Classic hip-hop albums done on an MPC...

I'm a big fan of the classic, golden age, 1986-1994 hip-hop sound, and I know a lot of people get hold of the MPC to make boom-bap hip-hop...

Having looked at a lot of the producers though and what albums were done on what machine, I'm having a hard time figuring out which ones were done on an MPC...

For example, looking for stuff done on the SP-1200, there are a TON all done on the SP-1200 by these producers in their prime:

Large Professor
DJ Muggs (for Cypress's first couple of albums)
Pete Rock
Ultramagnetic MCs
DITC (Buckwild, Lord Finesse, Showbiz)
The Bomb Squad
Dr. Dre's early NWA stuff
DJ Quik
Marley Marl
Beatminerz
Q-Tip (Large Pro taught him it)
RZA (as well as the Ensoniq ASR)


But I'm struggling to find info on which producers used the MPC for classic albums...
Obviously DJ Premier is the big name for it...
And just after the golden age, DJ Shadow used it for Endtroducing...

Anyone know any other classics that were made with an MPC?

someone on gearslutz asked q-tip in person about the first tribe albums and he said he used an eps. i think he used the sp-1200 on later songs for mobb deep and craig mack

also, back in the day there was an article in a rap magazine interviewing premier and he said he used an alesis hr16 and s900 to make step in the arena. this was just before he got the mpc

Note that those albums were still mastered and mixed at professional studios. The first Tribe album was engineered by Tim Latham ( a humble dude that often stands at the back of shows unbeknowst to most in the crowd) I worked for a concert hall back in the mid 90's and was around a lot of engineers that people don't know...but who are important.
These machines do some of the idea work but it is all deconstructed and put back together again on expensive equipment.
...but you all already knew that.
Cheers,
Ian

JimminySnicket wrote:I'm struggling to find info on which producers used the MPC for classic albums...Anyone know any other classics that were made with an MPC?

Obviously we are talking MPC60 and MPC3000 here, but the MPC3000 only just came out in '94 so not too many classics would have been made on that machine the same year. As you rightly observe the period in question was dominated by SP12 (1985), SP1200 (1987) beats along with MPC60 and EPS16 (1988) and the EPS16+ (1990), ASR-10 (1992). The MPC3000 (1994) came after these machines had been established for some time. These threads that may shed some light.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=148864&hilit=hip+hop+produced

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=82122&hilit=hip+hop+produced

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=26895&hilit=hip+hop+produced

JimminySnicket wrote:SP-1200 by these producers in their prime:

Large Professor >who has also used MPC1000+2500
Pete Rock >who has also famously used MPC2000xl
DITC (Buckwild, Lord Finesse, Showbiz)
>they have also used MPC3000 (Buckwild), MPC4000 (Lord Finese), MPC2500 Showbiz
Dr. Dre's early NWA stuff >MPC3000 later on (as I'm sure you know already )
DJ Quik > MPC60/3000/5000
Beatminerz >MPC2000 classic (and 2xSP1200s + S950)
Q-Tip (Large Pro taught him it) - >MPC2000XL (on cover of his last major LP!!!) and maybe a MPC3000 (not sure)

And just after the golden age, DJ Shadow used it for Endtroducing...

A MPC60 - then at some point he switched to 2x MPC3000s (as seen in 'Behind the Beat'), not sure what he uses now.


But I'm struggling to find info on which producers used the MPC for classic albums...
Obviously DJ Premier is the big name for it...

Shame people sleep on his use of the S950 though

someone on gearslutz asked q-tip in person about the first tribe albums and he said he used an eps. i think he used the sp-1200 on later songs for mobb deep and craig mack

[/quote]

thats interesting, so was Low End Theory SP1200 then??

from gs member beyondat:

'I met Q-tip while he was working on his last album. His studio was upstairs from where I worked. he told me the first two albums were done on the eps. The convo came up because I told him that for the longest I thought Ali did all those early Tribe beats. The eps part really suprised me! '

Thanks for all the info guys, very interesting, and the links to the older threads, much appreciated, working my way through those now.

clint246clint wrote:Obviously we are talking MPC60 and MPC3000 here, but the MPC3000 only just came out in '94 so not too many classics would have been made on that machine the same year. As you rightly observe the period in question was dominated by SP12 (1985), SP1200 (1987) beats along with MPC60 and EPS16 (1988) and the EPS16+ (1990), ASR-10 (1992). The MPC3000 (1994) came after these machines had been established for some time.

Right... I guess before I started to look into it recently, I assumed the MPC was used on a lot of the golden age stuff...
But would it be more fair to say that it was something a lot of producers moved onto after the golden age?
Perhaps because it was easier to use and because MPCs were still being made later on?

SEED78 wrote:

JimminySnicket wrote:SP-1200 by these producers in their prime:

Large Professor >who has also used MPC1000+2500
Pete Rock >who has also famously used MPC2000xl
DITC (Buckwild, Lord Finesse, Showbiz)
>they have also used MPC3000 (Buckwild), MPC4000 (Lord Finese), MPC2500 Showbiz
Dr. Dre's early NWA stuff >MPC3000 later on (as I'm sure you know already )
DJ Quik > MPC60/3000/5000
Beatminerz >MPC2000 classic (and 2xSP1200s + S950)
Q-Tip (Large Pro taught him it) - >MPC2000XL (on cover of his last major LP!!!) and maybe a MPC3000 (not sure)

Thanks for the info... are a lot of those uses after the golden age though?

I guess what I'm really looking for are albums from the golden age that were done on the MPC... so the Gangstarr albums (though I seem to remember not the first one)...
By comparison, albums which kind of sum up the SP-1200 are ones like Cypress' debut, Mecca and the Soul Brother, Critical Beatdown... they are shaped by what the SP could do and also the distinct sound it gave the samples...

JimminySnicket wrote:so the Gangstarr albums (though I seem to remember not the first one)

nor the second one, read my previous post

haze3000 wrote:

JimminySnicket wrote:so the Gangstarr albums (though I seem to remember not the first one)

nor the second one, read my previous post

Whoops, missed that, thanks!

This topic remind me on an interview I saw on TV in the 90s. It was Lord Jamar and he was using the 60.

luckily its on youtube



peace

That video was dope thanks for sharing