Equipment To Make Beats?

[CaribbeanBadBoy]

I'm a songwriter who wants to get more into making beats and production on the whole... The idea is for me to move up to the level of Pharrel Williams and the Neptunes who combine the writing and beats and just tailor it to the artist.... (i.e. make the beat, write the hook maybe even record the hook vocals or a demo of the song if it's for a singer).

Okay now the question is what equipment should I get to do this with? I've been contemplating going the MPC route since I'm kinda familiar with it from collaborating with people that use it previously...

But at the same time I'm thinking maybe I should get a G4 laptop with Logic and some plugins (Reason maybe? Fruitylooopz? Acidloops?) so it'd be portable (I'm no engineer so I'd need to go to an associate of mine to get help recording acoustic stuff [guitars etc] and vocals and to do the final mix - at least initially).

So what do you guys reccommend? Is there maybe a workstation that could function as well as a laptop for this purpose? Someone mentioned the MPC4000....

I'm a little overwhelmed with the options.

BTW - I'm primarily a vocalist but I also play some keyboards and have programmed drums etc on MPC before on some records I've worked on...

The stuff I do is mostly Hip Hop, R&B and or Caribbean (Reggae etc.)

Holla back! I'm anxious to get some stuff and get started!

[BigLex]

Well since you play keys and the Neptunes are one of your inspirations, I definitely wouldn't start with an MPC, unless you have money to spend on multiple pieces in addition to an MP. Sure the pads are nice to program drums on, and the sequencer is regarded as the best, but you are going to need some keys and some more importantly (kb and other) sounds.

I'd look into a workstation like a Triton, Motif, or the new Roland Fantom-S, this way you have everything you need in one piece- sounds, keys, sequencer, sampler so you can sample load any sound you desire into your machine, and in the case of the FAntom-S you got some pads to bang on (definitely not as good as the MPC's pads tho). Check out Reason if you can, download the demo, its a dope program. Some people actually prefer using software over hardware.

[Abyyss]

If u got a few G's ta' spare I'd most def. check out the new triton studio (just choose your country an' go from there - u shouldn't have too hard a time findin' it)