Fade
The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
With computers everywhere in the beat making world, it's refreshing to hear something from a rarely used piece of old school equipment.
Enter Mike Free and his trusty Akai MPC2000XL. He decided to work on a project where all the beats are made with the MPC, and he ended up with "The Dewey Decimal System".
I had a chance to check it out and hear for myself what MPC2000XL beats sound like in today's world, and I was pleasantly surprised.
We start off with "Prezidential", a track that hits very hard right from the beginning. Relying heavily on samples to make up this beat, it's obvious this one is perfect for an MC. I'm thinking someone like Jay-Z would fit perfectly over this.
"The Remedy" continues on but this time it's a very smooth sample that provides the backdrop. What I really like is the fourth bar of the sample - that's golden! With a sample like that, not much else is needed, so Mike Free just added a simple drum track and a bit of bass. Dope.
Now we move on to a track called "Dice Game", which actually sounds like something that is portraying a dice game taking place on the block. Police sirens ring out in the background and various male vocal snippets are placed throughout. All of it is brought together beautifully with another dope sample as the main track.
"What's Up Girl?" takes things down a notch with something much smoother, but still keeping to the hard-hitting style as the other beats. With smooth piano in the background and a grungy-hitting snare, this would be perfect for an urban love story. I can see the video now!
We then move to "Eldorado Slim" which is a bouncy type of beat featuring a solid kick and hand clap snare. Mike Free also throws in various sounds that flow throughout, but it's the simple guitar lick that keeps everything simple, once again opening things up for a possible vocal track.
The Wizard of Oz movie scene with the flying monkeys scared the crap out of me when I was a kid, and on "Flying Monkeys", Mike Free manages to carve out a beat that could easily go with that movie scene. Those monkeys meant business, and this beat is serious too with its hard-hitting monstrous kick. But it's the vocal snippet that's looped throughout that gives this beat its dark feel.
"The Stomp" features some chopped up piano to go with a laid back drum track. Although it sounds close to the other beats on this album, I feel that something is missing on this beat, just a little something to spice it up.
Mike Free's last beat "Rock Out" is a bit different from the rest. From my experience, it's very hard to sample certain styles of music but he pulled it off with this one. I'm not sure of the sample used but it sounds like an old Rock song. Nevertheless, this one features a synth-type sample that goes well with the backing drums. It's almost as if he's taking the listener back to the 80's! And there's nothing wrong with that.
In Closing
Mike Free definitely brings a very unique style on this project. Some may call it "Boom Bap", others may just call it different but I think it's straight up dope Classic Style.
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