Most people are listening to Dilla today. A lot of people listen to Dilla everyday. With today being the 3rd anniversary of the passing of J Dilla, I thought reposting this Producer Spotlight we did in 2007 was a good idea.
Out of all the hip hop producers around, J Dilla was the truest form of talent. The way he chopped his samples was like none that you had ever heard before. He brought life and soul into hip hop. He was dedicated to the cause and didn’t care if he ever made it big or not. He was real black music, pushing every angle to take soul places it has never been before. He took sounds from other dimensions and infused soul into them. He made exactly what he wanted to hear and didn’t think twice about how it was gonna sound to a record exec – and he walked away with every shred of credibility and creativity that we all wish we had.
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2,944 views | Posted in Producer Spotlight
Chances are, a good amount of you reading this still haven’t heard one of the best albums of the year, Picture This… featuring some of the biggest and best names in hip hop, both on the microphone and behind the boards, Keenan Ormsby has developed and crafted an album consisting of names ranging from heavyweights 9th Wonder, Royce Da 5′9, O.C, and Masta Ace to underground noise makers Emilio Rojas, Torae, Skyzoo, and Eternia. The founder of Elementality Productions is out of New Jersey, right across the hip hop Mecca that is New York, but that didn’t stop him from continuously building an empire on his terms, on his schedule, and on his mission. KevinNottingham.com recently got a chance to chat it up with the DJ, Manager, A&R, and executive producer about the recent second wind of the disc jockey, his discovery of the Elzhi/Royce connection, his company, production, and his loaded with talent, yet, horribly slept on album, Picture This…
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732 views | Posted in Exclusive, Interviews, Producer Spotlight
14KT is 1/7th of Michigan hip hop heroes The Athletic Mic League (AML) and 1/4th of production powerhouse The Lab Techs. He has been instrumental in boosting the careers of fellow crew members Buff1 and DJ Haircut. Now that he’s produced pivotal tracks for nearly every notable Detroit hip hop artist and beyond, released multiple albums with AML, and toured extensively throughout the US and Europe, this Producer / Emcee / DJ is ready to expose the inner workings of his mind to the world. The Golden Hour (review here) serves as an introduction to the unorthodox genius of 14KT and is the first of several full length albums already completed.
We recently had the opportunity to sit down and chat with the Detroit-based producer. Here’s what went down…
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707 views | Posted in Interviews, Producer Spotlight
We will be announcing our 2008 year end lists next week, but I just had to get this feature up early. Mixtape DJs are a dime a dozen. You got your veterans like DJ Clue, DJ Green Lantern, and DJ Jazzy Jeff… then you got your up and comers like DJ Chong Wizard, DJ Concept, and Hevehitta. But every now and then there’s that someone who just stands out from the crowd and creates those projects that know one saw coming. This year that someone was Mick Boogie. 2008 was the year of Mick Boogie, with releases such as Viva la Hova, The Honor Roll, Talib Kweli’s MCEO Mixtape, and his latest Adele: 1988. Mick has been on his grind for a while now, but this year he definitely stood out from the crowd. I had the pleasure of cuttin’ it up with Mick over the weekend. Dude is a very down to earth guy. Here’s what went down…
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685 views | Posted in Interviews, Producer Spotlight
On the cusp of his first ever release, Liquid Courage, as one half of the duo Wax & EOM, Daniel Carey aka Elements of Music, is about to turn some heads. Drawing inspiration from some of the usual suspects (Primo, Dilla, Pete Rock, Rza) to guide his production, EOM’s random attempt to holler at the now infamous YouTube “Driving MC” (Wax) turned out to be a blessing that he even he couldn’t see coming. A former beat-boxer, EOM has turned to production and relies heavily on his many musical talents, his creativity, and of course, his beat boxing ability. We had a chance to sit and chat with EOM regarding his relationship with Wax, his struggle with school and work, his competition, his 2008, and of course, Liquid Courage.
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322 views | Posted in Interviews, Producer Spotlight
Jake One’s debut album release, White Van Music, is definitely on my list of must-cop albums this year. Although White Van Music is his first album, he certainly is no new comer to hip hop. Having produced tracks for De La Soul, 50 Cent, E-40, and Nas, Jake has already proven his longevity in this game.
A couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to interview Jake One. Many thanks to Melanie, Jake’s publicist, for setting it up and actually conducting the interview for us. I never thought I would finally get this interview online as I ran into many problems in the editing process. This was my first phone interview and transcribing the audio was much more trouble than I thought it would be. Props to all the other bloggers who get that ish done! I finally decided to go the easy route and just post up Jake’s responses as audio. Hope this doesn’t make the interview to hard to follow. Jake has a lot of great things to say, and this interview really is a good read/listen.
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741 views | Posted in Exclusive, Interviews, Producer Spotlight
Here’s a story of a respectable radio DJ turned producer who gets a spot on a Billboard #1 album, reaching Gold status in around six weeks. We’re talking about DJ Pain 1 and his track “Don’t Do It” off Young Jeezy’s The Recession. DJ Pain 1 stopped by the site a couple of months ago when we had featured his beat in a “who flipped it better” contest against Chad “Wes” Hamilton. My man Thomas suggested that we hit Pain up to hear his story. Here’s how it came out…
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478 views | Posted in Interviews, Producer Spotlight
With the recent release of Large Professor’s new album, Main Source, I wanted to do something special on the site for one of my favorite hip hop producers. So today I am declaring on this site, LARGE PROFESSOR DAY! That’s right, a whole day of Large Pro goodies. We’re gonna stop all press on everything else going on in hip hop today and focus on Xtra P.
Throughout the day you’ll get your fix of Large Pro mixtapes, samples, and Deez’s review of the new album. But let’s kick things off right. Here’s a Producer Spotlight mix comprised of Large Pro’s greatest productions…
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606 views | Posted in Exclusive, Producer Spotlight
It’s been a long time since we’ve done a Producer Spotlight, let alone one on a popular hip hop producer. I’ve been wanting to do a spotlight on Nottz for a while, but wanted it to be perfect. so I reached out to my man J Master who hooked me up with an exclusive interview with the producer from Norfolk, VA. Major props to J for making this happen. In addition to the interview, we have a compilation of our Top 25 Nottz Productions!
Nottz is one of hip hop’s most under rated producers with a signature low end peircing moogs bassline and heavy driven drums sound that had earned him Gold and Platinum success. The low key Norfolk, Virginia native has developed an extensive catelog over the last decade and has managed to supply production for some of hip hop’s most notable emcees from Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg, Scarface. The track that he produced for Kanye West’s Graduation album, “Barry Bonds”, earned Nottz his 1st hip hop producer award at the 50th Annual Grammys. Nottz is not you average beatmaker and with all the industry trends and new faces on the scene, he has managed to stay consistent in this ever-changing game called hip hop.
With Nottz holding spots on some of hip hop’s latest releases, such as albums from The Game, Termanology, and Rapper Big Pooh; it was only necessary that we site down and talk to the man.
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1,225 views | Posted in Exclusive, Interviews, Producer Spotlight
Coming up as a DJ is not easy. Just ask DJ Fresh… you gotta master your craft. Fresh spent many years winning DJ competitions before he got his big break to DJ for Common Sense, then eventually with Nas. Now DJ Fresh sticks primarily to producing with his own series called The Tonite Show, which has featured artists such as Raekwon and Mister F.A.B.
As you can see from the video below, DJ Fresh has mastered his craft. I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Fresh about his experiences and his new album that we have available right here for free download.
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415 views | Posted in Interviews, Producer Spotlight, The Leak
So unless you are a new born baby, you are familiar with the online sensation that is Facebook. About two years ago, I had to give in because a girl I was dating at the time had lured me in. It might’ve been the second or third week I joined, but I found this hip hop forum. Man was it dope. So great discussions, some great people, and hey, a few months later, I was made administrator of a group compiled of almost 10,000 people. It was pretty dope. There is actually an entire crew from Toronto, including myself, and we always kick it whenever a hip hop concert comes around the way. With that said, 3 heads on that message board: A Hip Hop Lover’s Delight 4 Life (http://yorku.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2202074628), don’t let the name fool you, we aren’t that cheesy, compiled a beautiful mix for the best of possibly one of the most underrated producers in hip hop: DJ Muggs. A founding member of Cypress Hill, and arguably the sugar and cream to the coffee of Dr. Dre, Muggs should be mentioned (but generally isn’t) amongst some of hip hop’s legendary producers. Check the mix courtesy of “The Three Amigos.”
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339 views | Posted in Producer Spotlight
At the beginning of this year, the hottest topic on this site and around the net was the American Gangster remixes. In case you were living in a box around December/January, Jay-Z released the acapellas to his latest album American Gangster. Much like the remix frenzy that started with The Black Album, DJs, producers, and beatmakers worked hard to remix their own version of Jay’s new classic. The phenomenon was so great, that HipHopDX started a contest for the best remix project. Out of 130 albums submitted, it came down to one winner…. and his name is Remot.
I recently had the opportunity to sit down and talk with this up and coming producer about the remix project, his back story, and life since the contest. After the interview, we will reveal an exclusive look at HipHopDx’s custom album cover for American Gangster Remoted.
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498 views | Posted in Interviews, Producer Spotlight
Most of you may know DJ Chong Wizard from his American Ironman mixtape that he dropped at the beginning of the year. Well, this Canadian DJ has been tearing up the mixtape game for quite some time now and I felt it was time for all of us to get to know the man behind the bong.
American Ironman has gotten great reviews over the past month from sites such as allhiphop.com, lovesoul.tv, MTV, and Rolling Stone. In addition RapMullet.com declared American Ironman as the 1st Classic Mixtape of 2008.
His new mixtape, Good Look 5 (Kashi Kicks Edition), is getting rave reviews as well. DJ Chong Wizard is the DJ to look out for this year. Although his name may not be as well known as DJ Clue or DJ Whoo Kidd, be prepared for this cat to create some waves in the near future.
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233 views | Posted in Interviews, Producer Spotlight
One of the great things that I have come to appreciate with the Internet is the ability to hear great music that you would not normally have known about and meeting new people that share those musical interests in common with you. This last month was the perfect example of that for me.
A few weeks ago I was introduced to 100dBs & Ryan O’Neil’s 2007 album The Adventures of the The One Hand Bandit & The Slum Computer Wizard. To me, upon first listen, this album is an instant classic. I’ll save the review for another day, but just last week I had the opportunity of meeting 100dBs online. To be able to interview someone who’s work you highly admire and someone who shows potential to be the next big thing, is a real honor to me.
100dBs is a real down to earth guy and his talent should not go unnoticed. Check out the interview…
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111 views | Posted in Interviews, Producer Spotlight
If you’ve paid attention to both my American Gangster compilations, it’s easy to see which remix albums were my favorites. Previously, I did a spotlight on American Beatmaker producer MIDIMarc. This week I had the opportunity to catch up with American Clapster producer DJ SoulClap. Hailing out of Kiel, Germany, you can catch DJ SoulClap stopping by here from time to time or you can check out his own contributions as a blogger over at Wake Your Daughter Up.
When I heard SoulClap’s production style, I just knew I had to showcase him here. He takes tips from some of the best (DJ Premier, J Dilla, Pete Rock) and you can definitely hear it in his beats. Aside from the American Gangster remix project, SoulClap has a Promo EP available for download. I HIGHLY recommend you all checking this out! These tracks are simply AMAZING. SoulClap calls it an EP, but at 13 tracks this qualifies as an album for me.
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152 views | Posted in Producer Spotlight
