Do your beats stack up???

C

CyanJaguar

New member
hi guys,

I just want to know your views on current radio hip-hop.
I make hip-hop tracks, and I kinda leanrt from a down south dude who has about 3 hip-hop cds.

It is not difficult to duplicate the beats I hear on radio.
Does this mean I'm good or does it mean the hip-hop beats are easy?

If I can make what I hear on radio, how do I break-in big time?

My pal who was teaching me has beats that blow some current hits out of the water. Why isn't he a big name yet.

How do I get a unique sound? Not really unique sounding instruments, but more like a unique approach?

What do you think about your work compared to commercial stuff?
 
I think its about trying to be on the next level. I make beats to mimic whats hot for the time being, but that is more less to make money. Yes, I do think my tracks can hold there own in the current state of Hip Hop, but for me thats not good enough. When I sit down to create I'm tryin to make somethin that surpasses the norm. Being on the outside lookin in, for me to blow I gotta make stuff 10 times better than what's hot. But the bottom-bottomline is, that as long as my heart and mind are into it, and I put forth the best effort I have to give, and keep improving.....sky's the limmit.

Far as a unique sound is concerned, there is no blue print. The hottest producers set their own playing feild....That's what makes someone unique.
 
Stay original...

I think if you "try" to come up with your original sound, it's like chasing girls - if you try to hard you normally don't get any play. Let what comes naturally flow out on to your tracks. Your efforts will be rewarded. I make beats for a few lyricists. I think the key to getting out there is have someone who can rip the mic. The synergy between the emcee and the beat is what makes hip hop and rap good. There are a lot of beat makers out there whose stuff is hot. It's the lyrics (I think) that get you signed. Even though in my opinion a lot of stuff being played on the airwaves is lacking a lot of creative talent. An emcee who can flow can do it for a lot of different producers. In my dealings with A&R folks, most of them say, "I like your stuff, but can you sound like..." I am trying to put out my own sound, so, we usually part company. But, that's me...
 
well... the beats are easy. Hip hop beats are easy. Our drummer has to take a couple valiums to play hip hop beats ;)

BUT you should just forget about "breakin' in big time" Thats the wrong take to have, and will only make you miserable. and ll tell you why:

The odds are about a million to one against you breaking into the mainstream market, and you'd probly have to suck some serious ass to do it. Its too political.. its not about how good you are or really about the music at all.

BUT... Im not saying give up. What you need to do is make music for the Love. You need to drop fat shit because it's what you were born to do. THEN, if your 1 in a million chance gets pulled up... youy'll actually be doing something you're proud of, and if it DONT.. then at least you'll be having a lot of fun playing...which is more than a lot of majors can say.

my 2 cent

xoxo
 
i dont listen to the radio. garbage. i grew up on too $hort,krs,ice t,public enemy and my brother rav. i bumped run dmc and stetsaonic but they werent my main influence.when we make music at our spot we dont just loop the sounds. i break stuff down,pan add delays,use pan changes man i do a lot to keep the music interesting from start to finish. i have a DISTINCT formula that NO ONE IN HIP HOP IS DOING. come with your OWN style. your own. dont emulate mannie fresh. dont copy timbaland. dont make a beat sounding like the stuff you hear on the radio. come with your own sound. set yourself apart from the crowd. if your going to follow follow YOURSELF. dont have album covers where you are iced out and gold is all over the place. how is "johnny" going to know to by your cd when your cd doesnt stand out from the 80864086086101875407219759751975975292759875 other rappers with a similar cover? you need the following:

1. product (good product)
2. marketing plan(creative plan)
3.target audience(those who you want to buy your music or your music is for)


hit those 3 and it has to sale. you can rap about popsicle sticks and get paid.

learn the business get ascap or bmi and register your work with the us copyrights office. be distinct and network. pray to god that doors open for you. sacrifice your family and friends and make MUSIC your priority IF your trying to get in the door. if your not going to DIE for this your just another face in the crowd. who will fade and die out as the times change. be yourself and FUCK WHATEVER ELSE THIS PRODUCER OR THAT MC IS DOING.....



be yourself


czar


sorry for the flash momment
 
It`s so true!

That`s what the fuck I`m talkin bout Camn!No diss to the cat he is saying this too but that shit is so true and you best know it duke!Fuck standards the real ones break standards....you know it when you scrape your surface.See my shit`s called N.S.P. nevasleep productions and how I see it you break from the norm and really shine when you reach your peak,scrape your surface,it`s like when Mike is shootin parimeters and he don`t even try he just hittin without even lookin,Mike scrapin,so when you just being creative and combining sounds and doin some ol next shit then you scrapin.At that point hopefully you will bring hip-hop back 360 and away from the bullshit that sell.........you know what I mean.
nevasleep
 
BOOM

Hearz the deal if you don't think your making a hot beat than STOP!!!!

It's starts before the first kick is played and before you go digging threw the crates 4 some soundz. You gotta have that killer mentality.

I usally go all out, lay down like 20 tracks and i start playing with the arrangement of each instrument. Than on the mixdown i pick what stayz and where.

Commerical beats have hot drums and like 2 or 3 instruments (mostly a lead than bass). But it's how u make those instruments sound with each other and the rapper. Where u throw the breaks in. (listen to timbaland)

i'm talking 2 much.....

creature
 
I think i have what it takes to put a dent in Hip Hop production
And it starts not with the drums but with sounds Drums just accentuate, but its the samples the basslines or whatever that will determine how the song will be listen to the classics from back in the days, like The Crusaders, Bob James, Rufus Thomas, Cal Tjader, herbie Hancock and you'll plenty of things to Freak. Provided thats you have an open mind to those sounds and the imagination to Shape those sounds.

That's Why Cats go Crazy of Preemo's, Pete Rock's Jay Dee (not Atlanta JD, but Slum Village's Jay Dee) beats. because they have the scope to freak simple samples and turn them into treats.
 
Just because you do hiphop doesnt mean you only need be influenced by that. Most hiphop beats are made by guys with extremely limited knowledge of music theory, technique and etc. the emphasis is shifted to having a "sound". Lots of work, at least by good producers, is put into engineering the right sound, meticulously programming the synths, finding samples ...breaks... , capturing the emcee's.

The stuff that interests me these days is when idea's from different areas are fused. I mean, you can sound like primo, or swizz beats or somebody if you have connections, your in the loop. But, if your not in that loop I think you really need to come with something different. The pop thing IS a lottery, but the indie route, while not paying I feel has something more to do with talent and hard work. I think most of the guys who are famous either knew somebody, knew somebody that knew somebody, or...they get hooked up with management, or a lawyer that knows somebody. If none of this is within your grasp I think what needs to be done then is to put all your energy to making waves as an indie, touring putting out cd's... and if you make waves maybe then you'll catch some attention and hook up with the right MANAGEMENT . If you send your tapes in cold to strangers theyll just end up in that persons dumpster out back.

If you want to hear some strange, out there music(not really hiphop) check out Third Eye Foundation. Also, I like Autechre...the boards of Canada......Plastikman...Dj Shadow...

Theres lots of music made by people who started with hiphop, or techno but got bored with it and took it "out there"
 
hey robert jaybird,

My pal and I were listening to some current hip-hop tracks and we heard a couple that get airtime even though they only had drums and piano. Only drums and piano.

We came to the same conclusion that you came to. in hip-hop you have to know somebody .

secondly, once you are famous, you don't even have to put out good stuff to sell.

I think that soonere or later, hip-hop will witness a rebirth so magnificent as to be almost violent.
 
Wassup from Croatia, East Europe

I see that everybody is eager to get a deal and get into "the big game" and produce tracks for famous cats. I hear that i's so hard to get picked. Why?

It's like every other part of being a musician. You've got a million dollar word for success: FRESH! And that's what you've gotta be!

I live in a country with 4 million population, so there's a pretty much small hip-hop scene over here. Though people from nearby countries (Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Yugoslavia, Hungary even Germany) say we rock shit in this area, we've got parties that never go over 1000 payed tickets. But...

Two guys, producers named Koolade and Dash got a break in US big league. Well, not a big break but... They did most of the beats for Das Efx's upcoming album, few tracks for J.J. (Das Efx crew member, r&b), El da Sensei, and had calls from Def Jam to do some other stuff in future. They were also invited to come to NJ to do some tracks for Redman but shit blew when they didn't get visa to travel to US!

How they did it? They had fresh sound and new ideas. They successfully combined US and european style. See, hip-hop nowdays is starting to repeat itself constantly. We have few types of production and a dozen producers who try to follow that sound and make $$ out of it. This will wear off and some artists know it! That's why they want some new-style beats to sound different. They want to be fresh so we must be fresh!

And also one more thing. I think that if you wanna call yourself "a producer" you have to know stuff about mixing in studio and all the tricks of being recording engineer. Combined with personal arrangement style, this is why you get your own sound. If you don't have a clue what's the difference between Aux and Insert, you're just a beat-maker. MPC wiz-kid or Computer wiz-kid, whatever! For instance, what is Primo's unique sound? Overcompressed, hi-cut eq'd beats and short samples to form a loop. Anybody could do that, but he did it first. Fresh!

That's it!
Big up to everybody @ this forum!

Shot
 
shot,

WORD. I am feeling everything that you said, and I agree with you one hundred percent.

The problem is not that hip-hop is bad. Hip-hop is good, except that we've heard it all before, and its getting very tired. We need freshness to totally bust in.
 
Yeah,
Just the other day I was listening to ATaliens. That was so fresh, and old school Mobb Deep, Nas, Rakim, Pe,Tribe, Krs One, early Wu Tang, NWA, Slick Rick. To me thats the shit. Now, I like some other shit too, been listening to the deltron 3030 from a while back, as well I like Cannibal Ox. To me, as much as I admire Hi Tek, and Mos Def, its just not the same as "wu tang clan aint nuthin to fuck with". Shit, maybe Im getting old, all the shit these kids listen to these days, I tell ya, back in the 90's things were different he he he ;-)
 
im thinking of doing a concept album called "analog army" where we beat the shit out of Bobby Digital and the entire Clan.

you heard it here first.

xoxo
 
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