Metal Lungies

If any square-heads out there who think that sampling isn’t an art are reading this, then you should get punched in the face by Pete Rock. Or, at least, get punched in the face by someone on Pete’s behalf — Pete never seemed like much of the violent type. Or, listen to Mecca & The Soul Brother, The Main Ingredient and Soul Survivor (I and II) — that’s a much less aggressive means of educating yourself on the talents of “Money Earnin'” Mt. Vernon’s finest.

I like to think that I know enough about hip hop, and have a good enough taste in hip hop production, to be able to talk at length about what goes into making a beat sound dope — listening to Pete Rock’s work reminds me of just how little I actually know. At the time of this 2004-ish interview with Wax Poetics, Pete said that he goes beat digging every other day, if not every day. [He also mentions getting jacked by Q-Tip and Puffy (who’d have thought?) for “Jazz (We’ve Got)” and “Juicy”, respectively.] I can imagine Pete’s vinyl collection containing records so obscure that the original artists themselves probably forgot about their existence (which I’m sure would be awesome when it comes time to clear a sample).

Pete Rock’s ability to flawlessly blend and layer different sounds and samples together into a single beat has kept him relevant in hip hop for so many years — in fact, an ’08 release for NY’s Finest will mark 2 decades in the game for PR. Not only that, but it’s likely brought Pete Rock the respect and high praise of your favorite producer, whoever that may be. And if your favorite producer is Pete Rock, then you have good taste, and you should enjoy what awaits after the jump.

Contributions by ML’s usual suspects (myself, DJ01, podcast-extraordinaire Hangover Monkey and newest-member-of-the-family DSuper), as well as Marco Polo (who contributed to the DJ Premier and Hi-Tek Beat Drops) and Alchemist.

Yep, that Alchemist. Keep reading…

Read the rest of this entry »

With all due respect to Company Flow and their ’97 debut Funcrusher Plus, it was really Rawkus Records’ 2nd album release, ’98’s Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, that propelled the label to global prominence. Its 2 commercially-released videos, “Definition” and “Respiration” featuring Common, got occasional Rap City airplay in the midst of the dominant “shiny suit” videos of that time. But, these videos didn’t need to be viewed much more than once to stay with you. Black Star showed the world that “underground” rap, “conscious” rap, “backpack” rap, or whatever label you want to place on it, wasn’t something to shun and be afraid of — it could actually be pretty dope. And furthermore, it showed that the MCs didn’t need boring production in order to get their points across — the beats could also be dope. Enter Hi-Tek (producer of 6 of Black Star‘s 13 tracks).

The name of the game for Hi-Tek is “versatility”. It’s difficult to pinpoint a production “style” for him, because he employs so many so well. It’s the best explanation for how one Tony Cottrell out of Cincinnati could go from lending beats mainly to Talib Kweli (as one-half of Black Star with Mos Def, or as one-half of the group that Tek co-anchors, Reflection Eternal, which is the closest thing to a “new” Gang Starr hip hop has seen thus far), to working as a staff producer for Aftermath Entertainment, where he has worked on the majority of G-Unit’s releases, as well as participated in the making of Detox (that is, assuming Detox actually exists and/or will exist). It also explains how his Hi-Teknology albums’ guest lists grew from mainly Rawkus-signed artists and local Cincinnati MCs in 2001, to including the likes of Nas, Jadakiss, Ghostface, and Bun B on his 2006 follow-up.

Your friend and ours, Marco Polo, is back in the cut like Neosporin this time around (if you haven’t yet, peep his contributions to the forthcoming Boot Camp Clik album here).

Read the rest of this entry »

One of the motivations behind this Beat Drop series we’ve been doing is to try to shine light not only on some of the most highly-touted, but also some of the lesser-known works of hip hop’s most famed beatmakers. For example, most people who know Alchemist for his work with Mobb Deep don’t need to be reminded of how dope “Keep It Thoro” is, but they might not have heard “The Red Light”, the compilation-only track he laced for underground favorites The Smut Peddlers. And everyone knows DJ Premier‘s history with Gang Starr and many of N.Y.’s finest, but some might not have known about the tracks he made with Xzibit (which was rudely thrown on the bonus disc for Man vs. Machine) and Chi Ali (who is better remembered for killing a dude over $20).

In the case of Dr. Dre, however, there aren’t really many “sleeper” picks to choose. Dre’s fame and reputation make it impossible for one of his beats to slip under the radar. If Dre lends his talents to another artist’s album, either you’re going to find out about it through some sort of media outlet, or it’ll end up locked in a vault somewhere between Hittman’s and Rakim’s albums (sorry, had to go there). As for when Dre decides to make an album of his own… how long have we been/will we be waiting for Detox? Unlike Primo, Dre doesn’t really work with artists with less than platinum aspirations (although, in this age of music purchasing, he’ll probably settle for gold). And unlike Alchemist, Dre’s “paying dues” period — whether you consider that to be his World Class Wrecking Cru days, his N.W.A. days, or the early days of Death Row — was fairly publicized. [Granted, Dre was known almost equally known as a rapper back then.]

In a way, Dre is similar to Kobe Bryant, another popular figure in L.A. (assuming Kobe hasn’t been traded by the time this is posted). Dre’s won multiple championships in his sport, and his high self-expectations make anything less than that a disappointment — granted, there’s no real equivalent to a “championship” in hip hop, but if there were, The Chronic, Doggystyle and 2001 would certainly qualify. He expects the talent around him to give nothing less than 110%, sometimes to the point that he unfairly expects that talent to perform on the same level that he himself performs — although, while Kobe can’t kick his less-than-spectacular teammates off of the Lakers, Dre can certainly drop an artist or two (or 10) from Aftermath. And, while some may be critical of the somewhat-unorthodox approach they each take to their respective professions, just like you wouldn’t change the channel when Kobe’s on the verge of dropping 60, you likely wouldn’t fast-forward through a Dre-produced track.

Provided by Lethal, myself, and occasional ML-contributor Hangover Monkey (they tried to make him go to rehab, and he said, “No, no, no.”), here are some of Dre’s works to definitely not fast-forward through…

Read the rest of this entry »

[We’re bumping this post up because we’ve received some input from a person you’d probably trust more than us when it comes to dope production — and that person is Toronto-born and Brooklyn-based producer Marco Polo, whose debut album Port Authority is in stores now, on Soulspazm/Rawkus. For more on Marco, check out his MySpace, and Lethal’s interview with him from March.]

On Common’s “The People”, one of his teaser singles off of Finding Forever, the Chi-town MC mentions that he has found “the new Primo” — no doubt referencing the track’s producer, one Kanye West. Noz of XXL/Cocaine Blunts fame, attacked this statement a while back, and though I agree that Kanye is not “the new Primo”, I’ll avoid jumping into that debate. What grabs my attention is the fact that, apparently, someone feels it necessary to label someone else as “the new Primo.”

Of course, this lyric certainly wasn’t intended as a diss to DJ Premier, what with Preem having worked with Common in the past, not to mention providing the cuts to Finding Forever‘s other teaser single, “The Game”. But, granted, “Works of Mart” just aren’t dropping like they were back in 199_ (fill in the blank). Gang Starr appears to be on permanent vacation, Jeru The Damaja and Group Home have long since severed their ties with Preem (and, not coincidentally, disappeared off the face of the planet), and the “usual suspects” for an occasional DJ Premier collabo (i.e. Jay-Z, Nas, M.O.P.) have all seemingly moved on to “greener pastures” and, sadly, appear to not need him anymore. [Or, perhaps Preem is just living comfortably off that Christina Aguilera paper.]

Whatever the case, if hip hop and/or Common feels the need to anoint a “new” Primo, then we might as well pay homage to the (so-called) “old” Primo, whose productions still sound as fresh today as they did when they first came out. When you elevate yourself as a producer to become the personification of the sound of an entire region of hip hop music (New York), during arguably it’s greatest years (mid ’90s), and you’re not even from that region (Preem’s originally from Houston), you are officially the shit. Take a bow.

The tat on DJ Premier’s arm reads “Reputation is the cornerstone of power” — here are the tracks that myself, Lethal, Marco Polo and friend-of-ML Kold Shadow hold as defining that reputation…

Read the rest of this entry »

If the city of Beverly Hills, California has ever been mentioned following the phrase “the mean streets of,” then it’d likely in reference to the attitude of women there. Having worked in and around the area for several years, the only time I’ve ever crossed paths with a rapper is if they’re shopping or visiting their lawyer. Yet Al “Alchemist” Maman emerged from the area, after a failed rap career along side Scott Caan (son of James Caan, who played Sonny Corleone in The Godfather), to become one of hip hop’s most sought-after producers in recent memory, especially amongst the realms of gangsta rap (or whatever’s left of it). A true craftsmen, his discography presents a wide range of MCs — backpackers to gun busters, underground to overground, L.A. to N.Y., flipping beats that are rugged and dusty, or clean and smooth.

What follows is the first in a series of weekly (or, however often we can get around to it) posts here at ML, showcasing 10 of the best beats — 5 picked by the maestro Lethal, 5 by yours truly — from some of the most highly-touted producers in hip hop. Speaking on behalf of myself here, I like to think I listen to a good amount of hip hop, but I haven’t heard everything that’s out there; Alchemist may have sold the greatest beat ever made to MC Get Busy, and I wouldn’t know (in part because MC Get Busy doesn’t actually exist). So enjoy the list and links, and of course, feel free to throw your two cents into the discussion — the “Comments” section is your friend.

Read the rest of this entry »