell reporters that shit is simply not true. He stated that while a producer might come up to Dr Dre with a beat or a loop. The end result of what Dr. Dre does with it constitutes it as his production because it sounds completely different from what the collaborator handed him. He later added that there's a difference between a beat maker and a producer. Now a "producer" in music industry terms is the equivelent of a Motion picture director. In a song he is responsibe for the end result. He organises the musicians who will translate the composer's music, the singer who will translate the author's lyrics and put that all together to make the end result...the song. Now in hip-hop, because the song's vibe and feel is entirely dependent on the musical composition set before it, the composer of the musical piece is therefor the producer and co-writer.

Now alot of producers hailed as all time greats like The RZA, DJ Premier and J Dilla have all got beats that are made up of a loop they found on a "rare" jazz, rock, soul or blues record. Most times they simply take a loop they find and put a drumloop over it and call it their own. When Puffy and his Hitmen along with Jermaine Dupre and Track Masters followed the same formula, using familiar hit records and looping them for their artists to rap over, they were accused of beat jacking.

I've heard some of the original compositions vs. Dr Dre's final cuts through various mixtapes and they do sound completely different in sound and feel. Melodically they have similarities but over all, the sound and feel are totally different. I've also heard the producers who Dr. Dre has collaborated with outside of his sphere of influence and their beats don't sound nearly as good or as refined as his end product.
Dr. Dre has been consistent and thorough through out his career and has continued to re-write the book on hip-hop production. N.W.A's Straight Outta Compton, Efil4Zaggin, DOC's No One Can Do It Better, Above The Law's Livin' Like Hustlers, The Chronic, Doggystyle, 2001, and recently Relapse are all examples of stellar production sensiblities.
On The Chronic and Doggystyle producer/ rapper Daz has accused Dr Dre for taking credit for taking two of his beats. "Rata-tat-ta" off the Chronic, for which he was credited only for the drum programming. Also for, "Ain't No Fun" off of Doggystyle for which he was not credited for any contribution. Now you may also note that close collaborators like Scott Storch, Mel-Man and Chris Taylor all who have worked closely with Dr Dre, sated in past interviews that Dr Dre merely directs them towards grooves, riffs and melodies by either jamming with them and locating loops through 'spotting' or by using samples and replaying them into the final beat.

So my question is in hip-hop is there a difference between a producer and a beat maker? and where do we draw the line because on one end, a beat maker cannot be there to over see his songs for every artist who requests his compositions so does that mean the author is then the producer? But on the other end, too many beat makers give out beats with little regard for the end product. And as far as using loops goes where and when does it go from jacking into sampling? Also if I by a beat from someone and they have little or no contribution to the end result of the song aside from the beat, does he get production credits along with his composer's credits or do I get production credits? Lets say I do a R&B song over a beat that was intended to be a hiphop song? what then?

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Producers - Discussion / Best Producer ever

« on: January 22, 2010, 03:19:20 PM »

I'm sure this post has been done before but I can't seem to find it sooo....Given the last ten years and change of tides pertaining to what real hip-hop is considered to be. Who would you say is the greatest producer who ever did it and why. You must facor in creative identity and influence...Infact f*** it no rules, just tell me who and why? I'd like to know from the producers/ beatmakers only though. I wanna see what drives S.A's beat pulse on a universal level.

I'd really have to go with Dr. Dre
For me he always made drums and melodies I respond to without trying consistently. For me he knows what a phat beat sounds like and he knows which elements to pump into a beat. His drum are awesome and his melodies can be magical. I've always dug beats with an element of danger in them, you know like something crazy is about to go down and delivered that shit in spades for me. Premo would come in a close second.

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Producers - Discussion / The Best Beats Ever

« on: December 24, 2009, 09:23:12 AM »

I know its actually impossible to narrow down a list of beats that universally apllies to everybody. I just want to know what other producers are on. So hears my Top Ten all time favourite beats, what are yours.

1. Dr. Dre - Nothing But A G Thing (The Chronic, 1992)

Producer: Dr. Dre

To date this is still my favourite beat because of how 'easy' it sounds. The ba** line is the catchiest and also the most fun sounding. I've ever heard and the drum is just so funky. The drums are looped from Leon Haywood's "I Wanna Do Something freaky To You." The ba** though from the same track, was replayed as are all the other elements. This track doesn't try to hard to please, it just did with laid back ease.

2. 2Pac - Ambitionz Az A Ridah (All Eyez On Me, 1996)

Producer: Dat Nigga Daz

I don't know what it is about this beat but its banging as hell. The element of danger in it just tickles my spinal chord. Its nothing special in terms of construction(It was built solely on a keyboard.), but it is incredibly dope and one of the reasons All Eyes On Me is a cla**ic. Boom-Boom-Kah! Boom-Ba-Boom-Kah!

3. Wu Tang Clan - Semi Automatic Full Rap Metal Jacket (High School High, 1996)

Producer: The RZA

I remember the first time I heard this beat and how ape shit I went on the intro. By the time U-God jumped on it, I was sold. RZA was just in the zone at that time and this for me was my favourite from high school high.

4. Aaliyah - Are You That Somebody (One In A Million, 1997)

Producer: Timbaland

I'm not really a Hip-Hop/ R&B kind of guy but f*** this beat was just too ridiculous for me. I had never heard anything so original and so funky in my life. Timbaland really changed the game when he dropped this gem. The pattern is crazy.

5. A Tribe Called Quest - Electric Relaxation (Midnight Marauders, 1993)

Producer: A Tribe Called Quest

Another laid back joint that completely rocked my world. I think it was the first time I heard anyone use the, "Inside My Love" break loop. What killed me though is the 3/4 timing and how smooth it sounded, so much so that I only noticed it in the year 2000, 7 years after the first time I heard it.

6. Ghostface Killah - Stroke Of Death (Supreme Clientele, 2000)

Producer: RZA

Another RZA beat I always go ape shit over. I used to love J-Live's "Bragging Writes" especially how the beat sounded like a DJ taking a phat old school record and scratching it to loop while J rips it. For me this beat is the best version of that concept, looping 1 bar of "Ain't No Sunshine" and brining it back with a nasty scratch while Ghost, Solomon Childs and RZA freestyle, cla**ic hip-hop.

7. Outkast - Spottieottiedopalicious (Aquemini, 1998)

Producer: Earthtone 3

Man Aquemini blew my mind with how many different musical movements they explored and this track was the climax. Mixing raggae, spoken word poetry, seventies funk and boom bap, Spottieottiedopalicious is cla**ic Outkast.

8. Outkast - B.O.B (Bombs Over Baghdad) (Stankonia, 2000)

Producer: Earthtone 3

Talk about Blitzkrieg. Outkast have always been daring and sophisticated and no other track captures that spirit more than B.O.B. A futuristic, Miami ba** meets a college marching band furiously fast paced banger.

9. Jeru Da Damja - D' Original (The Sun Rises In The East, 1994)

Producer: DJ Premier

Yeah, yeah, "Come Clean" is incredible too but for me, personally this was my jam. The rawness of the detuned piano, made flip in awe of Premo's stripped down genius. I remember wondering, "How did he know I was gonna love this shit like I do?" The drum was so dirty no matter on CD or TDK it sounded like an old tape I forgot and found again, I really love that.

10. Kanye West - We Major (Late Registration, 2005)

Producer: Kanye West

This beat is incredible. Old school drum pattern over a jazz climax...It had been a while since any kind of beat thrilled my sensed and this one did. It sounds like something Doom would've done but alas it was Mr. West. Adding Nas to it was a nice touch well done sir.

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Producers - Discussion / Originality

« on: December 10, 2009, 02:26:57 AM »

You know alot of producers in South Africa are killing shit these days. I like what I hear, but one thing still f***s with me though. The lack of an original sound. Now that y'all have your technique down, don't you think its time to explore what a South African beat sounds like? New York owns Boom Bap and Jiggy, The South Owns Crunk, The West owns G-Funk and what have you. Now granted a baby learns to talk and walk drawing from their closest and dearest influences. But once a baby has mastered speech and walking, he or she find their own path to what makes them unique. Westcoast niggaz embraced the 808, glossy, slick musical production because that was the vibe in places like Cali. New York embraced the avantguard, industrial jazzed out sound because thats the culture in New York. Its an arthouse 100 times over. The South also embraced the west coast sound but focused on 808's, live ba** grooves and Analog synths that were once popular in techno clubs in the early 90's. This might sound crazy but I also believe that weather patterns influenced the way people recieve music in those areas. For instance Cali has hot summers with rain in some parts and so does the south hence the similarities. Where as New York winters are brutal and force one to rock ear phones that might focus ones attention on technique rather than style. Bare with me, I'm going somewhere with this. Now in Mzansi, hip-hop is as alternative as watching manga flicks and reading comic books, why? Because our culture is different from Americas. In America hip-hop is the result of its musical culture which started with jazz then blues then rock then r&b then pop music and at the end of that dynamic is hip-hop. So for us its adopted and aquired. We as producers and beat makers have the responsibility to create a sound scape that separates us from the U.S one that is unmistakably Mzansi shit. I feel lyrically we're pretty close to getting it, but production wise as much as we've progressed. We have fallen in the same trap that made european hip-hop a concept instead of a movement. I believe South Africa can carve out its own identity production wise coz we have so much culture...C;mon y'all its not just about making beats, its about creating a vibe, making people feel. Do you ever think about if you had to go to America, who would f*** with you and how many niggaz are making beats like you...Think about it

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Producers - Discussion / Drum Break loops

« on: November 10, 2009, 06:27:10 PM »

Why don't peopls use break loops anymore. I still like to play with them coz of textures. Here are my top 5 recommendations for up coming beat makers. Also check for Ultimates Breakls and Beats compilations, they have some slamming breaks on them joints:

1. Melvin Bliss - Substution
(As used in: Ghostface Killah - Mighty Healthy, Naughty By nature - O.P.P)
2. The Honey Drippers - Impeach The President
(As used in: Dr. Dre - The Chronic (Intro), Keith Murray - Its that Hit)
3. Inside My Love
(As used in: A Tribe Called Quest - Electric Relaxation, Out Kast - Southenplaylistcadillacmyzik (Diamond D Remix))
4. Edwin Starr - Easin' It
(As used in: Digable Planets - Nickle Bag Of Funk, Dogg Pound - Big Pimpin')
5. Al Green - I'm Glad You're Mine
(As used in: Notorious BIG - Whats Beef, I Got A Story To Tell, Dead Wrong feat. Eminem(Remix))