What people it is AK to the T here to hit you up with some dope production tips so let’s get straight to it.
Stereo Flipping When Sampling Older Tracks
If you listen to a lot of records or songs from the past on a stereo speaker set up you will notice that in some cases they will some very drastic panning. For example a lot of “Doors” tracks have the vocals panned hard one way and the instrumentation panned the other. Well in almost all DAW or audio processing and recording software programs you can Stereo Flip the left signal to both sides eliminating the right, or the opposite way and making full stereo track out of one side (left or right) of the audio file. I use Cubase to do this myself, but any of the top DAWs will have this ability. You will normally just need to select the chunk of audio you wish to do this to the select “audio processing” were it is located in you recording software This can totally change a sample library from the 60s and 70s. I normally pan my samples hard left then hard right to see what the possibilities are if you need an example to start with use The Doors “People Are Strange” , The vocals are all on the Right and the instrumentation is all on the left ,,You can also flip a stereo track into two mono tracks. I love doing this highly recommended…
Only phoenixhiphop.net can bring you the World Premiere of Mav feat Droc ( Ying Yang Twins), KDolla, And Kid Cardinal Prod by Akt Aktion. Check this song on Mav “Independent hustlin” album available on Urbanmediabuzz.com today for 9.99.
The wait is over as Mav’s album “Independent Hustlin” is now available online. Mav has been holding it down for the Arizona hip hop scene since 2005, which is when he released his first album “Micadvancement” That same year, he joined Latino super group Sol camp. From 2005-2010 he sold over 50k records,was on MTV, the local news, magazine covers, had over 30 songs played on the radio, released 10 mixtapes, toured with top rappers in the game such as Ludacris, Wu-Tang, and Pitbull. He denied record deals, owns several successful hip hop sites, filmed several videos, and just overall hustled. This hustle is even evident in his album cover wich consists of the mosiac artwork of all his mixtapes/albums.
Five years later and Mav has finally prepared his Gigantic Sophmore release “Independent hustlin”. Mav decided that, on this album he was going to go all in. He reached out to Arizonas hottest producers, and some of the games best musicians. For his production he went to Diaz Millenia, Deztined, Chingo bling, Akt Aktion, 21 the producer, RythmIq, Deuce wilde, and more. He is big on working with Arizona talent, so he also recruited artists such as Chino D, B staks, Kid Cardinal, Gmoe, Marques Elliott, and more.
These producers and AZ artists all helped Mav create a southwest sound for the album. In terms of artists features, Mav wanted to bring this sound to different regions, so he worked with artists such as Chingo bling, D-roc(ying yang twins), Noah Jones, Juice, Lmno, and more. These were all different elements he wanted so he could forge the new Southwest sound.
Mav has relased 2 big singles this year called “Til the sunrise” and “Me against the world” He plans to release several more in 2010. Matter of fact, he plans to release 7 singles and drop 4 videos in the next 5-6 months. Mav will definitely be hitting the streets hard with this album the whole year and he will have an official store/itunes/release party in May. Stay tuned…
Make sure you visit urbanmediabuzz.com today to purchase your copy of “Independent Hustlin”
here is the tracklisting for the album
Mav album
1 Intro prod by diaz millenia
2 Cry prod by diaz millenia
3 Til the sunrise feat juice prod by 21 the producer
4 Independent hustling feat noah jones prod by deztined
5 Southwest g feat Mz Karamel prod by 21 the producer
6 Me against the world feat gmoe produced by aktion beats
7 Next level feat marques Elliott prod by deuce wilde
8 Fly as us feat gmoe, lucky luciano prod by deztined
9 The boogie feat Kdolla, D Rocc, Kid Cardinal prod by aktion beats
10 Work it feat 21 the producer prod by 21 the producer
11 Hold on feat deztined prod by deztined
12 Rainy dayz prod by diaz millenia
13 American dreamin prod by diaz millenia
14 Skit
15 Windows rolled down prod by deuce wilde
16 In it to win it feat chino d, lmno prod by diaz millenia scratches by LD
17 That’s that ish feat aktion prod by aktion beats
18 West coast swagger feat deztined prod by deztined
19 Muevelo feat b staks prod by aktion beats
20 All I Have feat chingo bling prod by chingo bling
21 Don’t want your deal feat lv prod by rythmiq
22 Hiphop in the park prod by lukeflytalker
23 Will I stay prod by diaz millennia
AKT Aktion put’s together a street banger with west coast legends MC Eiht and West Coast KAM. With spins on Radio in Phoenix and the use of the song on MC Eiht’s Mixtape “Stars and Straps” and it’s appearance on multiple other mixtapes put out in the Southwest and West Coast it has a good buzz behind it. You can peep the track right now on AKT Aktion’s MySpace Click Here.
The moment of truth is here for 50 Cent. He got a favorable review in AllHipHop’s review section, but all eyes are on the SoundScan right now.
The Top 10 doesn’t have a lot of Hip-Hop on it but we do have a new entry.Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson enters the charts at in the fouth slot with his latest album Before I Self Destruct.The
queens MC managed to sell 156,000 copies of his fourth disc which, to date, is
the lowest sales the rapper has produced.
The reviews for the album have been mixed but I will say that the movie
that comes with it is not bad.In fact
it’s pretty good.50 has already come
forward and said that the album leaked from an international plant which is not
hard to believe.The album was
everywhere…but is that the reason for the low sales?What do ya’ll think? Nevertheless, this is a hater’s wet dream! The next question is how does an MC that has
always spent a lot of time focusing on numbers (especially the numbers of
rappers he doesn’t like) deal with the fact that his latest album hasn’t put up
good numbers.I hope its go back to the
studio (hungry) and put out another album. We’ll see.
Next
up are the Black Eyed Peas who sell 32,000 copies of The E.N.D and grab the 27thThey are followed by Jay-Z and his eleventh
studio album The Blueprint 3.The disc takes the 32nd spot
selling 29,000 copies. spot.
That’s
it for the week so onto the new albums.
Dropping
This Week
First up
this week is Birdman.Now you know that
he’s not the best rapper.You know
it.I know it.Hell, he knows it.He does, however, know how to put together an
album with a lot of good rappers.His
new album Pricele$$ features Drake,
Lil Wayne, Gudda Gudda, T-Pain, Bun-B, Mack Maine, Gucci Mayne, Flo Rida, Rick
Ross, Lil Kim, and Nikki Minaj.Some of those
guests are on the bonus edition of the cd so look out for that one.Hey, he got Nikki and Kim on a song together…I
wonder what that song will be about?
This is pretty much a compilation album so if you like Young Money you’ll
probably want to check this one out.
The next “artist” has (somehow)
become a controversial figure in Hip Hop. Every time he says something it’s sure to get a lot of commentary in
chat rooms, message boards, barber shops, beauty salons, and dorm rooms across
the country.That’s right. The one and only dangerous MC. Bill Cosby.Ok, he’s not an MC…but
he is coming out with an album.Bill Cosby
Presents the Cosnarati: State of Emergency
is the comedian/activist’s latest venture to reach the Hip Hop community.It features three rappers, Jace the Great, Brother Hahz and Supa Nova Slom,
with production by Ced-Gee of the Ultramagnetic MC’s and William
Patterson.You might not know Patterson
but you know his music.The producer had
done work on everything from the Cosby show to albums by Alicia Keys and LL
Cool J.I respect what Cosby is trying
to do but I do know one thing – The music better be good.Positive…negative…in between…no one listens
unless it’s good.People listen to Talib
Kweli and 50 Cent for one reason – they like the music.If the music is not good the point will never
get across.We’ll see if Bill gets his
point out.
The Boot
Camp Clik is releasing is releasing Triple
Threat which is essentially a collection of the three discs: Sean Price’s Monkey Barz, 9th Wonder &
Buckshot’s Chemistry, and Smif N
Wessun’s Reloaded.All three of the albums have received some
decent reviews and have been out for awhile.
If you haven’t had a chance to listen to any of them then now’s your
chance because all three are being sold for the price of one.
Pittsburgh
MC Wiz Khalifa has left Warner Bros. and is now releasing his second album Deal or No Deal.The album only has a few features so for the
most part it’s an “all Khalifa” affair.Fans
of his first album Show and Prove
should be looking out for this one.
Who owns Death
Row Records now?Seems like every week
they are changing owners.Either way the
label is putting out a four disc box set that features artists from the label’s
beginning, like Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, to its most recent, including Crooked I
and Petey Pablo. (Ya’ll forgot Petey Pablo was on Tha Row, huh?).The set also has a DVD as well as unreleased
material from Death Row artists.
That’s it
for this week.Pick up and album or
two—-you know what?Pick up four.An album or four.Get someone up on these charts.
“Rappers cross-over. They dead.” Rakim returns to testify that he is a man alive with work to do on The Seventh Seal, his new album released on his own Ra Records label. Always a man of uncompromising vision, non-believers are presented with Ra’s modern Hip-Hop gospel soaked in Godspeak. Sometimes obscure but never unobtainable, this new disc was easy to find at the Church of Best Buy for a ten dollar tithe.
Forty seconds into the first track “How to Emcee” Rakim’s delivery and presence emerge as that of brand new emcee freshly delighted with word play and tightly crafted rhyme schemes. What should be surprising coming from a pioneer decades deep in this music is no surprise from Rakim, who is undoubtedly among the finest emcees ever to grace the booth and a master of original re-invention. He is hella people’s favorite for a reason.
Production is provided by a current cast including Needlz, Jake One, and Nick Wiz. It is well known that Rakim is selective when it comes to records, a pivotal point that scuttled an Aftermath project with Dr. Dre. Perhaps lesser known is Rakim’s fearlessness on the boards, having programed drums and even done scratching on some of his earliest classics. His taste and savvy are apparent here, as the beats are all bangers any emcee would give his left teste to rhyme on.
Rakim attacks each track with a variety of lyrical approaches which build upon his time tested methods, yet continue to be forward thinking. Flashback: Some of Rakim’s seminal recordings were done in a studio where MC Shan of the legendary Juice Crew has said he was present and actually clowning on the young upstart’s unheard of delivery. As a teenager, Rakim saw the path of the music clearly and brought Hip-Hop into a new future made in his own image. This new album will be debated and much of it is probably impenetrable to many music critics who will encounter it. The legacy remains intact.
The overall effect of this varied effort delivers a mixed result. “Man Above” could sit comfortably within a contemporary Christian Gospel play list. Here it contrasts against a heaping helping of hustle rap, juxtaposed on the record with “Documentary of a Gangsta” where Rakim flexes secular street rap skills with a sinister tone.
For an album with no curse words, it is perhaps blasphemous to shout out loud that the seventh track is effing incredible. Good Lord, it is that. When “Holy are You” first makes the speakers sparkle, Rakim’s decade of near silence melts away completely as he shines his brightest. This song smokes anything else out so far this year, it is classic Ra not afraid to step in the booth, be the best ever, and speak to forever for four minutes. That it seems over too soon simply underscores the strong replay value of much of Rakim’s formidable catalog. Rewind and repeat as necessary, until your mind is blown. Sequencing this song as track seven is an elegant touch of class from this visionary pioneer who manifests greatness. He knows exactly what he is doing with this record.
Vocally, Rakim stands on his own for the majority of the album. Of the few features the most magic is found on “Message in the Song” where his daughter Destiny Griffin sings while Rakim weaves words over a beat that oozes NYC ambiance. “Y’all know what my purpose is. I spit verses to lift curses off my dead president worshipers. Back where the surface is, gangsters and murderers. Making money made us merciless.”
Hooks have never been a crucial part of the God Emcee’s formula which continues to rely on intricate layers of meaning stretched artfully across bars upon bars of masterful wordplay. Golden Age purists looking for Rakim rhyming over straight knocking beats with scratching on the hooks will find little of that here. However, when it does happen on this album it is fantastic. Nestled toward the album’s close is the magnificent “Still in Love” which belongs among Rakim’s finest love letters to Hip-Hop, the microphone is clearly still calling its favorite fiend.
There are few American artists who defy definition as Rakim does. He is a man of many mysteries, like, “Who is God?” or “How does Gwen Stephani keep showing up on Hip-Hop records?”
The Seventh Seal moves above and beyond where Rakim’s last album The Master left off. Though at times it falls short of the high bar set by Paid in Full, its got some scorchers which will be Hip-Hop high points for 2009 and suggests that next year’s album, already in the works, will be promising. The God Emcee Rakim Allah remains in fine form with soul food for thought as Earth takes its next trip around the Sun.
“I see though the eyes of the prophets, King Tutankhamens, and Martins and Malcolms, Elijah Mohommads, wise and with knowledge. Paid in Full ain’t just the size of the pockets, this rise to the top is Ra’s economics. I show you that time is more valuable then them diamonds in your watches. You grind for the block, you die for them dollars. What’s worth more to you, your life or your gwop is?”
It’s been 10 years since Hip-Hop’s favorite antagonist unofficially released Power of the Dollar, the introductory EP which sparked controversy with “How to Rob,” a lyrical thrill-ride that jacked the music industry elite of the day. In those 10 years, 50 Cent has had a career that is the stuff of legends. By now, you should know the story by heart, orphaned early in life, shot nine times; he became a mixtape king and then shook up the world by signing with Dr. Dre and Eminem. Music, movies, books, clothing, a fragrance, even a $100 million come-up with Vitamin Water, the G-Unit General re-wrote the Hip-Hop blueprint all the while still being the rapper you love to hate.
With the release of Get Rich or Die Trying in 2003, 50 Cent charmed audiences worldwide with a flow all his own, his storytelling skills and braggadocio were unrivaled, he returned two years later with The Massacre, the deluxe version of which launched his love affair with short videos; he made one for every song on the album. But, it was 2007’s, Curtis, that marked a turning point, some would say a decline, for Fif, losing his album sales challenge to Kanye West’s Graduation put a **** in his armor, leaving him in a position where he has been before, poised for a comeback and ready to prove his detractors wrong. With Before I Self Destruct, that is exactly what he does.
From the intro, 50 Cent sets the stage for a darker and more ominous album. He waxes nostalgic on “Then Days Went By,” reminiscing on his pre-rap days, (Keep f**king with me you gon’ turn me back to Boo-Boo/have me casing out your crib/tryin’ to pop your f**king noodle). But it’s on one of the strongest tracks on the album, “Death to My Enemies”, produced by Dr. Dre and Mark Batson, where he comes closest to the aggressive and creative threatening that made him a superstar, (I’m like Damien n***a/when I start getting loose on you/closest thing to Lucifier/make you think you got a noose on you/I make it hard to breathe/I come where you hustle, air it out/make it hard to eat.)
50 plays to his many female fans on “Baby By Me” featuring Neyo, sampling himself on the hook, he promises that conceiving a child with him will make a lucky girl a millionaire, and then he turns around and releases his anger on the one woman who actually did have a baby by him. His ex-girlfriend, Shaniqua Tompkins feels the wrath on “Do You Think About Me.” (That’s why my ex is my ex/you don’t wanna be her/she used to have the Beemer/now she on the sneaker/I had her eating lobster/now she eating pizza). The song is a warning for groupies worldwide and yet still manages to pull off charisma and ghetto romance.
On “Psycho”, 50 and Eminem rekindle their familiar chemistry and the song is all that it would be expected to be, energetic and just a little psycho. 50 and Em fire warning shots at their respective enemies, all powered by a good, yet predictable Dre beat.
With only three guest appearances on the album, Neyo, Eminem, and R. Kelly on “Could’ve Been You”, 50 puts himself and his skill in the foreground. Songs like “Crime Wave”, “Get It Hot”, and “Ok, You’re Right” are classic 50 Cent. He rides the tracks with the lyrical dexterity of a gymnast. Like most G-Unit affiliated albums, many of the producers on the album are lesser-known, making their work more important than their discographies. Dr. Dre has three tracks on BISD, Havoc, Rockwilder and Polow da Don each have one on the 16 track album, but skills on the boards and compatibility play a major role.
Not a perfect album, Before I Self Destruct, lags a bit in spots, but makes up for it in sheer effort, the album is a great offering from 50 Cent sure to quiet his naysayers… for now. Sorry, haters, but there will be no destruction here, unless it’s the enemies of Curtis Jackson.
Let’s
see here. Top ten for the week. There….is…no…Hip-Hop…in…the…top…ten.
Not one album. The highest rated album is Jay-Z’s Blueprint
3 which is ranked at the 13th position. Sean Carter
manages to move another 36,000 copies.
That’s
followed by The Black Eyed Peas and their chart topping album The E.N.D.
The group moves another 26,000 copies.
Well….That
was depressing. Onto dropping…
Dropping this Week
That
charts this week were dismal. Is that really news? The charts
have been dismal for the last few weeks (months). Maybe somebody
below will make it into the top ten for next week. I’d say that
the best bet for an artist coming anywhere close to the top ten for
next week is Wale. We’ll see…
First
up, Olubawale Victor Folarin, also known as Wale, drops his debut album
Attention Deficit. There has been some decent music coming
out of D.C. for the last couple of years on account of his the three
successful mixtapes, 100 Miles,
The Mixtape About Nothing, and Back To The Feature. Wale’s
debut features Bun B, Chrisette Michelle, K’naan, J.Cole, Gucci Mane, Jazmine
Sullivan, Pharrell, Melanie Fiona, and Lady Gaga with production by
Cool & Dre, Mark Ronson, The Neptunes, Best Kept Secret, and Dj
Green Lantern. Wale’s album sprung a leak last week so I know
a lot of you have it, but the good news is the disc has been getting
some pretty favorable reviews out there. This one shouldn’t
disappoint so, if you get a chance, go pick it up.
Next
up is MF Doom with his latest album Unexpected Guest. This
is archived material of MF Doom and guests including Talib Kweli, J.
Dilla, Masta Killa, John Robinson, and Sean Price. It’s older
material but if you’re a fan of MF Doom, or want to hear what he’s
all about, you should probably pick this one up.
DJ
Drama and Wyclef Jean join forces to bring us the next album From
The Hut, To The Projects, To The Mansion. The album is pretty
much all Wyclef with appearances from Lil Kim and….Cyndi Lauper.
Hey, you never know…the Lauper song might surprise you.
About
five years ago Babygrande Records released a compilation album of
The Wu Tang Clan featuring various other Hip Hop artists. The
first album, Wu-Tang Meet The Indie Culture,
Vol 1, was supposed to “introduce hip-hop fans in general, and
specifically, the famously large, loyal and diverse fan-base of the
Wu-Tang to the burgeoning world of underground hip-hop.” All
I know is there was a collaboration on that volume between RZA and MF
Doom that that needs to be heard by…well, everybody. Now Frank
Radio and iHipHop Distribution seek to do it again with Wu-Tang Meet
The Indie Culture, Vol 2. This time there is a little twist
with the goal of this album being “to expose another untapped resource
of underground talent, skill and artistry to this very same avid and
intrepid fan-base.” It’s Wu-Tang with dubstep or electronic
music. Sounds like it will be interesting.
Last
but not least is Philly Rapper Freeway. The former Roc-A-Fella
MC returns with his new album Streetz Is Mine. This one
came out of the blue so I don’t know if it’s real or not but it
does feature Young Chris and Beanie Sigel. Someone out there give
it a shot and let the rest of us know.
The next “artist” has (somehow)
