Fade
The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
Who is Fade? He's Illmuzik's founder and administrator and unless you're a complete newb you should know that already! I caught up with him and we talked about the site in general, Montreal Hip Hop and more.
Wattup Fade?
Chilling and living.
You're from Montreal but where did you grow up within the city?
All over the place. My family moved around a lot, who knows why, so I was in different parts of the city and even in other provinces.
How was the Hip Hop scene there in the 80's and 90's? Does the (French/English) language divide also occur in Montreal Hip Hop?
In the 80's I can't say how the scene was because I was still young and for me just being able to buy a rap cassette was amazing. In the 90's though, wow that was the era. The scene was crazy, lots of rappers, A LOT of DJ's, producers were starting to make their mark too. Everyone in the scene knew each other pretty much but it was still not as tight-knit as Toronto where it seemed (at least from my eyes) like everyone helped one another. So maybe the language issue here played into that, I'm not sure.
When did you start deejaying/producing? Who were your main influences back then?
I first started DJ'ing back in 1996 but actually tried my hand at it around 1992! I had a pair of Gemini belt-drive turntables but I didn't know enough about it and plus I also had other interests so I never pursued it until '96. I loved watching the DMC battles and since Montreal had such a hot DJ scene, how could I not get into it? It was just all over the place so within 2 years I was competing in the DMC, plus I also entered a few other battles but they never happened for me because either the battle was canceled or I couldn't make it.
My DJ influences were of course the Skratch Piklz, X-Men and basically everyone that I ever witnessed, good and bad, especially the local guys. Just seeing a scratch DJ live is something truly special.
I started making beats around 1997 and just like DJ'ing, I was all into it 100%. In no time I was mastering my gear and then moving onto a computer-based setup with Cakewalk Pro Audio as my DAW. So having the skill to make beats plus DJ was awesome to have indeed. I also could spit too, as a matter of fact I have lots of cassettes that I dumped into MP3 format of me and my crew just having fun with freestyles. We would pass the mic around and believe it or not, I was getting better and better at going off the top! Those MC days are waaaaaayyy behind me though, LOL.
Illmuzik has become one of the largest Hip Hop communities on the web, did you ever think it would happen when you started the site? Or was it carefully planned?
Never thought. I started IllMuzik simply because at the time I was trying to take my beats to the next level by going all out and at the same time I was looking for information and/or other producers online so I could get questions answered or to just chill and connect with others. I did not find that, so I started my own site. I knew it would take quite a while to get people to come to the site, maybe even years so I had to try and just keep adding as much content as I could.
As I kept working on the site, I started learning more about web design and developing, so that itself morphed into a whole other thing for me. It was in 2000 that the site went live and around 2002-2003 that's when it blew up. I think a lot of it had to do with two main things: 1. Google searching 2. Links from other sites. People were finding IllMuzik from other sites or from Google search results when they were looking for hip hop production, they would visit the site and the members list grew very quickly.
You recently expanded the site by including other elements of Hip Hop culture such as emceeing, what exactly motivated you to do this?
I don't know if anyone has really noticed or not, but right now it's "Hip Hop's Finest" whereas it used to be "Hip Hop Production's Finest". The reason for that is because we always had a hip hop element to the site and sometimes it was hard to keep everything production-related, so expanding to include MC, DJ, and Hip Hop itself into the site was the next logical step.
IllMuzik will always be a hip hop production site, but the change was simply to make people aware that we're not just all about beats. There's lots of information on the site for all the elements, so don't be afraid to stop by and join up.
What's the future of Illmuzik? What can we expect for the next 2 years?
Sometimes I plan ahead but right now I haven't. I have plans for the site (I always do), but not anything that's completely set in stone. I'm always looking for ways to improve the site, so that's why I always ask everyone for their honest feedback and let me know if there's anything that they would like to see added or removed from the site.
What's your favorite ''ILL memory''?
Wow, where do I start? I really don't have one answer for that because there's been so many crazy moments! Here's a few off the top of my head:
1. Metrosoul back in 2003 when they were winning a few Beat This! Competitions with beats that were just a sampled drum loop with a music loop on top. Why did people vote for them? That's why we moved to having judges.
2. Mikelabz being a douchebag to the point where I banned him and his IP too. He then sent me an email telling me that the IP is for his whole school network or whatever so no one could access the site.
3. WingsofanAngel banning someone because of a disagreement. I told him not to do that, he flipped out on me and left.
4. Acebeatz going nuts on me because we had reached our 20 contestant limit for the Beat This, so he couldn't enter, and he sent me a message about gay cock clubs in Montreal or something.
5. Some guy from Alaska (I can't remember his name) that went nuts overnight for no reason and called me out, asking to be banned.
6. TBKS. If you don't know about him, ask around. 'Nuff said.
What do you do in you spare time? Are you still into horror movies?
Right now I spend my time either studying programming, working out, or watching movies. Yes, horror movies. I prefer all movies though, not just horror!
Thanks a lot for your time. Any shout outs?
Ya shoutouts to everyone on IllMuzik and to whomever makes my poutine at Dorval Pizza.
Wattup Fade?
Chilling and living.
You're from Montreal but where did you grow up within the city?
All over the place. My family moved around a lot, who knows why, so I was in different parts of the city and even in other provinces.
How was the Hip Hop scene there in the 80's and 90's? Does the (French/English) language divide also occur in Montreal Hip Hop?
In the 80's I can't say how the scene was because I was still young and for me just being able to buy a rap cassette was amazing. In the 90's though, wow that was the era. The scene was crazy, lots of rappers, A LOT of DJ's, producers were starting to make their mark too. Everyone in the scene knew each other pretty much but it was still not as tight-knit as Toronto where it seemed (at least from my eyes) like everyone helped one another. So maybe the language issue here played into that, I'm not sure.
When did you start deejaying/producing? Who were your main influences back then?
I first started DJ'ing back in 1996 but actually tried my hand at it around 1992! I had a pair of Gemini belt-drive turntables but I didn't know enough about it and plus I also had other interests so I never pursued it until '96. I loved watching the DMC battles and since Montreal had such a hot DJ scene, how could I not get into it? It was just all over the place so within 2 years I was competing in the DMC, plus I also entered a few other battles but they never happened for me because either the battle was canceled or I couldn't make it.
My DJ influences were of course the Skratch Piklz, X-Men and basically everyone that I ever witnessed, good and bad, especially the local guys. Just seeing a scratch DJ live is something truly special.
I started making beats around 1997 and just like DJ'ing, I was all into it 100%. In no time I was mastering my gear and then moving onto a computer-based setup with Cakewalk Pro Audio as my DAW. So having the skill to make beats plus DJ was awesome to have indeed. I also could spit too, as a matter of fact I have lots of cassettes that I dumped into MP3 format of me and my crew just having fun with freestyles. We would pass the mic around and believe it or not, I was getting better and better at going off the top! Those MC days are waaaaaayyy behind me though, LOL.
Illmuzik has become one of the largest Hip Hop communities on the web, did you ever think it would happen when you started the site? Or was it carefully planned?
Never thought. I started IllMuzik simply because at the time I was trying to take my beats to the next level by going all out and at the same time I was looking for information and/or other producers online so I could get questions answered or to just chill and connect with others. I did not find that, so I started my own site. I knew it would take quite a while to get people to come to the site, maybe even years so I had to try and just keep adding as much content as I could.
As I kept working on the site, I started learning more about web design and developing, so that itself morphed into a whole other thing for me. It was in 2000 that the site went live and around 2002-2003 that's when it blew up. I think a lot of it had to do with two main things: 1. Google searching 2. Links from other sites. People were finding IllMuzik from other sites or from Google search results when they were looking for hip hop production, they would visit the site and the members list grew very quickly.
You recently expanded the site by including other elements of Hip Hop culture such as emceeing, what exactly motivated you to do this?
I don't know if anyone has really noticed or not, but right now it's "Hip Hop's Finest" whereas it used to be "Hip Hop Production's Finest". The reason for that is because we always had a hip hop element to the site and sometimes it was hard to keep everything production-related, so expanding to include MC, DJ, and Hip Hop itself into the site was the next logical step.
IllMuzik will always be a hip hop production site, but the change was simply to make people aware that we're not just all about beats. There's lots of information on the site for all the elements, so don't be afraid to stop by and join up.
What's the future of Illmuzik? What can we expect for the next 2 years?
Sometimes I plan ahead but right now I haven't. I have plans for the site (I always do), but not anything that's completely set in stone. I'm always looking for ways to improve the site, so that's why I always ask everyone for their honest feedback and let me know if there's anything that they would like to see added or removed from the site.
What's your favorite ''ILL memory''?
Wow, where do I start? I really don't have one answer for that because there's been so many crazy moments! Here's a few off the top of my head:
1. Metrosoul back in 2003 when they were winning a few Beat This! Competitions with beats that were just a sampled drum loop with a music loop on top. Why did people vote for them? That's why we moved to having judges.
2. Mikelabz being a douchebag to the point where I banned him and his IP too. He then sent me an email telling me that the IP is for his whole school network or whatever so no one could access the site.
3. WingsofanAngel banning someone because of a disagreement. I told him not to do that, he flipped out on me and left.
4. Acebeatz going nuts on me because we had reached our 20 contestant limit for the Beat This, so he couldn't enter, and he sent me a message about gay cock clubs in Montreal or something.
5. Some guy from Alaska (I can't remember his name) that went nuts overnight for no reason and called me out, asking to be banned.
6. TBKS. If you don't know about him, ask around. 'Nuff said.
What do you do in you spare time? Are you still into horror movies?
Right now I spend my time either studying programming, working out, or watching movies. Yes, horror movies. I prefer all movies though, not just horror!
Thanks a lot for your time. Any shout outs?
Ya shoutouts to everyone on IllMuzik and to whomever makes my poutine at Dorval Pizza.
Glad ILL is still around.
