Every time I saddle up to bang some beats out of my Akai MPC 2000XL the internal debate arises inside of me about how the greatest pieces of Hip-Hop production equipment would stack up when lined up alongside each other. Obviously, in terms of technical specifications, the latest technology with win out every time; however, … Read more
With all the American Gangster remix albums popping up lately; we tend to forget about all the previous joints that Hov blessed us with. Figment & Mash-Up Productions drop a gem on us with the release of The Motown Album, which combines Jay’s Black Album with classics such as “If I Were Your Woman”, “Neither … Read more
Words by Michael Walter When a hip-hop artist comes out with a double album, critics and fans alike always end up discussing whether or not it would have been better had some material been cut and it had just been released as a single album. Personally, I think the hip-hop double album is always a … Read more
He’s at it again. I just couldn’t resist this video of David "Fingers" Haynes running through a Hip-Hop drum medley. Once David gets past his affinity for Smooth Jazz, he gives a hardcore clinic on what drum samplers are capable of doing. Tools of Choice: Alesis HR-16B triggering sounds from Yamaha DTXTREME 2S.
The original title of the post was going to be "T-Pain Is the Devil Incarnate", but something hit me at the last minute and figured that I shouldn’t get biblical on him, that’s just not good karma! Still, I know that I shouldn’t blame the entire ruin of Hip-Hop on a scapegoat, but I’m from … Read more
Damu of Y Society is back at it again. Here’s some footage of him at Fat Beats giving a demonstration of the MPC 2000. Notable Fact: His MPC 2000 does not have a memory expansion – all beats were made using the factory standard 2 megs of RAM!
For those of you who were wondering what happened with the Red Bull Big Tune Beat Battle, the kind folk over at the energy packed beverage company have posted some vids of the New York sectionals. Check out the footage and let me know if you think Marco Polo or Algorithm actually won. Red Bull … Read more
Words by Michael Walter An ever-increasing number of hip-hop heads out there worship a mysterious man in a metal mask. Years ago, when I first heard that man’s music, I immediately joined their ranks. The person in question is Daniel Dumile, but you might know him as MF DOOM. Or Viktor Vaughn. Or King Geedorah. … Read more
Attorney Anthony Falzone, Executive Director, Fair Use Project, discusses the recent ruling against Bad Boy Records for the unauthorized sampling of the Ohio Players’ “Singing in the Morning" in The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Ready To Die”. His article “Diddy Could Save Sampling” presents a refreshing legal argument for the practice of sampling along with an interesting … Read more
Apex talks to Real Talk NY about equipment, copyrighting, and having his beat for 50 Cent’s "I Get Money" jacked by an fake online producer. Tools of choice: Roland MV-8000, Roland VS2400CD, Yamaha Motif, Roland Fantom-XR, Reason 4.0, KRK Rokit 8, and CD recorder.