What the deals peoples….My throwback pick of the weeks is summertime in LBC from the westcoast/G-funk group Dove shack, who was first debuted warren g”s album regulate.. This track is just a fun type of track wich makes me think of bbq”s and Old E’s and some might say this is corny but this track makes me feel good and puts my mind in a better place unlike most Bs out today….
Us as rappers, producers or anyone involved in hip hop must deal with a day to day discrimination. The standard set by the radio, or a syndication such as MTV have put a cloud of ignorance above the head of anyone involved with hip hop. While certain genres such as jazz are considered intelligent, we are viewed as the alternative school of music. The ones who steal others music, the ones who promote violence, the most vain genre besides pop music, and ultimately the WORST role models of all. This is why I have beef with hip hop magazines, radio, and websites. Why would you feed into this nonsense? There are plenty of impressive artists beneath the surface who lack the promotion, and or don’t promote easy ignorance. Anyone who knows me would vouch for me on this… I think that underground hip hop can be as cliche and corny as the mainstream sewage. I don’t respect artists for tagging themselves ‘underground’ as a scapegoat for the fact that they can’t make music that raises eyebrows worldwide. At the same time… WHO WOULDN’T want a radio hit? I do. Am I going to change the way I make music to accomplish that? No. Would I like my style of music to be recognized across the world? Cmon…
One of the most uncomfortable feelings is running into someone I know since childhood, and they ask the inevitable..” So what do you do?”. My first answer is, “I am in the music business.” Surprised, they’re eyebrows raise and they say, “Get out! What kind of music do you do?” Then I say, “All Kinds…But mostly Hip Hop.” I feel like as soon as I say that, they are automatically thinking I am a wanna-be or that I have to be atrocious because I am white & from a nice town. I am not ashamed of it, but when they think rapper… god knows who the fuck they think of…feel me? Anyhow… this is obviously my opinion… opinions are like assholes, everybody’s stinks. People may read this and make a fuss over it like my blog about the grammy’s… saying “This guy has some nerve…” or “He will never win a grammy thats why he’s mad”. Fuck you, this is my blog and i’ll bitch if I want to… if you wanna see cool gadgets & discuss retro 80’s gear and find out which tight jeans are cool nowadays… then go to Kanye’s blog ya VAIN BASTARD.
New Rule: Radio has to fire all the Dj’s… and just make fuckin’ playlists. What is the point of having different shows and segments if everyone plays the EXACT same shit all fuckin’ day? Get some new artists on the air waves! RAPPERS: STOP COPYING WHATS POPULAR!!! How are you going to open a pizza place two doors down from Grimaldi’s? Producers: Do something original! No More 808 Snares…i’ll let you get away with the kick as long as you double it up… and no more snare fills… no more autotune… hmm what else… no more songs about how your better than everyone… and no more producers rapping… you suck. In the words of Mr. Wolf “Just because you are a character doesn’t mean you have character.”
Thank you for reading this, now fuck off!
It was in the middle of the summer, and my father was cleaning out the shed. I was playing ball in the front of my house with my neighbor Roy and a couple of kids who lived on the block. “Vic, this is the third time I asked you to pick up these Tonka trucks & put them in the house or I am throwing them out!!” my father yelled from the backyard. I blew him off & continued to shoot hoops as if to say I didn’t care about the Tonka Trucks, do what you want with them. My father had a very effective way of punishing us, he used psychology as opposed to physical abuse. My mom would give us our well deserved ass kickings, but he would either publicly embarrass you or do something in the manner I am about to explain. He calls over to one of the kids on the block who was sitting sideline while me and Roy battled it out on the court. “Hey do you want these Tonka trucks? My son doesn’t want them anymore.” Before the kid could even finish saying yes, the basketball was rolling down the block and I was stampeding behind him. “No dad!! They are my Tonka trucks!! HE CAN’T HAVE THEM!!!!” My father then said, “You no longer own these trucks. You failed to put them where they belong, so now I am giving them away”. THE NERVE OF HIM!!!!! I thought… How can he give this fucking nerd my trucks like its all good? The kid was all smiles while my father piled three trucks into his arms as he tried to maintain his balance. I lost my mind! I was completely in shock that my father did this & I ripped the trucks out of his hands and THEN attempted to bring them in the house like this was the first time I was told to do so. The poor kid caught a left hook to his chest for even accepting MY PROPERTY! My father then grabbed the trucks, and carried them down the block to the kids house with me kicking, screaming and still gripping onto them. I hated that kid. Now I hated him even more. My father would explain to me on the walk home that I was spoiled & that I didn’t appreciate all the things I had. He used the old saying, you never know what you have until it is gone.
I guess the moral of my story is that even today, as adults….we tend to overlook some of the little things, and we fail to thank god for EVERYTHING we have. In this case…metaphorically…My father is god, and the trucks represent either a relationship with someone special, or a convenience in my life that I failed to recognize or handle with care. I have learned from that experience, yet I still need to remind myself every now and then of those Tonka Trucks. So don’t let god give away yours…take care of your relationships as if they are your favorite toys…recognize every category in life in which you are spoiled, weather it be with a special woman/man, great friends, a prosperous career move, money, or even health. I know it is easier said than done, but if you pay close attention to your blessings you will have less time to focus on your hardships.
What up peoples.. this week’s throwback pic is Large professor The Mad Scientist. I never knew why he did the same verse twice but i never cared.. this joint was hot.. production was crazy and it’s just a classic hip hop track. I wish i still saw hip hop videos like this on tv, i remember seein this every day on rap city…. check it out 100
AUTOPSY: THE FUCKIN’ FINISH LINE!
I am very very close to finally completing Autopsy. I want to start working on “Tonight We Go To WAR” already LOL. When creating an album, I have learned several things. The most important of the several, is to remember NOT to put a time frame on your creativity. The runner up to #1 is to recognize when you have THE VISION. I am not talking about when you have a shit load of tracks & simply place 15 in the best order possible. I thought I had a vision for Autopsy last year. Until about 3 days ago I realized that the project is actually starting take on a life of its own, and the VISION is so clear suddenly. When I was working on Each Dawn I Die, the process was scattered & unorganized. I had a couple of tracks that I knew I was using, but it didn’t seem like a family of songs …and to this day, it still doesn’t to me.
Autopsy is going to have to be an album and not a mix tape. i will absolutely release a mix cd of the tracks that didn’t make the cut (fact: I have over 40 to choose from). The ones that don’t make the album are not shunned because of their lack of quality, they will just be the ones that don’t mesh the best with the other tracks & ultimately do not jolt the project further conceptually. I recorded one of the singles the other day, and I must say that I am very happy with the final result. Since I don’t know exactly which tracks are making the cut, I can’t give a production list yet. I can confidently say that I will be producing about 70% of the album myself, letting my listeners get used to the fact that I was indeed a producer before i was an MC. Here is a little list of the ones I produced that are making the cut as of TODAY.
“Flesh & Blood” - My first choice for a single. It is pretty much all over the place, back and forth with rapping and singing…not following the normal formula of a “single”…But I am going against the grain from now on. It is deep, amped, sad, nostalgic, dark, bright, happy, and powerful. I worked on that beat for many hours, so right now I think it is my favorite.
“Not on the Outside” – This is my neck breaker. Originally I did this beat for a collab for me and CP, but for some reason we never used it…I went back recently & did my best to be comical/witty …of course all while keeping it raw! John John laced some serious cuts on it, and it should give you an idea of the variety of production I am personally contributing to my own album.
“Bulls Eye” – This is my intro track. Soulful, Rocking, and ultimately prepares you for anything. I imagine it will have some throat stabbing cuts on it when the intro is wrapped up…The drums on this track will kick your ass.
“Concentrate” – This is my nostalgic chick track. It is all inspired by real events that took place in my life with the girl I love…I haven’t finished the third verse yet, but it is probably the smoothest track on the album…and its all from the heart.
“Change of Heart” – This is one of my favorite beats I have ever done. The hook is me buggin out singing, and I am speaking on the trials of everyday life without being depressing… I like the way this one turned out, and i am positive you will too.
“Drift Away” - Up Tempo head banger. I am in the air weather I want to keep this one on the album or throwback…They are both similar in the verse matter & sample – Its just a matter of which one has a better final mixdown…This one does have a really dope instrumental interlude before it.
“The Show Stoppers” (feat. K Solo, RA the Rugged Man? ill Bill?) – This track is simply hard & to the point. I did about 5 sequences where if you listen close enough you can hear slight changes in the drum pattern & basslines…I already got K Solo on it, which is more than enough… But we are also reaching out to rugged man, and I already locked something in with ill bill – if this goes through… go buy a helmet & wait.
“Throw Back” – Exactly what it says. This shit sounds like something out of 96. I didn’t intend on making it sound like that…I originally had some hard drums rockin at 1/8 , and a snappy hi hat going in and out at 1/16…it was too futuristic sounding, so I went with the old “Flangered” out break drums…Added a few tambourines & i wrote my ass off that night. I was in florida, and this track is probably the Oldest track on the album.
“Autopsy” - This track gave me the idea for the second album. I did the beat very quickly, as you can tell …there isn’t MUCH to it…But, there is SOMETHING about it. Its one of those tracks that makes you instantly write…I am bringing in some artilary on this track tho, a couple of vocalists & musicians will make it sound tighter than anything on the album…The lyrics are dark & rapid release.
“Body in the Funk” - 112 Tempo…I had this track up on my myspace page for a while…I am in the midst of remixing it, adding a BIG hook, and overall making it another potential single.. maybe a B side…lets see how that pans out.
“Evil Woman” - Bouncy feel-good beat. Ironically enough, its a Story about an EVIL woman over a feel-good beat.
Well, these are just some of the tracks I have produced for the Album….I have a whole other batch of shit that is going on the mixtape… I guess its safe to say that the harder you work on something, the more options you have. Someone told me a while back to “put the MPC down for a little while”… not meaning harm, but simply stating that i should focus on writing & let the other producers worry about the beats…If I did that, I would be in bad shape. Besides, Ryan West said it best… Some artists just know exactly what they want. It is absolutely true. I know exactly the types of tracks i need to get done in order to wrap up Autopsy, but I cannot explain it to a producer. I was actually thinking of producing the entire project myself, but I do have some bangers already in the vault from some of the guys…Then again, who the hell knows… Right now I am on a roll, & in good spirits – It should be easy to wrap up. I will do about 5 more tracks in total before Autopsy is complete… I don’t know which 5, but most likely they will be brand new beats that I either produce, or come across in the next couple of days…. Alright, if you made it up to here, then you have no life… neither do i… You wanna collab??? LOL
Peace
Victorious
Whats up peoples this weeks throwback pic is” who’s the truest” by wu-tang producer True Master. Tru Master is know for his raw production for the wu camp but he also spitts and this was the first track i heard him spit on. I belive this was featured on one of guru’s ill kid soundtracks… but the track is dope ,the beat was raw as hell and Tru Masta gets deep “ Let’s go deep into your darkest mental chamber and confront your darkest strangest anger and then convert that anger to life and power within the darkest hour of the night”
It amazes me. It doesn’t surprise me. I cannot believe how artists in the hip-hop genre are awarded for the thoughtless BULLSHIT that any half-witted shmuck could conjure up. Credit for a musicians success used to be based on skill, not popularity. Granted, ones popularity was once a goal to reach due to the musicians ability to create quality music. I sit dumb founded, surrounded by music that is less desirable than cat piss, yet these pop star MC’s are being awarded for spitting kindergarten lyrics over generic/THIN/corny production. Why go on? Why continue to create music with the wishes of one day becoming rich but no plans of ever jumping on the mindless bandwagon that has become modern hip hop. No Solja Boy, nas didn’t kill hip hop. People relying on someone like Nas to regenerate life into hip hop music is what killed it. Jay-Z for example does a little of both. Rarely will you hear him spit meaningless lyrics even on a radio single, but you will catch an occasional “Hello Brooklyn” type of track which makes you scratch your head in awe, and wonder if he really thought that beat was hot. I don’t want to go off into hysterics, but as a hip hop artist watching the apocalypse unfold in front of my eyes…and the recklessness in which these artists eradicate what I have put many years of hard work into, I feel nothing but disgust. These are the people making big money, with the open forum called America to spew their tasteless material circum-navigating even an INKLING of skill. Okay, fine… that may be a bit harsh, and in the heated state of mind that I am in… Maybe just maybe I am ignoring the fact that it isn’t exactly simple to rhyme on beat no matter what the final product one is trying to accomplish. Now you have these new artists whom noone has heard of through paying dues. They just materialized from an old milk crate of hip hop cliches, and the “coolness” of being normal. This new breed of MC, the Ordinary is an example of how the public eye will mistake a rapper who doesn’t refer to money, hoes, cars, and expensive liquor automatically for a lyrical combatant. Now instead of them discussing whats cool for Vh1, they equally cater to corniness by trying extra hard NOT to touch on these subjects. Praying to Dj Premier & J Dilla, attending/performing at free shows, being politically conscious(even if they know absolutely nothing about politics, but use politics to hide the lack of topics they rap about) consuming organic fruits and tea or the like are just a few traits of a modern day underground artist. Asher Roth is a perfect example of this. I am not saying he has zero skill, I am simply stating the obvious… He is ordinary. Did TI win a grammy? That is a sincere question. I wonder because his album amuses me the most. The premise of the paper trail is exactly this…” I am rich, cocky, and think it is protocol if not COOL to be hated. Also, I am a regular person! I swear. Why do you hate me so much? Is it because I am worth millions of dollars? Or is it because in the midst of making my final dollars before approaching 100 million I get a gun charge? Either way, I love that you hate me…It makes me feel important, and above all…talented.” Anyhow… I have to get back to writing rhymes, I am stupidest when I try to prove a point. Besides, Im not a writer I just blog alot. Peace
The computer is a very important part of being an independent artist especially if you produce your own music. Unfortunately it is in most cases, especially at the beginning phase, the most expensive piece. Some people prefer PC, and some prefer Apple, but there are some components you must seek in your machine if you plan to record anything. I personally use Apple, I feel they are safer, and they do charge you for that safe feeling. Whichever medium you choose, make sure the programs you are using or looking to use are compatible with your computer first and foremost. With every program they give you a list of minimum requirements your computer needs to run the program. But Logic for example says you need 1gb of memory to run Logic. While Logic might open with 1gb of memory in your computer, It won’t actually do 1/100th of what the program is capable of because it simply can’t. Memory or RAM whatever you wanna call it, is not something to be skimped on or cut out in order to buy the wireless keyboard and mouse combo. A proper hard drive is also crucial. This is where all your Programs, Files, and Sessions will nest. But in the event of a catastrophic meltdown, it always pays to have your everything backed-up to either a external hard drive, dvds, or both. If your serious about what you want to do then I would take a little extra time to make sure you can cop a proper computer that will suite your needs now and also in the future as your production develops along. Don’t skimp on the computer to buy the newest keyboard, or audio interface. Take it step by step, piece by piece and do it right the first time.
Joey P. Basically
“Autopsy” Coming Soon
Whats up peoples my throwback pick this week is Royal flush feat Noreaga – “What a Shame” it was a follow up to there first queens anthem collabo iced down medallions. This track was produced by one of my favorite producers EZ Elpee, who also produced Iced down medallions and a few other tracks off the Ghetto Millionaire album. I belive on this track elpee fliped up a jones girls sample wich gave the track that 90’s queens sound. In my ears ghetto millionaire was a classic album with a allstar producer line up “Buckwild, Ez Elpee, Sha Money Xl, Hi Tek, Beatminerz ect” enjoy.
This blog is for everyone who is unorganized, spontaneous, creative, and content. Content with being unorganized that is. I know many creatures of habit… weather they are musicians who have strange regiments they are accustomed to, or just your regular dude who goes to the same old deli every morning and gets the same sesame roll with two fried eggs, 3 strips of well done bacon, two slices of cheese, and a light and sweet coffee. I wonder sometimes if one who is totally spontaneous can alter their randomness to adapt to a daily regiment & actually stick to it. I have tried it. I am one of those guys who cleans my studio once a month, or just waits until Velotz comes through and neat freaks it back to a livable area. Once i do have a clean workspace, I tend to create CLEAN music…I also tell myself that I am going to uphold the cleanliness of the lab and I often say to myself ( Its not so hard, just clean up after yourself).
Hmmmmmmmmm……NO! I love being a slob. Don’t get me wrong, I am a clean person…I am just against the grain, unorganized, and ultimately lazy when it comes to something that requires no creativity. The beauty of being content with this scenario is… when I have a messy studio, I tend to make grungy beats. I cannot eat the same thing two days in a row, I don’t even like to drive on the same roads twice in a day, and I certainly love a little randomness to keep my wheels turning. People who know me, are aware that they can probably catch me about to hit the hay when they are having their coffee in the morning…this isn’t everyday, but again – Why not? I don’t feel guilty as long as I am working. If i were drinking a bottle of liquor and staying up til 5-6am … then I would imagine feeling guilt. One thing in my life that is habitual is cigarettes. I fuckin’ hate them… they smell. If they didn’t smell, I wouldn’t mind them. Maybe Camel should invent an odorless stoge, and i’ll gladly smoke all day without any thoughts of quitting. Anyhow, back to work…not sure exactly what I am going to work on …but thats exactly why I love what i do…FREEDOM!
