Tag Archives: Instrumental

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!

Beat for Buckshot

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Around 2002, I was hanging out with Shucky Duck, Duck Down Record’s tour manager at the time. He was a cool dude and invited my manager and me to come to the studio where some “artists” were coming through. I don’t remember which studio it was in New York City, but it was one of the popular ones during the 90′s. Shucky told me to sit in the receptionist area and play my beat CD so when artists came in, they could hear them.

The roster of artists I met that night was pretty overwhelming. One after another, the following artists came through the door – Buckshot, Illanoyz, Sean Price, The Representativz, The Heatmakerz, Cuban Link and Psycho Les (of the Beatnuts).

Buckshot was sitting down next to me arguing with what I assume was a female friend on the phone. I’ll never forget when he said “If you wanna be a hoe, then that’s fine just be a hoe.” Anyways, after his conversation he was sitting their listening to the beats I was playing. When “Not for You” came on, he turned to me and said “this you? I really like this, this is dope” and wrote some lines in his notepad.

Needless to say, I never did get to produce a track for Buckshot. But maybe if things went down slightly different, he would have recorded over this one.

Ill Tal – The Festival

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When I’m not diggin’ in the crates or posting up your favorite producer’s samples, I’m making my own damn beats! Check out this joint from late 2010. It samples some real jazzy/laid back Brazilian music. Low sample rates and tight drums. Def channeled some Pete Rock for this one. Check it out.