its all about effectiveness. he makes very mc-friendly beats. beats that you HAVE to spit to.
i think some people think complex layers=good and simple=plain.
how can he "get away" with "those simple" beats? because they are good! mc's dont say, oh, thats to simple. i cant spit on that. producers do that... "it needs this, add this, use this"
if you have ever heard a Cold Truth beat, you will hear a lot of layers. i tend to have a climax towards the end of the song with everything going at once... i have one with horns, an organ, a flute, strings, guitar, drums and bass going all at once at one point. that doesnt make it any better- what made it good was that i was able to cleanly mix and arrange those elements together.
i also have one that is just piano, horns, and bass. its actually very empty. Mercury Waters said it was his favorite out of that batch of beats (included the last one i described) and its one of my favorites also.
simplicity is an art form itself- because as i said before, its really about effectiveness. does it hbit? does it make the listener nod their head? does it leave room for the artist? is it a good cypher-starter?
i have my epic beats and i have my "cypher" type beats, just dope tracks that are very simple in theory but are very mc friendly.
the point is, everything has its place and at the end of the day if the music moves someone, regardless of how simple (some things are just deceptive, really more complicated than they seem) they may be, then it is a good track.period.
tahts how i se it, anyways.
