The Story Of How I Got Started Making Beats!
I've been a Producer for at least, 20 years or more now. I started creating music when I was about seventeen years old with two of my childhood friends while playing hooky from school. We'd cut class and go back to my apartment in the John Adam Houses (J.A) in the Bronx NY. While my mother was at work and my sister and brothers were at all at school getting their higher education on, we'd be cutting school back at my apt, just zoning out to old 70's records that my father left behind after my Mom and Pop had split up. I remember dubbing over my oldest brothers DJ Red Alert radio recorded shows in order to keep a loop going. I would pause, then press play, pause then press play, over and over again until I had enough instrumental break to rap over. You can only imagine the beat downs that I received for dubbing over my brothers tapes.
Around the year 1988-89, while waiting for my friend Corey to get ready for school, I noticed that he had a Casio SK-8 Keyboard/Sampler sitting on his kitchen table. I just had to get one of those by anymeans necessary so I, Packed groceries up for shoppers and did whatever it took in order for me to buy my very own Casio SK-8. It took me 4 lay-away installments and a loan from my Mother to purchase my new keyboard/sampler. Now that I owned my Casio Keyboard, There would be no stopping me. I was now able to loop records with out using the pause-play technique.
One day, my brother had some of his friends over the apartment hanging out, listening to music, using the phone, drinking Kool-Aide etc. I decided in that moment to Blast a beat that I was working on. It was a MC Lyte song that I had looped, (Stop, Look, Listen). I also Mixed it with The Funky Drumer breakbeat. My Brothers friends Started Rapping over the track and soon after that, they were asking me if I had any more tracks to rap on.
By the 1992, I was Nice with it but, it was time to up the anti. It was time to take this rapping and producing more seriously. I, along with my cousin formed a rap group and we went into a music studio to record our first demo. We were gaining recognition fast and would have received a major deal with Warner Bros. Records but during that time, My cousin got into some trouble with the law and had to serve an 8 year jail sentence. I felt like my cousin was the talent ( the front man) and I was the man behind the scene. He was C.L Smooth and I was Pete Rock before I realized that Pete Rock called equally rap. At that time I was too scared to do it alone so I did not sign. Only if somebody could have schooled me better. I could have signed and waited for my cousin to come home but I was loyal and refused to sign any documents without him.
Some might ask me what other equiptment I have used to create beats? Well, believe it our not but, I have used the Sony Playstation to make a ton of beats. There was a game that came out in the late 1990's that MTV put out called "Music Generator". This game allowed you to sample music, edit it, and create your own beats. I've also used the MPC 2000 alot but my main source of beat making comes from a computer program called Frutiy Loops.
Since the early years of my beat making, I have been involved with various rap groups and solo artist Such as, Culture Cypha, C-Rayz Walz, Rabbi Darkside, Haze God, Core Rhthym, and Multiple Man just to name a few.
If you would like to listen to any of my work, you can check out http://www.verseall.com/ for exclusives and free downloads.
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