I started getting serious about making beats around '98 or '99. I mean I always messed around and did music and all that in middle school and high school but around 99, you know, I really got more seriously into it. My first record didn't come out until 2001 though. That was a collabo I did with Grap Luva which came out on Marley Marls' Re-entry Release on BBE. Funny story is that I went up to NY to hang out with Grap or whatever. Grap being the brother of Pete Rock, I figure I'd meet Pete as well. This is when the Feature Flavors show was on the air so we end up going over there to play the song on the show with Marley Marl. Then I met Masta Ace who came through to promote something. It was crazy because I was meeting all kinds of people who's music I liked.
So Pete Rock must have put in a good word or whatever because Marley contacted us and said he wanted to use the song for the BBE album. And shortly after that I hooked up with DJ Jazzy Jeff who was looking for producers because he was putting together a production team in Philly. He was working on Jill Scott's album, Musiq Soulchild and his own album for BBE and needed some producers. So I ended up doing a whole gang of joints for him.
I've been steady working on music ever since. Although recently I took a job at a music store for some more steady income. People don't realize that being a producer, it's just like a contract job. It's just doing a beat here and a remix there. I might do a whole remix for someone and they don't use it and I don't get compensated for all the time I put into that. So I got one foot in the door at the music store for some loot and the other foot out here doing productions.
The store is much better than a job I once had at the JC Penny warehouse building. The job was only 10 minutes from my house but I hated it so much that I would sleep in late as all hell and leave at like 6:55 for a 7a.m. shift. I would just hop in my car and ball out to that job, every day. Hated It! So one day I'm ballin' my way out there, hallin' ass and it had rained the night before. I go into this crazy spin out with my car, real crazy like the Dukes of Hazard. An ill spin out! Luckily no cars were coming. So finally my car stops. I had spun out and landed perfectly in the driveway of a shopping center, like a stunt man had planned the whole thing. Perfectly in the driveway, facing the right position, just like that.
This cat from Fish and Crown recently called me up and asked me two very simple questions about art. Asked me to name a piece of art that really inspired me and after some deliberating I mentioned Marvin Gaye's Autobiography. I'm a huge fan of the man, his story is very dramatic. He obviously never got along with his father and he carried that around with him his whole life. The struggles he went through really touched me...it would make a great movie, if they made it.
He also asked me to pick the best hip hop song. If I had to choose one, then what would it be? I really couldn't place an answer on this one. I mean I could choose one and then later I'd be remembering a bunch of others I had forgotten. The token answer would be a Rakim joint, most people would say that but I can honestly say I am unable to answer. |
