Monday 28 May 2012

INDUSTRY TALK: One of the Realest Songs in Hip Hop....In a Long, Long Time


MY INSPIRATION TO MAKE RAP BEATS

Nasir Jones: one of my favourite hip hop artists and arguably on the list of the top 5 MCs of all time. April 19, 1994 was Illmatic's release date and also the date that changed hip hop music for me forever. It was my first time hearing an MC say the things Nas was saying in the way they were being said. Blew my mind. That album influenced my writing and rapping to step up exponentially. Then of course, the beats. Blew my mind again. From "New York State of Mind" to the Q-Tip produced "One Love", It felt as though the culture itself pour its energy into and possessed Nas and his producers during the time this album was being created. I had no choice but to make beats and try to make them as sick as what I was hearing. Of course back then there was no one to buy beats online and as a matter of fact I didn't even know too much about the internet then, or computers for that matter. Music like that is why I am a producer to this day. Some call it "real hip hop" but I'd rather not suggest that newer hip hop is any less real since most young artists who are presently in the game, some of you even buy beats online at my site, are in this present era and honestly you're doing your ting well. I'd prefer to say that songs which define the overall feeling of the culture are the songs that continue to inspire me to make rap beats.

INSPIRATION: THIS IS WHY YOU BUY BEATS

Scroll up and watch the video if you haven't already. It's Nas' latest release from the forthcoming album "Life Is Good", his first solo project in about 5 years. "Daughters" is simply Nas showing us his life as a father and the trials and joys of raising a girl, not only in this society, but raising a girl as a single black man with his own skeletons, and raising a girl as,  Nas, the superstar MC. This song is pure inspiration on a number of levels. To those of you who have daughters it is bound to make you contemplate your own relationships with them. To the artists reading this, just listening to the beat, Nas' flow and lyrics are sure to send you runnig for your rhyme book (or tablet, laptop, Blackberry, iPhone or Android), or to tho studio to empty out all the creative juices that come bubbling to the rim. To you guys, this is why you need original rap beats. This is why you've always yearned to be the best MC ever. This is why you buy beats online, and thus, this is why I do what I do. Thank you and thank Nas and every other artist that continues to inspire the engine of hip hop.

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