Fade
The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
Elev8te is all about the music. With smooth beats and a heavy influence from the golden era 90's Hip Hop, as well as other genres such as Soul, Jazz, and R&B, he continues to bang out the beats and work with artists on various projects. He recently won the Beat This! Competition by flipping Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On" classic. Let's dig a little deeper and find out more about Elev8te.
So what is the name Elev8te all about?
Funny you ask because I just had this conversation with one of my homies. We used to smoke a lot of weed, but that's not what Elev8te is about. Personally I'm always looking to progress in every way. I'm always trying to find a way to be better than the day before, physically, spiritually, mentally, financially. The name is just a play on that concept of elevation, being higher than normal. My music is an extension of all of that. I work very hard to craft a sound relating to that hopeful progression that we all live for.
All your beats on really smooth, what influences your music?
I think it's just my personality. I listen to a lot of 90's hip hop, soul music, jazz and old school R&B and gospel. I guess that's where I get the vibe from.
Are you big on samples, synths, or both?
I started out sampling, but I started to incorporate synth sounds with the samples. I recently got into starting the beat with a sample, playing some synth lines over it to get the feel, and removing the sample. So... I'm big on both.
You recently won the Beat This! Competition with a flip of Marvin Gaye. How did you put that beat together?
Yeah, I was real excited about this one cause at the time, Marvin was on heavy rotation. So first I looked up the key of the song and played around with some different chord progressions while the vocal track played. Then I just programmed the drums until it sounded good to me. It took me about 2 nights to get it the way I wanted it. I'm glad the judges enjoyed it.
Your other beat "Sample Sunday" is another smooth one. Are you trying to make beats for rappers or just leave them as instrumentals?
It depends. If I'm just in my space vibing, I will make the beat to what sounds good to me first. I try to make them stand out on their own. If a rapper/singer wants it then it's all good. But if not it will live as an instrumental. But there are some cases where I'm working with an artist from the beginning, so it's dedicated to that specific artist.
The website is called "Elevated Kings". Tell us more.
I started Elevated Kings, LLC as a production company. The website was intended as a place for the team to sell beats at first but it's slowly evolving to be more of a lifestyle and cultural blog, as I learn more about media. My goal is for it to become a platform that will inspire. Like I said before it's all about the journey to be better than yesterday. We have some new music, updates and content in the works so subscribe to the website!
What do you think about Rap music today, or Hip Hop as a whole?
It's great. It's global. It's diverse. Rap is definitely different from Hip Hop though in my opinion. It's become one of the biggest genres, and everyone wants to be a part of it. Hip Hop isn't dead tho it's just evolved like the turntable. Just like everything you have to sort through the BS to get to some gems. Disclaimer though: I do a lot of digging.
I think the biggest thing missing in Hip Hop today is the realness. Nowadays it's all an image and gimmick. What do you think is missing the most?
Good question! Creativity! As a producer, I hate when someone asks me to make a "so and so" type beat. That BS spreads like the plague. It's one thing to do it to get sales, but the essence of Hip Hop is about creativity and originality.
Tell us about your current setup?
I'm a PC head using Studio One as my DAW. I use a Novation Impulse and an MPD 26 as my controller. Just got a Numark Mixtrack Pro 2 to get into DJing. I grab most of my samples from my Technics tape deck or my USB record player. I have a small record collection that wish I had more space to expand. A set of KRK monitors and KRK sub set up too. I don't have any analog gear just tons of software sounds.
You have entered a few battles on IllMuzik, but have you done any live battles?
No live battles just yet.
What is the most important thing to you when making beats? And what advice would you give to others?
It just has to feel right. IMO music is 98% emotional and 2% technical. If it doesn't feel right to me I'll just scrap it and move on. I think that would be the advice I would give. And also don't get caught up in buying expensive pieces of gear, different DAW's, sounds and VST's that you don't need. I wasted a lot of money over the years. Wait a while and then wait another week to see if you really need it.
What can we expect from Elev8te in the near future?
Going to be more active on this forum for starters! I'm working on a solo beat tape which will be complete by the end of the summer and will be available on elevatedkings.com. I have a feature on an upcoming tribute mixtape of legendary jazz artist Sun Ra sponsored by the Philadelphia Jazz Project. I'm also co-producing and mixing an upcoming project from my homie Nuiz (pronounced NEWS). 4 tracks in and it's going to be dope. Good things on the horizon!
Thanks for doing the interview. Do you have any shoutouts you'd like to give?
Shouts to Fade and illmuzik.com for providing the platform, my team Mike and Nigel, Doziercreative.com for the photos and artwork.
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