Producer Interviews

Ma Dukes On J Dilla’s Childhood, Foundation, Memories

Ma Dukes sits down for an interview to talk about J Dilla’s childhood, her favorite memories, and the goals of the J Dilla Foundation.  You’ll definitely enjoy hearing her talk about Dilla spinning records at the age of two and hearing one of his beat for the first time? He was a strange child. –Ma … Read more

Ski Beatz Talks Musical Politics + Creative Triggers

Listen closely and try not not let the rough background noise get the way of hearing what Ski Beatz has to say. Winner’s Circle catches up with Ski Beatz as the producer talks about how he built his reputation through his work with Jay Z and Camp Lo, the politics involved in mainstream artists, his … Read more

Raekwon, D. Dot, Sean C, Absolut Talk Beats In Studio

Raekwon, D. Dot, Sean C, and Absolut sit down in a recording studio to talk about some of the more esoteric aspects of production including the greatness of Havoc’s production, the art of picking beats, and the importance of timing involved in the completion of a song. The song is bigger than the beat sometimes.

Ali Shaheed Muhammad Talks Drum Layering & Neve

Ali Shaheed Muhammad talks to about some of the technical secrets behind the A Tribe Called Quest sound including layering drums and Neve vs SSL. He also answers questions about the relevancy of The Native Tongues, internal issues with the group, and his most memorable studio moment of Midnight Marauders. We worked on a lot … Read more

Pete Rock Explains His Entire Production Catalog

Over at Vibe producer Pete Rock breaks down the history of his career, album-by-album and track-by-track. From All Souled Out to Mecca & The Soul Brother and beyond, The Chocolate Boy Wonder reveals some little known facts about influences, progression of his music, missed chances, and lucky breaks. Read the whole piece. Notable Quotes: I … Read more

Happy Birthday Questlove – Amoeba Records Interview

It turns out that today is Questlove’s birthday. Here The Roots drummer Questlove visits Amoeba to hunt down some goodies and drop a little info on his taste in CD’s. Among the items that the Quest had in his bag: Grace Jones, Rick James, Jackson 5, J Dilla, along with few movies and copy of … Read more

The Making of J. Cole’s “In The Morning” By L & X Music

Shatek The Producer interviews Brooklyn production duo L & X Music. The two producers talk about first making beats in 2004, getting their music to J. Cole, and how the single “In The Morning” featuring Drake eventually came to be. Of course, L & X Music also talks about sample based producers and using Akai … Read more

DJ Khaled Talks Street Teams And Hard Work

DJ Khaled talks to Al Lindstrom about his New Orleans roots and eventually eventual migration to Florida. Khaled also goes into his experience with street teams, meeting with Fat Joe, and the benefits of hard work.

DJ Premier Gets Personal In Profile

DJ Premier runs down his list of titles before answering a bunch of somewhat personal, questions such as his all-star concert lineup, personal hero, and favorite place to be alone.