The 45 King cuts it up on his Vestax Handi Traxx turntables then explains the making of the unexpected Jay Z classic, “Hard Knock Life”. Both 45 King and Jay tell their sides of the story from finding the Annie soudtrack at a thrift store to recording the final version.
No ID discusses the making of Jay Z’s "D.O.A." including the debate leading up to the concept, song structure, emotion, and drum programming. Notable Quote: "I wanted to get as close to authentic 90’s style hip-hop without being limited with 90’s style programming of drums. It took a lot of effort. I didn’t just loop … Read more
Producer No I.D. lists his all-time favorite producers (DJ Premier, Dr. Dre, RZA), the concept of truly loving music, defining sounds and their eras, scoring movies, and remaining a student of production. He also touches on his opinion of producer beattapes and discusses his philosophy behind personally working with an artists to craft a personalized … Read more
Producer/DJ Clark Kent shows off some custom kicks, talks about the music business, the importance of DJ’ing in his life, and his role in shaping Jay Z’s career. [via NFADK]
Norwegian production team Stargate (Nas, Beyonce, Rhianna, Ne-Yo, Tre Songz) have teamed up with Jay Z to form a new label named StarRoc. Word has it that the producers have already relocated their studio to Roc The Mic in order to begin work. [via MIC]
EPMD master producer The Funk Lord Eric Sermon dropped by the Roundtable to talk about the upcoming EPMD album We Mean Business, getting jerked in the record business, ignored Hip-Hop demographics, unreleased Rick Ross material. Def Jam A&R Lenny S even tells a Summer Jam story about a 5 thousand dollar bet between Eric and Jay Z… with Jay making it rain on the crowd with his winnings!
Three more parts after the jump!
DJ Reggie Reg sponsors a welcomed video Jigga mix featuring original samples back to back with the Hip-Hop versions. Highlights include joints like Bobby Bland’s “Ain’t No Love Love In The Heart of The City” (Heat of The City), David Ruffin – “Common Man” (Never Change), and The Originals “Sunrise” (Guess Who’s Back).