Hip Hop Beats Maker

I recently ran across this interview with Reggie Watts in The Onion. For one thing, you can’t classify the dude, which is a huge plus in my book because when you can strictly classify something non-concrete like music it has a tendency to get booooring and shitty. Not always shitty and boring, but we all know that formulas don’t necessarily leave room for fun and wildness or they wouldn’t be formulas. And that’s why Reggie Watts is important as a hip hop musician and beat maker – if he were just a cardboard cut-out you could nail him down, no sweat. Get it? Cardboard is easy to nail down! Anyway…

You might have seen his Fuck Shit Stack video (see bottom of post), as it was kinda viral and all over the internetz for a while, and it still is kinda everywhere. But aside from that video I had a friend show me a video of Reggie’s on Youtube titled “I Just Want To” (second video down), and this is where you can see the guy’s talent and creativity. He beat boxes and hums and sings in to a sampler and a Line 6 DL4 looper/delay/echo pedal thing and just nails this perfectly catchy, stylish, totally original song off the bat.

The point I want to make about the guy is that his equipment is secondary to his skills and his creative, inventive spirit. You don’t need no stinking $2000 Roland Phantom or some shit to make your first demo CD. Just get more creative and more weird – seriously. Stand apart. Do you think Kool Keith gives a shit?

Not that Reggie Watts labels himself as a hip hop beat maker or rapper, but it’s obvious that too many hip hop artists and rappers are too self-conscious and worried about appearing “hard” to take a chance on trying something random and maybe looking like a fool but also making some great music and art out of it.

As examples I hope to persuade you to check out these videos of Reggie Watts, especially this first one here, filmed LIVE. Now tell me that doesn’t take some fuckin skillz.

Next, check out the “I Just Want To” video of him flat laying down a great song at the drop of a hat, with no drum machine, no synthesizer, no producer, and no sexy bitches or fly whips and shit. This is the for real shit. For real.

If I put that same rig in front of you could you do better? If your answer is no, why not?

Finally, Fuck Shit Stack. Partially filmed on the Williamsburg Bridge – that thing sucks to bike over every day, unless you’re in shape enough to do it every day. Great View though.

P.S. Reggie Watts opened for Conan O’brien on Conan’s live tour after the whole LA sucks, Jay Leno is a dick thing.

This is how sampling is done, kiddies. Proper repsect due to Oh No for having the ear and the forethought to snap up this amazing sample from a great song. Now, I know Selda’s singing is not for everyone, and that’s cool. I dig it, personally, but what I dig even more is that bad ass (almost early metal) guitar riff and Led Zeppelin sounding drum beat from Ince Ince by Selda. It’s almost a great hip hop song already, and it’s obvious that Oh No heard the potential in it to become something more modern and accessible with the appropriate rapper on top of it all and take it to a great place in hip hop. Sounds amazing as Mos Def’s Supermagic from his latest release, The Ecstatic. More please.

Monster Beats By Dr Dre Review

I have to say I’ve been pretty curious about the Monster Beats by Dr. Dre headphones for some time now , as I know most of you hip hop heads out there have been. So, recently when I saw a huge guy walking around the mall bobbing his head and jamming out in his own world to the Beats by Dre Studio editions I knew i had to break his hip hop trance for long enough to see what was so special.

The dude was really cool and wouldn’t shut up about the headphones when all I did was get his attention and ask how he liked his Beats by Dr. Dre. He quickly insisted I put them on and listen to the quality coming out of them myself. I would be lying through my teeth if I said I wasn’t impressed. The sounds coming out of those things was like being in your own personal surround sound movie theater. The bass was rich and full, and everything else sounded so clean and dramatic. I didn’t even recognize the song the guy had on, but it didn’t matter.

He told me that his Beats headphones by Dr. Dre Studio model were on the same level of sound quality as $1000 professional studio headphones. I can’t personally attest to that statement, but this guy seemed to know everything there was to know about high-end headphones.

The guy went on to say how they were much better than his old Bose headphones, as those had all cracked or broken pretty quickly. But the main problem he was having with his Monster Beats was remembering to turn them off, although he was getting better at that with time. His betteries had lasted him about four months he said, but I suppose battery life depends on how often you use them (and whether or not you remember to turn them off!). The only other drawback he could mention was the headband and how he had seen the plastic on other pairs crack when people didn’t respect or treat their Beats Heaphones with the bit of finesse that having high-end equipment requires.

I told him that I had heard that there had been reports of lots of noise leakage due to the headphones not fitting as snug around the ears as some people might hope. He said he could always hear everything in the music he played and nothing was left out, and that he even heard musical parts and new instruments that he had never, ever heard before even on his favorite tracks that he knew by heart!

He admitted that typically played his beats pretty loudly as a rule, so that there was no chance that he was going to hear a crying baby or somebody yelling. I personally want to be able to hear if there is a firetruck siren nearby or somebody calling my name on the street, but to each his own. He said that even at his loud volume he had never had anybody comlain to him or ask him to turn this music down when riding the bus or even on a plane. but i honestly don’t know if i would have asked a guy as huge as he was if he would please turn down his music.

With all of that being said, I must make it clear that my experience with the Monster Beats by Dr. Dre Studio headphones was limited to only a few minutes. I got a great tour of the pieces by my friend, the Beats Headhpones stranger.

So, let’s see the specs on these Beats By Dre and check out all of the details.

The official statement on the design and construction of the drivers and speakers in the headphones is that they took THREE YEARS of research and development before production to ensure the highest quality sound possible in a professional grade hip hop studio headphone! Deep basses, clean highs that never distort, and smooth, clear mids pump out of these bad boys.

The noise cancelling technology is powered by the batteries and cut through the sonic clutter that the musicians and artists on your tracks didn’t intend to be interfered with, so you get to hear the music as it was recorded to be heard.

- Smartphone ready: meaning you can the mic and remote on the cord is compatible with use for your ipod nano, ipod classic, ipod touch, iphone 3gs, and some blackberry products.

- Noise cancelling

- Requires 2 AAA size batteries (already included, I love when that happens!)

- On/Off switch.

- Gold 1/8″ and 1/4″ jacks with adapters (especially handy for the DJs and musicians out there)

- Replaceable cord (awesome feature! just in case the cord shorts out or breaks or frays or gets chewed on by a pit bull puppy)

- Multiple color choices (black, white, silver, maybe more)

- Fold up design for compactness and safety

- Speaker mute

- Protective touring case

- Antimicrobial cleaning cloth (that’s cool, sometimes ears are dirty)

- 1 year warranty

And if that’s not enough and you need MORE:

The Dr. Dre Beats Pro are even more incredible!
To be released “late summer” 2010, according to official statements.

- Lightweight, rugged aluminum construction. Remember the rumors of cracking plastic we mentioned?

- Backwards flipping ear cups for selective listening. How many times have you seen a DJ do the one ear neck-cruch thing where they’re only trying to hear one channel at a time. Or have you ever watched a producer record live music and want to hear the recording in one ear and the live sound in the other? These should win some kind of headphone Nobel prize.

- Cable jacks on each ear cup to plug in at your preference, or to dasiy-several headphones together. This is so perfect for Djs, musicians and producers. Imagine trying to listen to yourself record bass guitar with the cord in the way by your left hand – just plug it in to the right earphone instead. Brilliant. Or imagine needing someone else in your studio to hear what your hearing through their own headphones – plug em right in to yours.

- Washable ear pads (duh).