Category Archives: Audio

Diz Gibran & Shawn Chrystopher – Sound Of Da Police

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Hope everyone had a good New Year! I’m proud to say that IllTal.com is now a year old! The first post of 2013 is a funny one. While googling “prod Ill Tal” I came across a song I didn’t recognize – Sound of da Police (RMX).

In late 2009, Dru Ha – head of Duck Down Records posted a link to a contest on his Twitter feed. In order to promote the upcoming release of the KRS-One/Buckshot album Survival Skills, Duck Down was going to release a mix tape entitled Survival Kit. The mixtape was supposed to be one side of Black Moon remakes and one side of KRS-One/Boogie Down Productions remakes. I submitted the 8 instrumentals they requested for the contest and waited and waited and waited…

The Survival Skills album eventually dropped and I never heard anything about the mixtape. I hit up Dru Ha on Twitter about the contest but never received a response. I assumed they didn’t get enough contest submissions and the project was scrapped.

So 3 years later I find out that the mixtape was in fact released and posted to quite a few music blogs. Luckily, I received production credit. Turns out one of the MC’s on the track, Shawn Chrystopher is actually pretty well known now. His debut album is set to be produced by Timbaland.

Trapped in the 90′s – The Originals

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The amount of positive feedback from Trapped in the 90′s has been great! As a special thank you to all the sites that supported and fans that downloaded, I’m releasing an exclusive mix via my soundcloud of the original samples used for all 20 beats. Enjoy listening to the dusty breaks that started it all.

Make sure to visit all the sites that supported the project, especially DJ Z at DJBooth.net.

DJBooth.net Indy Live Mixtapes
ProducersIKnow.com Central Magazine
Flashback Magazine Strictly Beats
Cratescienz 87dreamteam.com
The9Elements GetRightMusic.com
GrittyLyfMusic KillahNoez

Ill Tal – Trapped in the 90′s

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Ill Tal - Trapped in the 90's

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The new old instrumental album/beat tape by Ill Tal is finally here via DJBooth.net! I first got the idea for the album while listening to Nas‘s recent track “Loco-motive“. At the end of the track, Nas proclaims it’s for hip-hop fans trapped in the 90′s. Don’t get me wrong – the song is hot but it’s not really reflective of the true 90′s/Golden Era sound.

I decided to make an instrumental album of 20 beats that really do sound like they were recorded between 1992-1995. The basslines are filtered, the sample rates are lo-fi, the drums are from dusty breaks, and the tracks are chock-full of rap quotables. I drew inspiration from the greats of the era – Pete Rock, Buckwild, Large Professor, Q-Tip, DJ Muggs, Da Beatminerz, The Beatnuts, and many more.

Ill Tal – Rhymes Like These

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For those of you that have been paying attention, my new instrumental album/beat tape “Trapped in the 90′s” will be dropping in about a week. The album is 20 tracks of instrumentals inspired by early 1990′s style hip-hop. Think Buckwild, Large Professor, Da Beatminerz, etc… This is the first single off the album, “Rhymes like These” so everyone can get an idea of what it’s about.

Boom Sny (of Savage Regime) – Ever Know

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Support local, underground Hip-Hop! Boom Sny (half of Savage Regime) is my boy from High School, who was in my first rap group The Grimiez back in 1996. He still hits the studio every now and then to drop some new joints. One of the more recent cuts is “Ever Know” produced by Ill Tal (me). Check the cut as Boom tells a true-story of a friendship turned sour due to drug addiction.

Ill Tal – The Cookout (House Remix)

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Let me preface this story by stating I am not a House music producer/DJ and don’t claim to be one. Honestly, I’m not really a fan of modern House music in general. But here’s the story behind this track…

I was working on a beat for The ILLZ called “The Cookout“. Basically, after spending 3 hours on it, it came out like garbage. I kept listening to the original sample trying to get new ideas and sped it up. It was too fast for a hip-hop beat but still sounded dope. I decided to re-make the beat in an old school House-style instead. I let a few people hear it and they said it was hot, to put it out.

Before I get any flack for making a House track – being that I’m a hardcore, east coast, crate-digging, hip-hop producer – let me say this. Those of us old enough to remember the very early 90′s will know that Hip-Hop stations would often play House music too. And ofcourse we can’t ignore the slew of rappers making Hip-House songs (Jungle Brothers anyone?).

The fact is, early House music and Hip-Hop music have a lot in common production-wise. In most cases, producers in both genres were using the same equipment and both were sampling. Need further proof? Listen to Kenny Dope’s (The Bucketheads) “The Bomb” which samples Chicago‘s “Street Player“. If you think about it, the song is essentially a really fast Hip-Hop beat.

So give it chance, you might like it!

Super B-Boy Breaks

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It’s been a LONG time since I put together a sample mix (2003 to be exact) so I decided to get back at it and drop Super B-Boy Breaks. I was tired of hearing the same old set lists of “Apache” and “It’s Just Begun” so I put together a mix of dope and less known cuts perfect to break to. You’ll hear 13+ minutes of funk, rock, and disco – heavy on the bongos, horns, and percussion. What you WON’T hear is James Brown, Incredible Bongo Band, Jimmy Castor, 80′s electro, or anything you’d hear on America’s Best Dance Crew.

What most people forget is, that the “break” in break beats refers to tracks b-boys could dance to. The whole foundation of “diggin’ in the crates” originated from trying to find cuts to dance to, not to rap over. Somewhere in the mid-80′s the art of digging for b-boy music got lost in the shuffle of electro. This mix pays homage to searching for that next dope b-boy cut. So break out some cardboard, do a windmill, and enjoy!

The mix is also available on Youtube – Ill Tal – Super B-Boy Breaks – if you’re looking for some breakdance visuals to go with the mix.