The Controversial Kanye West

Kanye West is a name you don't hear too much in the underground anymore, what with his auto-tuning and his pop star aspirations but many of us forget how good Kanye can be behind the boards. He's worked with a wide range of artists and is always good for some good production, so I thought I'd take a look at him as I begin to delve into the underground. First up is his production work he did with Talib Kweli on his solo debut Quality, specifically the song "Good to You."

http://www.last.fm/music/Talib+Kweli/_/Good+To+You (sorry about the poor quality of video on there, I couldn't really find a good video representative of the quality production; just download the whole album at: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=si4rslft)

The song uses a sample from "Simply Beautiful" by Al Green as the basis for the production and Kanye perfectly loops a part of the song to create a syrupy, luscious beat. When the beat drops and it's just "Simply Beautiful" playing you know you're in the hands of an excellent producer.

While most people learned about Kanye through his production for Jay-Z on The Blueprint (which was fantastic by the way), I feel like one of the finest tracks he's produced was for Jay-Z's former rival Nas, on the track "Poppa Was a Playa" from the Lost Tapes LP. While not as immediately brilliant as "Good to You," the more subtle style of this track perfectly fits Nas' style of rap. As fans of Nas know the man has trouble picking good beats and, even worse, staying on beat, so the fact that he does both on this track speaks volumes about Kanye's work here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-BQ14aJxLQ

The real question that remains is Kanye's respectability as a producer. A lot of people feel like he's fell off since his Graduation LP and especially since 808s and Heartbreaks. Certainly Kanye's abandoned the underground, but if you think about it Kanye never really was underground to begin with. He got big by producing for Jay-Z. The reason the underground and indie circles respect him by and large is because he's a damn good producer and I certainly don't think that's changed at all. If anything he's become a more diverse producer, stepping away from his soul roots and into something more abstract. Let's look at Love Lockdown for example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVZX-W3vo9I

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's not a rap song. But what it is is a very well produced and understated song. The drums that come in at the chorus and the bassy beat during the verses perfectly match Kanye's heartbreak and create one hell of a sonic mood.

I wanted to discuss Kanye a little bit because I think he's one hell of a producer and we really don't see that too much in the mainstream. The fact that he works with underground artists and still manages to make good tracks for them says volumes about his adaptability and versatility as a producer.

I might have more on Kanye a little later, I don't know. Look for my next post to be about the one and only Madlib, the father of some of the best beats ever conceived. That certainly will be interesting!

Until then...

Peace.

Professor X, or Xavier

To be honest I don't know what name he's going under right now (it could be the X or the Prof or The Boss for all I know) but local Jacksonville up and coming producer and personal friend of mine Xavier Bariuan is making some pretty hot beats with little more than FL Studio and a brain full of ideas. I was really impressed with his latest batch of beats so I thought I'd share with the rest of you guys. So, without further adieu:

Foreign Soul

http://www.zshare.net/audio/54576913b2034ad5/

Superfly

http://www.zshare.net/audio/546141962fe3b909/

Apollo Flow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-3k4zcsPPw

(If you're worried about downloading anything, you can listen to it right there without downloading.)

Quite a nice batch of samples, huh? I really like the Al Green fade out at the beginning of Superfly and Jay-Z rap over Foreign Soul. I hear he's interested in collaborating with an MC too, so if any of you are interested, hit me up and I can get you in touch.

Maybe not a perfect beat but I gotta give props where it's due. This kid can make some beats.

Until next time, fellow travelers...

Peace

Southeastern Hip Hop

Well I wouldn't be a very good fan of hip hop if I didn't support my local scene now would I? While I haven't gotten much into Tallahassee hip hop (if anyone has suggestions, go right on ahead!), where I go to school at Florida State University, I am a big, if budding, fan of Southeastern, specifically Jacksonville, where I "live," hip hop. So here's a little post to represent Jacksonville hip hop and give some credit. I'm gonna try to become an even bigger fan of my local scene as time goes on, so check up on this post to see if I have any new stuff.

Now to the shout outs: a big shout out to Willie Evans Jr., whom I saw recently and just tore up, to Rob Roy, who consistently tears it up when he's in town and who was a substitute teacher of mine back in high school, to the hip hop record store down in Springfield next to the bike shop and Burro on Main between 6th and 7th and finally to all the local performers who performed at the Wu-Tang Clan concert on January 14th, 2009. You were all incredible.

Now some sites to visit:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=6435056
http://thenerdysouth.ning.com/
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=9813225
http://my.rawkus.com/profile/Willieev

The Perfect Beat: An Introduction

More than twenty years ago it was etched onto vinyl by Afrika Bambaataa. He was "Looking for the Perfect Beat," people, and almost approached it with his own song. Now today, February 2nd, 2009, I begin my search. Unlike Bambaaataa, though, I'm not looking for "the" perfect beat. I'm looking for "a" perfect beat among many perfect beats.

Let me explain: "the" would suggest a singularity, a single beat to rule above them all, the best beat ever made and that ever will be made. But certainly, as far as I'm concerned, no beat rules above them all and it would be absurd of me to put a single beat up on a pedestal and declare it the "perfect beat." I'm just not qualified. Instead I'm inclined to believe there exists more than one "perfect" beat. My quest will focus on "a" perfect beat, suggesting that when I find it, there can be another equal to its perfection (but hopefully, for the sake of perfection, none surpassing it). I want to leave open the possibility for all artists to construct their own perfect beat.

Week by week I will delve into the underground and alternative circles of hip hop and occasionally trip hop and other genres to look for that perfect beat. I don't want to limit myself or be a hip hop elitist, but suffice to say there won't be any Lil Wayne or Dr. Dre here, though I am a fan of their music. No, I don't believe the perfect beat exists in the realm of mainstream. If it did a) I would be very upset and my quest would be largely worthless and b) we would know about it.

So join me, fellow travelers and hip hop fans, as I search and dig (or sometimes preen my own collection) for the perfect beat while introducing you to music that will open up pleasure zones in your own mind. Because while my main goal will be to scour beats and hip hop tracks for that perfect beat, I also want to introduce people to music I like and give people the opportunity to hear it, music I believe at least comes close to that perfect beat.

With that said, my name it Psycho Killer, or Curtis for those acquainted with me. I hope you enjoy. I'll try to update at least once a week. Let's do it.

Peace