more photos
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Toki Wright - More Fiya (Mike Swoop Remix)
I remixed this joint last year just before my move to NYC. To the Twin Cities, this joint has nearly reached classic status, considering it's been a mainstay of Toki's repertoire for some time. Indeed, I feel it's got the potential to be that type of cut for years and young'n's to come.
Hope you feel the remix. Shouts to BENZILLA!
Download: MORE FIYA - MIKE SWOOP REMIX (mp3)
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Roma Di Luna "Lonely Hearts" (Brandon Allday Remix)
As part of the "Lonely Hearts" Remix EP, Roma Di Luna invited me to remix this cut. They gave me the multitrack stems of the original, but I ended up only using the vocals. Like 95% of my beats, this one was mostly created on my mpc2000xl - and then I played some piano and sk1 after the cut was tracked into pro tools. Alexei and Channy are amazing musicians - and I am honored to be a part of this project.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Repping Producer fam: IMAKEMADBEATS
Peace to my bredren IMAKEMADBEATS who's debut album just dropped today. Laced with all types of Ozone veterans and extended fam. Cop it today on iTunes and in Stores!
1. The Same feat. J Freedome
2. What's It Gonna Be feat. Hezekiah, Keziah & Thomas Clay
3. 365 feat. TzariZM, Illustrate, Greg Barbone & Ryan Gilligan
4. Heard Of Me feat. Black Milk, Butta Verses & TzariZM
5. Revenge NYC feat. Steele of Smif N Wessun, O-Smash & Wayne White
6. Corporate N Gommorah feat. Synopse, Icon The Mic King & Rugged
7. I Bet feat. J Freedome, Von Pea & Xodus
8. Spazz feat. Planet Asia & TzariZM
9. The Clapz feat. Magestik Legend & Lenny Williams
10. Twisted Heart / Congratulations feat. MidaZ, Roc C & Mic Geronimo
11. Are You Ready feat. Magestik Legend, Tiffany Paige & A Kid Called Fresh
12. Triple Jeopardy feat. Alucard, Critical & Ide
13. IMAKEMADBEATS feat. MidaZ & J Kroaz
14. Heard Of Me feat. Black Milk, Butta Verses, MidaZ & TzariZM) (Dirty Socks Remix) [BONUS TRACK]
15. Science EQ feat. MidaZ, Critical & Sabac Red Of Non Phixion [BONUS TRACK]
16. Return With a Mask On feat. MidaZ, J Freedome, Jaye Severe [BONUS TRACK]
2. What's It Gonna Be feat. Hezekiah, Keziah & Thomas Clay
3. 365 feat. TzariZM, Illustrate, Greg Barbone & Ryan Gilligan
4. Heard Of Me feat. Black Milk, Butta Verses & TzariZM
5. Revenge NYC feat. Steele of Smif N Wessun, O-Smash & Wayne White
6. Corporate N Gommorah feat. Synopse, Icon The Mic King & Rugged
7. I Bet feat. J Freedome, Von Pea & Xodus
8. Spazz feat. Planet Asia & TzariZM
9. The Clapz feat. Magestik Legend & Lenny Williams
10. Twisted Heart / Congratulations feat. MidaZ, Roc C & Mic Geronimo
11. Are You Ready feat. Magestik Legend, Tiffany Paige & A Kid Called Fresh
12. Triple Jeopardy feat. Alucard, Critical & Ide
13. IMAKEMADBEATS feat. MidaZ & J Kroaz
14. Heard Of Me feat. Black Milk, Butta Verses, MidaZ & TzariZM) (Dirty Socks Remix) [BONUS TRACK]
15. Science EQ feat. MidaZ, Critical & Sabac Red Of Non Phixion [BONUS TRACK]
16. Return With a Mask On feat. MidaZ, J Freedome, Jaye Severe [BONUS TRACK]
Peace, love, and Beats!!! -X:144
Monday, January 10, 2011
Advice for a upcoming producer. (Big Cats! x DJ Pete)
Pete and I decided to compile a list of things that would have been really nice to know when we first started out. It's pretty long, but most of it's worthwhile. Young producers, listen up!
1) Your gear doesn’t matter nearly as much as you think it does. Master what you have before you consider upgrading. I know some amazing producers who have very limited gear.
2) Good contacts/relationships will take you just as far as good beats. Go to shows, find the local spots where people hang out, meet and make friends with as many rappers/producers/engineers/musicians/ForwardThinkersMoversShakers as you can.
3) If you don’t know how to mix your tracks, admit it and find someone who does. In the meantime, scour the internet (gearslutz.com, etc), read some books and practice mixing. Your mixes will start getting better.
4) On a related note, A/B your beats/mixes to professional ones that you think sound good. Put your beat on next to a dre/dilla/timbaland/premo beat, and see if it holds up. It probably won’t, but it will give you some good ideas for how to improve your mixes and arrangements.
5) Experiment with the arrangement of your beats. A 4 bar loop does not necessarily make a good song. It can, but there are many other options. Plus, most rappers like to have a song structured out for them.
6) Learn to play an instrument.
7) Learn some basic music theory. Time signatures, key signatures, major/minor scales, basic chord progressions, etc.
8) Listen to many genres of music. If you’re only listening to hip hop, you’re missing out.
9) Be able to make a beat with just samples
10) Be able to make a beat without any samples.
11) Find some producers who are better or more experienced than you and ask if you can watch them work.
12) ALWAYS HAVE A BEAT CD ON YOUR PERSON. At the very least, have a business card with a link to your soundcloud, myspace, etc.
13) If you produce a track for a rapper, make sure you are fully credited for it and your name is on the project. If you do a full record with a rapper, get your name in the project name, on the cover, etc.
14) Get familiar with soundcloud.com, tunecore.com, gearslutz.com, twitter.com and blogger.com
15) You need to have a web presence. At the very least, have a soundcloud or myspace page. I would recommend starting a blogger site. You can purchase a custom domain for very cheap and have it automatically direct to your blog site.
16) Work with other producers. It’s important to have a community of people who do what you do. You will learn from them, they will be your support, they will spread your work to peers, they will send you work, and so on.
17) Get in contact with rappers that you want to work with. These days, it’s not very hard to get ahold of someone. Email, Twitter, etc. And most artists are open to listening to beats, even if they come from an unknown name. Go to shows with a stack of beat cds.
18) Don’t get discouraged if you don’t hear back from rappers.
19) Do not waste your time waiting for rappers. Most rappers are flakes. Your time is too valuable to let anyone waste it.
20) Do something that would make someone want to work with you. Even better than approaching rappers about getting them beats, is having rappers come to you asking for beats. Put out a beat cd, promote it, do a release show, get it online, send it to blogs, hit up your local print publications. Start building a buzz around your name and your music.
21) Register at ASCAP or BMI
22) Once you start building a reputation, don’t give away free beats. Your time and effort is worth something. You don’t have to charge a ton, start low and work your way up.
23) Learn how to DJ. You can get a lot of good, paying gigs this way. Plus, if you’re already making beats, its super easy to learn.
24a) Make your music a priority. If you take your music seriously, act like it. The more time/money/effort/thought you put into your music, the more you will get out of it.
24b) Have a backup plan. Even the dopest, most talented, hardest working musicians usually don’t make it. You will need a way to support yourself.
25) Learn to recognize when you’re not at your best. If you’re working on a beat, and it’s just not happening, start something else. Take a break and come back. Go read about theory. Open up a mix. There’s no sense banging ya head against the wall.
26) If you're not a collector (of many things) learn to become one.
27) It is extremely important to get into art. Number one music falls under the umbrella of "the arts." You will have many opportunities within art circles to show off your craft. Also, many of your peers probably have BFA's and it gives you something interesting to talk about.
28) Learn how to use a record player
29) A "record" collection is much more than a 150 gig hard drive
30) Start becoming interested in business. It's one thing to do it because it is an absolute necessity. It's another to want to know what makes some people more successful than others. Pin-point areas of a business model that seem to work well for an artist you admire, and COPY them.
31) Get photoshop and learn how to use it
32) Do you know a graphic designer? If you answered yes, are they good? Be honest... Your art direction should be completely indicitive of you or your group. If you are unable to successfully promote yourself visually as well as sonically, you just made your life harder.
33) Meet people who have things you don't, like a super nice camera/video camera. Ask if you can borrow it sometime.
34) BARTER SYSTEM
1) Your gear doesn’t matter nearly as much as you think it does. Master what you have before you consider upgrading. I know some amazing producers who have very limited gear.
2) Good contacts/relationships will take you just as far as good beats. Go to shows, find the local spots where people hang out, meet and make friends with as many rappers/producers/engineers/musicians/ForwardThinkersMoversShakers as you can.
3) If you don’t know how to mix your tracks, admit it and find someone who does. In the meantime, scour the internet (gearslutz.com, etc), read some books and practice mixing. Your mixes will start getting better.
4) On a related note, A/B your beats/mixes to professional ones that you think sound good. Put your beat on next to a dre/dilla/timbaland/premo beat, and see if it holds up. It probably won’t, but it will give you some good ideas for how to improve your mixes and arrangements.
5) Experiment with the arrangement of your beats. A 4 bar loop does not necessarily make a good song. It can, but there are many other options. Plus, most rappers like to have a song structured out for them.
6) Learn to play an instrument.
7) Learn some basic music theory. Time signatures, key signatures, major/minor scales, basic chord progressions, etc.
8) Listen to many genres of music. If you’re only listening to hip hop, you’re missing out.
9) Be able to make a beat with just samples
10) Be able to make a beat without any samples.
11) Find some producers who are better or more experienced than you and ask if you can watch them work.
12) ALWAYS HAVE A BEAT CD ON YOUR PERSON. At the very least, have a business card with a link to your soundcloud, myspace, etc.
13) If you produce a track for a rapper, make sure you are fully credited for it and your name is on the project. If you do a full record with a rapper, get your name in the project name, on the cover, etc.
14) Get familiar with soundcloud.com, tunecore.com, gearslutz.com, twitter.com and blogger.com
15) You need to have a web presence. At the very least, have a soundcloud or myspace page. I would recommend starting a blogger site. You can purchase a custom domain for very cheap and have it automatically direct to your blog site.
16) Work with other producers. It’s important to have a community of people who do what you do. You will learn from them, they will be your support, they will spread your work to peers, they will send you work, and so on.
17) Get in contact with rappers that you want to work with. These days, it’s not very hard to get ahold of someone. Email, Twitter, etc. And most artists are open to listening to beats, even if they come from an unknown name. Go to shows with a stack of beat cds.
18) Don’t get discouraged if you don’t hear back from rappers.
19) Do not waste your time waiting for rappers. Most rappers are flakes. Your time is too valuable to let anyone waste it.
20) Do something that would make someone want to work with you. Even better than approaching rappers about getting them beats, is having rappers come to you asking for beats. Put out a beat cd, promote it, do a release show, get it online, send it to blogs, hit up your local print publications. Start building a buzz around your name and your music.
21) Register at ASCAP or BMI
22) Once you start building a reputation, don’t give away free beats. Your time and effort is worth something. You don’t have to charge a ton, start low and work your way up.
23) Learn how to DJ. You can get a lot of good, paying gigs this way. Plus, if you’re already making beats, its super easy to learn.
24a) Make your music a priority. If you take your music seriously, act like it. The more time/money/effort/thought you put into your music, the more you will get out of it.
24b) Have a backup plan. Even the dopest, most talented, hardest working musicians usually don’t make it. You will need a way to support yourself.
25) Learn to recognize when you’re not at your best. If you’re working on a beat, and it’s just not happening, start something else. Take a break and come back. Go read about theory. Open up a mix. There’s no sense banging ya head against the wall.
26) If you're not a collector (of many things) learn to become one.
27) It is extremely important to get into art. Number one music falls under the umbrella of "the arts." You will have many opportunities within art circles to show off your craft. Also, many of your peers probably have BFA's and it gives you something interesting to talk about.
28) Learn how to use a record player
29) A "record" collection is much more than a 150 gig hard drive
30) Start becoming interested in business. It's one thing to do it because it is an absolute necessity. It's another to want to know what makes some people more successful than others. Pin-point areas of a business model that seem to work well for an artist you admire, and COPY them.
31) Get photoshop and learn how to use it
32) Do you know a graphic designer? If you answered yes, are they good? Be honest... Your art direction should be completely indicitive of you or your group. If you are unable to successfully promote yourself visually as well as sonically, you just made your life harder.
33) Meet people who have things you don't, like a super nice camera/video camera. Ask if you can borrow it sometime.
34) BARTER SYSTEM
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Counter-culture
Something to balance out the more pop culture-friendly hip-hop I've been posting lately: I just rediscovered the songs that Olmeca and I made a year or so ago. The finished cd didn't reach me until nearly a year after its release. In any case, here's the title track (beat and scratches by me):Download "La Contra Cultura"
Support Olmeca and purchase the album!
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