Fade
The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
Icemanbeats recently won our Beat This! Competition for the month of February 2007. I had to find out a few things from him, such as how he created the winning beat, and what his name means...
Sup Boneidle? Tell us about yourself.
I'm a 23 year old beatmaker from the UK, at the moment living in South Africa.
South Africa? What are you doing there?
My parents moved here a few years ago and I came to join em this year. I'm on a long holiday, really... planning to move back to the UK pretty soon.
What's with your name!?!
It comes from a UK saying, when you call someone bone idle or bone-bloody-idle you are saying they are lazy. I used to get called it a lot by teachers and other old people lol. The name that most people know me by (outside illmuzik) is "KP". Boneidle is a name that I thought was a good idea at the time (but wasn't). After 50 posts I had to stick with it for the beat this comp.
How does it feel to win the Beat This! Competition?
Feels good. Actually had a dream the night before that I won. Then I woke up and was like "shit it was a dream - I didn't win" lol then I won. So err I guess dreams can come true! Still waiting on the lottery.
How did you put together the winning beat?
I got the sample from an old reggae CD. A Sheila Hylton tune. When I heard it I went into a really worked up, spaz mode and put it straight into Recycle. I pitched and looped the bass in Kontakt and the rest of it I chopped and sequenced. I'm still learning on mixing but put big effort into getting the sound as crisp and powerful as I could, with big use of compression & reverb.
So do you usually sample stuff? Or compose?
Most of the time I sample, but I compose sometimes too.
What do you think of the sampling vs. composing debate?
I think whatever most people think which is if it's good, it's good doesn't matter how you did it. But I also have that extra respect for people who compose from scratch and create hot beats, coz that takes a lot of skill.
What's your setup like?
Cubase SX 3, Adobe Audition, Kontakt 2, Battery 2, Waves Diamond bundle and a bunch of other VST plugins. A cheapo Oxygen 8 MIDI keyboard, Akai MPD16 pad, Vestax 07-pro mixer, Rode NT1000 mic and my favorite out of it all is my monitors the KRK Rokit 6s.
Do you do anything else besides beats, like MC or DJ?
Yeah, I started out as a DJ, learning to beatmatch & scratch then got into MCing and still enjoy doing all of em. Learning scratching was what helped me understand the root of it all. If something as annoying as white noise can become musical then there's a shit load you can do with samples.
Do you collect vinyl?
I used to collect Hip Hop, Reggae and cheap Classical vinyl for sampling and DJing. I have a decent collection, most of it is 90's underground Hip Hop.
Name your top 5 records in your collection.
Probably one of those old, portable cassette recorders. I didn't start recording until I got a computer with Cool Edit Pro. I used that to record my DJ mixes.
Do you have a powerful computer? And are you even going to touch the new Windows - Vista?
I have a P4 2.8 gig, 512 RAM. Nothing huge... And no, I won't be going for the new Windows Vista just yet. I'll upgrade when I need to, XP isn't phased out yet and has everything I need.
Was your first beat really good? Or was it some mad cheese like basically all newbies?
The first beat I made was on Hip Hop Ejay. So no, it wasn't good lol. The second I made was on Fruity Loops and was actually really good, but only because it was a loop, it doesn't take much skill to loop something from a sample pack.
How did you find IllMuzik?
Google. I signed up a few years ago but never really got involved with posting. I used it as a reference site to read up on shit & hear people's beats. When I found the sample flip section I started becoming proper regular.
Have you collaborated with any other members of Ill?
No. But, I'm all open for it.
Have you released any albums or mixtapes?
Released a lot of mixtapes of me and my friends rapping back in the day. Pretty poor quality, nothing that I would look back on and be proud of. I have sold a lot of beats online for stupidly low prices (which I won't be doing anymore). Released a few mixtapes & CDs with UK emcees in the past, one worth checking out is "Urang?" www.myspace.com/uranghiphop.
Do you have any material you're going to release soon?
Yeah. Most of it is UK hip hop. I am working on a solo album which will be due later this year. Collaborations with UK rappers - Indrid Kold (Living Dead) - www.myspace.com/indridkoldisdead , Asylum Seekas - www.myspace.com/asylumseekas. Urang?. Also singers and local rappers from where I used to live, a group from the U.S and of course South African emcees. All of it under the name Icemanbeats - www.icemanbeats.com.
What do you think of the whole production game today?
You have to be crazy to be a Hip Hop producer today. There is way too much competition lol. There are producers on top who have set a massive standard and there are thousands of talented upcoming producers. So watcha gonna do? lol
What are some other interests that occupy your time?
Guitar, movies, partying, painting & poker. Love poker.
Any shoutouts you'd like to give?
Huxsta (Icemanbeats).. my friends in Guernsey.. IllMuzik crew, and every upcoming artist who is bringing something new, pz.
Sup Boneidle? Tell us about yourself.
I'm a 23 year old beatmaker from the UK, at the moment living in South Africa.
South Africa? What are you doing there?
My parents moved here a few years ago and I came to join em this year. I'm on a long holiday, really... planning to move back to the UK pretty soon.
What's with your name!?!
It comes from a UK saying, when you call someone bone idle or bone-bloody-idle you are saying they are lazy. I used to get called it a lot by teachers and other old people lol. The name that most people know me by (outside illmuzik) is "KP". Boneidle is a name that I thought was a good idea at the time (but wasn't). After 50 posts I had to stick with it for the beat this comp.
How does it feel to win the Beat This! Competition?
Feels good. Actually had a dream the night before that I won. Then I woke up and was like "shit it was a dream - I didn't win" lol then I won. So err I guess dreams can come true! Still waiting on the lottery.
How did you put together the winning beat?
I got the sample from an old reggae CD. A Sheila Hylton tune. When I heard it I went into a really worked up, spaz mode and put it straight into Recycle. I pitched and looped the bass in Kontakt and the rest of it I chopped and sequenced. I'm still learning on mixing but put big effort into getting the sound as crisp and powerful as I could, with big use of compression & reverb.
So do you usually sample stuff? Or compose?
Most of the time I sample, but I compose sometimes too.
What do you think of the sampling vs. composing debate?
I think whatever most people think which is if it's good, it's good doesn't matter how you did it. But I also have that extra respect for people who compose from scratch and create hot beats, coz that takes a lot of skill.
What's your setup like?
Cubase SX 3, Adobe Audition, Kontakt 2, Battery 2, Waves Diamond bundle and a bunch of other VST plugins. A cheapo Oxygen 8 MIDI keyboard, Akai MPD16 pad, Vestax 07-pro mixer, Rode NT1000 mic and my favorite out of it all is my monitors the KRK Rokit 6s.
Do you do anything else besides beats, like MC or DJ?
Yeah, I started out as a DJ, learning to beatmatch & scratch then got into MCing and still enjoy doing all of em. Learning scratching was what helped me understand the root of it all. If something as annoying as white noise can become musical then there's a shit load you can do with samples.
Do you collect vinyl?
I used to collect Hip Hop, Reggae and cheap Classical vinyl for sampling and DJing. I have a decent collection, most of it is 90's underground Hip Hop.
Name your top 5 records in your collection.
- Big L - Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerouz
- Nine - Nine Livez
- Snoop - Doggystyle
- Jedi Mind Tricks - Violent By Design
- Gza - Liquid Swords
Probably one of those old, portable cassette recorders. I didn't start recording until I got a computer with Cool Edit Pro. I used that to record my DJ mixes.
Do you have a powerful computer? And are you even going to touch the new Windows - Vista?
I have a P4 2.8 gig, 512 RAM. Nothing huge... And no, I won't be going for the new Windows Vista just yet. I'll upgrade when I need to, XP isn't phased out yet and has everything I need.
Was your first beat really good? Or was it some mad cheese like basically all newbies?
The first beat I made was on Hip Hop Ejay. So no, it wasn't good lol. The second I made was on Fruity Loops and was actually really good, but only because it was a loop, it doesn't take much skill to loop something from a sample pack.
How did you find IllMuzik?
Google. I signed up a few years ago but never really got involved with posting. I used it as a reference site to read up on shit & hear people's beats. When I found the sample flip section I started becoming proper regular.
Have you collaborated with any other members of Ill?
No. But, I'm all open for it.
Have you released any albums or mixtapes?
Released a lot of mixtapes of me and my friends rapping back in the day. Pretty poor quality, nothing that I would look back on and be proud of. I have sold a lot of beats online for stupidly low prices (which I won't be doing anymore). Released a few mixtapes & CDs with UK emcees in the past, one worth checking out is "Urang?" www.myspace.com/uranghiphop.
Do you have any material you're going to release soon?
Yeah. Most of it is UK hip hop. I am working on a solo album which will be due later this year. Collaborations with UK rappers - Indrid Kold (Living Dead) - www.myspace.com/indridkoldisdead , Asylum Seekas - www.myspace.com/asylumseekas. Urang?. Also singers and local rappers from where I used to live, a group from the U.S and of course South African emcees. All of it under the name Icemanbeats - www.icemanbeats.com.
What do you think of the whole production game today?
You have to be crazy to be a Hip Hop producer today. There is way too much competition lol. There are producers on top who have set a massive standard and there are thousands of talented upcoming producers. So watcha gonna do? lol
What are some other interests that occupy your time?
Guitar, movies, partying, painting & poker. Love poker.
Any shoutouts you'd like to give?
Huxsta (Icemanbeats).. my friends in Guernsey.. IllMuzik crew, and every upcoming artist who is bringing something new, pz.