Dr. Dre & Lebron James’ PowerBeats Commercial [VIDEO]

Dr. Dre and LeBron reveal the new in-ear headphones he told me about back in June for Vibe magazine.

Like Nation said, I think Detox was created as a means to promote headphones:

So will Detox be streamed wirelessly into the Beats headphones?

In a perfect word, yes. Me and Jimmy talk about this all the time. It was supposed to be my album promoting the headphones but it’s gonna be the other way around now. It’s gonna be a two-for-one thing right now….

So that’s two commercials out…can we get one album now…please?

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StreetRunner Samples Valerie Simpson On Lil Wayne’s “With You”

Streetrunner dropped a nickel on Vibe.com about the sample he used for Lil Wayne’s “With You” from his alien celebration, “I Am Not A Human Being.”

“I just was digging one day and found this beautiful Valerie Simpson record, but kept it in the stash for a while,” STREETRUNNER tells VIBE of the sample used on “With You.” “Normally, it takes me a long time to feel like I have a beat just the way I want it. But ‘With You’ came together in about an hour.”

“Our intention was to make sure the sample wasn’t so low and in the cut. Some producers tend to boost up the drums and drown out the sample.” added STREET, who’s first big look came via Terror Squad‘s “Take Me Home” in 2004. “I wanted Valerie’s voice to be right up there with Weezy and Drake’s voices. It was about making everyone mesh together.”

READ MORE @ VIBE.COM

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Mysto & Pizzi Beat Making Wednesday’s

Ok so can we get a late pass on the Mysto & Pizzi beat making series they’ve been doing?
The pop music pro’s are now inviting us into their creative world with break down videos showcasing the different elements of various tracks. They are on their 4th so check out all four installments below. This is especially great for all you beat makers out there that call
yourselves producers and you over producing fools that clutter up your beats. Learn something!

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Common F/ Talib Kweli & Marvin Gaye “The Light” (Remix)

Over the weekend I was out driving and Jill Scott’s “He Loves Me (Lizel In E Flat) came on the radio and the intro kept playing over in my head for the rest of the day. This happens to me about several times a day but I usually forget by the time I get home. This loop was stubborn though.

When I finally got home to the comp I clipped it off the end in Audition, ran it through the Fruity slicer, quantized it and chopped it. I played around with some drums and liked the way the Barry White kick and snare sounded but I wanted to play with the pattern some more. So I exported all of the parts using Slicex and placed them in the “pads” of the FPC to make a more unique pattern.

After that I made about 5 more different segments with various chops and drums and stashed them until I was ready to sequence. After playing the beat for about ten minutes I pitched up the sample and added some filters to differentiate it from Jill’s composition a little bit. Then I started hearing voices on the beat, so I went through my acapellas and Common’s “The Light” seemed to go with the whole thing so I matched two verses up to the beat and left it alone.

A few days later I came back to it and decided it needed a hook so I went hunting in my acapellas for someone professing their love to their woman and found the Marvin Gaye acapella to “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby.” I chopped it up and isolated the pieces I wanted to use to create a phrase and that became my hook.

From there the song felt short so I added Talib’s verse from “Hot Thing” (which was a pain in the ass to match up until I realized the acapella was fubar.) And that was it. I’ll dub this one the “Heaven On Earth” remix.

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J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League Talk “Aston Martin Music”[VIDEO]

The J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League to talk to Decatur Dan about the latest single off of Rick Ross’ Teflon Don, ‘Aston Martin Music’.

Rook, Colione, and Kenny talk about how they put together Rick Ross’ latest free car commercial.

“The key is simplicity…really sexy shit” (props to YHTN)

Let The Story Begin - Aston Martin Music from Decatur Dan on Vimeo.

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More JUSTICE LEAGUE ON NODFACTOR…

J.U.S.T.I.C.E League: Magnificent Maybach Music

J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League Win Ascap Award, Getting Jacked For Beats!

J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League: Black Superhero Music

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Miami Beat Wave “Slight Modification” Mixtape

Better late than never right? Here’s the full length offering from production duo Miami Beat Wave.
Their project features artists such as Ghostwridah, Skyzoo, and Dead Prez. Click here to download
the project.

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Hydrosonics: Aliby

Canada, specifically Toronto has been on a tear in the music industry over the last couple of years. With the emergence of mega stars Drake and Justin Bieber our northern neighbors have staked a claim on the music industry but it doesn’t stop there. The less publicized part of their success stems from the crafters of the songs the nation plays. There’s August Rigo credited with writing Justin Bieber’s “U Smile”, there’s Boi 1da producer behind Drake and Eminem’s lead singles, and there’s 40 the in house producer for Drake, the one who has had as big of a role as anyone else in cultivating his patented sound. Well allow Nodfactor to bring you the next producer from T-Dot that will be taking the industry by storm, everyone meet Aliby.

Nodfactor: First off lets introduce you to the people and let them know what you’ve worked on to date

Aliby: Well I go by Aliby, right now I’m working with Sean Garrett, Jahvon who’s signed to Beluga Heights, Belly, I did a beat and hook for Nipsey’s new album besides that I’m just shopping records and trying to make good music

Nodfactor: How did the Sean Garrett link come about?

Aliby: My manager T. Slack he lined me up with Garrett, said to send him some music and that he was lookin for bangers. He got back to me told me the tracks were cool and I made it a personal goal to build up that contact and just constantly hit him up letting him know if he needed something, whatever he needed I’d send it to him. So about after 3-4 months of building he hit me asking for tracks and I sent him a batch of beats and from there he flew me down to New York and we got in the studio and just started working.

Nodfactor: What’s the studio experience been like?

Aliby: Positive. The energy him and his team have is crazy! Like the second you play a beat Sean just goes nuts, it’s like some Jay-Z shit cause one minute he’s sitting there quietly and the next minute a beat comes on and he’s standing up singing the song, like he’s freestyling it. It really has been an insane learning experience.

Nodfactor: What’s your relationship with Jahvon?

Aliby: I started with Jahvon by doing a single for him called “Hypebeast”. It’s funny cause it broke on to radio in Toronto and we got a lot of mixshow and mixtape love, it was playing in Belgium and across Europe. I’d even walk into a clothing store in Toronto and I’d be hearing the beat for “Hypebeast” mashed up with Jackson 5.

Nodfactor: So it was really organic how it took off

Aliby: Yeah and it’s crazy cause we just put it out as kind of an internet buzz single, I mean there’s no hook, its under 3 minutes, it’s completely anti radio format, I can’t even believe it did what it did. From there he started working with Boi 1da and then he got signed to Beluga and it’s just been hands on trying to put the right records together so we can put out his mixtape “The Look Book”.

Nodfactor: Are you doing most of the production?

Aliby: Na. Jr Rotem, myself, and Arthur McArthur are the main producers on it. It’s an insane situation, I just wanna be in the studio ya know, having Jr Rotem around and Zack Katz they’ve been giving me a lot of feedback a lot of guidance on my sound and where I should take the direction of a record. It’s just been a crazy learning experience with them as well.

Nodfactor: It’s really been a whirl wind of success for you. Your introduction to the industry has been kind of brief, things have happened really fast.

Aliby: Yea since March, that’s when I signed with my manager T. Slack of Bigger Picture Entertainment. I don’t even know where the time went, I look back now and think of when I signed with T. Slack my folder was at like 40-50 tops 60 beats now I’ve got a folder with 400 beats in it, it’s crazy.

Nodactor: So how did you meet T. Slack?

Aliby: I just met him on twitter. I saw him tweet something I worked on so I just hit him up like yo I produced that I’d love to get some music to you. So I sent him a package of like 40 beats and he hit me back like saying that the music was crazy and he wanted to sign me. He really believes in my craft and what I have to offer.

Nodfactor: Let’s talk about your sound. Beyond the usual names like Dre or Kanye who are some of the muscial acts that influence your style?

Aliby: I listen to everything. I always loved Motown, old soul music, Willie Hutch is like my favorite singer from that era. Nirvana was a big influence for me, that whole Seattle grunge scene is a big influence for the rock records that I do. I know you don’t wanna hear the top ones but Just Blaze, you listen to the records he did on the Blueprint, when that came out it was just a turning point for me and music. Even to this day when I sample there’s a bit of that kind of vibe, that energy in a fresh kind of new medium.

Nodfactor: Speaking of sampling there’s been a lot of controversy this year over the Haddaway sample Just used on Em’s “No Love” record. A lot of people criticized him for it, they argue that sampling should be done in the more traditional sense, say like RZA where you take an obscure sample and tune it to the point where no one can regonize it. I personally feel different I like when producers take a recognizeable sample and just freak it, so what are your thoughts or you have a preferred method?

Aliby: To me if you segregate and divide how your going to be creative, your not really being creative. There should be no boundaries. Sample how you want.

Nodfactor: You have your own company that you’re currently building, Aliby Music Entertainment, are you currently looking for any writers/artists/producers?

Aliby: Yea I’m always interested in new talent, networking with new producers. You can never have enough song writers, unless every song on the radio is yours you’re never going to have enough song writers.

Nodfactor: What would be the easiest way for people to get in touch with you?

Aliby: Just hit me up at [email protected]. Send beats, send songs, whatever, I’m always down to work. Also if you want to reach out you can hit me on twitter @alibeezay.

Nodfactor: What advice would you give to up coming producers?

Aliby: Work hard and never send out music that’s a maybe. Make sure before you press the send button that the quality isn’t 99%. For me in the past 6 months I had to change my mind frame, now everything has to be perfect before it goes. You gotta give it everything, go in. I barely sleep, I’m in the studio all day I’m in the studio all night if I’m not at mine I’m at another studio and if I’m not there I’m traveling to work with artists.

Nodfactor: Anything else you would like to add?

Aliby: The way the industry is if you really really want it you have to devote your entire life. I’m just lucky I have family and friends that understand that.

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Combat Jack Gives Props To DMX Producer Self

In Combat Jack Presents: True Stories Behind 25 Rap Classics on Complex.com, lawyer, blogger and DJ Combat Jack tells the story of Self, the producer behind DMX’s “What’s My Name” and countless other hits.:

“I was introduced to this producer Self from Queens. Self was a new cat that had done a long stint in jail. He ran a bit with Onyx, then hooked up with Irv Gotti. Many of you may never have heard of Self, but please believe dude brought it in his music. After a couple of sessions in the studio with Irv, Self came up with the beat for ‘What’s My Name.’ Irv then politicked that track to be the first single for DMX’s third upcoming album. In 2010, you think of the two biggest rappers, you think Eminem and Jay-Z. In 1999, you thought of the two biggest rappers, you thought Eminem and DMX. And DMX wasn’t just a top rapper, dude was an effing superstar. To have your track as his first single was major.

“Irv was about to lock Self into an exclusive producer deal. I played chess and suggested Self wait until X’s single drop before he signed anything. Naturally, the single was a smash and the album went on to sell six million plus records. Self never did sign with Irv and Irv was pissed—at Self, but more so at me. During the short time that Self had momentum, he ended up making a whole lot of money. He produced songs like ‘Santana’s Town’ for Juelz Santana, ‘H.O.V.A.’ with Jay-Z, ‘That’s Me’ with Cam’ron, and ‘Opposites Attract’ with Fat Joe. He landed a pretty big publishing deal. A couple of labels bought a lot of songs from him. He also signed a couple of artists to his production company that ended up getting signed. A lot of his songs and his artists never got released, but it didn’t matter because we made sure Self got his money up front. This was when it seemed like it was raining cash in the industry. I miss those days.”

READ MORE OF JACK’S STORIES ABOUT JAY-Z, 50 Cent, Nas and more at COMPLEX.COM.

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“So Appalled” Kanye x Jay-Z x Pusha x Swizz x RZA x Cyhi The Prynce

Well if you haven’t gotten it from another music blog yet allow Nodfactor to be your supplier of G.O.O.D. music this week. By far the track I like the most from all the Kanye releases. Def could’ve done without Cyhi The Prynce on here though.

So Appalled

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Nicki Minaj Producer Drew Money Speaks On ‘Right Through Me’ Leak

“Hello Brooklyn” producer Drew Money spoke to Vibe about the Nicki Minaj “Right Through Me Leak”:

“I had no clue ‘Right Through Me’ was going to leak. All I knew about the record was that they were considering it as a single. I went into the studio with Nicki specifically in mind. We’ve never worked together before but I just knew it would be the right type of record for her.”

Signed to Spliffington Management, CEO Stephen “Spliff” Hacker confirmed that Drew will be working to add another record to Pink Friday’s final track list.

“Drew’s got a lot of things lined up with the Cash Money family,” Spliff tells VIBE. “Nicki recognized the sound and actually hand-picked this record. He’s headed out to L.A. in two weeks to work directly with her.”

READ MORE FROM DREW AT VIBE.COM

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