Lex Luger Talks Working On Kanye West, Jay-Z’s Watch The Throne

Lex Luger spoke to MTV.com about his upcoming work on Kanye West and Jay-Z’s Watch The Throne album. Take note that he first hooked up with Waka Flocka on MYSPACE and is now working with Kanye and Jay-Z. There is no wrong hustle as long as you hustle.

“In 2011, I don’t want to speak too much on it but Jay-Z and Kanye West working on an album and he’s really messing with me, so I got Kanye West,” said Lex, when asked what he’s serving up this year. “I’ve been working more with Fabolous. I’ve been working with everybody, a lot of people been saying that ‘Lex Luger only got that Waka sound’ so I’m trying to take it somewhere else because I do have another sound, and that’s where I want to take it for 2011.”

Lex Luger’s “Hard In The Pain” and “BMF” were two of Nodfactor.com’s favorite beats of 2010.

[props to HipHopNmore for the assist]

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Nodfactor’s Favorite Beats Of 2010

It’s that time of the year when folks take a look back at the last 365. We know it’s a few days into 2011 but the Internet is eternal and folks will be googling “best of 2010″ for a few days more yet. So I tapped our star contributor and Twitter fiend Christopher B. and producer Beewirks to share their favorite beats of 2010. I threw in a couple of my own for good measure. We couldn’t even agree amongst each other so I’m sure you all will have something to say. Let the fights begin.

BEEWIRKS

Get Your Ass On The Floor - Dirty Money: The drums on it come from a
dancehall track..that immediately attracted me to it. The progression
changes throughout the beat were dope too. A lot of it comes off
atmospheric. It created the perfect backdrop for the vocals.

Yeah Yeah You Would - Dirty Money: Danja killed it with the hard drums
and the arrangement of the beat. From the sound running throughout
the verse up until the actual progression comes in. That’s a very
common arrangement but when done well it makes the beat feel like it
has passages.

Mafia Music 2 - Rick Ross: this is probably my favorite beat of the year.
It came at the perfect time. The sample (which I will leave nameless)
is already lush and the Olympicks added a slight arp synth, some
pianos. The bassline was also dope. To be honest, Rick Ross helped
this come to life also, and that’s the job of a dope beat, bring out
the best in the MC. They succeeded on all levels. Props.

Super High - Rick Ross. This shit is just fucking soulful..the dope
bassline. Honestly that was the instrument that put this beat over
the top. This whole shit sounds like something Biggie would rap on.
the first 5 seconds sound just like “The World is Filled.” DJ Clark Kent went in.

Resistance - drake: 40 getting screamed at by Kanye is what comes to
mind. Kanye is such a competitive dude so 40 should take it as a
slight compliment. The airy pads just get me zoned out. The sparse
use of the kick drum provides some tension in a beat that is lush and
calm…the juxtaposition of the two (genius if he actually set out to
do it) is what allows people to listen to it over and over.

No Love - Eminem: The Haddaway sample was pure genius. He flipped it
to the point it wasn’t corny. Just Blaze is such a great producer
that he can take corny and make a classic out of it. He did the same
thing for the Rick James flip which I think is one of the greatest
sample flips I’ve ever heard from any producer. Proud to call him my
big bro and friend.

Premeditated Murder - J. Cole: Now I know it says J Cole produced
this on his own but the way the drums hit with ghost notes and the
like, I have to say I believe No ID helped a bit on this. Either way
this is a dope beat. The addition of extra pianos enhanced the beat
significantly. The sample flip is so cool.

Devil In a New Dress - Kanye West: Yeah Bink! went in on this. The
parts he used from the sample made it sound like a loop but they were
chopped in a real dope way. His drums compliment the beat too.
They’re not the hardest drums but they fit underneath the sample so
well.

Neon Valley Street - Janelle Monae: The drums on this are PERFECT.
Those strings are crazy too. Janelle Monae’s album is probably the
best produced album of the year. The beat has a great lowkey Outkast feel to it. I can just picture the beat and song. It comes with a vision and I think every producer should strive to make music like that.

There Goes My Baby - Usher: the progression on this is so ill. The hook on this just utilizes a low octave saw synth to get its pointacross..no real melody change to let u know it’s the chorus. It gives the singer options and part of being a good producer is knowing when to scale it back. Props to Jim Jonsin and Rico Love.

Don’t Play This Song - Kid Cudi: The Strings…I love the texture of
the strings. They have a Motown feel to it. Couple that with the
extreme electronic sound of the rest of the beat. It just works. The
drums on this have a slight african feel to its acoustics. This is
one of them moody beats u can put on repeat and just think abt how
wack ur life is when things are not going good lol. Now that I think
abt it..the strings have a slight Chinese or Oriental flavor to em.
Really dope.

Higher - B.O.B: From the synth in the beginning to the dope ass drum
and percussion. Polow went in on this one. Although I think Im drawn
to this beat because of the Hook by BoB..its an INCREDIBLE HOOK…the
beat accents the MCs well.

No Hands - Wacka Flocka: Drumma killed this shit. Again, I feel like
the beat inspired the great hook for this. From my observations
sometimes its best not to get super musical when it doesn’t call for
it. I know Drumma is classically trained so he can throw in string
runs and all this extra shit but he gives just enough of a dope beat
to leave room for the rappers to maneuver and the hook to shine.
Thats why that shit peaked at #18 on the Hot 100..dope ass shit.

Nothin’ On You - Bruno Mars: The muhfucking Smeezingtons! They did
their thing this year and brought back a kind of softness in music
that was missing. Nothing corny though, but like listen to this beat.
It’s so damn classy. From the funky bass to the paino. Its like
they said we’re going to make an R&B beat and just throw a dope ass
fucking hip hop drum pattern on top of it. They succeeded. This shit
went number 1 and sold over 2 million. You can make good music and
have it sell. Its just gotta be accessible and this beat has
something in it for everyone. Plus they got Bruno Mars on the hook.
the females adore him.

Find Your Love - Drake: Even though this sounds like an 808s and
Heartbreak beat, its so lovely lol. Man when the flutes come in or
whatever synth that is, it immediately reminds me of some of the songs
Lamont Dozier did on his album decades ago. it just takes me back
there. The drums, however keep us in the now. It’s just a really
great beat. There is not one bad thing about this beat.

Window Seat - Erykah Badu: This is that shit right here. Soulful and
melodic. Anciently futuristic. I don’t even want to say more than
that. Just close your eyes and listen to this.

Winner - Jamie Foxx: The drums on this are so hugeee. They have a
dope bounce to em to. This is something you can put on anywhere and
you’ll get a reaction from people. the melody is crazy too. The
glide on the bass saw synth..yughhckkkk © Pusha T..I forgot about the
marching band breakdown. Yeah this beat is dope. A lot of people
can’t pull off a beat like this and make it sound so accessible.

CHRISTOPHER B.

Kanye West-All Of The Lights (Kanye West)
When it comes to composition I don’t think any track was more expertly constructed than “All Of The Lights.” It’s triumphant, uplifting, energetic, and all things being equal the best beat of 2010 in my opinion, maybe even his career. While some may feel he over decorated the track with the numerous features he truly created something unique. When you think of bongos meshing with trumpets, keys, etc. you would think clutter and chaos but every piece was flawless in it’s insertion to the track, as if he was conducting a live orchestra. This is Kanye’s Sistine Chapel.

Eminem-Talking 2 Myself (DJ Khalil)
The second cut from Eminem’s Recovery album to make the list was produced by the producer’s favorite producer, DJ Khalil. Known primarily for his Self Scientific work Khalil took leaps career wise this year resulting in multi grammy nominations for his work on Recovery. When word hit that the white boy was working with new producers many speculated what that would sound like but out of all the tracks on Recovery none were more fitting than the masterpiece Khalil created. His signature aggressive drums fit perfectly for Em’s in your face, rapid fire flow. The hungry introspective Eminem was reborn on this project and a large amount of thanks goes to Khalil, after all he is responsible for a quarter of the production.

Drake-9 AM In Dallas Freestyle (Boi 1da)
Was any producer this past year hotter than the kid from Toronto? After sculpting the back drops for massive singles like Drake’s “Best I Ever Had”, “Over”, and Eminem’s “Not Afraid” he provided us with one of the best album cuts to not appear on the album, sort of (9 AM In Dallas was only available via I Tunes). 1da continues to impress with his drums and this beat leaves the perfect amount of room for Drake to reflect and show his introspective side.

Ghostwridah-Red Bottoms (Don Cannon)
What’s a top beat list without Cannooooon (Sandman voice)? The track that wasn’t supposed to happen (Ghostwridah got this on a beat cd used it and put it out prior to Cannon being on board) turned out to be one of the best constructed of this past year. I’m not a fan of Jay-Z vocal samples and I really find them to be redundant and over played but Don Cannon made this one work. Most vocal samples in a hook don’t have any effect on the song and are just a hook, Cannon chose the perfect line and made it a hot song. That’s the difference between producing and beat making, the vision for what a song can be and laying the blueprint out for the artist. Add in some of the best drums and voila, Red Bottoms is born.

T.I. feat Drake-Poppin Bottles (T-Minus)
Ahh I love synthy beats and no one manipulated it the way T-Minus did. Probably the most underrated out of all the talent coming from Canada he truly shines here and if your unfamiliar well allow me to introduce you to the producer I feel will be to 2011 what Boi 1da was to twenty ten. The heavy drums that drop were unexpected and he off set them nicely if you pay close attention to the background and listen closely. Its that type of execution that sent it over top to me and pushed it into my personal top 10.

Lil Wayne 6 7 (Bangladesh)
A Milli on steroids as Mack Maine put it? Probably a good description but he really flexed his creative muscle sampling Harry Belafonte’s “Day-O (Banana Boat Song)”. This competes with Just Blaze’s use of Haddaway as the most creative sample of this year, maybe even the decade. It’s hard for an artist to top a hit single like A Milli, it’s even harder as the producer to top yourself and Bangladesh did just that. There’s a lot you can say about a track released in the last couple of weeks and is already talked about as one of the best of the year, but I think that statement alone says enough.

Pill-The Overdose (Needlz)
When people depict a beat as being ugly this is exactly the type they are referring to. Needlz is one of the more underrated producers, he’s done some tracks you know and been a part of some songs that you wouldn’t expect (see Bruno Mars-Just The Way You Are). While Pill doesn’t excite me on any record, this track gets the blood flowing and the pulse racing. If you don’t know do the screw face to this beat then screw yourself, Needlz provided Pill with the ugliest beat of 2010.

Fabolous-You Be Killin Em (Ryan Leslie)
R Les is undoubtedly in my mind the most underrated producer in the industry. While you may know his as the artist that sang “Diamond Girl” Ryan is also a brilliant producer/song writer. Now if the actual track had the piano keys that Ryan used in the song construction video I wouldve placed this higher but his composition is perfect, his use of live drums shows his musicianship and if he’s not in your top 10 as far as current producers go then kill yo’ self. Get it?

L.E.P. Bogus Boys feat Fabolous-We Ain’t Playing (Fly Boyz)
Often when it comes to producing less is more. Upcoming producers try to “super produce” tracks thinking the beat needs to be filled with sounds to be competitive, that’s usually not the case. What I appreciate most about this track is its simplicity. Sprinkled with dark synths the mood is very fitting for the subject matter. Add in the organs, effectively placed, and you have some tailor made “gangster music”.

JLBARROW

Rza, “Dark Fantasy” for Kanye
It seems that Rza has finally mastered this sample-free formula he’s been tinkering with over the past few years. The shadowy ciello strings duel with synth stabs that sport a decidedly Wutang menace but with a button-ed up posture. This is RZA in a suit. James Word Is Bond.

Kanye West, “Show Me A Good time,” for Drake
Pour out a little liquor for the baby water fowl they stepped on repeatedly to lend its voice to this stellar beat. As usual Yeezy is a champ with the piano loops and the stuttering drums make spilling your drink to this totally worth it.

Don Cannon “Fuck A Hook” for STS (Sugar Tongue Slim)
Jay-Z must be kicking himself for passing on this one. Electric guitar has been a punchline in hiphop thanks to the Gza bus but cannon seemlessly layers it with piano, synth and alternating kicks and claps to make one of the most slept on beats of 2010.

!llmind, “Speakers On Blast” Skyzoo
It was hard for me top pick just one beat from this album but anyone that can take filtered chimes and and bit crunch them on an AKAI s20 to make it sound like a sample should be applying for MENSA membership post haste.

Powlow Da Don, “Hot Toddy” Usher

That bassline should be used to field test speakers. If they can stand up to this onslaught without blowing out then you win. One of the best club records of the year was uprooting wall flowers up and down the east coast showed that not all synth-laced beats have to sound like they were finished in Prague.

Fat Joe, “Slow Down” Ha Ha, Scoop Deville

I know some of the Internets got hold of this in late 2009 but it officially touched down in February of 2010. Scoopedeville masterfully meshes Soul II Soul with some apocalyptic drums letting you know that Snoop’s “I Wanna Rock” was not a fluke. He gets bonus points for finding 80s samples that P Diddy hadn’t ravaged yet.

The Roots, The Day

Easily my favorite song on The Roots How I Got Over and much of it is due to this beat. The violins, the flute and the moody keys make me actually want to get out bed and do something with my life. Honorable Mention: “Dillatude The Flight Of Titus.” How no MC has jacked this and freestlyed over it yet is beyond me.

J. Cole “Enchantment”

The piano, synth and mix on this can f*ck with anything on Kanye’s Dark Twisted Fantasy. Yeah, I said it. Tweet me the hate.

How Long Will It Last, Nottz

Nottz tells you his damn self how he made this track so dope: “…Something sound missing, you know something, I need a damn bassline/Shit gotta rumble like a hum from the waistline from the fat chick in the chow line…” And it does…

Deadley Medley, Black Milk

If you don’t feel like slappin the shit outta somebody after playing this you must not have hands.

Lex Luger, “BMF” Rick Ross/ Hard In The Paint “Waka Flocka”

This kid made ANTHEMS on Fruity Loops. “It’s actually all Gucci’s, he brought all of Zaytoven’s old stuff. Gucci bought his whole studio. His mixer, his MPC, his Roland, all that,” he told Complex magazine. “But I ain’t need all that. All I needed is Fruity Loops, my laptop, and my headphones, and I’m going in.” I don’t even like Waka Flocka lame and this beat had me actin’ a fool. Lil Jon watch yo back…

Statistics, Apollo Brown

The Left’s Gas Mask is replete with Arm & Hammer beats but this one sticks out for the way he chops in the organ. A lot of producers aspire to this sound but fall short with muddy bass or drums that don’t hit right but Apollo Brown knows how to squeeze that warm boom-bap out of a PC better than some MPC disciples.

J.U.S.T.I.C.E League, “Aston Martin Music”

From the opening Rhodes of Aston Martin Music you knew this was going to be something special. They manged to really capture that 80s Miami Vice style but left behind the sockless shoes and pastel suits. The melody is sexy but in your face. Then that low pass filter comes in on Drake’s verse and you just want to break something up while shorty breaks you off. (BTW, Maybach Music 3 was incredible but this list is already RAWSED out.)

Tweet us your favorite beats of 2010 @NODFACTOR

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Kanye West Unleashes “Monster” Video

When was the last time you saw a rap video that started with woman hanging from a ceiling by a rope? Bon Iver’s chant at the end of “Monster” “I crossed the line…I’ll let God decide…” takes on a whole new meaning after watching this macabre video from Kanye West’s appropriately titled Dark Twisted Fantasy. The clip for “Monster” features all of his co-conspirators (Rick Ross, Jay-Z and Nicki Minaj) in this b-boy remix of the grisly slasher flick “Hostel.”

(props to SlangRapDemocracy)

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Araab Muzik Claims Kanye Bit His Performance Style

This definitely gets the bbm huh face. I respect Araab for doing his thing but Kanye on the VMA’S with the mpc was not the same, neither of them are the first one’s to do a performance incorporating the use of the mpc. Like the Nas song says, no idea’s original.

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Drake’s Producer 40: “Kanye Cussed Me Out One Day For Jacking His Sound”

While my cover story with Dr. Dre got the most attention in the 2010 Juice issue of Vibe, buried somewhere in the back was a one-pager I did with Drake’s producers 40 and Boi-1da. Though it wasn’t the first time I’d interviewed Boi-1da (Read that interview here) it was my first time chatting with Noah “40″ Shebib, so I had a lot of questions. Some of our conversation was a little too gear-heavy for the readers of Vibe so you know I had to save those jewels for the Nodfactor faithful.

With the fam at Vibe well onto their next issue I now present the full transcript of my interview with 40 where he goes into detail about how he got into engineering, production, “biting” Kanye West and what exactly he uses to make his beats sound the way they do.

“I spend a lot of time manipulating my sounds. A lot of the time people think I’m using a Pad and I’m really using a totally distorted and EQ’d, reverbed, tricked out delayed piano”- 40

Nodfactor.com: Starting from the beginning….How did you get the name 40?

40: The first major label project I did in Canada was for this artist named Jelly Stone. He was like a super gangster rapper up here. And those guys didn’t really use government names too much. I gotta nickname hanging around that project pretty quick and that was my first major label project so all of my first credits were credited as 40 and I kept it that way ever since. It’s “40 Days and 40 Nights.” Those guys used to fall asleep in the studio knocking out and wake up at ten am and I’d still be working. And they’d be “your work never stops. You work for 40 Days and 40 Nights.” Plus my name is Noah, right. So then with the Noah’s Ark (raining for 40 Days) and they named me 40.

When did you start making music professionally?

I’ve been playing piano since I was 5 years old and I’ve been into mathematics and physics my whole life. Hooking up the VCRs when I was 8 years old was my job around the house. I was a professional actor when I was young. I did a lot of American feature films when I was young. By the time I was 13 I was able to afford equipment and was self-taught. By the time I was 18…I grew up in a good neighborhood that bordered on a really bad one. I went to a school in Toronto called Trevis which is a local audio engineering school. I was there for about half a course when I realized that I was ahead of a lot of the stuff I was doing. The guy that created the curriculum there is a guy named Gadget. He’s a legendary Toronto hip-hop Godfather. He’s this tall Jamaica dude with dreds who ran the scene up here forever and I got him to mix four songs on Thank Me Later:”Light Up,”" Shut It Dwon,” “Miss Me” and “Unforgettable.”

When I was 19 or 20 Gadg was looking for an intern. Of course I jumped at the opportunity and because I had the highest marks in the school and my teacher came to me and said “I think you’re the most qualified and you actually know ProTools” do you want to do it? I said of course. So he taught me everything I know from mixing and engineering and tracking and working with artists and etiquette and the business. Gadget worked for Chris Smith, who is Nellie Furtado’s manager. Chris Smith is probably the most powerful black man in the Canadian music industry and Gadget was his A&R and his set of ears, so I came up in that company professionally working with Nellie, FEFE Dobson and Jelly Stone.

What kind of acting did you do?

I was in Sophia Copalla’s first feature film The Virgin Suicide’s. I actually got a lead in that. I shot 30 of the 31 days. My character was Parkie Denton. If you watch the Virgin Suicide’s you’ll definitely see 40. There’s a bunch of other shit but nothing notable. Not much commercial work. The Sprite commercial was the only one I’ve ever done.

I stopped acting when I was about 18 because I was too busy smoking dope before auditions and not actually giving a fuck and being more concerned with music. Plus these other kids were actually studying their lines and getting acting coaches.

Me and Drake laugh about it all the time that we’re both professional actors and that is a point of interest. I understand what he went through but I don’t think it was relevant at all in our music.

What is the secret to the Sound of 40 ?

There is a secret but I can’t tell you. Nobody’s figured it out. I don’t know why because it’s so simple. You know who else does it? There’s only one other person I’ve seen do it with my own eyes. I had their sessions and I knew what their engineer was doing. And That’s Kanye’s engineer Drew. When I got the “Find Your Love” session I said “Oh shit you guys do it too?” I hope they don’t think I’m biting them.

There are more similarities between me and Ye on 808s and So Far Gone than to Thank Me Later. Ye cussed me out one day about jacking his sound. “40 I don’t think you should be in the studio right now because you might just hear my new shit and subconsciously steal my new shit and it wouldn’t even be your fault.” I can’t even be mad at him because the last CD I listened to was 808s & Heartbrteak before I started doing So Far Gone. I swear to God I haven’t listened to a CD since other than Erykah Badu’s new album which I love. That’s it. I try not to listen to too much music because I don’t want to be subconsciously influenced and he’s 100% right about that. But at the end of the day I think that’s what music is. We take influence from different people and we put it all together the best we can. Ye has been an influence to me but not too much. Not in my drum programming or anything. I just think he hit something for me on “Say You Will” that I fell in love with. I think I’ve been running with it a little bit, I’m not afraid to admit that. But to say that I haven’t brought my own swag to it? My favorite shit is Jodeci. Ye doesn’t make fuckin slow jams. I make R&B music. Even if I do take his sound a little bit I don’t think he’s done anything that sounds like “Successful.” That’s me liking Jermaine Dupri throwback R&B records and 90s records like Ginuwine.

So what exactly do you do then?

I spend a lot of time manipulating my sounds. A lot of the time people think I’m using a Pad and I’m really using a totally distorted and EQ’d, reverbed, tricked out delayed piano. But I do use a lot of Pads. I don’t pitch my drums. That’s a misinterpretation of what I’m actually doing. I’m not really heavy on reverb. I keep Drake’s vocals dry. I don’t use arpeggiators. I play all of my arpeggiations myself. I actually have the dexterity to run up and down the piano like a jazz solo. When it comes to hitting an arpeggiator I’d rather just play myself.

I’m so unorthodox it’s not even funny. I’m a diehard Protools user. I exclusively used Pro Tools for all of my productions. I create and build all of my midi sequences in ProTools. I use a lot of soft synths. To be honest with you pretty much the only synth I use is Xpand, which is a stock ProTools plugin. “Successful,” “Houstalantavegas” “Unforgettable” came out of Xpand 2 in Pro tools 8. The point is Xpand is a very simple stock ProTools synthesizer that they give you for free with Pro Tools. But because I spend so much time editing and tweaking my sounds I’m able to get them to a [certain place.]

What’s it like mixing Boi 1da?

It’s way more fun mixing someone else’s beat. It’s much harder to mix your own material. You have your own perception of what the beat is supposed to sound like so it’s harder to take it where it needs to go. Because 1der has a lack of engineering background he gives me a lot of room to play with so I just go off on his shit. I’ve mixed a lot of his records. Me and Drake actually met for the very first time working with an artist named Divine Brown who was also on Chris Smith’s roster. I got my first gold record with her. I produced three songs on her album and we did a remix with Boi 1da and we put Drake on it. That’s the first time I met Drake.

What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made in the studio and how did you fix it?

I’m an engineer, not a careless producer. So I’ve never made an irreversible mistake. Not recorded a vocal , never missed a take. The worst thing I ever did on this album is that I recorded vocals in a 48K session with my clock set to 44 so when I played it back it was playing way fast. So to fix that you have to do some maneuvering within ProTools as far as exporting the file at the wrong sample rate and then reimporting it back at a different sample rate to trick it and make it do the conversion. That took about 25 minutes or half and hour and I had to turn to Drake when he said “ why the fuck does this sound like that?” and I said “Chill, it’s at the wrong sample rate give me ten minutes.”

At first I was like “I need two rigs; one running at 44, one running at 48 and I’m gonna do a dump and it’s gonna match up.” But there was an easier way that I figured out. Drake is super spoiled. The bastard won’t work with anyone else. I will track him til the day I die.

How important is it for an artist to work with one engineer/producer?

First thing is that I’ve been with Drake since the very beginning of his career and I didn’t produce anything. Like on Come Back Season I didn’t produce one fucking thing except the intro. That wasn’t my role.

We started looking for this music and he was turning down hundreds of beats and I realized what sound he was going for. So I said fuck it I might as well do it. I didn’t have a reason to make beats until then. Finally I had a reason. That coupled with the fact that I control all of Drake’s music. I have all of his drives and his entire catalog from day one. No one has ever touched his sessions. So at the end of the day the responsibility of A&Ring and gathering his projects has always been mine whether I was producing it or not. So producing became an easy progression. We have a great level of trust because I’ve been doing it since day one. Most engineers suffer from artists telling them what to do though they’ve never touched a fucking EQ. We have a very different dynamic that way. Even if I don’t produce something I put a twist on it to make sure it fits. None of this was premeditated.

Have you tailored this sound for Drake?

At this point in time the only rappers I have any interest in working with outside of Drake are Wayne and Jay. And that’s from Drake’s mouth. I think Drake has been so instrumental in creating that sound that I have a commitment to him. If he doesn’t’ want me to give it away I won’t. Me and Wonda differ that way very much so. Wonder’s trying to place records and expand his reach in the world of hip-hop. But my ambitions are to stay focused with Drake and when it comes time to start developing another artist I’ll make that move at that point. But going after placements is definitely not my M.O. I don’t like that game. I haven’t signed a publishing deal yet. Every publishing company in the United States is having a nervous breakdown. What are you gonna do for me other than lend me money? And I have way too many friends in the hood that can lend me just as much and their interest rates are way better. Why am I gonna take money from you? If Universal Music publishing is already working “Successful” why do I need them to work on my side? They’re already working it. I have a very unorthodox attitude toward the whole business and even my situation.

Do you at least have a manager?

Hip-Hop since 1978 represents me. You always need management. This business is a mob. Better be part of it if you wanna win. IE Alicia Keys, please believe if G Roberson wasn’t my manager, they would have had Drake in to write and I wouldn’t have done the record. But because they represent me they said we want 40 to produce the record. I need ‘em. I need ‘em bad. Me and G and Al really see eye-to-eye musically and creatively and it’s really refreshing.

I feel blessed. I’m a kid from Toronto. I’ve been driving my mom’s station wagon for the last 8 years for real. I’m not in this for all the bullshit. I’m trying to make a career for myself and not flush it down the toilet. I’m not saying what 1da’s doing is wrong we’re just different that way. I’m cool where I’m at.

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NODFACTOR And VIBE Present: Kanye West’s 50 Greatest Beats!

I’ve never been the biggest fan of Kanye’s singing and I think he is a pretty good MC, but when it comes to beats he is clearly one of the best.

While we here at Nodfactor shook our heads at his declaration of being in the top 3 among producers, his catalog is nevertheless impressive. And any man that performs on an MPC at the VMAs gets dap in our book. So with his Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy coming out officially this month (and unofficially already) we put our heads together with our friends at Vibe.com to compile Yeezy’s 50 Greatest beats.

Compiled by: Jerry Barrow(@JLBARROW), Tracy Garraud, Clover Hope and John Kennedy

50. Kanye West Feat. Talib Kweli & Common “Get Em High” (2004)
Album: The College Dropout
“I’m tryna catch the beat…” Though one of Yeezy’s more modest gems, “Get Em High” felt like it was gurgling in a bong with its xylophone bounce and jolly giant bass. Simple and buoyant—who wouldn’t take a hit?

49.Common “My Way Home” (2005)
Album: Be
Sample: Gil Scott Heron “Home is Where The Hatred Is”
For one of the shortest songs on the album, Gil Scott-Heron’s “Home Is Where the Hatred Is” got pitched down to enhance the melancholy vibe and was allowed to ride out naked with little additional drum programming un-enhanced by any overdubs.

48. Trina Feat. Ludacris “B R Right” (2002)
Album: Diamond Princess
Kanye throws another curveball on this third single from Trina’s Diamond Princess, fondling violin chords to create a sample-free sound bed perfect for Trina and Luda’s dirty talking.

47. T.I. “Doin’ My Job” (2003)
Album: Trap Musik
Sample: Bloodstone “I’m Just Doin My Job”
Just when you thought speeding up a sample was getting corny, Yeezy squeezed out one more winner with some help from Bloodstone’s “I’m Just Doing My Job”. As with most sample beats it’s about what drums you pair with it and Kanye’s freak of “Impeach The President” made it his own.

46. Kanye West “All of the Lights” (2010)
Album: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
As stadium status goes, this star-studded cut off Kanye’s Wild Things-esque fairytale album is more than worthy of being boomed before thousands. Like the album’s overall soundscape, it’s slightly haunting and expansive but completely glorious, a plethora of majestic blasts and jungle drums. Expertly arranged vocals from Rihanna, John Legend, Alicia Keys and, for Pete’s sakes, Elton John seem like they’re one with the track. Good ass job.

45. Kanye West “Through The Wire”
Kanye West “Through The Wire” (2004)
Album: The College Dropout
Sample: Chaka Khan “Through The Fire”
The way ‘Ye blacks out on the instrumental for this humbled near-death reflection, you have to wonder if he was still high on painkillers. Of course, he was rapping with his jaw virtually clamped—the casualty of a severe 2002 car wreck—but the slightest Chaka Khan tweak made this shrieking sample one of his most clever.

44. Ludacris Feat. Shawnna “Stand Up”
Ludacris “Stand Up” (2003)
Album: Chicken And Beer
Despite how dope this beat was, it marked the last time the two heavyweights collaborated. The rare sample-free treat was Luda’s first co-production credit and that may have ruffled Kanye’s feathers. In some cases, he doesn’t play so nicely with others after all.

43. Monica Feat. Missy Elliott “Knock Knock”
Monica “Knock Knock” (2003)
Album: After The Storm
Sample: The Masqueraders “It’s A Terrible Thing To Waste Your Love”
Monica goes all “sista girl” over gentle chimes here, singing and rapping an “It’s not me, it’s you” note to her newest ex. While ‘Ye scaled back the original backdrop (check the hiccuping sample chop from his own “Improvise”) for this single from After The Storm, his MPC taps build up with hollow percussion and snares toward the track’s end. Anyone home?

42.Kanye West Feat. Pusha T “Runaway” (2010)
Album: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
The piano feels like it’s right out of a Stanley Kubrick film and helps you overlook the fact that he jacked Pete Rocks’ drums from an interlude on Mecca And The Soul Brother to make a toast to the douchebags. Call it a preemptive apology?

41. Kanye West Feat. Paul Wall & GLC “Drive Slow”
Kanye West Feat. The Game & Paul Wall “Drive Slow” (2005)
Album: Late Registration
Sample: Hank Crawford’s “Wildflower”
One of the most slept-on of Yeezy’s beats, this single from Late Registration contains a sample of Hank Crawford’s “Wildflower.” Pac fans remember this sample from “Shorty Wanna Be a Thug,” but where those drums overpowered the lilting piano Ye lets the track breath.

40. Common “The Corner” (2005)
Album: Be
Sample: Temptations “What It Is”
The Temprees play more of a supporting role in this instrumental providing sped-up chipmunk wails of “my liiife,” as the drums from the Temptations’ “What It is” provide most of the meat. Again, Yeezy waited patiently for the 1:15 mark where things slowed down a bit to pillage the funk before it all went spastic.

39. Drake, “Show Me A Good Time”, Thank Me Later, 2010
Coproduction: No I.D., Jeff Bhasker
Album: Thank Me Later
One of the highlights on Drake’s hyped debut is this bass-heavy party-starter that boasts the same high-pitched production adlib (aye!) Ye used on another track, Rick Ross’s “Live Fast, Die Young.” Also notice the subtle piano loop in the background. Under the right sound system conditions, you’ll lose your mind when the beat drops at the 7-second mark.

38. Jay-Z “Izzo” (2001)
Album: The Blueprint
Sample: The Jacksons “I Want You Back”
It’s almost cheating to sample the Jackson 5, especially since Jay had already pimped out “I Want You Back” with Pharrell for “I Just Wanna Love You (Give It To Me).” But Kanye’s superior drum-programming made this more than just another lazy loop.

37. Kanye West Feat. T-Pain “Good Life” (2007)
Coproduction: DJ Toomp
Album: Graduation
Sample: Michael Jackson “P.Y.T.”
It’s hard to go wrong with a sample of “PYT” (unless it’s Memphis Bleek’s tragic “I Wanna Love You”), but the second time around Kanye got some help from DJ Toomp to slow it down just enough to help the uncoordinated get their two-step on. And replaying it on the synth worked out way better than looping it outright.

36. Beanie Sigel “The Truth” (2000)
Album: The Truth
Sample: Graham Nash “Chicago”
Kanye wasn’t always rolling percussion and chipmunk-voiced samples. On his Roc introduction, ‘Ye lifts a seesawing ’60s Graham Nash record and plops it between grave piano keys. The result: An harder-than-tarmac album intro that not only set the tone for Beanie Sigel’s rough-edged debut, but began a long-lasting marriage between Kanye & Roc-A-Fella. True story.

35.Kanye West Feat. Young Jeezy “Amazing” (2008)
Album: 808s and Heartbreak
Anything worthy of being the soundtrack to Kobe Bryant’s march to a 3-Peat can’t be bad.

34.Twista Feat. Jamie Foxx & Kanye West “Slow Jamz” (2004)
Album: The College Dropout/Kamikaze
Sample: Luther Vandross “A House Is Not A Home”
What better way to pay homage to the oldies than making Luther Vandross sound like he’s been sucking on helium? Silly as it may seem, Kanye progressed the old school fiddling of “Through The Wire” by more methodically dicing a classic vocal sample over nimble percussion. And it definitely sets the party off right.

33.Kanye West Feat. Jamie Foxx “Gold Digger” (2005)
Album: Late Registration
Sample: Ray Charles “I Got A Woman” & Thunder & Lightening “Bumpin Bust Stop”
When he’s not busy bigging himself up, Kanye can be a lot of fun and this beat is testament to that. Tweaking Ray Charles “I Got A Woman” to craft his ode to greedy women was a rebellious move at best and sprinkling the familiar “get downs” from “Bumpin’ Bust Stop” made the ladies almost forget that he left their asses for a white girl.

32. Twista Feat. Kanye West “Overnight Celebrity”
Album: Kamikaze (2004)
Sample: Lenny Williams “Cause I Love You”
Mr. West gives Lenny Williams’ staccato cries new life on this epic Kamikaze single that piggybacks off “Slow Jamz.” Upgrading a chick from Gap to Gucci, Tung Twista’s nimble flow dances around the beat without getting tangled in Miri Ben Ari’s nifty strings.

31.Jay-Z “Heart of the City” (2001)
Album: The Blueprint
Sample: Bobby Blue Bland’s “Heart Of The City”
As sample manipulations go, this will not boost Yeezy’s application for MENSA membership but half the battle is often finding THAT record to help the message along. See what you can do with Bobby Blue Bland’s “Heart Of The City” in DJ Hero.

30.Mos Def Feat. Faith Evans “Brown Sugar”
Album: Brown Sugar Soundtrack
Mos Def “Brown Sugar (Fine)” (2002)
Album: Brown Sugar soundtrack
Sample: Norman Connors “Invitation”
This is classic ‘Ye production soaked in nostalgia. A twinkling old soul record made to bounce off doorknockers and slide down rope chains. From the gratuitous finger-snaps to Norman Connors’ stirring moans woven in at just the right moments, Yeezy grabbed a chunk of the hood’s sweet spot and baked it into the warmest melody.

29. Game Feat. Kanye West “Wouldn’t Get Far” (2007)
Album: Doctor’s Advocate
Sample: Creative Source “I’d Find You Anywhere” & Mountain “Long Red (Live)”
At first thought, tangling a hiccupping soul sample with a yowling rock sample seems like one hell of a sonic disaster. But under Kanye’s ear, the aforementioned couldn’t be further than accurate. The balmy juxtaposition is one even Melyssa Ford couldn’t hate on.

28. Nas Feat. Kanye West “Still Dreamin’” (2006)
Album: Hip-Hop Is Dead
Sample: Diana Ross “The Interim”
It doesn’t take much savvy to note that a song titled “Still Dreaming” needs to be coated in darkness. But it takes more than the obvious to massage one of the most exceptional tracks off a GOAT’s most controversial album. Here, ‘Ye takes Diana Ross’ snail-speed sample but rouses the melody with a gauze of DJ scratches and utterances. The end result, cuddled between serenity and melancholy, is far from a sleeper.

27. Kanye West Feat. GLC & Consequence “Spaceship” (2005)
Album: The College Dropout
Sample: Marvin Gaye “Distant Lover”
There’s just something about this track. Not only do Kanye’s lyrics tap into the 9-to-5ers daily tussle, this average Joe tribute immediately strikes a chord, from the opening bass and “oohs” to the stuttered drums and a plodding tempo that somehow feels like the beat itself is working the nightshift.

26. Kanye “Everything I Am” (2007)
Album: Graduation
Samples: Prince Phillip Mitchell “If We Can’t Be Lovers” & Public Enemy “Bring The Noise”
West achieves sonic bliss by pairing a sped-up slow dance-worthy piano rhythm with scratches of Chuck D’s “here we go again” vocals from a P.E. classic. Just like that, a laidback groove that Common foolishly passed up on becomes one of Ye’s most refined creations.

Click over to Vibe to see which one made #1!!

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DJ Premier Says Kanye Collaboration Never Materialized, Adds Last-Minute Scratches To ‘Mama’s Boyfriend’

From Vibe.com

Despite some major leaks and several varied track lists hitting the ‘net, Kanye West is sticking by the Nov. 22 release date for his fifth studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

With contributing producers Pete Rock and RZA adding their signature New York sound to the record, fans were also teased with talks of DJ Premier making the final cut. But Preemo says fans may have to wait a bit longer for the much-anticipated collaboration.

“I asked him about it at the BET Hip-Hop awards, and he said didn’t get a chance to do it,” DJ Premier told VIBE yesterday from Headquartez studio in midtown Manhattan. “But he said ‘I’m doing the album with Jay-Z, and I need two tracks for that.’ And he even kept hitting me to get more tracks for the album he’s about to drop. But right now, my priority is getting my artists up and running.”

READ MORE AT VIBE.COM

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Kanye Boasts To Be Top Three Among Producers

During his sit down with MTV, Mr. West reveals that he has a friend “that didn’t realize I produced the last Jay-Z album”. If that’s not interesting enough he goes on to claim to be a “top three producer” as well as “top three in every field”. While some may argue about his status as a rapper or producer one thing is for sure, he’s never short on confidence.

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Kanye West, “Runaway” [VIDEO PREMIERE]

The video for Kanye West’s “Runaway” is now available for you all to comment on and be amazed. For all the talk about the visuals most have overlooked that the beats are pretty dope.

The 35 minute film, written by Hype Williams and directed by Kanye, showcases nine songs from Kanye’s upcoming album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Let me find out Yeezy is gettin a check from Akai…

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Boi 1da Clears The Air About His Kanye Tweet

Recently Boi-1da spoke with Real Talk NY about his comments on twitter that appeared to be directed at Kanye West. In case you are unfamiliar with the so called beef here’s the tweets courtesy of Miss Info.

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