Producer Spotlight

Showcasing Producers we like.

[Interview] Fresh Kils: Beat Maker, MPC Jedi, Nice Guy

by Kara-Lis Coverdale He's no spring chicken in the Canadian hip-hop scene, but T.O. based producer Fresh Kils hasn't really spent much time dancing in the spotlight, and it's not because he was born with a hideous gnome face or because he's an ardent agoraphobic or something. No, along with his mountains of production gear, Fresh Kils has simply been dwelling in his studio, grinding hard and banging out beats for artists like D-Sisive and Ghettosocks like he's the Christmas elf of Northern hip-hop. But all that is changing. Or, at least the behind-the-scenes part. As a solo act and as 1/2 of the production duo The Extremities, Kils is stepping up his stage game, and he's doing it by coming hard as one of the most kick ass MPC performers out there right now. In between Easter egg hunts this past holy Sunday, we sat down to chat with Kils to talk about sampling, the state of "live" hip-hop, and how the MPC has not only brought him from the studio to stage, but has changed the way he makes beats altogether. Click below to read the entire interview. It's long, but she's a goodie.

Interviews Journal Producer Spotlight

[Producer Spotlight x Interview] Ric Notes on Shad, Making Beats, and Producing on his iPhone

Geoffrey

by Geoffrey Granka If you hang out regularly on The Come Up Show, I promise you've heard Ric Notes' productions. He's worked on records with Shad, Blake Carrington, Drake, Smile, K-os, and many more. He's also taken home three titles from the "Battle of the Beatmakers" and has been on the jury with Boi-1da. We sat down with Ric to talk about about his collaborations with his approach to hip-hop production, making beats on his iphone, and collaborating with artists like Blake Carrington and Shad. Click "Read The Rest Of Entry" below to check out the entire interview.

Interviews Journal Producer Spotlight

[Producer Spotlight] Interview with EOM

Chedo

There are four elements of music: melody, harmony, rhythm, and dynamics. Yaa I Get It was Shad's first single off TSOL, with a beat made by internet phenom EOM. The track held it's own against storied producers Rich Kidd and Classified. His collaborations with rapper Wax have reached hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube, and his RockPaperScissors album (made alongside Emay and Remot) is just good music.< I got to chat with him over a couple of weeks ago. He's an awesome guy with a huge career ahead of him. Aspiring producers stand to learn a lot from the way he's marketed himself, lovers of music can trust most tracks with his name on them. GG: Shad is pretty well regarded up here (in Canada). How did the collaboration with Shad and Me&John come about? EOM: Well, I remixed his track "Quest for Glory" and my manager sent it to him. I ended up talking to Shad via email and sent him the beat for "Yaa I Get It". A year or so went by and my manager tells me that Shad finished the song but they ran into sample clearance problems. That's where Me&John came in. They reworked the drums, replayed the instruments and mixed the track a lot better. The original was all sorts of compressed and raw. Me&John definitely did their thing. They made the "don't sue me" version of the original beat. GG: That brings up my next question: most (if not all) of the music you produce is available online for free. How do you monetize your career? Continue Reading the Interview with EOM.

Interviews Journal Producer Spotlight

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[Audio x Spotlight] Foreign Exchange – “Maybe She’ll Dream of Me”

K-Lis

It was likely at some point while working on their first album Connected (2004), that Phonte of Little Brother and Netherlands producer Nicolay realized they were far too compatible to keep their creative partnership long distance. What became instantly lauded as the distinctive sound of Foreign Exchange was actually conceived and chiseled online, where the two hooked up and started making music via file-exchange over the chatboards at Okayplayer.com. The idea that collaborative music making and recording didn't actually require involved parties to ever meet, at least not in the physical, was clearly still a novel concept in 2004 ("Foreign Exchange" is to hip-hop as "Postal Service" is to indie electro-pop). But this mode of working has actually become the norm for musicians of all stripes, the Fly Lo and Thom Yorke collaboration on Cosmogamma for instance, as we progress deeper into the digital epoch. As Nicolay said in a 2007 interview, "this is how people in the underground work, even domestically." Continue Reading [and to access download link]

Audio Producer Spotlight

[Producer Spotlight] Madlib

J.R.

Day 4, 5, & 6 Sorry about the delay on Madlib's showcase this week. Work has been busy along with other usual life stuff so please forgive me! I'll post 3 tracks of course either by Madlib or produced by him...or one of his many aliases. First track comes from Ms. Badu off the album she put out last year titled Nu-Amerykah. Madlib produced of course

2nd track I chose was 'The Red' by Jaylib. Over an incredible J Dilla beat...Madlib does his rhyming thing.

3rd is a track from Madvillain (DOOM & Madlib producing) and I chose this song because not only is it all dope...but the visual for the song is good and only came out about a year ago. The song is called Accordian and you'll understand why when you hear it! Madlib is a beast with the samples.

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