Fade
The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
Scandal recently won our September 2006 Beat This! Competition, and took the time to answer some of our questions and tell us about himself and his beats. Read on...
Before I start out I just want to give a shout out to my homie Lou Peez aka LouChedda (we gon do this homie) and to Zelsound Records for giving me the chance to shine. Be sure to hit up the website: www.zelsoundrecords.com.
Sup Scandal, who are you?
What's up IllMuzik Fam, this is Scandal born and raised in the inner city of San Francisco. I grew up in both the Mission and Excelsior districts of S.F., only to move out to live in South San Francisco for a few years. My next destination would be the east bay town known as Pittsburg. Currently I am in Monterey, pursing a degree in Music as well as Business.
You're fairly new to IllMuzik, you basically came out of nowhere and won the Beat This! Competition. How does it feel?
Well first off I must say that this website has really helped me in developing my skills as a producer and beat-maker. Whenever I've had questions people have willingly helped me and I just want to take this time out to thank all those producers who didn't mind sharing their experience with me and everybody else on this site. As far as the competition goes, it feels very good to be considered a serious producer/beat-maker and I think this win confirms it. For me it's not about winning the competition that mattered to me but rather me just being happy that everybody was feeling my beat. It's a real feeling of relief when you have a product of your hard work and everyone seems to appreciate it.
How did you put your winning beat together?
Well its actually a funny story - I really wasn't even originally going to enter the Beat This Competition, but there was this beat that I posted up on the Showcase that got a lot of positive feedback. When I saw that the "Beat This Competition" wasn't too far away I said to myself "Why Not?". More on the beat, I found the sample on a record that I bought for 25 cents at this local record store in Monterey. As soon as I heard the song I wasn't sure what I wanted to do to it, but I knew it had to be sampled. After converting the sample to MP3, I put it on my Ipod and listened to it for about a week and by then I could imagine the chops I wanted to make.
Is that your usual style of beat? Or do you have many styles?
I'm actually glad that you asked this question because I do have a lot of styles, since I listen to almost every imaginable genre of music. As far as Sampling vs. Composition, I actually do both. On the record label that I am signed to, they have me doing a lot of compositions for the simple fact that they don't like clearing samples. If they do however find a sample that they like, they hire a band to come in and "re-play" it. Let's just say that this doesn't happen often. So in my free time I like to just relax and listen to records and if I find a good sample in the process, I flip it. But as far as individual styles I do mainly Rap, Hip-Hop, and R&B.
What record label are you signed to? Tell us about that.
Yea just this summer me and my homie Lou Peez got signed to this indie label called Zelsound Records. I got signed as a producer and my homie Lou Peez got signed as an artist. Right now we are working very hard trying to get together my homie's album, and I'm telling you so far it's coming out hot. As far as the label, I feel blessed because the label is really letting us take the creativity aspect solely into our own hands. I had always heard horror stories about record labels taking control of your music, but so far my relationship with the label has been nothing but positive. Be sure to check me out at the record label website www.zelsoundrecords.com. We update material on there often so don't be afraid to visit frequently, LOL.
When did you first start making beats?
As far as music I have been in band since 4th grade and I still am even now. I play the saxophone currently with my college Jazz band. I have to say that knowing how to play the saxophone has really helped me advance to the level of producing I am now. As far as how long have I been making beats, I actually started as a self-proclaimed rapper, LOL. I would download instrumentals and try to "flow" on them. Then one day I met this dude who was a beat maker at my school. I visited him one day and he showed me fruity loops. As soon as I got home I downloaded fruity loops and was on it every day after school trying to learn how to use it. It seemed so complicated back then, LOL, I thought I would never learn how to use it. My first beat that I ever made was when I was 18. Now that I'm 20 I have been at it for a solid 2 years vowing never to go a day without at least making 1 beat.
What kind of hardware and software do you have?
Up until this summer I had only been working with FL Studio 5, Acid Pro 4.0, whole bunch of VST's, a Technic 1200, and a grip of records. Now that I am signed to this record label, (www.zelsoundrecords.com), I am currently working with a lot more equipment. Here is the list:
- M-Audio Delta 1010lt soundcard
- Roland Fantom XR (with supreme dance expansion)
- E-Mu Mophatt (with Proteus Chip)
- KRK Monitors
- Midi Keyboard
- FL Studio 6 XXL(use this as my sequencer)
- MPC 2000xl (haven't used it yet though, still learning.)
I'm assuming you mean on the radio. Well I have to say that a lot of it is crap *cough* Yung Joc *cough* and some of it is just unbearable *cough* laffy taffy *cough*. Overall I think it is just good sounding bad music, I know it's an oxymoron, but I sure you guys know what I mean. As far as recent albums I really enjoyed Busta Rhymes' new album and even E 40's album was really good. Probably one of my favorite songs as of recent is Miss January by The Procussions not sure if that is on the radio, but it is good music.
Do you think that some of the beats you hear online are better than those of some big name producers?
Damn, if I had a dollar for every time I heard something online that should be on the radio, I'd be richer than Bill Gates, LOL. I think a lot of these big name producers lost the passion in their music. Sometimes they may come up with some good stuff, but it seems to me that music is beginning to lose its soul. There are still a few big name producers out there that still have that soul, but it is nowhere near the number of people I hear online. So to answer the question directly, yes.
I agree. It seems like a lot of them have lost the passion for making music. Why do you think that is?
I think that the main reason producers and artists lose the passion in their music, is mainly because they start to look at music only as a source of income. I back my theory with the large amount of wack 2nd albums. How many times have you heard that so-and-so's 1st album was way better then his 2nd album? They even touched on this subject in Hustle and Flow, when the main character was telling Ludacris how his music had changed since he left the hood. Congratulations to corporate america for ruining Hip Hop.
Do you have any other hip-hop skills besides beats?
Well as I mentioned earlier I used to rap and I still catch myself flowing over my finished beats to see how a rapper would sound on it. I'm almost 100 percent sure that every producer has rapped or sang before they started producing. If they tell you otherwise then they are just lying, LOL. I firmly believe that being able to rap is almost a necessity to producing, because it helps you understand what rappers want, and how they think. Ultimately I think it is a factor in how fast you grow as a producer, because of the fact that you won't only be making beats, but songs.
Who/What are some of your musical influences?
Well my biggest influence in life is God; he has helped me through my hardest struggles by bringing me to music. My next biggest influence is my mother. As a single mother of 2 children she showed me what real strength is. As far as musical influences I have too many to name. Tupac for one, while not a producer, because his songs have showed me how to put feelings into your artwork. Premo of course, Pete Rock, 9th Wonder, Just Blaze, J Dilla, Cool and Dre, Dr. Dre, Dj UNeek, Rick Rock. So many people that I draw inspiration from, it's crazy. Also one of my biggest influences is 60's and 70's music which really showed me what music from the soul sounds like.
If you had the chance to chill in the studio with a famous producer, who would that be?
Now that's a hard question, but it would probably have to be Dr. Dre. I would just want to see how he gets those perfect sounding mixes. I wouldn't mind if he let me work with some of his musicians either, LOL. I just think I would have so many questions for him about the music business. So yea that's who I would choose.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Hopefully making a living off of creating music. That would be my dream, but if not I can still see myself making music just for the love of it. In five years I also hope to have a full service studio the basement of my future home that would be dope. Also I can see myself still coming to IllMuzik for help.
How would did you find IllMuzik?
I'm a regular on this website/forum called siccness.net, who is also home to 50 cal. He doesn't know me, but one day he posted a link to IllMuzik and the rest is history.
How important are the drums in a track?
I think that drums are very important in a track, but no more important then anything else in a track. Every element in a song has the ability to make or break it. It you got slammin drums but the rest of your beat sounds like laffy taffy I'm going to think you suck, but hey you still got a chance of going gold if you got a multi-million dollar company backing you. So in short I would say that every instrument in a track is equally important and to make a hit in my book it all has to mesh together perfectly.
Do you use drum soundkits? Or do you get your drums from somewhere else?
I get my drums from everywhere. I use the MoPhatt, Fantom, and most importantly eBay sample packs (hell yes!!!). I would really encourage people to check eBay, because they really have some deals on there, LOL.
How do you feel about beat-makers sampling a popular song, just to get a chart-topping beat?
I am not one to hate on anyone's hustle, but for someone to change their whole style just to fit into the mainstream is a borderline sellout. The way I look at it is no matter what type of music you do (mainstream included), you have to bring a little of yourself into everything. If someone strives to be the next Kanye West or Dr. Dre, Hip Hop will never evolve. Whatever happened to people striving to make a name for themselves, and thriving off of originality?
Thanks for the interview, any last shoutouts you'd like to give?
Just want to give a shout out to my IllMuzik Fam, shout out to Fade, and shout out to my homie Lou Peez. Make sure to visit the website www.zelsoundrecords.com and look out for the album coming out around summer next year. Thanks.