ARE YOU USING YOUR EQUIPMENT TO ITS FULL POTENTIAL?

"What's the difference between him and you? he's got a team of expert sound designers,engineers, and years of personal experience in music to make his sounds pop. (also about 5 bank accounts 3 ounces, and 2 vehicles)"





Are you a gear addict? Do you drool over the idea of that new gear smell, be it from opening that box of software and seeing that shiny new CD Rom or setting up that drum machine? Do you love that feeling you get when you walk out of Guitar Center with that big ol box? That’s great, but what do you do to master your gear for creative and work flow purposes?

We producers, gear enthusiast and (nothing wrong with this word), hobbyist often harp on the flaws and follies of music production equipment companies. Most of these mishaps fall into some combination of not listening to their core consumers or corporate greed and we let them have it for their mistakes. We fly to the nearest computer to log in to our forum accounts to what ever site has users of similar products and we rail them for screw ups and oversight.

“this program isn’t 64 bit! What is wrong with these people!? Its 2011!”

or

“why can’t I sync this up to my [enter obscure obsolete midi board here]!? This program sucks!”

[Now before I go any further I wanna say that my last post caught a lot of heat from people thinking I was coming from a high and mighty state as if I was Moses passing down the word of god. That’s not the case. These entries are as much a referendum on me (if not more so) than anything else. Just a datalog of stuff I have learned, am learning, or have come to mind through my experience doing this music thing, usually written in a moment of rare downtime. ]

As all you who read this may or may not know, I am a hip hop producer. As any old school hip hop producer will tell you, the art form was created entirely off of instruments that were not made for it. Think about it, our main weapon of choice for live performance is a combination of two record players, our main focus in most tracks is the drums but most hip hop producers do not own or record drums in a studio (and most of them wouldn’t really know what to do with a drum set). That’s not a testament to how “real” of a traditional musician they are, but a statement to how genius they were. Sometimes limitation can make you do some truly creative stuff. Which is why the current state can be so confusing. In 2011 we hip hop heads have been given an almost limitless number of options when it comes to making music from powerful drum machines and workstations, to readily affordable and customizable software synthesizers and samplers. Yet rather than simply take us to a new level of hip hop music (the overall production for hip hop music has improved noticeably from the last 10 – 15 years) It has also had the nasty side effect of giving us GADD.

GADD is a condition known as “Gear Attention Deficit Disorder” that I just made up. It affects 1 in every 3 producers and can have some serious consequences if not put in check immediately. I am speaking about the dangers of GADD because I am a former sufferer of the dreaded condition. As we speak, I currently am the reluctant owner of

n Propellerhead Reason 4
n IK Multimedia Sampletank 2.5
n The entire Komplete 6 lineup
n EastWest QL Goliath
n Omnisphere
n Pro Tools 8
n Logic Pro 8

Something seem wrong about that? For those of you familiar with these products there are some serious issues of redundancy in that gear list. Reason, sampletank, and kontakt 4 and battery 3 (the last two of Komplete 6) all either have or are in fact themselves samplers all capable of doing (through varying processes) of the exact same thing. Absynth 4, Massive, Fm8, Omnisphere, and components in Reason again all either have or are themselves synthesizers who once again, are capable of doing (through varying processes) the exact same thing. Pro tools and Logic are both sequencers capable of- well you get the point by now.

The key word here is CAPABLE, and the problem is when I bought all of these programs the thought of capability never ran across my mind. Lets take a second and be honest here (you don’t even have to admit to this but just think it to yourself, no one will know). Do we really hear the capabilities that these programmers ramble off at NAMM conventions and factor them in to how they will fit your workflow and set up, or are they just cool things to, in turn ramble off to people when your explaining your purchase? The truth is a lot of us (not all but more than will care to admit in mixed company) don’t base our decisions to act on gear lust off of sound things like workflow and functionality. Were not really listening to Eric Persing talk about Omnisphere’s 10 possible oscillators, were too busy looking at him go through those beautiful leads and do cool things with them. That’s why when you pay the $479 and bring it home you’re surprised that it’s full of pads and phsycoacoustics. Then you go on Gearslutz.com and whine about how bad of a product it is. It’s not a bad product, you just weren’t paying attention. It’s soundest is geared towards television and film composers. Persing mentioned that somewhere in between talking about the LFO’s and the Multi-channel features but you were too busy drooling when he was playing the “Most Frequencies Known” patch.

The idea of having gear at your fingertips like today has made the idea of sitting down to learn/customize your product almost an alien aspect. My older brother used to own a Korg M1 and could damn near control that thing with telekinesis he was so one with it. If it was in California and he was in New York and it got a scratch he would probably feel it like those GI JOE twin villains. I myself on the other hand took a month to figure out how to make a synth on Absynth sound gated because I was too busy going through the THOUSANDS of patches in the other 4 – 5 soft synths that I own (thousands is not an exaggerated number). There’s nothing wrong at all with having kabillions of sounds at your disposal, but the problem comes in with the next keyword I keep mentioning; WORKFLOW.





Someone mentioned once that it isn’t really helpful from a time saving aspect to have to spend all day making synth sounds when you could just find a patch to fit your needs. Likewise it is just as overly time consumptive to swim through a sea of presets to find said patch. Which is what a lot of this game has become, combined with a little bit of eye candy and “new car smell” it is literally a constant chase to get the latest gear. Years ago, when workstations were the main god of production, a company had to come out with significant improvements or changes (depending on how a consumer perceived the alterations) to their product in order to make someone physically go out and purchase the new machine, carry it home and hook it up all the while discarding the old one. The act of physically performing this task gave it a real feel of change, an authentic upgrade. Just look at the list of changes and upgrades (or downgrades again depending on your perception) with the line of Akai MPCs. Within a span of 20 years you went from the MPC 60 (a stable, cutting edge but by today’s standards vastly underpowered instrument) to the MPC 5000 (capable of everything for midi in/out to an onboard synth). These were significant changes that can vastly alter a producer’s workflow and people needed to make measured decisions on whether or not to implement them into their setup. The change from one program to another now days can be something as large as a complete setup over hall but usually consists of nothing more than putting a new hat on Malibu Stacey. To be clear I am not saying we need to go back to the old days and take away certain benefits of today’s gear, I totally understand and fully condone updating and evolving for the sake of improvements but lets face it, there is a lot of both perceived and designed obsolescence in this game and its (mostly) our own faults.











“what’s that? You still rocking that old fruity loops? Why don’t you upgrade [for $$] its got a new colored sequencer!”

We (the consumers) often demand new products that contain bevy of new features but we hardly demand any kind of training on these very products, we hardly even seek it out when it IS there readily available. We often use the products for their face value purpose (plug and play) and rather than dig deeper to see the full extent of its capabilities, we just wait for a new product to come along that does it easier.


"Komplete 7! if you don't know what your doing with it, it will serve as the perfect desktop paperweight until the arrival of Komplete 8!"

“I don’t feel like mixing and eq’ing these drums and adding effects to them to make them pop in this battery 3, I’LL JUST GO GET MASCHINE!”

I said “mostly” our faults because it is also the fault of business the way the markets are set up. Due to their low price and numerous variety, the soft synth market has become the ultimate impulse buy weapon of choice for pro audio stores, the virtual “candy bar section by the check out stand” of the guitar centers of the world. Just look at literally where they are placed in most Pro Audio stores; the equivalent of the same spot that a snickers bar would be at a Wal-mart.

“Thank you for your purchase of those expensive speakers sir, would you like to throw in a copy of Eastwest symphonic choir for only $500?”

“Sure why not! It’s not like im paying $3000 for a Fantom or anything!”

The set up is not designed to let you see how they (or more importantly if) they work with your workflow, it’s made to appear as a harmless tack on purchase. A toy you can tink around with and find some nice sounds. If you find something you like great, if not, screw it! what’s a few hundred dollars to a big time producer like you?

Except you aren’t a big time producer, in fact, in many cases you’re a regular guy/gal that earns a majority of their money through a day job and probably cant just shrug of a combined number of 3 – 5 hundred dollar purchases. To be fair, many of these companies offer a free downloadable limited version of their products for testing but again, do any of us use them beyond “hey these are some good sounds, time to make a trip to the store!” I agree with the save function being disabled (you’d just have a free copy of the program if they didn’t do that) but sadly many of these are timed to settings as low as 15 – 20 minutes which doesn’t really give you a chance to get a feel for the product in your work flow, to really take it apart and get in tune with it. You can go to any local pro audio store and sit in front of a Korg M3 for hours getting acquainted before anyone would walk up and say anything to you. Many a times the computer at that same store that is supposed to house all the programs isn’t even hooked up.
This isn’t really about the store however, this is about you, this is about us. If you truly want to get out of the costly prison that is GADD then the only thing to do is discipline yourself. Stop rewarding your own bad behavior (of preset surfing) by buying new products for a “fix”. Do some of the following things.

n If you have multiple programs, take one month to really discover it. Learn its capabilities and study how to do them through trial and error.
n Focus on learning the basic principles (through books) of what your plug in is rather than trying to learn just the plug in. if you bought a fancy new waves bundle compressor collection, read up on the basic principles of compression. This will help you tremendously not just with the waves bundle but with ALL compressors.
n A lot of times we grab these products and instantly throw them in to our arsenal because we need beats made like YESTERDAY. Instead, try taking the time out to go through ALL the tutorials on your product. Really take a day away from beat making and focus on watching tutorials for that product. Resist the urge of opening your sequencer and making something and just watch…. Breath deep.
n Take one of your products and write down a list of stuff you’d like to be able to do with it in your production process. Do you have a synth and you’d like to be able to make gated sounds but aren’t sure how? Sit down and discover by videos and tutorials and keep making gated sounds until you’ve mastered it.
n The next time you think your program can’t do something or can’t do it as well as some shiny new product can, go online and look up “your product” + “famous producer making beat with it” and see what happens. I used to hate Reason and think it was kids stuff, until I saw What DJ TOOMP did with it.

Lastly I just want to make it clear that this wasn’t a cry fest or an effort to lecture anyone, just to point out that there is one place that you never look to find that perfect program that will always give you the perfect sound, perfect pitch. It is a program that is always updated and working at highest capacity with absolutely zero latency, and that program is your own mind (god that sounded like Bruce Leroy’s Kung Fu master in The Last Dragon).

Stay Thirsty My Friends.

BEWARE THE DREADED HOBBIE RAPPER!!!

- We hear you have what the humans call "slappers" -

Ever wonder why rappers will ask you about a track. Saying its hot then scoff at you like you trippin when you tell them the price THEY ASKED FOR no matter how low you go? Ever wonder why a rapper will give you a sob story about how they can’t afford your price then go rip a 16 about how they just blew a billion and don’t care? Wonder what makes a rapper not want to drop that few hundred dollars for a track from you but be more than willing to spend they’re LAST on a pair of space jam jordans and bubble kush? The innocent solution may be a simple case of value (risk vs reward) which is perfectly fine, but there is also a possibility that you are in the presence of the dreaded HOBBY RAPPER IN DENIAL!!!!

-Look honey, I believe he's trying to burst a rhyme or something-

First let me make painstakingly clear that this is not a complaint. I have a few faithful and paying clients that I work with and am grateful for. I’m not some bitter producer sitting around my website wondering why my beats aren’t selling. In fact things are going strangely well including a surprise I am itching to drop in the coming weeks. I am writing this because I often hear producers complain about broke rappers as if the rapper is some sort of victim who is clueless about his impoverished situation. Like he gets to the booth, spits on a track but when its time pay he reaches for his wallet, only to hit rock bottom when confronted with the devastating truth; that he/she is broke. This isn’t the case at all. In most cases it isn’t the rapper who is in denial at all; It’s you.

Now lets take a look at why an artist isn’t buying your tracks. You’re a producer with no resume or credits to your name. you have only worked locally and nothing you’ve done has been critically acclaimed even at that level (no diss this is a scenario). Regardless of these facts you happen to make a hot beat. I mean really hot (not just to you). An artist comes along and really likes it, so much so that they ask you if they can have that. You explain to them that the price is $150 for the exclusive and that you don’t do non-exclusives. Once again the artist goes into assessment mode only in this situation things are much different. The beat is hot but who is this producer they are as unknown as the artist. Also (and this is something I want to stress) an artist ultimate goal is usually finding a track that’s going to take them further into their career, however a lot of people do this and deep down KNOW THEY AREN’T GOING ANYWHERE. This is not meant as an insult. Just a fact. Of course everyone is going to say they are in it to be the best but most are just in it for an ego stroke, make tracks for their homies and maybe do a few local shows. Nothing wrong with that but you have to understand that this is gonna factor in HEAVILY to whether or not they are going to buy that track from you (at nearly any price). An artist that’s not THAT serious about their career isn’t going to drop hundreds of dollars on a beat anymore than a producer that’s not serious is gonna drop big money on any equipment. No they go and download a sequencer loop a couple of sound samples (“aye dog I got that dirty south synth samples volume three from motion sounds”) and call themselves a super producer. Rappers that aren’t serious are no different. They aren’t going to drop big cash on a beat for the career they aren’t serious about. THAT’S WEED MONEY!
Your thought process of course is going to be to think that they are suffering from sticker shock: they may be, but if they aren’t serious, your going to be dropping a looooong way down to the point where its not even worth it anymore.
Think about it, what does an artist (at any level) spend most of their career based money on. Pens and pads? Blue yankee hats? No; STUDIO TIME AND BEATS. That’s it. There is no real equipment required for rapping like production (again this is assuming You’re a serious producer who has paid for his/her equipment). A serious rapper understands that a purchase of a track from you means they think they can turn it into a quality record, thus it is worth the purchase (to within reason). If you have a name and a even better. A hobby rapper on the other hand is more concerned with an ego stroke from time to time. A hot beat is hot but it’s never going to mean anything more to them than a chance to play it in front of the homies or bump it in their 89 civic on the way to work at UPS. In other words a splurge purchase which would be nice but ultimately a waste of money.
Looking for serious rappers in what has become a sea of hobby rappers is akin to Prince Hakeem looking for a suitable Queen in A bar. I’m no “SOOPA PRODUCAH” by any stretch of the term, but I can give you a few examples of what’s worked for me.

[NOTE: these aren’t golden rules or nothing. Just what works for me. Take it as advice if you want.]

1. Don’t put the price of any of your tracks or your rates out there on the web, not even on your own site.

Ever notice that the more high end car dealers never seem to have the price of the car on the car? The specs are loaded up on there, the upgrades are listed but you always have to go to a salesman to find out the price. This is called “changing the power dynamic” by you asking the price you are instantly showing that you are interested in the item. Don’t list your price and the same will happen with you. You will get a few walk away from sticker shock but that’s acceptable. You also may not charge one person the same as the next (say an artist you really want to be on the track or a national act). Let all prices be on handshake status and make sure no artist tells another what your charging them.

2. Quality over quantity.

This is an obvious one but always put your BEST out front and understand the difference between a single and an album track. Having a billion album tracks on your website will lul some artist to sleep. Those are the ones that you show them after they already get that single from you. Its apple pie after the big mac.

3. Don’t put everything on your site.

The game is to be sold, not to be told. Likewise, your music page should give artist a strong suggestion of all that you can do, not all that you have done. You always want to have a few tracks available that others haven’t heard so that they feel as they are the only ones to hear it not in a deceptive way, you can let them know if you are shopping it but theres a big difference between shopping something to other artist or if you have it on a billboard to anyone.

4. Don’t be afraid to talk to the artist about their project.

To use another car reference, there is nothing that separates the high end lots from the kurt russel used car lots quicker than communication. If I come in looking for a four door v8 don’t try to smush me in the smart car because you are trying to get a quick sell. Actually ask the artist what they’re goals are. You don’t have to have an Oprah interview with them, but try to get an idea of what they want and how you can work with them.

5. Don’t let artist see your process (unless it really is some impressive setup).

I know I know “but Joey, some of the best tracks are some of the simplest ones done on some of the simplest setups” I know and I fully agree. The reason we know this however is because we know this AFTER its become a hit. Half the time it’s a shock to most people that some classics were rather simple tracks. Most artist (especially ones who don’t produce) don’t understand this and get a little under whelmed paying big money for a track only has a few simple parts to it or only took you a few minutes to make. I once had this heater of a track this artist was really digging. I do a lot tracks at my house, simple set up of a midi board and a few software plug ins. I brought this artist over once to go through some tracks and see if he heard anything he liked. Nothing was working, everything just “didn’t have that radio ready feel to it”.
A month later he we met up to hear what new stuff I had only this time we played tracks at the studio, with the bix mixing board and the mpc, daw workstation, lights and whistles there. He was digging the tracks and bought one on the spot.
They were the same tracks.
A simple process or uninspiring set up is always room for a rapper to to try and haggle with you “how you gon charge me XX when all you did was loop that and add drums to it?” let the product be all they see.

Hopefully these tips will help you dwindle down that pool of potential buyers from wannabes to serious inquiries.

MISSING THE POINT: How trying to appear cultured can make things worse

As a liberal I often get a bad rep in politics as a weak, dream-thinker with no foundation in the real world, almost as if I think most of the worlds problems can be solved if we all just “get along” and not use naughty words. Ironically, it’s as a hip hop producer that I get a completely parallel reputation as a thuged out mindless caveman who lives in a tribal warzone mentality, unable to discern higher levels of thought like tolerance and reflection in lieu of more practical things like “getting dat money”. Which is why I find myself at a rather frustrating crossroads with the recent dog and pony show from the master of dog and pony shows; Berkeley Artist Lil B.

For those that don’t know, Lil B is a former (ongoing?) member of hip hop group “The Pack” who are most known for their song “Vans”. Since the initial group success Lil B has gone the shock jock route with much success to the point of becoming a deity among the skinny jeans wearing Xtasy pill popping crowd in Cali. Its not uncommon to listen to a Lil B album and hear a jumbled mass of random cuss words and sound effects that somehow work on the excellent production he chooses (keyboard kid on the tracks), the most noticeable of which is his unusual habit of calling himself a “fag”, “faggot”, or even “pretty bitch” (he also believes he looks like a number of people who cause him to have “bitches on his dick” such as Hannah Montana, and even the savior but that’s a different story altogether). It appears Lil B has seen gold in dropping the gay bombs as he has decided to name his upcoming album “I’m Gay”.

THE PROBLEM:

First of let me say that the following is not going to be gay bashing so don’t worry. Secondly let me also say WHY THE FUCK DO I HAVE TO SAY THAT!? Have we really gotten so PC in this country that to say anything bad about something gay instantly makes you homophobic? I hate Perez Hilton because he is a jerk does that mean I’m homophobic?

Ahem, moving on. Lil B is playing the white community like a fiddle and having them eating out of his hand. Within days he has a front page article on Huffington post about his “bravery” for the name of the album. He has even gone as far as to say he has received death threats over the title. He’s a regular martin Luther king! Better even! (Who the fuck was that MLK guy anyway? He was probably a homophobe!). The problem here is this. IT’S ALL BULLSHIT. Lil B hasn’t named the album “I’m Gay” to make any point about the gay community, or to take a stand for gay rights. He simply named it this because it would get attention, and it’s working.

I know what your thinking

“But the hip hop community hates gays he won’t sell anything”

The hip hop community (its arguable hatred for gays aside) hasn’t had a say in who sells albums since 1999. Its more important to get a cosign from the Disney channel than Hot 97. We all know who really moves units for hip hop artist these days and they sure don’t look like the artist. Middle (and upper) class suburban white kids. That guy that wants to look “down” at the party by telling you he has a Drake cd. Lets keep it real here. This is great for Lil B’s career. He’s going to be labeled a “hero” and “brave” for doing such a thing and no one is going to pay attention to the actual content of such an album. This album is going to be full of plenty of “bitch fuck a bitch bitch pretty swag bitch bitch fuck a bitch bitch fucking bitches on my dick because I look like Joe Bidden” and people are going to talk about it like it was as powerful for the culture as Marvin Gaye’s what’s going on record (hey didn’t he change his last name from Gay to Gaye? Homophobe!).

Why you ask? Because simply, IT’S ALL BULLSHIT.

See being actually about something and thinking is hard. Being a real person takes a lot of energy and focus and thought. People don’t have time for that shit, we have to make room for checking our ipad (2’s) and updating our twitter’s, facebook’s, tumblr’s etc.

As a counterbalance, rather than doing things to actually make us more enlightened people, we just do stuff to make us LOOK more enlightened as a people. Why plan a protest against an oppressive rule that bars two people from marrying each other when you can simply retweet a celebrity saying down with prob8? See how much easier that is?

Why go through all the trouble educating people on how there really is no difference between the straight and gay communities when you can have Hillary duff and Wanda Sykes pop up on TV and tell you not to say the G word to describe stuff in a cute and (un) funny way?

Hell why even bring up stories on the inequalities of LGBT people when you can spend your day emailing local radio DJs and telling them to not say no homo [friendly jab]?

After all isn’t this what that (homophobic) MLK guy like, had a dream about or something? I know he said he hoped that one day his children would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character, but I’m sure he meant he dreamed to live in a world where people just couldn’t say the N word. Same diff right? *Presses like button*

The point is rather than actually doing a little research on Lil B and seeing right through this stunt (a simple YouTube search and clicking on the very first video of his where he goes on and on about his favorite subject would clear up any misconception that he named his album out of anything pure), people are just going to cosign this guy to oblivion because it makes them appear like they are concerned about this subject all the while not knowing they are the butt of his joke. This wouldn’t really bother me (it’s actually kind of funny) except for one thing; WHY DOES LIL B HAVE TO SACRIFICE THE HIP HOP AND BLACK COMMUNITY TO DO IT?

In the Huffington post/ MTV article the rapper goes on to tear down the hip hop community as being slow, un-evolved, and close minded (all the things he knows his new mainstream audience would want to hear)

"Hip Hop is a culture and environment which does not provide a safe place for an artist to come forward or to come out," he wrote. "If you listen to many rap lyrics they promote hate and gay-bashing. It is an environment where the thug and gangster mentality is prevalent. Artists boast of a hyper-masculine bravado, with their crotch-grabbing, degradation of women, and their braggadocios lyrical slaying about the number of women they've slept with and children they’ve produced."

It's those types of examples that Lil B said he's trying to fight against.

Really?

The same guy who just made THIS?

Seriously thinking that Lil B named his album “I’m Gay” to truly address anything regarding homosexuality and/or the lack of tolerance from the hip hop community is like thinking Howard Stern made his character “Fart man” to help raise awareness for prostate cancer. Now go back and look at the comments on how smug the people on huffpo regard us “cavemen” in the hip hop community. See what I am talking about and look at the lions Lil B delivered us to. I wonder if they will realize they’ve been had when he drops his next album “I’m going to rape Kanye West in the azz” (yes he really said this).

MIXTAPES: evolution?

("whats?! mixtape is Evolving into....")

The American language has a rather nasty habbit of taking words and completly changing the meaning overtime through general social understanding. Take the word "Yankee" for example. a term originally used by the british which described a simpleton colonial transplant (akin to how suburbanites refer to rural dwellers as "rednecks") a blatant derogatory word most likely at the height of its controversy during the build up to the revolutionary war, now a common term in the states used in songs and a baseball team. They still call us yank in some spots in europe and they get mad when it has zero effect on us.

*snapping out of my history channel moment now*

Which brings us to the word Mixtape. Without goin too far back (like colonial times back) I will say that the word mixtape has changed a few times before. there was a point where it actually had mixes of songs. one blending into another, extended "party mix" versions of songs and the like. you could pop in a mixtape and play it straight through, a virtual dj in a can.

As the hip hoppers started to get in on the action the word slowly changed from the above, to simply a mixed collection of freestyles spit over already recognized (industry) beats. Used primarily as a way to get promotion, Mixtapes served as a perfect "work-around" against the momentum roadblocks that come with trying to create and release an album. As they were not for profit sample clearance was generally not an issue, grabbing an industry beat was a simple task thanks to the internet, and the artist had no fear of being "shelved" by his label as he/she had completly creative control of the release.

The formula worked and mixtapes became known for this new approach almost as much as for there wildly exuberrant covers. Everything about the notion of a mixtape suggested an "no holds barred" system where anything was allowed. this allowed rappers to ride this off into the deep end until the term mixtape became synonomous with laziness. Rappers were able to use the term to hide behind as an excuse for not having any damn business being near a microphone.

"aye man this album was fucking horrible!"

"awww it's just my mixtape"

"oh......well i guess its pretty good then"

Recently I have noticed that we are currently in the midst of seeing the term be changed again. There have been a few classic mixtapes as of late that bare almost no resemblence to the formula that held the same name a few years prior.

Big K.R.I.T. dropped his acclaimed "Krit wuz here" with all original production (done by Krit himself), around the same time Yellawolf dropped "Trunk Musik" another well thought out and detailed piece of music with original production. This in addition to efforts by more newcomers Wiz Khalifa, and redemption bound Chris Brown show a strong change in the formula of the mixtape.

MY OBSERVATION: the mixtape meaning has not simply been changing, but evolving. Emerging from a chrysalis stage to finally recognize its full potential. this last phase however, can only come with the shedding of the final skin of the previous mixtape makeup:

The Mixtape DJ

MY REASONING: Lets be honest, the Mixtape is becoming the poor artist album. with many of these artist reaching out to a different kind of music consumer (i.e. women) they are reaching people with different taste then the average rap fan. Recently Chris Brown rereleased a mixtape sans dj's after much complaining from his dominantly female fanbase. Furthermore, mixtapes are becoming less about building a buzz by showing off your skills as an emcee and more about building a buzz by promoting a possible strong single that could make it on the album. Wiz Khalifa's hit single "black and yellow" was all over the radio in 2010/2011 but few casual listeners will remember it started on a mixtape when it more than likely ends up on his upcoming album (it will be dead by then but it had a run that will definently help propel his album sales). The same can be said for Rick Ross and his mixtape anthem Blowing Money Fast. when your goal is to get people to hear a single as clearly as possible, the last thing you want is for them to hear a bastardized version of this single at the hands of some dj that wants to scream on the track or "bring it back" in the middle of the song.

This is similar to a scratch dj doing his thing at a club. in the right setting or competiton or even during a performance of a song the scratch dj is king, but no one wants to hear that at the club when they tryna hear there song (a girl will scratch your eyes out if you start scratching over her favorite Trey Songz joint lol).

Mixtape Dj's will have there place with certain artist. but the media is definently changing towards the poor mans album approach. look around. Artist are dropping leaks off of there mixtape......off of their mixtape! thats like getting a free sample of a free item. your hearing more and more songs with original compositoin and fewer samples (mainly on the song the artist intends to be the single as this song will make it to the album if its popular enough). smart artist looking to hedge there bets (such as artist Kid Ink's release "Crash Landing") are even droppin two versions. one for the streets with the mixtape dj included, and one geared more towards the casual listener and radio with no dj. Dj's don't even have the god like pull they used to anymore. that music master that used to have listeners hinging on every cosign he gave to an up and coming artist is now obsolete in comparision to a goliath like twitter. When Kush and Oj dropped it was a trending topic amongst millions of people with not one official nod from a notable dj to its name.

IN CONCLUSION: All in all, i feel the rap universe is still trying to settle now that the dark ages of post record label rule is settin in. We greeted the internet as liberators, but we didn't ask it to help us set up a better system so were gonna just have to wait and let the dust settle to see how things go. For now just pray your dj doesn't @#$@ up your mixtape tryna be the star.

2011 Dunk Contest: Not that impressive

I don't know about you guys but should these dudes should have they're stuff down pat.

This was the most hyped contest i have ever seen



- choirs

- kid actors

- a freaking car



but when you actually look at the substance it was just a bunch of missed dunks and average moves.

I cringed at the "oh my toy got stuck in the hoop" bit that ended with a million do overs and the kid still acting like he really was waiting for his toy (great actor though).
even the car dunk was kinda kanye shrug worthy (imo) when you actually look at it.

If someone told you "hey this guy just dunked over a car" you'd be dying to see it, then you realize he just jumped over the hood.



really?



you know i knew a guy who used to do that everyday on tv?

Dont get me wrong, these guys are doing a lot more athletic magic than anything most of us could do, but can we loose all the special fx and hype and just get back to the dunks.

not but a few years ago, nate robinson dunked over a human being.

go measure the height of a hood of a car (usually comes to your waist) now imagine jumping a human being.



this entire dunk contest was a love letter to blake griffin (who for the record i like as a player), he could have showed up and shot free throws and won this thing.



I knew this was gonna happen since people forget that griffin is a power dunker, not a finest moves dunker like say a desmond mason in his prime. his dunks are powerful, nearly unblockable unless your willing to lose a forearm, but for the most part they are just straight forward shaquile oneal-esque dunks ....



okay maybe not that primative but you get my point.



seeing these guys try a thousand times to get the same dunk down (after the first time you already know whats coming anyway so there goes the "ohhhhh ahhhh" factor) is like going to a comedy show and watching a comedian that has a stuttering problem.



eventually your just hoping he gets the joke out and you'll laugh at anything.

TUNATION FREEBIE (drums for the low)

Includes samples straight from E-mu (sp1200) , Roland (tr 808, 909) linn (linn drum), and a special kit of a certain producer who only likes to set fire to things.....

http://www.sendspace.com/file/mj95h0
and if that don't work copy and paste the link below
http://www.sendspace.com/file/mj95h0

THE LAST SOUNDWAVES?: inane ramblings about the scene during my short run

Welp, here we are. end of the whole experiment that was soundwaves 2 and i find myself asking the serious question of "should there even be a soundwaves 3? before I delve deep into my emo fest I must warn you, im on some new shit. names will get named here. i don't care anymore. I have always tried to keep quite on stuff because of the fact that the Seattle scene is a constant flux of "whose side are you on". you critisize someones beat, they don't wanna submit work to your project, you tell someone they coulda brought it a little more on a verse, they don't wanna open for your show. A little tact is never a bad thing, but its gotten so bad to the point that they're are people you litterally can't tell nothing to and let me be honest, as a producer i get enough of this already and i'm not gonna contribute to it. especially since the results are the same as if i had said something. also we started soundwaves to for the main purpose of "putting people on" we always kept the most perfect balance possible of established local acts, up and comers, total darkhorses for the soul reason of letting nonames shine against stars in a way we are pretty confident you would never see otherwise. we also wanted to see people come up on a little cash. of course their are greedy reasons like building a brand out of the show, and getting Cel some face time invovled as to why we did this, im not gonna lie. but the base intentions where always pure. just looking at it from a business model perspective would show pretty clearly that it wouldn't be smart from a business perspective but my goal never was to make money from this. We know where not BIGTUNE (a show that we have tremendous respect for) nor were we trying to be with this beat battle, we always wanted to remain small and local. Steve harvey voice: "WELL, NOW THAT WE GOT THAT PART OUT OF THE WAY...." first off, i had a 15 man line up rather than a traditional 16 man. why you ask? well to give our reigning champion kdcutz a first round bye (a thought up reward for winning previous soundwaves battles that Cel and I thought up that we thought would be cool). the only problem with such an odd lineup is that the entire show would be fucked if you don't get everyone to show up. but surely our hero of yesteryear wouldn't miss an opportunity to win another cash prize, especially one that would theoretically be easier than last year with one less round right? right? WRONG infact we had a number of flat out no show no calls in some of the most unprofessional manner. kdcuts no show jay battle no show izzy no show <---(fyi dude, your automatic xbox360 gamertag updates that say your at home playing call of duty modern warfare 2, not a good look when you noshow on someone). pretty much the only legitamate cancellation was boomboxmassacre, who had a computer issue and told me well ahead of time that he couldn't attend. there was other fuccery from other competitors, such as asking to get in without having to submit beats (man if you don't have beats for consideration, how you gonna win the battle!?) and then once getting in, dropping out the day of once you see the competition sheet because you quote "forgot it was fathers day that day" cmon son! lol really!? In case you haven't figured the theme out for this blog entry, its show etiquete. I know sometimes in the midst of being told how nice you are by friends and family, getting a couple youtube shout outs, or maybe even doing a song with a Q-list celebrity artist or two it can be easy to forget you are not in a position to be a diva and are in fact very much.....gulp....dare i say it?

LOCAL

shocked diva: "wha....!? not me"

YEAH YOU MUTHAFUCKA!

you

me

all of us

local, so get off your high horse

I'm sorry but you not wanting to start the show until you have purified yourself in waters of lake minitonka, or recieved your hand picked grapes just isn't in the cards and continuing down that path is just gonna screw your name up real fucking talk. i don't care who you (or who you think you) are, people will get tired of it. YOUR NOT KANYE. i had a nigga really request comp meals to do the show, im like "nigga you submited your application to me! gtfohwtbs"

its getting weird out here yall. i know im gonna get a thousand "do you know who such and such is, you should apologize" type of emails, save em. i don't care and this stuff needs to be said.

for all the whinning people do about shady promoters/venues like studio 7 and how much you guys wanna "get on" how you gonna front someone off when they try to actually put you on.

when my co-sponsor had to gracefully bow out and the prize went from $1000 - down to $500, i swallowed my pride and made sure i personally emailed, twittered, text, and in some cases even called each and every contestant to let you know it and if you wanted out because of it, you were more than welcomed to. now imagine how bad a rep i would have had if i had just said it at the show.

next post we will go further into actual show etiquete in the next post.

STAY TUNED