Fade
The Beat Strangler
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illest o.g.
After winning his second Beat This! Competition win, Dangerous gave us some insight on what his music is all about and where he’s headed. With a dope studio setup and the fact that he’s living in NYC, it’s only a matter of time before he shoots to the next level. Let’s begin…
So you go by “mad dangerous”, does this mean your beats are explosive?
I’m just here so I won’t get fined….
Hahaha just messing. I like to think so. The name came from an email I got when I had just started making beats. A rapper liked my beats and asked if I had any more “mad dangerous shit”. Name sort of stuck.
Being from New York, how has that influenced your beats?
Honestly not a ton. I started making beats in Connecticut and have only been in NYC for about two years of my production career. My first beats were knockoffs of West Coast G-Funk stuff – portamento triangle wave synths and everything. So I never really focused on a New York sound. My stuff since living in the city has probably become grittier though.
From the beats I’ve heard from you, I would assume you’re mainly a sample-based producer. Where do you get your samples from?
A magician never reveals his secrets… but I will say that I do exclusively e-digging. A lot of cats hate on e-digging but in my opinion is if it sounds dope, it is dope. Technology will continue moving forward and you can either hop on the train and take advantage of it or be stuck in your ways and complain. I’d like to work more with vinyl, but I don’t have the hardware for it and not much space left in my tiny NYC apartment.
Have you ever dabbled in synth-based production?
I was about 50% split for a while but I’m much better at sample-based. I come from a drumming background and have only limited experience with tonal instruments, so having a chordal framework provided by the sample really helps me. I’ve got a few good beats that aren’t sample based but they’re much fewer and further between. I have been working on more electronic R&B sort of stuff which is all synth based. Also now I have a bunch of guitars, percussion instruments and hardware synths, so I’ve been doing more stuff “out of the box”.
You recently won the Beat This! Competition, how did you put together the winning beat?
It’s actually a pretty simple beat relative to some of the ones I’ve made. The sample is from a random old movie score. It chopped nicely and the break fit pretty well over top. Took some EQ and FX work to get it to sound good together but this one came together without too much pain. In my opinion the triangle is the best part. I get hyped when that triangle drops because it works so well. This is my second Beat This! win and the first beat took way longer and was way crazier.
Are you beats made for rappers? Or are you just producing whatever comes out of your head?
I’m usually thinking about rappers for my beats. I’ve got plans to hook up with more rappers in NYC and get my stuff out a bit more. Usually I make beats that have some “empty space” that makes them a bit boring to listen to on their own but leaves room for a rapper without making it too busy.
How would you describe your sound?
I have no idea so I asked some friends:
- “Old ass drum sets, loose ass swing, set to dope ass rap”
- “Like bouncy street beats with chill ass retro funk elements”
- “Classic rock/soul samples placed in the context of really lush but experimental Boom Bap”
- “I don’t know man…. There’s drums and shit, mention that definitely”
What kind of setup do you have in your studio?
I’m super proud of my setup – I’ve been investing in it for a while now and it’s pretty close to ideal for me now. Starts with a custom Windows rig with Ableton 9. I’ve got a Focusrite Forte as my interface, a pair of old Yamaha NS10’s and Sony MDR-V6’s for monitoring. For outboard hardware I’ve got an MPD18 and a Novation Bass Station II for the crispy bass synth. For recording I’ve got an AKG C414 XLII. On top of that I’ve got an acoustic guitar, electric guitar & bass and random percussion stuff. Major shout out to NYC Craigslist for hooking me up with a lot of this equipment. And the cherry on top – a Mad Dangerous mousepad.
What’s the one piece of hardware or software that you can’t live without?
Ableton. I was splitting time with FL for a while but now I’m all Ableton. It’s a really well made piece of software. Aside from Ableton, I also really like a combo of Decimort and Rough Rider in parallel to make drums slap.
Who or what are some of your musical influences?
From a Hip Hop standpoint, DJ Format is the guy who got me into Hip Hop and still is my favorite producer. Everyone Abdominal works with, too. As well as the classics like Premo and the Neptunes. I grew up listening to classic Rock, too, so that stuff plays a big role especially in sample selection. I’ve considered putting out a beat tape “Mad Dangerous Defiles The Classics” with all the classic Rock flips I’ve done.
Do you have any projects that you’re currently working on?
I just finished my second mixtape with BCKR called “Thank You For Your Patronage” and we’re working on the follow up already. I’ve been working on a beat tape called “The Dangerous Side of the Moon” for a while that goes track by track from Dark Side of the Moon and samples the whole album. That’s a fun project. I’ve been making electronic R&B stuff for a bit, too, and I’m gonna be starting some work with a dope female singer on that. Other than that just tryna crank out beats and be funny on Twitter.
Thanks for doing the interview. Any shoutouts you’d like to give?
Thanks for listening to me! Shouts to IllMuzik for being a great site, my family for supporting me even though they don’t like Rap, BCKR for rhyming tight and telling me when I’m making wack shit and Ross Imbrie for being the first person to tell me I should make beats. And BIG final shoutout to all my Twitter followers. Catch me at @maddangerous and I’ll probably retweet some funny photos or something. Peace to all!
For more information on Dangerous, check out:
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