Kanye West On His Trademark Production

[WingsOfAnAngel]

"I don't give a fuck about equipment or technique," West says. "It is just about how it sounds at the end of the day. My claim to fame is to get the most out of the least: simplify. I go through my closet every month and give away all the clothes that I don't really love. I have a better chance of putting on something good every morning if I just have all hot shit."

One of West's trademarks, besides classic '70s soul loops, is ample use of speed. Almost every other track on The College Dropout features a sped-up vocal sample, be it Dinah Washington on "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" or Chaka Khan on "Through the Wire."

"I sample them at regular speed, then speed them up inside the ASR-10," he explains. "I just put the pitch up on the sampler, and it will go faster. The ASR-10 is like my left hand. I can chop samples into 61 pieces without wasting any memory. A lot of old songs are too slow to rap on. So I got to speed them up to a rappable tempo."

The album's multiple treats include a searing Lauryn Hill sample (on "Falls Down") and gorgeous choral vocals from the Harlem Boy's Choir (on "2 Words"). The Choir might be from Harlem, but that is the last place West could find it. "I wanted that track to be more than just another hip-hop song," West recalls. "I wanted the Harlem Boy's Choir on it, but nobody wanted to pay the $10,000. We wasted $3,500 on Hezekiah Walker, but it wasn't my vision. I finally said, 'We have to have the Harlem Boy's Choir.' I drove all the way to west bubba - wherever - Crystal Lake, where they were at boy's camp. It was like a place where they would shoot a scary movie. I went through hell to get to heaven on that song."

(Taken From Remix, Feb 1, 2004)

 

[Tim D]

Thats a good interview, im interested to see how Kanyes production is gonna be on Consequence's album

 

[classic]

Now im not trying to start a big sampling argument This is just my opionion about kanye

ever since i have heard the orginal tracks that kanye sampled. I have lost ALOT of respect for him production wise. Some tracks he just simply spead up and looped. it really makes you wonder.
Again this is just my opionion. Scrool down and listen to Walk with me and you will see what im talkin about http://www.soundclick.com/bands/2/potmusic.htm.
But you do have to give him props for doing something new.

anyway back to the topic......
Very intersting article . I heard he uses a combination of the ASR 10 & MPC 2000XL. Is this true.


class.....

 

[mArkoFdAbEaTz]

yeah he does loop alot.. but thats hip hop.. i dunno maybe cause im from the east i like sample beats better than triton ones...taking it back to 94..

oh and yeah i think your right about the asr and mpc..

 

[Ozmosis]

... Some tracks he just simply spead up and looped. it really makes you wonder.
class.....

WOW!! ... taking it back to 94', I was just getting my drivers license then.

But anyway about that quote, thats all it is to it. That just shows if you make it sound good enough and live or visit the right market often for Hip Hop preferably New York, I think all you have to do is hang out around some of the studios there and shop your beats. Eventually some known rapper with a deal will come around and like atleast one of your tracks. Like in a article with "The Alchemist"(I cant remember if it was on this site or another) but he said thats how he met other producers, they would hang out around a studio and try to get cats to listen to their beats. You cant really knock Kanye, he put his time in(over 5yrs makin beats), paid his dews, and hes just now blowing up. All he did was speed up a sample, loop it, and add some drums.

"The OZ"

 

[FuriousMusic]

Man classic its like you a mind reader i was thinking the same thing since i went to pot's site. When i first heard jesus walks i was like man how does he come up with these visions? I thought he literally pieced that together from scratch. I knew it had samples (which is fine) but i thought they came from different places. When i heard walk with me my jaw hit the floor. To me and its just my opinion thats not production. If you listen to the original songs it sounds like he just samples a 70's song and adds drums.Just my opinion

 

[RigorMortis]

who said more was less hahahhahahaha

 

[bigdmakintrax]

Imma Hip Hop Head, From way back.....all of the nice orchestration and beautiful arrangement can fit into tha genre But Imma tell you like this.....Hip Hop Music for those of you who don't know or made your way to this genre from Trance, Jazz or some other more orthodox music Forms or getting PHD's in Music or whatever that like to analyze a beat someone made from your perspective I think that analysis can't be valid if that was the intention of the messenger/producer not how you wanna use the beat or even if you couldn't think of 1 MC style the beat would fit, I work with people who use beats to spit on for the most part....not listen to as an instrumental and be analyzed for things like...IT's only 4 bars....or.....That Sample wasn't chopped they just looped it and called it their own.....Dre and Soooo many other have been doing this for years and many sometimes think some of his tracks were original he laced the rest of the track around that sample.....to keep speaking out about lack of creativity etc you could back to the foundation and legendary producers and they were doing the same thing....MAKING Hip Hop Music.......a hot beat is a hot beat......almost what Kanye Said in the beginning about the End Product...but for Real I love Hip Hop....Gritty Hip Hop....none of that Ethereal spacy sounding music that's a hybrid of some other form that someone has attempted to put over a beat, it might sound great but overwhelmingly that probably will get no hip hop vote....just a good beat or track.....or their lack of creativity or being funky with it....now as for all the arrangement I have played in bands that do Jazzy, Neo Soul, Go-Go and some Rock.....for all of you that are sticklers for arranged music that's probably where you should find your way to if you can't get over the fact that theres not a lot of arrange ment found here...you might learn why you find most that understand the foundations of the music form of what they are doing...LOOP Based Product... and produce for artists usually end up with an end product that is usually repetitive and looped...it starts with some intro goes to a verse (usually a loop) to a Breakdown and then comes back to the top....My preferences of a hot beat generally go along with Markz opinion of what is hot and staying with a short catchy loop for head bobbin and good for an MC that flows over it....

 

[UnOwn]

^^^^^ I've said it before and I'll say it again, werd......but big D seems to have said it all...

 

[classic]

classic's opionion

BIG D you made some good points but........

That’s your vision of hip hop and that’s cool. Why cant hip hop encompass all those types of beats? You can’t say that hip hop is one way! Look at all the different forms of rock and roll, jazz, and even reggea. I think hip hop is getting older now and with that there will be people takeing it in different directions.

Also your taste’s on what hip hop should be(today) depends on what you grew up listing to. While most of the guys up north grew up listing to cats like premier, ganstar etc. In the south I grew up with luke,69 boys,8ball MJG as well as curtis Mayfield,Issac hayes,etc….
You can hear those influences in my music just like I can here the old school break be influences in your music

When hip hop started people didn’t have the technology or the know how to compose but now its 2004. You got to try new things.

Now as far as kanye west is concerted I still give him props casue even though he just looped some stuff you still gotta have an ear to here what has potential(i couldent do that shit). Also I know he has madd composing talent. I was just referring to some of his production

Don’t get me wrong hip hop will always be looped based and There WILL always be a home for a simple 4 bar loop and gritty drums. The MC will always be the focal point. But hip hop has so much potential. More can and will be done with hip hop of music. Vocally and musically

Jut my opinion

classs

 

[jaydub23510]

You are so true brother, I can tell we have the same love and time put in living this hip hop life. fuck how you acheive the sound or beat, fuck if you sampled a piano or played a piano. All my life my dad and his click were a serious dj group, with dancers, mad lights, a real stage show, so my experience in music is from a hip hop perspective, I never listened to no fucking techno, no trance, nothing but pure pure rap, r&b, reggae, and go-go, little house not much, a lot of you on this site, come from country, dnb, techno, but not your boy, A yo, serious though wtf will you do when the digital divide is narrowed and real thugs, and street cats like me and bigd, come in and start clowning fools who are ignorant and think cause they can play some keys they hot, yo hip hop was built on sampling, there are tracks out there produced by big names that they didn't touch a note on, they looped the shit, why are you trying to reinvent the wheel man!!!! For real class, you could play you piano with some nice riffs and shit, somebody could sample that, through a tight beat on it, and that track would sound better than having it midi'd up, further more class, I'm sick of dudes dissing tracks and being over critical on some shit cause it's not there style!!! I've been digging for records for a min. and I've come across shit I thought was played by the producer and it turned out to be a loop or he chopped it up on some other shit, I don't lose no respect for the person, I give him props, first for having the money to pay for the sample, second for finding the shit in the first place, and third for manipulating the shit and giving it a groove (hard ask people on here who try), it's funny me and class agree on non musical shit, but our musical tastes are mad different, and don't think cause my tracks are wack, i don't know what i'm talking about, my training comes from being a drummer, so ask me about a ruff, flam, or 9 stroke role, we can do the damn thang!! And lastly, you could have a track that you did 100% and that track won't hit as hard as a sample beat because the sample has been proven to rock!! Stop hating!!!

 

[bigdmakintrax]

Oh yeah I mean no doubt Class, there's new technology etc....but keeping with certain elements and structure you can go anywhere you want, I mean Rock has evolved and entertwined into what most consider Mainstream Hip Hop....groups like Linkin Park and others are redefining hip hop to certain degrees....I like to hear different stylez myself....but there's certain KEYz....ways of using a break that are fundamental (Kanye does this perfectly).....no matter what sampler 84 or 2004 you use......cats today have lots of tools the old sKool didn't.....ways to visually identify a perfect loop, ways to collect 1 shots samples and arrange.....I can tell you this the style of mainstream MC's have changed flows and delivery....most beats in demand are throwback samples beats capturing the 70's and soul......a lot of MC's are good enuff to flow with metaphors and back and forth on an old instrumental of a classic.....too bad they don't have instrumentals in volume from some old throwbacks people are sampling from...but unfortunately slicing and dicing what you want to cut is what you have to do just to get enuff of the song to project your idea or mood of the track......look at Pete Rock....yeah a lot knock him...look at the machines they used to create a lot of the tracks.....man most cats on here would be hard pressed to create song after song on some of that old equipment....thank god for PC editing and MEGA increase in usable sampling time......WE take that for granted in production and look back on the old skool and go that was some basic eazy stuff they were doing but really those guys were ahead of their time I don't care what anyone says.....so yes today we have more colors and canvasses to use to paint our picture and create....but you still have to keep in mind Hip hop and its roots......it has to be URBAn it has to usable for Urban messages and it has to appeal to people that either live it......lived it or have some clue of how to mesh it with those that want to portray the message, not that someone couldn't replicate it from a wheatfield in Kansas.....I mean look at the Roots and other instrument based groups yes they validate what you are saying, but for the most part their funkiest shidd will not get too complex.....it can sometimes become unusable For the Artists Easel to paint what they want to portray...thatz why over orchestration is not good because and artist does not want the track to overshadow them or cluttered with too many changes and throw the message or delivery off.....but a good instrumental in a contest might need to have these areas filled in with other things......

 

[jaydub23510]

Classic, the whole recording industry has only been around 30-40 years, you can trace back to the first multitracks and whatever, home recording has just got more exciting, it's been around for about 25-30 years, hip hop has been around for about 30 years, so when you think about this, the technology and the rap industry is growing together, the bigger the home studio phenom gets the bigger hip hop gets, which is why we are at th point (although it's declinin) of some of the biggest rap stars in history, more than just the one Vanilla Ice who sales millions, now Camron can go plat, M.OP. can and will go platinum, Lil Dick from ATL can sell millions and so on, but, but, to remain true to what you do a la (premier) it's a formula to the shit, now here's where this gets crazy, Nelly, Chingy, J kwon, all those guys when they were in the studio they didn't say let's make this for the white folks or this for the hood, they made music, of course you might say this will be a sentimental track, or this a club banger, now with this culture, black people get it first, brothers in the hood was bumping Nelly before MTV knew whata Cudda Love was, now he's gotten popular so his music is labeled pop, the people who were originally bumping him have found someone new that's coming up, but when they are in that smokey lil pool hall and some shit like Hot in Herrre comes on they jam to it a lil bit, so much time has passed by you be like damn that song was all right, same with Jigga, after he's gone you'lll haters will be like he was the best at that time, Stop hating!!!

 

[classic]

jaydub *sigh*

Ok ok
I really dident wanna open this discussion here but I guess as long as we keep it civil the mods will keep it open

I never listened to no fucking techno, no trance, nothing but pure pure rap, r&b, reggae, and go-go, little house not much, a lot of you on this site, come from country, dnb, techno, but not your boy

This is where we disagreed last time man. I never hated man! WE are arguing the same point!!! What I am saying is that there is room for all the different ways to approach hip hop music. You can’t expect everyone to approach making music the exact same way!!! If that was tru hip hop would not have progressed to what it is today. And your right if its hot its hot, I said that and I give kanye and everyone else their props. Whats wrong with me wanting to be different’t.
I don’t know if you where referring to me about being my environment. But don’t get it twisted. I am from an urban environment and so that’s where my influences lie. Listen to my music man, Is my stuff really that different?? From the way you speak you would make it sound like I was making techno or something!! . My mother and father were black panthers. So I grew up listening to Curtis Mayfield, Issac Hayes,Ottis Redding, temptations, Dramatics etc. The only difference between me and a kanye west is instead of sampling their music, I try to recreate there style from scratch.
Basically my goal is the same is yours an everyone else’s here. I wanna make a banging hip hop track for a talented MC to bless. But im willing to go about it a diffent way. PERIOD.

For real class, you could play you piano with some nice riffs and shit, somebody could sample that, through a tight beat on it, and that track would sound better than having it midi'd up, further more class, I'm sick of dudes dissing tracks and being over critical on some shit cause it's not there style!!!

did you every think about this. If it wasn’t for cats like me that were willing to play instruments what would you have to sample??????? Composers and samplers go hand and hand. As far as dissing tracks that’s Bull and you know it. Like I said eariler, feel holmzini, Chedda,Wings,P-gyal,Messanger,cold and a buch of other peoples music on this site. And their syles are totally different than mine. Good music is good music man. Plus why are you getting mad for people stating their opionion!! You posted your stuff in the showcase so obviously u wanted a review!!!

A yo, serious though wtf will you do when the digital divide is narrowed and real thugs, and street cats like me and bigd, come in and start clowning fools who are ignorant and think cause they can play some keys they hot,

Real thughs??? Clowing people for doing something different??
Im not going to get into that one. Again u assume to much about me jaydub

yo hip hop was built on sampling, there are tracks out there produced by big names that they didn't touch a note on, they looped the shit, why are you trying to reinvent the wheel man!!!!

Beause man that’s what I do!!! Cant you see that. Some people are better at turn tables and some people are better at the keys. Let me do me man and stop saying hip hop has to be one way. That sounds real ignorant

Class….

 

[jaydub23510]

This is where we disagreed last time man. I never hated man! WE are arguing the same point!!! What I am saying is that there is room for all the different ways to approach hip hop music. You can’t expect everyone to approach making music the exact same way!!! If that was tru hip hop would not have progressed to what it is today. And your right if its hot its hot, I said that and I give kanye and everyone else their props. Whats wrong with me wanting to be different’t.
I don’t know if you where referring to me about being my environment. But don’t get it twisted. I am from an urban environment and so that’s where my influences lie. Listen to my music man, Is my stuff really that different?? From the way you speak you would make it sound like I was making techno or something


i wasn't referring to you on that one man, but most of the post was towards you

 

[jaydub23510]

"Beause man that’s what I do!!! Cant you see that. Some people are better at turn tables and some people are better at the keys. Let me do me man and stop saying hip hop has to be one way. That sounds real ignorant"


Check it, I've listened to mad beats from you guys, and my amateur friends around my way, if you listen to beats that are original tracks 100% and listened to some stuff that was sampled, the sampled would win every time, Premo said himself, he would play some shit live but sample it back into the Mpc or whatever to give it that hip hop feel, I know guys who could manipulate a record and have someone rap to it that would sound better than someone playing there shit out on there motifs, tritons, whatever, That shit Swizz beats, Timbo, neptunes, they all use samples but it's sampling to make a sound, like take a sample off a record to use as an instrument, I do the same thing, cause I don't have the money to purchase sounds, I like this argument though, because there is really two ways to do this, sampling which costs, and it costs to be the boss, or play everything live! And for clarification, it's not just sampling cause you wanted a piano or guitar riff, it's the sound of that piano, it might sound bright or eerie and complement what you are doing with the song, it might be an instrument you know you couldn't find anywhere else but on this record, and the way i've personally been feeling about this music lately it's really into the drums not so much the melody, imo, the drums is what makes the beat, which is why i need a few kits so bad (lol)

 

[classic]

Big D
I felt everything your saying. Your right about hip hop having certain boundries.(ex a 4 8 or 16 bar loop)I do feel that evey once in a while the envilope needs to be pushed. Without that there will be no progession!!!!
Most of my stuff follows the same format as hip hop but insteat of sampling old funky rhythems from the 70’s I try to recetate the feel from scratch with my own vibe added in.

Different methods for the same goal

class...

Class….

 

[jaydub23510]

Class, your beats are decent, when we get in these lil arguments it's all in fun man don't take it no other way, I wish my tracks could speak for the type of music I like, I'm getting there, I even like your drums most of the time! But without that sample I don't know everything kinda sounds the same, but Big D., MarknBeats, DeuceMade, Truth, they have that Boom bap shit with them and to me that's the essence of hip hop, in the end though all you have is self, so do it!

 

[classic]

mos def man

One the real thats what it really comes down to, Persnal perfence, Trust me your not the only person with your opionion. There has been plenty of times that my tracks have been passed over for a kick,snar, and sample. Its just a matter of what floats your boat


classs...

 

[jaydub23510]

mos def man

One the real thats what it really comes down to, Persnal perfence, Trust me your not the only person with your opionion. There has been plenty of times that my tracks have been passed over for a kick,snar, and sample. Its just a matter of what floats your boat


classs...

Last thing and I might start a thread on this, it's funny you said that, I will pass up on an m.c. if at some point he said one line I didn't like, and that's goes for every cd, song, feature in there entire careeer, I'm hard on mc's, go hard or go home is my motto!