By Philly Stress
Sat Oct 23, 2004 6:40 am
I don't if I posted one before,but for all those haven't seen the interview here it is.......................
Ski - One of the Best
SkiBeats.com
Peep some of the songs Ski has produced:
"Right Now" (Hot Wright) || "Who Ya Wit" || "Dead Presidents" || "U Know How We Do"
ANO: What producers influenced you early on in your career?
Ski: Early on in my career, I was really influenced by producers like Pete Rock, Clark Kent, DJ Premier.. But my partner Rhythm Fanatic, he's the one that did Lil' Kim's "Crush On You"... We were both in a group out here in North Carolina.. He did the production and I used to just rhyme... We both went on to produce.. and he was one of the first ones to actually get a hit...
ANO: What ever happened to Jokko?
Ski: Jokko has his own label up in Connecticut.. Doing his thing. He's working with this new female artist. Everybody is just beating the pavement.. trying to get that 100 million dollar deal.
ANO: So is Rok-A-Blok dead?
Ski: Naw, Rok-A-Blok is very much alive... We're now distributed through R.E.D. We're actually looking to sign a couple of acts on the west coast... And we got a group called Dangerous Minds from North Carolina that we're going to sign to Rok-A-Blok.
ANO: For all those novice producers out there trying to get on, how did you get your break?
Ski: I got my first break with DJ Clark Kent... He signed the group I was in called Orignal Flavor... Yeah, we were signed to Atlantic Records... And through that whole situation, Clark Kent basically taught me the ins and outs of production and taught me how to get your tracks sold.
ANO: What equipment did you start with and what equipment do you use now?
Ski: I started with the SP1200 and the Akai S950 back in the day... Now I use the MPC3000, the Akai 5000, a Triton keyboard.. an arsenal of different types of things.. but I still got the SP in the cut.
ANO: Give us one piece of technical advice you can lend to producers new to the game.. that'll allow producers to get more out of their sampling beat machone or keyboard.
Ski: The best thing a producer can do is invest in a multi-track board.. Maybe an eight track or sixteen track.. And mix every individual track cus' you want to get the best sounding cd or tape when you shop your tracks. 'Cus I hear a lot of tapes and cats just have the machine just raw come out the left and right of the machine.. and sometimes the quality ain't good enough for the A&R to understand where the young producin' kid is coming from... The bass ain't hittin' as hard.. the snare ain't mixed right.. ya' know? You basically want to make your stuff as strong as possible and in order to do that.. you would want to separate your tracks.
ANO: What made you develop your unique style of sample chopping?
Ski: Umm.. Wow.. When I used to sample, I used to just like a couple of notes out of the sample.. Like, "I like how he played this G and I like how he played that inverted C chord..." And I want I wanna do.. I don't want the rest of the sample.. I want to flip it and reverse it.. and make the track go where I want it to go.
ANO: Yeah, what I noticed with "Luchini".. Your tracks were really syncopated.. the kick of the drums goes right with the first part of the sample.
Ski: Yeah yeah, that's an old trick I learned from a bunch of old musicians. Like if they were playing a bass.. the kick would have to go the same way.. Don't disturb the groove.. and I try to program it to the point that it's possible for a real drummer to play what I play on my drum machine.. Sometimes I might get crazy and do some type of crazy Timbaland/Swizz Beats type of thing.. but usually a real drummer couldn't play like that... So I try to keep it a natural thing as possible so my music will sound more organic and not mechanical.
ANO: For your custom beat cd, how did you compose all the drum sounds? Did you do any extra eq'ing?
Ski: Well for the cd that's out now.. I just had a bunch of sounds that I had and I threw them on a cd without eq'ing... But the new cd we got coming out.. we got a whole new thing... We just built a new studio down here and we got a full blown Pro-Tools studio.. So what we're about to do is do the cd over.. get it mastered the whole thing.. The sounds are going to be crazy and I got a ton of new sounds that cats gonna definitely wanna get.
ANO: Do you think it's vital to clear every and all samples you may use in a beat?
Ski: I mean if you're using a sample that very recognizable, it's vital that you clear it because you don't want to get sued down the line. You don't wanna have a hit record then the guy who made the song be like, "Okay you got a hit, but I want all the publishing and the money up top 'cus you didn't come to me and clear it." So it's very vital that you clear all and any samples that are recognizable.. But if you take a sample and chops to notes to where nobody can tell what it is.. then no, I wouldn't clear it.
ANO: How does it feel being the producer behind the success of Jay-Z in the early parts of his commercial career?
Ski: I'm sayin'.. It feels good.. I knew Jay could do it.. It was like one my best artists I've had a chance to work with and I still keep in touch with him 'til this day... I'm thinkin' about doing some more stuff for him in the future.. but my thing is.. they got Roc-A-Fella.. I got Rok-A-Blok and I want Now City.. but we still crew...
ANO: Yeah man.. you need to bless the public with another Ski and Jigga collabo.
Ski: Yeah definitely.
ANO: What's up with Camp Lo?
Ski: They just finished an album that they're releasing in Japan.. And they just did a single that I produced.. Jokko did the A-Side and I did the B-Side... It should be out any day now... I think it's gonna be out on Loud.
ANO: Here recently, you've worked with some fairly "underground" artists. Is that a concious move to work more artists that aren't seen as commercial?
Ski: Umm yeah definitely... But I also want to do my commercial thing.. I just did a single for Foxy.. and it's her and Mystikal on it.. I keep my mainstream music on.. but at the same time I try to do my underground thing.
ANO: Are you ever going to work on a production album featuring guest artists?
Ski: Yeah, I think eventually down the road.. Once we get this Now City thing to take off and this Rok-A-Blok thing to take off... And cat know who's bringin' it to 'em.. Then I'ma definitely do a Ski production compilation featuring other artists.
ANO: What work have you done outside of the rap genre?
Ski: Ah man.. I did a joint with Zhane back in the day... I did a joint with Brand New Heavies back in the day... But that's about it.. most of my stuff has been rap.. but I definitely want to branch out and do different types of things... Well actually my mom, my sister, and my brother have a gospel group and I've been helping them with that.. so slowly but surely I'ma be doin' something else.
ANO: Since your style is innovative and creative as far as music production goes, who do you see right now in the game that is bringing a new innovative flavor (style)?
Ski: It gotta be The Neptunes and it gotta be Timbaland to me... Everything they do I like.. There's hasn't been one beat that Timbaland has made that I haven't liked... And The Neptunes are comin' up.. at first I was kinda skeptical about them but now they're comin' up... I like them.. They got their own sound.
ANO: What future projects can we expect to hear Ski beats on?
Ski: Now City BABY!... My artist's name is Hot Wright!... The label's name is Now City and the slogan is, "Not now but right now." The name of his song is "Right Now"... I also got the Fox Brown and Mystikal joint... They called me for some new Beanie Siegal.. they called me for some more Bleek.. Jay called me for some Jay.. In a minute I'ma start hittin' people again with some tracks.. but right now I wanna save the best for my crew 'cus I really wanna bring my crew up... I'm tired of bringin' everybody else up.. it's time to bring my thing up.
ANO: Any final shout outs?
Ski: I wanna give a shout out to my man Darien Dash.. my partner Steve Henderson over at Rok-A-Blok.. and my new partner Franz Tudor in this Now City thing... my artist Hot Wright.. and my artist Miss E. Wreck.. We bringin' some real flavor out of North Carolina.. We gonna be the first label in North Carolina to actually make North Carolina a place that can sell records.
--Mr. Rictor
Ski - One of the Best
SkiBeats.com
Peep some of the songs Ski has produced:
"Right Now" (Hot Wright) || "Who Ya Wit" || "Dead Presidents" || "U Know How We Do"
ANO: What producers influenced you early on in your career?
Ski: Early on in my career, I was really influenced by producers like Pete Rock, Clark Kent, DJ Premier.. But my partner Rhythm Fanatic, he's the one that did Lil' Kim's "Crush On You"... We were both in a group out here in North Carolina.. He did the production and I used to just rhyme... We both went on to produce.. and he was one of the first ones to actually get a hit...
ANO: What ever happened to Jokko?
Ski: Jokko has his own label up in Connecticut.. Doing his thing. He's working with this new female artist. Everybody is just beating the pavement.. trying to get that 100 million dollar deal.
ANO: So is Rok-A-Blok dead?
Ski: Naw, Rok-A-Blok is very much alive... We're now distributed through R.E.D. We're actually looking to sign a couple of acts on the west coast... And we got a group called Dangerous Minds from North Carolina that we're going to sign to Rok-A-Blok.
ANO: For all those novice producers out there trying to get on, how did you get your break?
Ski: I got my first break with DJ Clark Kent... He signed the group I was in called Orignal Flavor... Yeah, we were signed to Atlantic Records... And through that whole situation, Clark Kent basically taught me the ins and outs of production and taught me how to get your tracks sold.
ANO: What equipment did you start with and what equipment do you use now?
Ski: I started with the SP1200 and the Akai S950 back in the day... Now I use the MPC3000, the Akai 5000, a Triton keyboard.. an arsenal of different types of things.. but I still got the SP in the cut.
ANO: Give us one piece of technical advice you can lend to producers new to the game.. that'll allow producers to get more out of their sampling beat machone or keyboard.
Ski: The best thing a producer can do is invest in a multi-track board.. Maybe an eight track or sixteen track.. And mix every individual track cus' you want to get the best sounding cd or tape when you shop your tracks. 'Cus I hear a lot of tapes and cats just have the machine just raw come out the left and right of the machine.. and sometimes the quality ain't good enough for the A&R to understand where the young producin' kid is coming from... The bass ain't hittin' as hard.. the snare ain't mixed right.. ya' know? You basically want to make your stuff as strong as possible and in order to do that.. you would want to separate your tracks.
ANO: What made you develop your unique style of sample chopping?
Ski: Umm.. Wow.. When I used to sample, I used to just like a couple of notes out of the sample.. Like, "I like how he played this G and I like how he played that inverted C chord..." And I want I wanna do.. I don't want the rest of the sample.. I want to flip it and reverse it.. and make the track go where I want it to go.
ANO: Yeah, what I noticed with "Luchini".. Your tracks were really syncopated.. the kick of the drums goes right with the first part of the sample.
Ski: Yeah yeah, that's an old trick I learned from a bunch of old musicians. Like if they were playing a bass.. the kick would have to go the same way.. Don't disturb the groove.. and I try to program it to the point that it's possible for a real drummer to play what I play on my drum machine.. Sometimes I might get crazy and do some type of crazy Timbaland/Swizz Beats type of thing.. but usually a real drummer couldn't play like that... So I try to keep it a natural thing as possible so my music will sound more organic and not mechanical.
ANO: For your custom beat cd, how did you compose all the drum sounds? Did you do any extra eq'ing?
Ski: Well for the cd that's out now.. I just had a bunch of sounds that I had and I threw them on a cd without eq'ing... But the new cd we got coming out.. we got a whole new thing... We just built a new studio down here and we got a full blown Pro-Tools studio.. So what we're about to do is do the cd over.. get it mastered the whole thing.. The sounds are going to be crazy and I got a ton of new sounds that cats gonna definitely wanna get.
ANO: Do you think it's vital to clear every and all samples you may use in a beat?
Ski: I mean if you're using a sample that very recognizable, it's vital that you clear it because you don't want to get sued down the line. You don't wanna have a hit record then the guy who made the song be like, "Okay you got a hit, but I want all the publishing and the money up top 'cus you didn't come to me and clear it." So it's very vital that you clear all and any samples that are recognizable.. But if you take a sample and chops to notes to where nobody can tell what it is.. then no, I wouldn't clear it.
ANO: How does it feel being the producer behind the success of Jay-Z in the early parts of his commercial career?
Ski: I'm sayin'.. It feels good.. I knew Jay could do it.. It was like one my best artists I've had a chance to work with and I still keep in touch with him 'til this day... I'm thinkin' about doing some more stuff for him in the future.. but my thing is.. they got Roc-A-Fella.. I got Rok-A-Blok and I want Now City.. but we still crew...
ANO: Yeah man.. you need to bless the public with another Ski and Jigga collabo.
Ski: Yeah definitely.
ANO: What's up with Camp Lo?
Ski: They just finished an album that they're releasing in Japan.. And they just did a single that I produced.. Jokko did the A-Side and I did the B-Side... It should be out any day now... I think it's gonna be out on Loud.
ANO: Here recently, you've worked with some fairly "underground" artists. Is that a concious move to work more artists that aren't seen as commercial?
Ski: Umm yeah definitely... But I also want to do my commercial thing.. I just did a single for Foxy.. and it's her and Mystikal on it.. I keep my mainstream music on.. but at the same time I try to do my underground thing.
ANO: Are you ever going to work on a production album featuring guest artists?
Ski: Yeah, I think eventually down the road.. Once we get this Now City thing to take off and this Rok-A-Blok thing to take off... And cat know who's bringin' it to 'em.. Then I'ma definitely do a Ski production compilation featuring other artists.
ANO: What work have you done outside of the rap genre?
Ski: Ah man.. I did a joint with Zhane back in the day... I did a joint with Brand New Heavies back in the day... But that's about it.. most of my stuff has been rap.. but I definitely want to branch out and do different types of things... Well actually my mom, my sister, and my brother have a gospel group and I've been helping them with that.. so slowly but surely I'ma be doin' something else.
ANO: Since your style is innovative and creative as far as music production goes, who do you see right now in the game that is bringing a new innovative flavor (style)?
Ski: It gotta be The Neptunes and it gotta be Timbaland to me... Everything they do I like.. There's hasn't been one beat that Timbaland has made that I haven't liked... And The Neptunes are comin' up.. at first I was kinda skeptical about them but now they're comin' up... I like them.. They got their own sound.
ANO: What future projects can we expect to hear Ski beats on?
Ski: Now City BABY!... My artist's name is Hot Wright!... The label's name is Now City and the slogan is, "Not now but right now." The name of his song is "Right Now"... I also got the Fox Brown and Mystikal joint... They called me for some new Beanie Siegal.. they called me for some more Bleek.. Jay called me for some Jay.. In a minute I'ma start hittin' people again with some tracks.. but right now I wanna save the best for my crew 'cus I really wanna bring my crew up... I'm tired of bringin' everybody else up.. it's time to bring my thing up.
ANO: Any final shout outs?
Ski: I wanna give a shout out to my man Darien Dash.. my partner Steve Henderson over at Rok-A-Blok.. and my new partner Franz Tudor in this Now City thing... my artist Hot Wright.. and my artist Miss E. Wreck.. We bringin' some real flavor out of North Carolina.. We gonna be the first label in North Carolina to actually make North Carolina a place that can sell records.
--Mr. Rictor
I use:
2 Technics TurnTables
Akai MPC 3000LE
Akai s950
Akai VX-90
Akai MFC 42
Ensoniq EPS 16+
Moog Little Phatty (OTW!)
BREAK THE BANX MUSIC, LLC.
2 Technics TurnTables
Akai MPC 3000LE
Akai s950
Akai VX-90
Akai MFC 42
Ensoniq EPS 16+
Moog Little Phatty (OTW!)
BREAK THE BANX MUSIC, LLC.
