is less more

i dont knwo if it is me, but these mimalistic productions are doing my head,

for eg, the most stark one is drop it like its hot, snoop featuring pharell.

a spray paint sample
mouth sounds
a clap
drum
and a 80s styles synth phrase

AND THATS IT
NOTHING ELSE
AT ALL
NOTHING
AT ALL
WHAT THE F.U.CK

oh and a voice spitting

is less really more>>

it seems to me that most lyricists like to spit over a simple beat.


it also seems to me, alot of my favorite beats are simple.

driving rhythm
interesting samples
nice scratches
stupid def rhymes

all this adds up to a great hip-hop track

To me less is less.And that track with Snoop is horrible.Jill Scott has a joint like that on her album with raspberries and thigh slaps and hums but it's just a cool little intro.To rhyme over something like that is just sad.As an emcee i don't like a really smothered track but give me some meat to go with my potatoes.Ya dig?

I'd say it depends on the elements involved, sometimes less is more, sometimes it ain't. It's ALL subjective, everybody likes what they like.

cooocooo1 wrote:I'd say it depends on the elements involved, sometimes less is more, sometimes it ain't. It's ALL subjective, everybody likes what they like.

i agree

An old school industry giant dropped a lot of knowledge on me back in the day. One of the things he told me was that "You can't argue with a hit record".

I was thinking along the same lines as skalawa. When I first heard "drop it", i was like, these cats are getting away with mureder. I Went to the club the other night. The DJ spun "Drop it" and the bit*hes lost their minds on the dance floor. I guess the people are feeling it.

Some of the hottest beats are the simplest ie: Come Clean, The Bridge is Over, I got it made, Flava in Ya Ear, You're a Customer, One Drop riddim, Fiesta riddim, Showtime riddim etc...

As long as the lyricist on the track is nice it can be dope. And I'm feeling that Snoop joint too

Ok check this out. I work my ass off when it comes to making beats. Im even getting paid a lil some some. Ill say i can make beats from streets to club jams. Not to take anything from snoop or the neptunes but when i make a track that i know kills the top ten songs out there and let the average person or my girl hear it theyll tell me "Its alright". As soon as that snoop song come on they get all hype. So i like to know what is it about that song and theyll say "The beat is hot". Im like "What beat, theres really only drums witha quick chord melody every now and then". One day i even trick a person and played hit song instrumental that i knew about but they didnt yet and when i told them it was mines they was like "Its ok". 2 or 3 months later when the artist drops that song as a single they get all hype as if its great and haves a nerve to tell me " This shit is hot it kind of sounds like one your beats but a lil better". Im like "What the fizzuck, its the same beat i played for you 2 months ago and you said is ok". My point is sometime people are brain wash to see two big names together and automatic think something is good. If i would of made the beat and the lyrics to "drop it like its hot" and played it for people they would of clown me. Put the neptunes and snoop name in big lights and its hot! I love the neptunes but i sometimes feel they get away with alot chit and are givin credit as being talented. I respect what the masses says and if its a hit you cant take that away but sometimes whats a hit for one might of been over look for somebody else because of there name.

There are too many issues at hand to answer what you are asking. There are so many factors involved when dealing with such an issue, from the pyschology of the mass market to big money marketing behind artists like Snoop and the Neptunes. All this subject will do is result in a 10 page thread, but hey I guess that's coo cuz this is a message board.

Regarding your beats tho: Just remember, you are not making instrumentals. You are building a platform so that an MC can perform at his highest level of potential. Sometimes (a lot of times actually) that might mean doing a lot less in your production.

I find that MCs always take the beats that I feel are boring and monotonous. The ones I'm feeling, the ones I put a lot of work into layering/effecting/chopping samples, are usually too "complex/too much going on" for them.

The focal point of the song should be the MC. Let him shine. That's my opinion at least. If I wanted to be a star in the limelight, I'd sing or rap, but nah...I'm doing production.

young_keyz wrote:Ok check this out. I work my ass off when it comes to making beats. Im even getting paid a lil some some. Ill say i can make beats from streets to club jams. Not to take anything from snoop or the neptunes but when i make a track that i know kills the top ten songs out there and let the average person or my girl hear it theyll tell me "Its alright". As soon as that snoop song come on they get all hype. So i like to know what is it about that song and theyll say "The beat is hot". Im like "What beat, theres really only drums witha quick chord melody every now and then". One day i even trick a person and played hit song instrumental that i knew about but they didnt yet and when i told them it was mines they was like "Its ok". 2 or 3 months later when the artist drops that song as a single they get all hype as if its great and haves a nerve to tell me " This **** is hot it kind of sounds like one your beats but a lil better". Im like "What the fizzuck, its the same beat i played for you 2 months ago and you said is ok". My point is sometime people are brain wash to see two big names together and automatic think something is good. If i would of made the beat and the lyrics to "drop it like its hot" and played it for people they would of clown me. Put the neptunes and snoop name in big lights and its hot! I love the neptunes but i sometimes feel they get away with alot chit and are givin credit as being talented. I respect what the masses says and if its a hit you cant take that away but sometimes whats a hit for one might of been over look for somebody else because of there name.

I feel ya on that point. That`s why I believe in remixing my shit with vocals on top, testing the track boom bap in a club or boombox with some low end bass cuz headphones don`t cut it, and introducing tracks as a new cut off a record, because mofos will look just you a more honest opinion if they think it wasn`t your shit. As they are crying over this new Just blaze track I hit them with the truth it`s mine and the look changes on their faces. What you did this!! Cuz if a programmed mofo hear it from you its aliight!! If they hear it from a dj or the radio it the new hot shit. Mysterious, not in sight, beyond their reach. Its Human nature. Follow the damn crowd. Unless you do it live and that open some up to your skills.

Ha, deifnately, when playing music for the average listener, always lay an acapella on top. I mean, you gotta understand, these people don't have the vision we do. Give them a break, and lay some vocals on it and they will hear it as a song, not just a beat.

Yes, in my opinion, less is more. And Once a cat gets hot, it doens't matter what they come up with....it's gonna be "considered" top notch. It's called credibility. Wether it's deserved or not.

Season

skalawa wrote:i dont knwo if it is me, but these mimalistic productions are doing my head,

for eg, the most stark one is drop it like its hot, snoop featuring pharell.

a spray paint sample
mouth sounds
a clap
drum
and a 80s styles synth phrase

AND THATS IT
NOTHING ELSE
AT ALL
NOTHING
AT ALL
WHAT THE F.U.CK

oh and a voice spitting

is less really more>>

on that particular beat, NO, because it sucks, plain and simple.....

ddot_SFV wrote:An old school industry giant dropped a lot of knowledge on me back in the day. One of the things he told me was that "You can't argue with a hit record".

I was thinking along the same lines as skalawa. When I first heard "drop it", i was like, these cats are getting away with mureder. I Went to the club the other night. The DJ spun "Drop it" and the bit*hes lost their minds on the dance floor. I guess the people are feeling it.

BUT, if they had played that song in that club PRIOR to it being played on the radio all day, would people still have enjoyed it as much????? Probably not because it would be unknown to them....Whats hot in the club is about familiarity....

Yo for me less is more..... a fat bass line, chords, an anolog synth sound to create the right groove and a rockin brake beat and guitar for rythem and I'm good. Some times a sample can provide all of this. I think once you get the right instruments together it's all about arangment. How do you change the beat to *uck with the listeners concuness. I think the Neptunes are dope the way they write changes into there music. It's hot and there synth sounds for me are classic. Snoops lyrics should of been better..
The novice listener isn't use to the beat changing the way the neptunes do it and they have to keep it simple because some one like snoop couldn't rhyme over it and they would loose the listener. I'm willing to bet is the Neptunes relesed a funky jazz album it would be hot.