Differently Still Guy with Dankery Harv of Frank N Dank (Podcast)

Differently Still Guy with Dankery Harv of Frank N Dank | Download

Dank of Frank-N-Dank guested on Differently Still Guy,
the podcast offshoot of Canada’s Real Frequency Radio
Show. He shared some studio stories, provided insight
into Slum Village‘s recent issues and played some
treats from J Dilla beat CD’s that he received
from the legend himself. The full DSG
archive is available on Real
Frequency’s site.

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J Dilla interviewed by Moonsatellite for RIME Magazine (Feature)

Happy Birthday James Dewitt Yancey | Jay Dee | J Dilla | THANK YOU!

The greatest honor during my time writing for RIME Magazine was
interviewing the late, great J Dilla. It was a great experience, needless
to say. What I remember the most was how honest his answers were. He
couldn’t think of an answer to one of my questions immediately and told
me he’d have to think about it. Most artists would have spit out a b.s.
answer, but he really took my questions in consideration. That imme-
diately struck me as a testament to his character, integrity and humility.
So I present to you, my proudest moment as a journalist:
The J Dilla Interview.

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Jay Dee‘s musical beginnings were a bit more formal than his partner’s (Madlib). “Since elementary (school), I’ve always been taking some type of music class,” he explains. “And also in church, taking piano and drum lessons. ” Then the hip-hop bug bit. “When I heard (Run DMC‘s) ‘Sucker MCs’ and (Whodini‘s) ‘Big Mouth’, it made me curious to how the beats were made. Those song were the first time I heard the beats that weren’t melodic – just drums. Being someone who was taking drum lessons at the time, that made me real curious. That led me into deejaying, which slowly led to me doing parties and that led me into production.” It’s a little known fact that Dilla plays quite a few instruments. “My specialties are more drums and keyboards. I play the cello, violin, the trombone… a lot of little weird instruments.” (Listeners got a small taste of Jay’s live side on Welcome To Detroit’s Donald Byrd cover “Think Twice”.)

Jay Dee paid dues doing production for cats like Pharcyde (“Runnin'”, “Drop”, “Somethin That Means Somethin”), Skillz (“It’s Goin Down”, “The Jam”) and countless joints for A Tribe Called Quest (a personal favorite being the monstrous “Wordplay”), but came to prominence as one third of Slum Village, who arrived with the volumes 1 and 2 of the Fantastic series. “Volume 1 came about when I was first working with Tip,” he says. “I used to go out of town a whole lot, so when I came back to the D for a while, cats were talking about ‘let’s put something out, let’s do something’. So, in not even more than two days, they (T3 and Baatin) came over and laid all the vocals to no beats, just a metronome click. After that, I made some joints for two or three days. Everybody was tired, about to pass out. On the fifth day, we went to Kinkos’. It was supposed to be cassette only, something to get some type of buzz.”

It may have been a demo then, but it’s since become quite the collector’s item, bootlegged many times over. It also eventually got them signed, leading to the release of Volume 2. “We made that when everything else coming out was real harsh and hardcore. We always tried to do what everybody wasn’t doing, so that abum was directed towards the females, really. We had a couple of songs on there for the DJ’s and production heads, but the majority of the album was real soft. Then when we came out, finally, that’s when everybody else was doing soft sh*t.” Slum had quite the guest list for that album, including the almighty Pete Rock. “That was like one of my idols. After all those years of buying his stuff and wondering how he chopped this and that, to see him at work was crazy. He’s really, really into his sh*t. He inspires me every day, because I know when I’m sleeping, he’s not. He makes beats all damn day.”

Slum Village’s material was bootlegged crazily while they dealt with label issues, and Dilla’s still wrestling with the bootleg monster as an unauthorized version of Frank N Dank‘s 48 Hours has popped up on the net. 48 Hours came during Jay Dee’s involvement with MCA, and there were actually tow different versions. “They wanted a version however we felt, then they wanted a version with no samples at all. The version the bootleggers got a hold of is the one I didnt like.”

Well, Jay’s not dealing with MCA anymore, and has a slew of projects dropping on Groove Attack, the first of which was this year’s Ruff Draft EP. “That was a quickie. I did it in four or five days, turned it in and had wax in ten days. If Im not doing beats for somebody, I make stuff for me to drive around and listen to, and that was one of those projects. I was just doing me. That’ s why it was called the Ruff Draft EP”. Dilla’s next EP, The Verdict, is on the way.

So what’s on the horizon? For one, Dilla’s doing the majority of Common‘s next album. “We’re going straight dirt!” he exclaims. “We’re going straight back to Resurrection with this one, the ‘Take It EZ’ Common. He’s experimented with a lot of sh*t, so we’re taking it back to the rawness.” He’s also working on Busta‘s next one, which will also include a Madlib beat originally intended for Champion Sound. Other artists include Erykah Badu, Vivian Green and Bilal. “This time around, instead of the token one or two tracks I’m more into doing half or the majority of albums.”

The future holds a lot for the Jaylib team. Stay plugged in and you’ll never run out of ear candy. For now go get a copy of Champion Sound and have at it. Just keep a neck-brace handy – and don’t say you weren’t warned.

Influences

Q-Tip | “That kinda changed my whole way of thinking on production. A friend of mine from the D put me up o the whole Native Tongue movement. It was definitely left field.

Pete Rock | “That was just dirty. I bought an SP-12 back then, so I used to vibe on all his stuff. I’m still a fan of Pete Rock. Definitely the gritty sh*t.”

Rick Rubin | “That’ s the old school; the PE joints, the Ice Cube joints. He used to have a thousand elements in one beat.”

King Of Chill | “That’s just… man! The I Don’t Care Audio Two joints, the MC Lyte ‘Stop, Look & Listen’… those were beats that really, really inspired me. They had their own little chapter.”

Prince | “When I found out he played the drums, guitar and everything on his songs back in the day, it really inspired me ’cause I was along the same lines, messing around with a lot of instruments.”

This interview was published in RIME Magazine Issue #8 in 2003.

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Culture King Q&A with DJ Rhettmatic of Crown Royale

DJ Rhettmatic of the Beat Junkies and
Buff1 of the Athletic Mic League
have joined forces to create a hip-hop monster
for all of our enjoyment and appreciation.
That benevolent monster is called Crown Royale.
This Q&A features the production half of the duo,
DJ Rhettmatic.

“Get It Up” • Download

∆: How did you and Buff1 meet?

“Basically, I met Buff thru the guys from Now On. They’re all from Ann Arbor, Michigan and ironically, they’re also from the Athletic Mic League. Now On moved to LA a few years ago and I would start running into them at a couple of events and whatnot. Buff would come out to LA and they would introduce him to me and that’s how we met.”

∆: When and under what circumstances
did the idea of Crown Royale form?

“Well, the idea of Buff and myself of working together came from the 2/3 of Now On: Jackson Perry and Dj Haircut aka Mayer Hawthorne. Around that time, Buff just dropped his 1st solo album and they were asking him what’s his next move. And at that same time I was starting to branch off doing production outside of my other group, The Visionaries.

A lot of people knew me more as Battle Dj/Turntablist and not for my production, though I have been doing some production for quite sometime. I actually gave a beat cd to Now On to do some work. Next thing I knew, Jackson and Haircut came up to me and said ‘we would like you to do an album with Buff’. I believe they did the same thing with Buff. He said ‘if I like the beats, I’ll do it’. He already got an in house production team with the Lab Techs: 14KT, Haircut, Vaughn T, etc… so he was spoiled. And those guys got slaps. I knew it was a go when he sent me the first song recorded and done. Luckily he liked my beats, LOL.”

∆: How early was “Get It Up” done?

“Late last year, and that was actually the first song. He recorded the vocals
first in Michigan, then we redid it when he came back to LA.”

∆: How did you guys come up with the name?

“It’s actually a funny story. At the time, we didn’t have a name for the project or group. During that same time, Magestik Legend, another dope MC/Producer from Detroit, wanted to do a group project with Buff. On Buff’s 1st album,
Buff would always wear a crown so Magestik wanted to name the group
‘Crown Royale’. Ironically, I was brainstorming myself with names and all
and I also came up with the name Crown Royale, and literally called Buff
the week after Magestik shot him the idea. And I didnt know that Magestik
hit him up for the idea. I was a fan of Magestik’s work but I never met him in
person, so it was crazy when Buff told me what Magestik approached him with.

Then later on, like 2 months later, Magestik goes to LA. We all met up at Fat Beats LA and during an instore Buff introduced me to Magestik. I really wanted to name the project or group Crown Royale, so we all had a pow wow with Magestik. By the grace of God (and us doing a lot convincing), Magestik was kind enough to let us use the name and in return, we have him on our album. And that’s how the name Crown Royale came about.”

∆: Wooow, lol. Being that Crown Royale is a duo,
what is one of your favorite hip-hop duos and why?

“Mine is GangStarr…..Buff’s is Outkast. But also, I love EPMD, Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Run-DMC, Low Profile… I don’t know, we can go on forever. You would have to also ask Buff that question, but i do know his favorite group is Outkast.”

∆: What’s a particular reason you can say about GangStarr?

“It’s easy. The DJ and the MC combo, Guru and Preemo. They’re a perfect example of a classic hip-hop group. Preemo is one of my fav top producers, as well as a DJ.”

∆: What are some artists and songs you’ve produced
that the masses need to be aware of?

“Hmmmmm…….. let’s see….. Divine Styler ‘Triple Irons’ (WordPower 2), Aceyalone ‘Keep Rappin Keep Spinnin’, Aloe Blacc ‘Find A Way’ (B Ball Zombie War comp – Stones Throw)… I’m trying to think… RBX ‘Stop That’. Pigeon John ‘Freaks Freaks’. A lot of stuff are like b-sides and album cuts, I wouldnt say obscure but you would have to know the artists. But I worked with alot of cats that people know. I have alot of stuff that hasnt come out officially yet or it’s in the vault. Let me see…Trek Life ‘All Times’ (Price I’ve Paid)”

∆: Did you produce “E=MC5” (Key Kool & Rhettmatic
feat. LMNO, Ras Kass, Meen Green & Vooodu)?

“Yeah, that was my 1st official record.”

∆: That was my shxt.

“Word? Thanks. I did that on the SP1200.”

∆: Word. From producing songs for artists to producing a full album,
what is your approach? In particular, your approach for producing a full album.

“Hmmm…that’s a good question. In terms of producing an album, I would try my best to make the album flow from beginning to end. Make it interesting like a good mixtape. Try to make it have sometype of continuity. I would put it together like i was putting a mix routine together. It has to make sense. And in terms of the beats, it varies. When i give a beat to an artist, I either would have an idea or concept or I would just let the artist dictate what he or she wants to write, whatever emotion the beat elicits from that artist. And when it comes to adding scratches, I either ask the artist whats the title or the concept of the song, and I would go base it off of that idea. Unless the artist have something in mind, then that makes it a lil bit easier.

Btw… all you rappers out there that think it’s easy to put a scratch hook together… no, it isn’t. That takes time. Diggin for records, listening to records, writing down phrases, then working on putting it together, then tryin to record the scratches until we get it right. Djs/producers are very meticulous. Just like for emcees that want to get the best take and their best rhymes out there. Us dj/producers are the same, for the most part. I just wanted to add that….LOL.”

∆: Word! What’s on the horizon from DJ Rhettmatic?

“Hmmmmm…..It seems I got alot on my plate now. Well, of course,
the Crown Royale debut album on Myx Music Label in early 2010.
I also have another project that I do with Eric Bobo of Cypress Hill.
It’s a DJ/Percussion combo. I actually finished an ep with Frank Nitty
(Frank N Dank). I’m doing a producers’ album with J-Rawls
of Lone Catalysts. I got a 10″ single that I did with MED
that The Do-Over is putting out in 2010.”

∆: When you say a “producer’s album”, what do you mean?

“J-Rawls and myself will be doing production together and we will be having artists on the album rocking over the instrumentals that we produced. We already have a song with Trek Life & Kam Moye aka Supastition, Renee Neufville from Zhane.”

∆: Damn, dope.

“Yeah, it’s been an off and on project. We recorded already 5 songs,
we just haven’t had the time to work on it. And of course my work with
the Beat Junkies. Beat Junkie Radio, our NIGHTLIFE events… and maybe, one day, a group album (which we’ve been saying for the last 10 years….LMAO!). Mix cds…etc.”

Massive Thanks To DJ Rhettmatic For Participating In The Q&A!
Be sure to check out Part 2 tomorrow with Buff1!
Big Up!

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Frank Nitt + Terrace Martin “Love” [mp3]

Frank Nitt & Terrace Martin “Love” [mp3]

Here’s a good one for your super Saturday. Whether you’re at the beach, playing ball, chillin with fam/crew.. here’s a tune to play when you’re out and about. From the forthcoming Frank Nitt + Terrace Martin full-length. Enjoy it and enjoy your day. The world is yours.

** and if you’re in LA, I’ll see u @ Fat Beats tonite. One.

“Homage To Dilla” Frank Nitt, Illa J, Slum Village prod. by Focus [mp3]

“Homage To Dilla” Frank Nitt, Illa J, Slum Village prod. by Focus [mp3]

Spotted @ BackPack Boogie.
We Love You, Dilla!

Frank N Dank speak on Dilla