Recording rap/hip hop

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picostudios

New member
I have recently decided to move out of my house and start to live on my own in a 1 bedroom apartment. I am really excited about not having to deal with room mate anymore and the hassle of having to clean up after someone else.

The only set back is that I will not have the advantage of recording full rock bands. Drums would be entirely TOO loud.

The only type of music I would be able to record would be hip hop/rap and acoustic music.

Now, I really don't want to sound mean, but do you guys take any precautions at recording this type of music (hip hop/rap). SOME of the hip hop/rap culture has set a bad name for itself with the artists who give it a bad image (bitches, hoes, money, drugs, drinking, killing, gangs etc...) I have recorded some rap before, but the artists were positive and one was Christian. I was thinking that if I got into this style of recording, that I would have to set some guidelines as far as who’s to come in, at least to protect myself from any bad situations happening.

I had a friend that recorded this and stopped because one of the artists wanted to bring a gun to the recording studio in case a certain person was looking for him.

I love recording, just don't want to put my life on the line

I was thinking that if I start to do this, I will make it to where if I do record a rap artist, it has to be positive oriented or Christian/religious. Is this a bad idea? Would this give me a bad rep?
 
It's your business, so you can pick and choose your clients as much as you like! Just because someone knocks on your door (so to speak), doesn't mean you have to take them on as clients! You tell them you're too busy and refer them to another studio in your area....
 
I think Bear hit the nail on the head. I'd suggest that you discuss your business with new prospective clients outside of your home first. Try to feel them out mentally and see where their head is at. If you can establish some sort of comfort with them, decide if you want to extend your services to them or refer them to someone else. Since you'll be in an apartment, buy renter's insurance and take as many pics as you can of everything. Also set rules and guidelines for your studio for clients to follow or else they may run all over you.

Edit: I am starting a small label that is recorded in my home, so I will be talking with potential rap/hip hop artists that I've scoped out and feeling them out before I even let them know where my studio's at. They've just heard beats and song samples and know that the chance is there if I decide so.
 
Great guys, thanks. I am just taking precautions in what I love to do. Other than the worry, I am excited over my new interests. I am still a bit new to that particular genre of music. So far, all I have done is just record vocals over premade beats. I have not gotten into actually composing beats, chopping up, screwing vocals, etc... I honestly do not listen to much of it, so it's hard for me to get an idea for making that sort of music. I have some ideas, but not as many as someone that would be into hip hop or rap.
 
and dont forget . . .. purchase a surveillance camera system . . . .

hell i typed up shit load of rules and give it to my "clients" before hand. i tell them, if they cant follow em, find someone else

and i even take pictures of them when they come in to record . . . i tell em its for 1) their cd cover, 2) my site that i am going to make of my clients and my production

but its really for evidence . . . lol
 
i had some people walk into my studio a while back, (still not sure how they got in).
they tried to steal equipment, and i tried to stop them.
i was one desrespectful comment away from swinging on these guys.
i ended up avoiding a fight and gettin them out.
but the next day, i found out from a mutual friend that they had guns.

so yeah, be cautious of who you bring in.
take gullyjewelz advice. imma start doing that too.
 
Shit before I really bring anybody in my house/studio, I'm setting up surveillance cameras that run 24/7 in my studio room (that's wired to my setup in the bedroom recording anything at anytime. I want to come home and watch my studio room and not even see that the cat was in there. I'd really like the cam that lets you connect to it via IP address....that way I could watch shit even while I'm at the job. That'd be dope.

If we ever decide to move into a house with a basement, I'm replacing that door with a steel double enforced type shit. That'd keep some motherfuckers out my shit cause there won't be any other way through except through that door. Only way they could get me is maybe a police battering ram.
 
Yeah,i only do Christian rap myself.I couldve made a lot of money,had so many people asking me for demos and just throwing me the money,lol,i told them the guidelines(no cussing,and nothing voulgar)they turned away and left :D
But they still dont stop asking though.I'd rather be broke!
 
I'm too paranoid to open my home studio to clients reguardless of what genre they play. If you got nice gear its just a matter of time before you get a shifty client or one with shiftee associations getting bright ideas. Yeah i know there are cameras and alarms that can be installed, but I also know that where theres a will there's a way. I literally have reoccurring nightmares about coming home to a cleaned out apartment.
 
Paranoid recording engineer at work...

Buy a gun and leave it in open display right next to the console whenever you are dealing with questionable guests...

Build a heavy duty steel cage to put your rack in... When I say heavy duty I maen If you was going to take something you would first have to figure out how to get the rack loose from those steel spikes driven 3 feet into the ground holding them in place... :D
 
haha gun? terrible advice.

I would say, before you invite anyone into your home in particular, you want to be comfortable with that person.


While you might not be able to make a living out of renting out your home setup.. You gotta get to know the people you invite into your home. Not all people who rap are on some grimy shit.
 
War..is on point ...you need to get to know your clients before your invite them to your Home...if you had a different spot for a studio then i proable wouldnt worry...but when folks come to your home thats a different story...
 
Christian rap is a joke. Who listens to that shit? Whats next, Muslim rap? Budhist rap? Rap is about being real, coming from the streets. It's not just a type of music, its a lifestyle. It doesn't sound like you had that kind of life experience. If you did, you wouldn't worry about the kind of people you are talking about. And buddy... if you're just getting accustom to this 'genre' of music, maybe you should stick to what you know.






I know someone who does Christian rap. He has a good voice, good lyrics (I guess), and all the qualities of this kind of rapper. But who wants to hear about Jesus Christ and God in a rap beat? lol..
 
MobbEuro said:
Christian rap is a joke. Who listens to that shit? Whats next, Muslim rap? Budhist rap? Rap is about being real, coming from the streets. It's not just a type of music, its a lifestyle. It doesn't sound like you had that kind of life experience. If you did, you wouldn't worry about the kind of people you are talking about. And buddy... if you're just getting accustom to this 'genre' of music, maybe you should stick to what you know.






I know someone who does Christian rap. He has a good voice, good lyrics (I guess), and all the qualities of this kind of rapper. But who wants to hear about Jesus Christ and God in a rap beat? lol..
Click to expand...

Just like any other hip ho/rap artist, he/she just wants to spread a message. Whether it is about bitches and hoes, or about Jesus Christ or ala. Just because it’s a specific genre, and some people have set sort of a stereo type for it, doesn’t mean it has to stay that way. Many people have done their own message with different styles of music.

I have recorded 2 hip hop artists. One was Christian and a Pakistani (sp) artist as well. Both were not negative in any way, and had some potential.

I'm trying to broaden my engineering experience, so I just don’t stick with one genre of music the whole time. I want to accommodate music of all style.
 
Rap is not about bitches and hoes. You got the whole concept wrong. It's not singing about killing people or singing about Jesus... If someone describes themselves as "Christian rappers," that limits their possibilities and narrows, rather than broadens their abilitiy to comprehend and rap about different life situations. If you're outlook is always positive, always about Jesus, then you ain't rappin. Theres more to life than just that. Don't listen to 50 cent or Jada or Young Jeezy and get the impression that rap is about hustlin, drugs, money, and hoes. Listen to real rappers like Tupac who raps about love, passion, addiction, justice, pain, and death. There was a thug who could be hard and still be friendly at the same time. Like I said, if you're limiting yourself to Christian rappers, you're limiting your music and youre future. There shouldn't be categories of rap, or any kind of music in general. But people love to seperate music in genres because they love to judge. It's easier for the human brain to distribute masses in templates that can be judged and dismissed easily.
Of course, you can always pick and choose from the artists you wish to represent and produce. I just hate it when people regard Christian rap as good, and rap itself as bad. Religion kills more people everyday than rap will ever kill. It's just that rap is about real life, including religion, and Christian rap is only about religion.
 
MobbEuro

Dude you must be deaf and blind calling 2 pac as a real rapper and not violent or not promoting any violence,or purmisquety(spl)

I used to listen to all that too.Lets see,2 Pac was talking about thugin,stealing,selling drugs,gangbangin,B%^% and @#@ and everything else.But how many kids were listening to this garbage?You know these same kids are following these things,they do what they hear, and dont tell me they dont!I was one of them!
Remember when Master P was rapping about"real Ni$$as keep the roaches in the ashtray?" Do you know how many dummies got locked up for that?I know about 5 of them lol !And dont tell me that all rap is possitive!

You can hear a song on the radio,even when they bleep the cusswords,you can still understand the ugly message!

So to me...if it aint Christian,it aint about NOTHING!To you it maybe different,but this is my take!And dont give an average rap a good review,because thats a lie!Listen to the radio,its free and tell me what they rap about.
 
Be informed before you talk.

The shit you hear on the radio is directed to the masses and the stereotypical rap listeners who want to hear about clubbin, gettin money, smokin weed, and fuckin hoes. The music you choose to hear is either what you buy or download. I don't know how old you were when you listened to Pac but when I started listening to him (in 98) I was able to download the majority of his songs, not just what you heard back in 95' on the radio. You must of not heard these songs. I bet:

1. Dear Mama
2. Words To My First Born
3. California love (big radio hit)
4. As Soon As I get home
5. Happy Home
6. In The Air Tonight
7. Letter To My Unborn Child
8. Only God Can Judge Me
9. Shed So Many Tears
10. This Ain't Livin
11. Until The End of Time
12. Who Do You Believe In?
13. Smile
14. Baby Don't Cry
15. Do For Love
16. Hold Ya Head
17. I ain't Mad at ya
18. Lifes Go on
19. CHANGES - You must not know Pac
20. Old School

thats just a few. If you ain't down with some Pac... what you doin in the Rap/Hiphop section?

Maybe you should go to the Gospel section or some shit.

And I listened to the same rap songs and I turned out just fine. In fact Im very successful.
 
2 pac did not invent rap music, so dont tell me what i can do with rap.


Second,you must have not listened to all of his songs!I dont care if you are a hard 2 Pac fan or Boy George lover..to me it doesnt make any sence if you say one thing positive and get it on a deep level so people can simpothize (spl)with you,get on the same level,then turn around and rap about killin someone because...whatever the cause was.
Man i tell ya,if you think that you are succesfull now,then go on and do your thing,but i tell ya its not up to you to even judge your self,so go ahead and be who you want to be.

I gave example of the radio to show you the hottest rap/hiphop out there.
 
Im tryin to figure out what you both are arguing about here Pac was an artist and a artist rap about everything goin on in the world..period..and Mobb for you to say CR is a joke is slap in the face to artist who are spending to word to the younger generation that do goto church but can relate and understand through rap music..CR rap about the same thing as any other artist is just without the cusswords or most of the time lyin on what you have or have not done in your life..and most of the song you listed for Pac are radio friendly..most of his music wasnt..(I know I have all his damn albums)..but he was an artist and that is what artist do...
every artist have their own way and style to get their message out to the masses no matter how it is..or what it isif your listening then they are doin their job..period
now lets get back on topic..LOL
 
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