#HHbeAtz10
I was inspired early on by a love for beats. At the turn of the century having access to Hip Hop vinyl, for me, was all about the instrumental versions.
Before that... when I arrived to college, the internet was just starting to pick up. I heard about Napster but knew nothing about the internet, computers, or downloading. In 1999, I didn't own a computer yet and knew very few people that did. At the computer labs on campus I'd click Netscape and wander the world wide web reading whatever. Using search engines I ran into a few corners of the web that had information about Hip Hop music.
In middle and high school, my Hip Hop collection was built from what I picked up exchanging cassette tapes with classmates, from the tapes my father brought back from his deployments overseas, from what I saw on BET's Rap City with Big Lez & Joe Clair, or YO!MTV Raps with Ed Lover & Dr. Dre... or from the few times I had enough to buy a tape or CD from a local music store or the flea market, and from rip off CD subscription plans like BMG and Columbia House. The extent of my family's vinyl collection was the Soul that survived the CD wave now stuffed in a closet space and underneath the bed.
Fast forward time, back to the college computer lab freshman year and I discovered a webpage called Da Vault that had a catalog of instrumentals and unreleased tracks. The guy running the site made about $15 per CD (money orders only). I'd learn what a rewritable CD was through Da Vault but still had very little knowledge about the digital mp3 and how accessible it was. When I was at the computer lab I spent a lot of time searching Da Vault's catalog, learning about some of my favorite Hip Hop songs without words, just beats. I recall wondering where and how he was able to get all that music on one CD. Prior to that time, the only way I knew you could make a copy of something was to do it on cassette. The extent of how I shared music with people was all about filling up both sides of a 90 minute Memorex cassette tape.
My first Hip Hop 12-inch single w/ instrumentals was Ras Kass ((Jack Frost)) w/ B-Side ((Anything Goes Remix)) that I found at an Albuquerque record shop along with a compilation vinyl by The Originators that had a Big L track I wanted. This was the beginning of a beat budget and an 8 year journey doing college radio. Doing radio gave me access to more music than I ever knew existed. I'd spend hours at the radio station. Even managed to finesse my way into working on staff as a music director just so that I could have access to the promos coming in the mail. Through the radio station I picked up the halves on digital media and editing. Started learning about record pools and charting and picked up a lot from the collections of other radio personalities that would come through. I also built a lil' web space for myself around 2000 called leehiphopshow.com. Got a lot more familiar with the net too discovering sharing platforms like SoulSeek and online music stores like SandboxAutomatic, Dusty Groove, and spaces like Turntable Lab that always had serious supply of instrumental vinyls from some of my favorite producers. That was my sole purpose for getting a set of turntables and other equipment I'd need to extract audio onto tape and later on into digital form. Whether it was for talk overs or freestyles live on air, or to listen to for school work, or simply for my every day soundtrack, thinking through my headphones...everything I was learning was all for the BEATS. Early on, it was instrumental LPs like Madlib's The Unseen, everything and anything by J Rawls, Pete Rock, the Liquid Swords Instrumental LP, of course J Dilla, everything by The RZA in the 90s, Mobb Deep (Havoc), all production out of QB, down south music from Dungeon Family & Organized Noize production, Death Row's music (Dr. Dre, Snoop), DJ Quik, MC Eiht's producers, and the genius of projects like Illmatic. It got to a point where the only reason I wanted to make sure I kept my grades right and not lose financial aid, was so that I could continue participating in student radio and having access to free music. One of the first online radio programs I set up was a strictly beats platform called InstrumentalLive365. There was also an entire semester where I had the opportunity to host an instrumental only radio slot. Also figured out how to setup automation so that towards the end of the night and on into the early morning, if you put on 91.5 FM, you were hearing nothing but BEATS. Learning what I knew at this point about digital media and editing, I stuffed the radio station database with as much music as I could for anyone to access and play.
HHbeAtz10 is basically a homage to the Hip Hop instrumental. It's my current top 10. A charting of official Hip Hop projects without words. It's a focus on today's Hip Hop beatsmiths. I'm planning to do some interviews through twitter.com/hiphopalumni (@hiphopalumni) when I get the chance. Plan to also post a few interviews I've done in the past with beat makers. Will plan on posting thoughts on the latest projects I'm #listening to and keeping the top 10 as up to date as possible. I want to send a shout out to my boy Dune and the Fresh Produce Online radio show, which is where HHbeAtz10 is inspired from. If I thought I knew a lot about Hip Hop beat makers before, the Fresh Produce program put me on to a whole other world of beat makers out there.
To the Hip Hop instrumental chefs, thank you. Ya'll are Hip Hop's pulse and the inspiration for MC's that got something to say, especially for those that speak from the heart. Hip Hop beats are conversations, a lot of questions and answers. Deep stories that many of us have memorized only to revisit time and time again.
Wish I knew how to make beats.
Introducing HHbeAtz10.
Check twitter.com/hiphopalumni #HHbeAtz10.
The first top 10 is featured in the image above and include:
Pete Rock - PeteStrumentals2
Large Professor - Mega Philosophy
IV the Polymath - When and Where
Damu the Fudgemunk - Public Assembly 2
Kev Brown - Brown Album Instrumentals
The Beatfonics Crew - Beatxploitation, The Blacktape Vol. 7
Apollo Brown - Thirty Eight
J.Rocc & Med - Theme Music Instrumentals
Crown City Rockers - Earthtones Instrumentals
Klaus Layer - For the People Like Us
More projects currently under review. Within the week will definitely add the Lord Finesse SP1200 Project. And next listen, Drasar Monumental & Ayatollah...
