Award winning producer Brian Michael Cox (Usher, Destiny’s Child, Mary J. Blige, Jagged Edge) talks about musical influences, the reality behind reality TV, and the dedication necessary to become a successful producer. He also touches upon the most important aspects of a track and the virtues of simplicity. As a bonus, his engineer Sam Thomas … Read more
9th Wonder talks about his reasons for using Fruity Loops, beatmakers who disrespect his production style, and critics who attempt to define his sound. He also talks about working with different artists and cerebral vs. soulful approaches to making music. Note: 9th admits to jacking open drums from other producer’s records…. hmmm.
Respect to 247HH for dropping this fresh gem of Pete Rock discussing his earliest taste of Hip-Hop, favorite creations, and the importance of having respect for music. Just hearing Pete Rock talk about the records and samplers is enough to get any producer inspired to make something great. Shouts to forum member Kick Rocks for … Read more
Aftermath producer Focus talks about his upcoming solo release Dedication, working with Dr. Dre, and producing from a source of inspiration. Oddly enough, Focus directly addresses the topic of Dr. Dre’s use of ghost producers and the long awaited release of Detox. Check the Interview at Hip Hop Game
Scott Storch discusses the importance of tuning kick drums and experimentation to achieve a proper mix. He also goes on to offer advice about changing the key of a track in order to allow contrast for speakers to accurately represent lower frequencies. In the second segment, Storch goes on to address concerns relating to the … Read more
XXL presents a fine interview with Cincinatti’s finest most prominent producer Hi-Tek. In the conversation he discusses working with Dr. Dre, beatmaking vs.producing, being managed by Sha Money XL, and the Ohio Hip-Hop scene. He also goes on to mention the prospect of recording another Reflection Eternal album and his place amongst Hip-Hop’s greatest producers. … Read more
Much respect to the late Disco D. Interestingly enough, I came across this promo vid for Hustle Harder, which appears to be a documentary/instructional/beatmaking DVD for those looking forward to a career in music production. Perhaps I’ll have a little more info or even a review once I’m able to track down a copy of … Read more
In a promo for Apple’s Logic recording suite, T-Pain discusses mobile production techniques, on the fly recording, and the versatility of digital technology. I kept waiting for the topic of Auto-Tune to be brought up, but it’s still very interesting to see his recording process and the use of live musicians while creating tracks.
Ayatollah, best known for his work on Mos Def’s “Ms. Fat Booty”, talks about the transition from dj’ing to production, role models, current trends in Hip-Hop, and advice for aspiring producers.
Figured we’d start things back off with a quick Madlib interview. It’s been around for a while, but for those who missed it the first time around, Talib Kweli interviews Stones Throw artist and producer Madlib as he talks about multiple music genres, his beat CD series Raw Cake, and working with Erykah Badu.