The Grammy Award-winning producer discussed his style of beatmaking and much more at Loop 2016. 4:44 was a success not only for JAY-Z but for its producer, No I.D. His choice of samples and overall style won many plaudits, as to be expected for a multiple award winning producer and Head of Creative at Def Jam Recordings. In 2016, he did a talk at Loop…
Samples include Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, and The Fugees. For JAY-Z’s first solo album since 2013, much was expected from 4:44 in the way of creativity. A lot had happened in his life in that time including the elevator bust-up and his alleged affair. No ID was brought in as the producer and 4:44 put his fans and social media in general into a foaming…
Producer Jake One discusses the intricate elements of his beat for Jay-Z’s 3 Kings. We told you about Jake One’s beat for 50 Cent’s The Funeral a while back and a few months after, he released another “making of” video for his track “3 Kings”. The producer goes through each step – from sample to bass line and Yamaha arpeggio – and explains where they…
Houston Press put together a list of their five best songs made from Beatles samples. The Beatles are probably the most famous band ever (yes, even more famous than One Direction) and they have a pretty extensive sample history but Houston Press took it upon themselves to select just five of the best songs they thought had sampled the Liverpool rock ‘n’ roll band. We…
Jay-Z addresses his life over the past few months and some political views in Open Letter. His trip to Cuba may have caused controversy for some (okay, just Stacey Dash) but that hasn’t stopped Jay-Z from making music and this unexpected track found its way onto Soundcloud earlier today. Open Letter, produced by Timbaland and Swizz Beatz shows Hov talking about that his Havana trip,…
A Tribe Called Quest will be performing in London in July. No, it’s not 1st April and you’re not dreaming. Pretty much lost for words right now. Hip hop legends A Tribe Called Quest wil be performing in the UK for the first time in 20 years when they’ll be on stage at Wireless Festival in July. Headlining the Sunday bill will be Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake as part…
In this week’s Saturday Matinée, Pete Rock talks about his work with Jay-Z and Kanye and his relationship with J Dilla. “The Chocolate Boy Wonder” Pete Rock is the feature presentation on this week’s Saturday Matinée as he reflects on his collaborations on Kanye and Jay-Z’s Watch The Throne, his crate digging ethos and discussing his admiration for Large Professor, Q-Tip and J Dilla, whom…
We get a ghoulish playlist for Halloween from Thegirlwhowas… It’s Halloween, All Hallow’s Eve, day of the dead, and although one wouldn’t immediately couple Halloween and Hip Hop I thought I’d put together a few songs that evoke all that is spooky, sinister and frightening in the world, setting the atmosphere. These four tracks combine eeriness, death, guts and gore, psychotic MCing and a fair…