Interview with Beat Butcha
1)
What it is, Beat Butcha in the building? Tell the
world how you got the name Beat Butcha?
Basically it's the first name I came up with that stuck, it's a play on
words, chopping samples/beats instead of meat, because I used to be heavily
into chopping samples when I first started
2)
You’re originally from the Netherlands. How is the hip
hop scene overseas?
Actually I'm from the UK/England, but I lived in The Netherlands for
some years in my youth and spent a few years living there more recently as
well, my mother lives there.
I'm sure most people reading this will know that Hip Hop has been
everywhere across the world since the 80s. Even if homegrown hip hop hasn't
always enjoyed commercial success.
A lot of people are probably relatively aware of the UK scene, which has
had its ups and down since the 80s, in terms of popularity within the UK and
abroad. In fact I'd go as far as saying we had the first non-American hip hop
scene which got love abroad.
(I suppose having Slick Rick rep in the states for us over there didn't
hurt: SALUTE TO THE RULER!!)
We've always had our own thing going on, from the ragga hip hop stylings
of Demon Boyz, London Posse and Asher D & Daddy Freddy to the fast Britcore
flows of Son Of Noise, Gunshot & Blade, to Dizzee Rascal, Kano & Ghetts
who came out of the grime scene.
We've also always had an industry
relationship with the states pretty much, I guess since we're English native speakers, it's been easier for Americans
to cosign artists here. From Hijack who was signed to Ice T, to Monie love who
was with Native Tongues, to SAS being
cosigned by Roc-a-fella/Dipset, and more recently Chipmunk who signed to T.i.'s Grand Hustle.
But yeah the British hip hop/rap scene is alive and kicking, we've got
rappers who have become big pop stars and enjoy commercial success, such as
Professor Green, Dizzee Rascal, Tinie Tempah, Plan B and more.
There a lot going on in the underground too, but it's quite a segregated
scene in terms of styles. The street/road shit gets a lot of love & so does
the Grime scene, which is a English style of rap, which is kind of like a English
accent mesh of dancehall with speed garage & street shit, get most of the
love. Essentially the majority of the artists who become big pop stars come
from those 2 scenes. Whilst there's a long standing underground/backpack hip
hop scene that doesn't really get acknowledged by the industry, which is the
scene I came up in, in the early days.
I personally like diversity, so I look out for the best of all scenes,
cats like Rewd Adams, Klashnekoff, Piff Gang, Blade Brown, Ghetts, Jehst, K
Koke, Black The Ripper, Triple Darkness...
As far as the Netherlands, really Dutch
language hip hop has only really started to see proper commercial success in
the last 10-15 years. It's now pretty much the biggest thing over there amongst
kids other than dance music, which the Dutch have always been known for
3)
Your resume is pretty deep; name the artists you
worked with?
I'll just say key names:
US: Xzibit, Lloyd Banks, Jadakiss, Tony Yayo, Styles P, Mobb Deep, Mac
Miller, Danny Brown, Curren$y, Jet life just to name a few.
UK: Klashnekoff, Jehst, Ghetts, Wretch32, Plan B, Roots Manuva, Rodney
P, P money, Rewd Adams and many more.
And an array of international artists.
4)
Who was the first artist you worked with?
It depends what sense we're speaking in. First people I ever worked on music with, was my brothers Ciph Barker
& Oostblok Joe, when we were called Lingwistikz.
But first artist I ever released anything with, was Paragon w. Rap6 (who
hosts the long running London Hip Hop night Jump Off) & his cousin Jiff in
2001. The track was called 'Queen Like No Other' off the 'Calm Before The Storm
EP'.
Stateside, probably the homie Lil Eto, I had 2 joints on his 'Pyrex Dialect'
tape in '08.
5)
How long have you been making beats?
Since 99, so that's 13 years lol. Lucky number right there hahaha!
6)
How did you get your start as a producer?
I actually started as a DJ, I've always been obsessed with music, in my
late teens I became more and more focused on beats & scratching. So it was
a natural progression, I had been trying to make music since I was young, but
never took it seriously.
7)
Who has inspired you production wise in the game?
Production wise it's a long list, because I like a bit of a melting pot
of styles, so I'll break it down:
In the early years, the obvious names: Rza, Havoc, DJ Premier, Dr Dre,
Organized Noize, Pete Rock, Alchemist, Jay Dee/Dilla, Hi-tek, Just Blaze, Muggs
as well as UK producers of the late 90s/early 2000s such as Harry Love, Lewis
Parker, Farma G, Wiley & my boy Chemo.
Currently these producers inspire me: V.Don, Justice League, Frank
Dukes, DJ Khalil, Alchemist, Tha Jerm, T-Minus, Sid Roams, Jake One, Hi-Tek,
Cardiak, Cardo, Big Krit, Ty Fyffe, Illmind, Doe Pesci, Trox, Nottz, DJ Toomp.
8)
You worked with many artists. Describe your production
sound.
I suppose the style I'm best known for is a sort of dramatic/horror
atmosphere, with a classic NYC street hip hop influence
I have a range of styles tho, some of which haven’t been heard as much,
just because of the nature of the artists in my network. But people will hear
more of it soon; I'm all about showing progression.
9)
What would it take for an up and coming artist to get
a Beat Butcha beat?
Pretty simple.... you need a budget.
Pick a beat from the catalogue, all the beats in the catalogs are
tagged, soon as we've received payment and confirmation of what bar structure
you need, you'll get sent the untagged beat, stems/parts also included.
10)
I noticed some of your beats you don’t sample. Was
that a versatility move?
Not really, there's 2 reasons to be honest, the first is I feel limited
by samples, really playing gives you more freedom creatively, as much as I love
the textures of old records, if u only sample, you’re limited to where you can
go as far as musical changes/sequence structure
The second is a business move, since I'm focused on big placements,
sampled beats often don't get picked due to clearance headaches. And if they do
get picked you often won’t see any publishing off a record with a sample.
I've been playing keys on my joints since '05/'06 tho, so it's not really
something I just started doing. But I have got better as a musician, I mostly
aim to create the kind of textures you would find on a 60s/70s/80s record I
might sample and I find that very rewarding.
11)
What equipment do you use?
Fantom XR, Mpc2500, Various synths, Epiphone Les Paul recorded into
Adobe Audition, which is an unusual program to make beats on, but I started on
cool edit, I tried other programs but always found them a headache.
I'm about to upgrade to a more mobile setup tho, Macbook w.Logic &
plenty of plug ins tho, I tried logic recently and I really like it. But I'll
tell you the same shit I tell everyone equipment ain’t important, it's the
person using it.
12)
How was it working with Ty Nitty of Infamous Mobb?
My homie emailed him some of my stuff in '09, so it was an internet
thing, through someone else. So don't really have a proper working experience,
salute to Ty Nitty tho.
13)
It must be an honor working on the Prodigy’s H.N.I.C 3
album?
Yeh it was great, anyone that knows me, knows how big of a Mobb Deep fan
I am. So first time going to Infamous studios was dope, it was very spur of the
moment, I bumped into my homie Lord Nez at an even in Prospect Park in
Brooklyn, and next thing you know we ended up catching a ride from there to the
studio.
But yeh most people in there already knew my work, so you could imagine
my vibe was dope, was amped up especially when P said he had been working out
to the 'Perception' record I did for Tony Yayo.
We recorded P's part for 'Dead Man's Shoes' & 'Skull & Bones' in
those first few sessions, it was an honor to be part of 'Black Cocaine EP'
also, and I’ll definitely be doing more work with Prodigy.
14)
How was it like working with Tony Yayo and Lloyd
Banks?
It's dope, Yayo is a cool brudda, knows how to have a laugh, he sounds
good on them grimy beats too. I got to give him and Strike Sinatra a lot of
credit for helping open doors with people and getting my name around in their
circle, making some of this networking possible. Even the Mobb situation.
I was actually sending Yayo music for about 2 years before my work on
GPG3. Him and Danny Brown recorded a couple demos over my joints when they were
doing Hawaiian Snow, one of which became 'D*ck Suck' off 'the Hybrid'
And as for Banks, I'm a huge fan of his music, so working with him has
been dope too. All the joints you heard so far with Banks are from the first
batch I dropped off at his crib last summer! LOL. These last 2 tapes he did
were like albums, so that's wicked thing to be a part of, I'm hoping we can
work on something for his next album too. He's one of my favorite artists of
right now too.
15)
Do you think the Internet (MP3) has lost the
creativity of working with artists?
Yes and No, not everyone has made the transition to making their music
by sending mp3s back and forth, but in the cases where people do, it is
definitely less fun creatively. I think the outcome aint always as good as it would be in the studio
vibing, but of course, it’s not always possible to be in the same studio when
you've got deadlines & geographical locations to bear in mind.
I try to stay away from sending mp3 beats to people I don't have a
working relationship with already unless it's tagged catalogues, the main
reason being that you don't have that personal touch working like that. And
business wise it means that it's easier for people to take advantage of you,
not pay you, jacking beats, use beats without telling you they've done so. I
mean I'll save you all the scenarios but you can imagine all the annoying shit
that could happen.
The other thing is I really ain’t trying to be stigmatized as the dude
who’s some sort of beat factory that people can take advantage of, to me making
good tracks is way more important than making 79000 beats a day. I'd rather
make a couple top notch beats a week & have those turn into dope songs on
dope projects that I want to work on!
But of course there are some opportunities that you just have to jump at
and if you're not in the same city or country, that's the only way you can make
the connection immediately.
16)
When you email beats to artists do you worry about
someone jacking your beats and trying to take credit for it?
In terms of catalogs, everything is usually tagged, so people wouldn’t
be able to vocal beats like that. Like I said I don't usually email beats really, because I have bad
experiences with ppl recording on the same beats and lack of communication.
Next thing you know someone doesn't tell you that they want a beat and that
fucks up a paid placement on a record. When people meet u in person, you gain
respect a lot more, and you don't leave yourself vulnerable too
I try to go to the studio to play people beats, even if I ain’t
physically producing a record, just playing beats for them and dropping them
off, I prefer the vibe, that’s how the Prodigy/Mobb shit, the Lloyd Banks shit,
the Fred the Godson ish was done. Also you get less confusion about what
material they have, I'm all about creating working relationships with people;
you get better results that way.
17)
Do you see yourself in a role beyond production?
In terms of doing stuff outside of production, I have a few bits
I'm working on, I have an app I'm working on with a headphone company called
Bass Buds. As well as drum kits and production tools, which are kits that producers
can cop, some of which are already for sale on www.hiphopdrumsamples.com. I'm working within songwriting also. I'm going to be consecutively producing a couple projects, but I won’t
mention what yet, since they’re still in early days. And also I'm trying to get
more into the songwriting side.
18)
How important is to know the business side of the
music?
Very important if it's your career or if you're trying to make it your
job. But its hard work finding out what you’re entitled to, since the general
rule of thumb to the industry is 'the game is to be sold, not told'. So unless
you did a course on music law & business it's all a learning curve, I'm
grateful that I got a good lawyer and am in the process of signing a publishing
deal.
19)
Do producers go through the same obstacles as hip hop
artists?
I think in a lot of ways freelance music producers are the most shat on
elements in the music industry, especially in hip hop. We rely on the songs we
produce to generate our income, we don't have a huge amount of options as far
as revenue streams.
Generally speaking a lot of mixtape work is unpaid, and even though
those releases are available for free online, an artist would be able to tour
off the tape; they might even press up copies to sell on tour. This is really
why I only work on mixtape material with people where I know it's either paid
or it's a good look and will help the chances of me getting on their album.
On the flipside when it comes to placements, we often have to fight for
our credit, money and so forth, but yeh like I said though I'm glad I have a
good lawyer & I’m glad I've got decent working relationships with people.
And I'm glad that I know what I'm worth and what I'm entitled to.
20)
What artists would you like to work with in the
future?
There's a lot of people I'd love to work with: Kendrick Lamar/the whole
TDE, 50 Cent, Freddie Gibbs, Rick Ross, Rittz, Busta Rhymes, Nas, Kanye, Snoop,
Jay, BJ the Chicago Kid, Asap Rocky,
Killa Kyleon.
21)
You got an instrumental album out, are we going to see
more in the works?
'Raw & Uncut' was more of a compilation of instrumentals to joints I
produced for various artists, not an official album as such really, because I
didn't really push it like that. Heads can definitely expect a second volume of
'Raw & Uncut' tho, I'll be doing other instrumental compilations in that
vein also. My aim is to release most of the instrumental versions to joints I
produced for people via those collections. I haven't got plans to do an instrumental album at this point, but if I
did do a proper Instrumental album I'd want to go in a different direction. Do
something musically progressive, that isn't focused around beats for rappers,
if you get what I mean.
22)
How about a Beat Butcha production album in the works?
Yeah I will probably do that eventually, but I'm focused more on
building the brand a lil more via placements with big stateside artists &
stacking money, so that whatever I do will have the reach i need it to have.
I will be doing some joint projects, I won’t mention exactly with who
tho because it's early stages, as well. Like I mentioned earlier, I enjoy being
in the studio with artists and actually working with artists, actually
producing records for people. The outcome is mostly a lot better, when you work
like that; I'm trying to put more emphasis on me being a producer, rather than
a beat-maker. Because tracks where I had that kind of input are actually some
of the best received joints I've done (Mr Probz 'Hate you').
23)
Any advice for the producers on the come up!
You gotta work hard on ya craft and work hard on networking, do not
neglect the push because you can have the illest beats but if no one hears
them, what’s the point? There’s always space for dope music, made with love,
don't try to be a producer with the idea of making a quick buck in mind because
there is no quick buck in music.
And lastly don't rely on anyone to hook you up with shit, get out there,
meet people and go for self that will attract more people to help you.
24)
What’s next for Beat Butcha in 2012?
Sheeeet, more music, more progression, more work, and I'm gonna keep
working with the bredders I've been working with. Release-wise next things are 'State of Hip Hop VS Xzibit' off Xzibit's
forthcoming album 'Napalm'. I have 4 joints on Sean Price (Ruck of Heltah
Skeltah)'s anticipated album 'Mic Tyson'. I got a bunch of tracks Mr Probz's
debut release; he's set to do a lot of big shit!! Me & Curren$y got a jawn
you can expect to hear before the end of the year, also UK legend Klashnekoff
bout to drop a tape with Whookid, I got a banger on there.
Other than that, you can expect more work with the names I been doing
stuff with,
I also have 2 new sound-kits coming soon for retail, for all the
producers out there to beef their beats up.
25)
Where headz can get your music?
Producers, I know you always need sounds & finding dope drums is one
of the hardest things, well I've got 2 drumkits available, that will help you
beef your beats up. Guaranteed that with these bad boys MC's will be copping
your beats in no time.
Check
em out here:
http://tinyurl.com/butcha-chicken-drums
&
http://tinyurl.com/butcha-lamb-chops-drums
http://tinyurl.com/butcha-chicken-drums
&
http://tinyurl.com/butcha-lamb-chops-drums
