Bloggin 4 Beats: Roll Over Beethoven

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Bloggin 4 Beats: Remixing T.I.

For this next installment of Bloggin 4 Beats I had my man J.H. talk about how he remixed T.I.’s “Whatever You Like…”

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Bun B’s 2 Trill Recruits Underground Kings

With an O.G. flow and to-the-point lyrical content Bun B has established himself as one of the South’s elder statesmen on the microphone. For his second solo CD, II Trill, he doesn’t stray too far from the southern comfort zone of heavy 808s, synths and hi-hats but there are several surprises that help it stand out.

 

Ironically some of the strongest beats on the CD come from outside the south. Boston’s Clinton Sparks opens things up on the title cut with some frantic hi-hats and claps establishing Bun B’s sense of urgency. Self Scientifics DJ Khalil bangs out “Another Soldier” with some waling guitar and drums that have lived a hard knock life. And Chops blesses 3 cuts with “Keep It 100″ being the best of the trio. His slithering bass on “Damn I’m Cold” would have done great with Devin The Dude on the hook, (maybe because it reminds me vaguely of my favorite DTD track, “Just Tryin To Live.”)

Enigma brings the marching band brass attitude on “Swang On ‘Em” and on “Get Cha Issue” Bigg Tyme lays the bed for one of the most quotable songs on the CD. Funky keys and guitar give it a pimptastic modern day western feel.

 

Sample wise the choices are a little too obvious for my taste but they serve the purpose of broadening Bun’s audience. Mr. Lee flips Jodeci’s “Cry For You” on “You’re Everything” and on “Good II Me” Bigg Tyme replays what else? “Just Be Good To Me” by the S.O.S band. However, “Underground Thang” gets some 70s swagger thanks to Cory Mo’s use of “Stepping Out” by Steel Pulse. The only one I can’t hate on is the “Angel In the sky” that tweaks Stevie Wonders “Ribbon in the sky” because its a tribute to the late Pimp C.

Big namers like Jazze Pha, J.R. Rotem and Scott Storch will get Bun his radio and club spins but sonically, 2 Trill belongs to the underground kings behind the boards.

-Jerry L. Barrow

 

 

 

Hydrosonics, Origimoz: “Cool Like Dat”

Name: Origimoz
Age: 19
Repping: UK, Mozambique
Key Track: “Freedom of Speech”
Contact: Myspace

You were born in China and raised in Mozambique. When were you exposed to hip-hop and which artists were you listening to?
I guess I was exposed to hip-hop ever since my older brother was. As far as I can remember it was along the mid-90s when he used to bump cassette tapes of everything from Camp Lo to The Roots to Jay-Z to Wu-Tang to The Lost Boyz and many, MANY more which ended up being the foundation for the love of the music. I was around 8 or 9 years old.

What does your name Origimoz mean?
Origimoz actually means ORIGINALLY from MOZAMBIQUE..that was because by the time I arrived in London a couple of good years ago, I didn’t want to keep my old name because it was quite chessy! So coming up with something that was original and that resembled where I’m from was the best possible option!

I like how you freaked that classic break in “Freedom of Speech.” Did you use the Fruity Sampler, the slicer or what? How did you manipulate it?
The idea for that beat was to make the drums match the sample because it was SO EPIC that normal drums just wouldn’t go because they would get stepped over. So what I did is that I sampled each part (Kick and Snare) individually on Cool Edit, layered the Kick with a 808 kick and a low kick (like a sub-kick)…and added some almost invisible clap with an opened hat on the snare, done my drum pattern and finally I added percussion and reverbed them all to sound as live as the sample was!

Do you have any formal music training? You mention using a midi keyboard, can you play? To be honest I can’t play ANY instruments to save my life! But again, it all depends on the ear that the person has to try and achieve the desired sound. The MIDI keyboard is still very new to me because I STILL draw notes on the piano roll using a mouse! So with time maybe I will try and learn how to professionally play because it helps a WHOLE lot!

“Flying High” has the most plays on your Myspace page, how did you make it? “Flying High” came about when I was listening to a Blaxploitation soundtrack (which I won’t mention for security reasons!) looking for something that could immediately catch an emotion…that came about…I sampled it, added, drums, percussion, bass and the whole lot and there it was!

Who are you working with or who would you like to hear on your beats?
I’m currently working with a few people over there in the U.S. naming LEX, Dave Notti and the whole Thrilla crew, Jae-Nice and local acts such as Mark Asari, Micky Negro, DUKO, NY and more…they are unsigned and got some serious music

What do you love/hate about Fruity Loops?
I’m not a very technical guy in Fruity Loops but I hate I guess I have to go with the interface of it. Sometimes when u are not on a good mood that interface doesn’t really help! But what I love on it is the simplicity of things. Is not a very hard program to understand and with a good examination process everything should be well clear!

No Detox Yet, But Dr. Dre Releasing New Headphones

Monster, the popular audio peripheral manufacturer has teamed up with legendary music producer Dr. Dre to create a line of headphones called “Beats By Dr. Dre.” In development for over two years, Beats feature newly developed driver technology by Monster Cable and tuned by Head Monster Noel Lee and Dr. Dre themselves.

“People aren’t hearing all the music. Artists and producers work hard in the studio, perfecting their sound. But people can’t really hear it with normal headphones,” says Dr. Dre. “Most headphones can’t handle the bass, the detail, the dynamics. Bottom line: the music doesn’t move you. With Beats, people are going to hear what the artists hear and listen to the music the way they should: the way I do.”

Monster’s Beats by Dr. Dre advanced technology headphones deliver a true “high-definition” music listening experience, with all the highs, clarity, power, and most importantly, deep bass that is only paralleled by a big speaker studio system. A push-to-listen Mute button and folding design adds to the flexibility and convenience.

Scheduled to launch at the end of June, Beats by Dr. Dre headphones not only represents a major step forward in sound, and but also a major innovation in design for today’s style conscious electronic consumer.

For more product and purchase info go to: http://www.monstercable.com/beats/