The 4 Producers That Made Jvck Rxp

I feel like when every producer starts making music they emulate artist /producers they already love.  Well, at least I did. So I just want to take some time out and pay homage to the ones that shaped me.

DJ U-Neek

The first tape I remember asking my mom to buy me was "E. 1999 Eternal" by Bone Thugs n Harmony. Bone was my first favorite group besides Kris Kross. It wasn't hard getting my mom to buy the tape for me because she loved them too. My Aunt lived in Cleveland and everytime she would come down to Dayton she brought new music. I can remember her playing "Faces of Death" by B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e. Then coming back a year later playing "Creepin on ah Come Up" by Bone Thugs n Harmony (I'm soooo glad they changed their name). I can remember my Aunt telling us they got a record deal with Eazy-E and how big they were about to become. Over the next year they definetly blew up. And when "1st of tha Month" came out I was super geeked. The album "E. 1999 Eternal" came out about a month later and it was over. I was hooked. I'm saying all this to say DJ U-Neek produced every song on "E. 1999 Eternal" and that's still one of my favorite albums today. He also produced every song on their follow up double album "The Art of War". Along with several other tracks on other group and solo Bone projects. I've always been a music nerd so even as a little kid I would read the linear notes of albums and that's how i found out about DJ U-Neek. The main thing that really stands out about his production style imo is just how melodic and beautiful it is while still being so dark and errie. As a kid listening to his music I didnt know shit about sampling but once i got older and started doing my own beats, going back and listening to DJ U-Neek was crazy. The way he would flip samples is so dope. If you need any proof just listen to Anita Baker "I Just Wanna Be Your Girl".

Notable Tracks

⦁ "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" - Bone Thugs-n-Harmony

⦁ "1st of tha Month" - Bone Thugs-n-Harmony

⦁ "Tha Crossroads" - Bone Thugs-n-Harmony

Kanye West

I'm a huge Kanye fan period. But I was a fan of his beats before I ever heard him spit a bar. Like I said before I always read linear notes so the first time I recall seeing Kanye West name was in 1998. He produced "Turn It Out" by Jermaine Dupri ft. Nas. After that it was "My Life" by Foxy Brown. Then "The Truth" by Beanie Sigel. And after I heard "This Can't Be Life" by Jay-Z ft. Beanie Sigel & Scarface I had to figure out wtf Kain (Kanye) West was. The way he sped up samples had me mesmerized but at this point in time I wasnt making beats yet. 2001s "Blueprint" by Jay-Z and another album I'm going to name later truly inspried me to want to learn how to produce. Although I love Kanye's use of samples and how he manipulates them that's not my biggest takeaway from him. I love his drums. Mainly the way he uses congos, bongos and other percussive instruments. If you need an example listen to "Dreams" by The Game.

Notable Tracks

⦁ "Through the Wire" - Kanye West

⦁ "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)"  - Jay-Z

⦁ "You Don't Know My Name" - Alicia Keys

Tha Heatmakerz

Cam'ron is my second favorite rapper of all time. My mom introduced me to his single "Horse & Carriage" in 1998. And we had his debut album "Confessions of Fire" the same year. Naturally, with me being a Cam'ron fan I loved The Diplomats as well. The Diplomats shaped who i became through my preteen and teenage years. I was obsessed with their fashion, lingo, and clever wordplay they used in their music. I would spend hours of my day downloading their mixtape tracks from Kazaa. I loved their raps but more importantly i loved the beats. The 2002 Diplomats Vol. 1 mixtape had a song named "Come Home With Me" which was later on Camron's album "Come Home With Me" that really sparked my interest in making beats. Around, that time I used to rap in AOL chatrooms (LOL) and this guy named "Jmjsmoke" from Indiana taught me about Acid Pro 4. Acid Pro was a Sony DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) where you could record songs and make beats. I had no idea how to do any of that shit. I was 12 years old and there was no such thing as Youtube. Eventually, I learned how to record songs in Acid Pro. About a month later my cousin Cory introduced me to Fruity Loops 3. I took the lessons I taught myself about recording in Acid and the tips he gave me about Fruity Loops and instantly tried to make Heatmaker type beats. I tried to replicate their sound with my own twist for the first 5 years of me making beats. If you haven't figured out by now, I love samples to death. Especially the sped up chipmunk sounding shit. But with Tha Heatmakerz its not just the way they used samples. Its the crazy basslines and hard hitting drums they put over them. The perfect example of this is "More Gangsta Music" By. Cam'ron ft. Juelz Santana.

Notable Tracks

⦁ "Dipset Anthem" - The Diplomats

⦁ "Killa Cam" - Cam'ron

⦁ "Tha Mobb" - Lil Wayne

D Rich

The three producers I mentioned earlier I kind of like them for the same reasons. Although they're pretty different I can hear something similar in them. Now, D Rich on the other hand...Totally different. He isn't the first producer from the south that ever caught my ear. I love Mannie Fresh, Organized Noize, Lil Jon, Shawty Redd, DJ Toomp, Beats By The Pound, Drumma Boy, and Zaytoven just to name a few. The first time I ever heard D Rich was on the Young Jeezy song "Who Dat". Which he co-produced with Shawty Redd. Im a big fan of beats like that with crazy brass, synths, double time hi hats, and fire 808 drum patterns. Around the time D Rich was putting out most of his music that inspired me , I wasnt making beats. From 2009 to 2013 I was barely making beats. I still used to rap and I would pick a lot of "808/trap" heavy beats though. In 2013 I got all new equipment and once i got back in the groove I tried to use different techniques and D Rich influence some of them. Something I still struggle with to this day as a producer is over complicating arrangements and adding too many sounds. That's something he really helped me scale back on. Simplicity is very key. You don't need a million sounds and effects to make a song complete.

Notable Tracks

⦁ "G Walk" - Soulja Boy Ft. Lil Jon

⦁ "SupaFreak" - Young Jeezy Ft. 2 Chainz

⦁ "Power Of That P" - Future Ft. Rocko