WingsOfAnAngel
Banned
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 3
How many times have we all heard "I want that next @#%$!" spoken by A&R reps. What that next sound is depends on two things, the sound of the producer involved and the lyrical quality of the rapper. Anyone who has heard the lyrical freestyle of SuperNatural(EastWest) knows that he is literally and figuratively from another planet and there has been none other like him, no wonder he won the DJ/MC battle for World Supremacy at the 1993 New Music Seminar. Trackwise when the Bomb Squad first came out, or Prince Paul pumped the first De La album, they had sounds that were not really heard in Hip-Hop formats and subsequently, they blew up. The question is where does one go from there?
One problem that the Hip-Hop producer has is that he or she must distinguish his/herself from the hundreds if not thousands of other producers out in the field all trying to peddle their works for a relatively small number of openings in major and independent rosters. How to do this is somewhat simple in concept but hard to accomplish in reality. One must not only be proficient at the basics, but a good producer must develop a sound that is somewhat distinctive and recognizable without taking away from the original sound of the artist or artists themselves.
What the producer wants to offer to the A&R man looking for tracks for their artist is a unique sound. Pete Rock blew up on his own tracks, but when you heard A.D.O.R.E.`s Let It All Hang Out or his Public Enemy Shut`em Down remix or Down With the King by Run-DMC, you knew it was Pete, When House of Pain came with Jump Around, you knew that Muggs was behind the board, and almost any Hip-Hop head knows what Premiers tracks sound like. What all these producers have in common is that they have a distinctive production sound that is a proven hit and therefore gets them paid. Without a doubt, there is room for the next on this list, and everyone is jocking for the positions. What to do?
Everyone has or shortly will have the basic collection of breakbeats, these are getting more available to the general audience everyday, and basic tracks utilizing common breaks are getting scarcer. Todays producer must go searching. It is time to go to the thrift shops, the garage sales, the $.99 bin at the record shop. It is time to start looking at moms and pops if not grandma`s attic to look for different @#%$. Check those Black Sabbath and Clash records for drum sounds, see if Bruce Springsteen has a usable baseline, whatever you have, you have to study it. One reason groups like the Pharcyde and ONYX blew up is that they are combining slamming beats and funky rhymes with phat new samples that people haven`t used before. Experiment.
Realize what your strengths are. If you have nice horns or baselines, concentrate on using them to their full potential. Don`t sleep on any aspect of production. If your drum sounds are the bomb, then use them on mad tracks, establish yourself with signature patterns or sounds. Flip equipment tricks as only you can, whether reversing, filtering, delaying, whatever, make it your own. Not every A&R will like your jams, but if you find one with faith, then they will use your sound on a variety of projects.
Another important aspect of unique production is listening. Hear who is successful at the moment, hear what they do right and wrong, what you would do differently, think of how you would bring it to another level. Be on the next style while everyone else is stuck in the past because it all comes around. Whoever is on top now, might not be when you blow up.
A&R are looking for singles. If you are established, you can do ten tracks for an artist and they will all be accepted, if you are coming up, you might get one or two. Don`t give bullshit tracks, quantity is nothing in this business. Represent with your best four as opposed to twenty. Everything submitted must be slammin`, and if you are unsatisfied with a track, kick it to the rear. It does not benefit you for the A&R person to have to sit through a tape, constantly fast forwarding to the next track. Also in presenting tracks, make them short enough so that nobody gets bored, don`t wait sixteen bars to bring in the chorus or break, wrap the whole thing up in a couple of minutes, rarely will someone listen to four minutes of instrumental music on the first listen, they want the meat as quickly as possible.
Finally, as a producer, it is your job to get the best delivery out of your artist. The producer-artist relationship isn`t about one does the music and the other does the lyrics. It is your production and even dope tracks will sound wack if the lyrical performance is sub par. This is another aspect that the producer has to develop that new sound, the world doesn`t need another Treach or Snoop Dogg, although some record companies might jump on the bandwagon and sign look-alikes, others want the future and that is up to you. Encourage your rappers to try new and innovative styles, there are many examples of the same old thing said with a different cadence or style that has meant success and money (look at DasEFX, Digable Planets or Digital Underground). Don`t worry it is not a gimmick, only something new.
All in all, it is either rely on someone else's creativity or be a pioneer. The people who are successful in the long run and don't have one hit and then fade are the ones who are always creating new sounds and improving on others, Dre was all dat for `93, Premier in the `94, the next years title is still up for grabs. Peace.
One problem that the Hip-Hop producer has is that he or she must distinguish his/herself from the hundreds if not thousands of other producers out in the field all trying to peddle their works for a relatively small number of openings in major and independent rosters. How to do this is somewhat simple in concept but hard to accomplish in reality. One must not only be proficient at the basics, but a good producer must develop a sound that is somewhat distinctive and recognizable without taking away from the original sound of the artist or artists themselves.
What the producer wants to offer to the A&R man looking for tracks for their artist is a unique sound. Pete Rock blew up on his own tracks, but when you heard A.D.O.R.E.`s Let It All Hang Out or his Public Enemy Shut`em Down remix or Down With the King by Run-DMC, you knew it was Pete, When House of Pain came with Jump Around, you knew that Muggs was behind the board, and almost any Hip-Hop head knows what Premiers tracks sound like. What all these producers have in common is that they have a distinctive production sound that is a proven hit and therefore gets them paid. Without a doubt, there is room for the next on this list, and everyone is jocking for the positions. What to do?
Everyone has or shortly will have the basic collection of breakbeats, these are getting more available to the general audience everyday, and basic tracks utilizing common breaks are getting scarcer. Todays producer must go searching. It is time to go to the thrift shops, the garage sales, the $.99 bin at the record shop. It is time to start looking at moms and pops if not grandma`s attic to look for different @#%$. Check those Black Sabbath and Clash records for drum sounds, see if Bruce Springsteen has a usable baseline, whatever you have, you have to study it. One reason groups like the Pharcyde and ONYX blew up is that they are combining slamming beats and funky rhymes with phat new samples that people haven`t used before. Experiment.
Realize what your strengths are. If you have nice horns or baselines, concentrate on using them to their full potential. Don`t sleep on any aspect of production. If your drum sounds are the bomb, then use them on mad tracks, establish yourself with signature patterns or sounds. Flip equipment tricks as only you can, whether reversing, filtering, delaying, whatever, make it your own. Not every A&R will like your jams, but if you find one with faith, then they will use your sound on a variety of projects.
Another important aspect of unique production is listening. Hear who is successful at the moment, hear what they do right and wrong, what you would do differently, think of how you would bring it to another level. Be on the next style while everyone else is stuck in the past because it all comes around. Whoever is on top now, might not be when you blow up.
A&R are looking for singles. If you are established, you can do ten tracks for an artist and they will all be accepted, if you are coming up, you might get one or two. Don`t give bullshit tracks, quantity is nothing in this business. Represent with your best four as opposed to twenty. Everything submitted must be slammin`, and if you are unsatisfied with a track, kick it to the rear. It does not benefit you for the A&R person to have to sit through a tape, constantly fast forwarding to the next track. Also in presenting tracks, make them short enough so that nobody gets bored, don`t wait sixteen bars to bring in the chorus or break, wrap the whole thing up in a couple of minutes, rarely will someone listen to four minutes of instrumental music on the first listen, they want the meat as quickly as possible.
Finally, as a producer, it is your job to get the best delivery out of your artist. The producer-artist relationship isn`t about one does the music and the other does the lyrics. It is your production and even dope tracks will sound wack if the lyrical performance is sub par. This is another aspect that the producer has to develop that new sound, the world doesn`t need another Treach or Snoop Dogg, although some record companies might jump on the bandwagon and sign look-alikes, others want the future and that is up to you. Encourage your rappers to try new and innovative styles, there are many examples of the same old thing said with a different cadence or style that has meant success and money (look at DasEFX, Digable Planets or Digital Underground). Don`t worry it is not a gimmick, only something new.
All in all, it is either rely on someone else's creativity or be a pioneer. The people who are successful in the long run and don't have one hit and then fade are the ones who are always creating new sounds and improving on others, Dre was all dat for `93, Premier in the `94, the next years title is still up for grabs. Peace.
