New Video: @KapKallous + Vikto Beats

One of Ozone's finest over a Vikto Beats production. #Salute

Behind The Music: IMAKEMADBEATS - 7 Years

May 22nd, The Daylight/Nightlight Eps drop via Doxside Music Group. 2 days ago, MidaZ The Beast told you how we made the song "7 Years." Here's what I remember:

The record I chopped for that song was a Chick Corea one. I got the record in Florida somewhere (secret digging spot), and I remember listening to the song over and over again, honestly not really wanting to sample it just out of respect for how good it was. I also was wondering if I had heard it before somewhere... possibly sampled in another song? Ah. Anyway... So I actually came up with the idea for the song before I made the backdrop. When working with an artist, I often come up with ideas first, then search my brain database of samples/chord progressions/thoughts and see if there's anything there that fits the concept of the song and I can build on it. "7 years" fit this sample perfectly, but because I loved the original so much, I chose not to go crazy with the chops, and mainly add around it with organs, 2 different basses, and several other things.

When we started to record it, I remember MidaZ rapping it in classic MidaZ fashion. Like he was going to murder a rapper. I stopped the recording mid-verse and told him to be the character. It was different for him...so he did what he had to to do to become the character. Now while the song ended up being longer than most, it captures the idea perfectly. I think the listeners will respect that.

P.S. After creating the song, I realized where I'd heard the sample before. DJ Krush used it on an instrumental album.

Behind The Music: @MidaZ - 7 Years

So on May 22nd, I'm dropping my next project with MidaZ the Beast and Butta Verses, which is a rerelease of The Daylight/Nightlight Ep's with Bonus cuts and extras, depending on where you get it. MidaZ came up with the idea of telling the story of how each cut came together. Here's what he's saying about the song "7 Years." In the next couple of days, I'll follow up with my perspective of making the joint. Check it out.

In 3 weeks we release to unedited version of Daylight/Nightlight. In the time until we hit u guys over the head with that, ill take the time to break down the science behind the songs on the Nightlight side of the album. First up 7 Years. Brooklyn. Imakemad Beats and myself are working on 3 albums simultaneously (The Transcontinental, Nightlight, and MidaZ Vs Pete Rock). If im not mistaken we had just taken a break from working on "Flyers" (another song on Nightlight) and imakemadbeats was going through some samples while we were scheming on them chinese wings with the fries for the $3.25 downstairs at the chinese spot. He pulled up the sample for 7 years. I pretty much instantly got inspired to write. Busted out the opening bars and froze. I usually dont come up with the idea for songs until im a few bars deep and this song was no different. I remember writing maybe half of the first verse and imakemadbeats asking me to make it darker, and and more drunk, which was tough being that it was like 2:30pm on a beautiful day and i was dumb sober. but i digress. Wrote the song was maad hyped about it and went to quad that so we could lay it down. We was in quad for maad long doing a number of songs that night, drinking and bsing...I think IDE (Creative Juices) was in the lab with us that night but im not sure. Regardless..even tho i wasnt drunk when i wrote it, i was pretty drunk by the time i layed it. So the way it came out on the record is pretty authentic. Why I wrote it? Where the inspiration came from? Not sure. Honestly the inspiration prolly mostly just came from the airiness and darkness of the backdrop. I write some wild stories and im not always sure where inside me they come from. Word. I listen back to it sometimes and feel like i didnt write it all. But its def a classic. Sidenote: Imakemadbeats also completely reworked the bassline from the one i layed that night at quad. If you know me personally ask me about it. Ill play it for you. PEACE"

Stage Vintage 1 Tester from Last Year

So around this time last year, I bought a new Korg Stage Vintage 1 keyboard. It's amazing. To give it a good test, I decided to compose something and use nothing but this keyboard. This means no Pro Tools plugins and no external processing. Just using the eq and effects on the keyboard. I'm in love with how natural it sounds. I used a tremolo on the piano ( when I play that alone, i can hear the hammer strike the string...) two different Organs, synth bass, and strings. I just found this going thru some folders on the laptop. I'm listening back, and wanna sample it like I don't have a pro tools session for it.

Sh*t People at SXSW Don't Say.

Great.

New Wordsworth!

Check out the new joint "Knock On My Door" from emcee Wordsworth(@wordsworthEMC). The homey is dropping The Photo Album June 12th.

@BlameOne f. @TzariZM & @MidaZ "Put You On" prd by IMMB

Big Shout out to the homey Blame One. Check it out, listen, download, then download the mixtape.

From Doxside Music Group We get it – it's 2012, we're in the Age of Disposable Blog Music, and there's probably a good chance that the vast majority of new hip hop you've heard in the past few years has…well, fallen flat, to put it nicely.  Doxside Music Group has been on a mission from the jump to capture that feeling from when rap was actually exciting, and fuse it with a sound that continues to push forward. With that in mind, the crew dropped their second mixtape, Dare Iz A Doxside Vol. 2 in March, and there's no better representation of the caliber of the project's beats and rhymes than in "Put You On."  Featuring Doxside emcees TzariZM and MidaZ The Beast along with guest vocals from Blame One and production by in-house producer IMAKEMADBEATS, the song harkens back to a time when rappers actually had dope voices, beats actually knocked, and listeners actually hit repeat. We hope you enjoy…and if you haven't already, peep Dare Iz A Doxside Vol. 2 today.  DOWNLOAD NOW

Wordsworth (@WordsworthEMC) "Joy & Pain" produced by Apollo Brown

Wordsworth is back. His first single "Joy & Pain" produced by Apollo Brown is a banger, so much a banger, that XXLMag.com has it up on XXL Bangers. I had the pleasure of mixing most of Wordsworth's upcoming album, including this song, and I'll tell you now... Don't be the last person to hear this. Help your life out a bit, and not only listen to and download this song, but get The Photo Album as well on June 12th.

LISTEN:

   

  CHECK OUT WHAT XXLMAG.COM HAD TO SAY HERE

M-Phazes Explains Some Things

M-Phazes gives a good and simple explanation for all those intimidated by the term "sidechain compression." Shouts to the homey.

The Nord

I truly didn't plan the walls to be the same color as Keyboard. Shouts to the Nord. That was/is still a great keyboard.