Beatmakers are under-rated & don't think they get the recognition they really should; It's more of an unspoken/underground thing where the people who really wanna know do. They make a beat & let the rappers of the group do the rest and they just kick it in the shadows.
Beats I believe can easily be released as a single (not commercial looped 4 bars stuff), because there's just as much (if not more) elements to beatmaking then MC'in & it's proven a lot beats are way better without an emcee.
So when I went to the International (but not really) beatmaking conference last month in a secret shack in the Uruweras, I caught up with Haz & Ta-Ku Beats. Haz living & beatmaking in NZ & Ta-Ku in AU with NZ roots. So I asked them about the beats & how much work is involved. Check it.
1. Sup bros, since beatmakers are behind the music; where are you's from, is beatmakin fulltime & what lead you to the beat rather than rhyme?
HAZ: Im from Auckland (southside baby) haha..yep I'm a fulltime beatmaker/producer. I started messing with beats more once I got confident with sampling old records. I used to have a job like every other person out there, bought me a PC & chucked my day job in to pursue music. I was rhyming at the time, but that slowly changed az my beats kept getting better & better az I progressed. I guess I had no balance with the rhymes & beats back then & to me I thought my rhymes were wack anyways. My beats had more feelings then my rhymes lol.
TA-KU: All my fam (pops side) from bay of plenty, whakatane & alot of my musical background comes from back home. Soul records, jams @ re-unions and all that jazz. I work fulltime as a health insurance consultant (stink buzzzz) but when I get a chance I'm banging beats till the early morn. Always love creating music - manipulating samples into a whole new sound, but ive never had success transferring creativity to paper - my raps are painfully wack! I keep them files hidden for my wedding day bahaha
2. Is it (beatmaking) always somethin you aimed to make money off or did it just slowly happen?
HAZ: It just happened az more & more MC's were feeling my production. I always knew that NZ was a small market & there's not enough money to be made here threw CD sales, but if you can get paid off your work, to me its just a like a daily job.
TA-KU: It slowly happened as my beats made its way into different circles. Making a bit more of a name for myself. Through myspace you always get artists hollering for beats. Askin for a price. Alot of artists can hear if quality time was put into a beat and have no probs paying some coin.
3. Can you let everyone know the value of a beat & how much work it involves? Cause I know people ask and expect it for free, or get offended and think "what a stink dude" cause it's not.
HAZ: Making beats aint easy, its time consuming, from digging for records, finding the right loop, chops, rearranging & sequencing everything together, shit can make some go crazy lol.Value, it depends how long its takes for me to work the beat, the more I work on a beat the more valuable (to me) so the prices tend to range. I used to give away my beats for free. At first, it was all good ya know, but then I saw others were getting paid for beats so I did the same. You can give away so many free beats before your fingers start hurting from all the hard work.people need to know that for some of us this is our bread & butter. We still do this shit for the love but why not get paid at the same time? Im over people dogging me for not giving them beats or labeling me az a money hungry mofo lol. If you really want the beat, pay for it.
TA-KU: At the end of the day if you can get paid for what you love doing then its a bonus. Alot of people do get put off if you label your beats with a price, but hey I can respect that. Making beats can be time consuming, alot of beatmakers are perfectionists aswell. Searching for that right sample, kick or snare. Flippin the sample just right. Adding bass. Adding synth. Chorus. Bridge. Changeups. I take alot of pride in my beats and see it as a representation of me. So they are of great value to me personally. It only seems natural to charge for a beat. It fuels the art aswell. The money I recieve goes straight back into more records, equipment & gear. I do have a few exceptions - hooking up beats with artists that are homies or well known who can help promote my music to the world.
4. Do you have a set process you have when attempting a beat & what do you think about the local beats from NZ & AU compared to the world
HAZ: I used to make beats the same way everytime, that slowly changed once I started messing with more different soundz/samples. As a local beat maker I love the scene at the mo', theres so many dope cats making beats in our lil City. NZ & AU beat makers,we have our own style & I like it, keeps us just as up there with the world in our own way.
TA-KU: When I first started. making beats had the same process. once I had a handle of that I started experimenting more and more. Listening to all genres of music can really help attacking music from different angles. NZ & AU beat makers are right up there man. Altho we may be musically isolated here in Perth or NZ we all feed off eachothers enthusiasm and styles. There are some world class beatmakers in both Perth & Auckland. ;). the world may not know that yet but...they will soon enough. haha!
5. So if an emcee asked you to make them a beat, would you listen to their flow etc to fit them? Can you tell us your set up that makes this ill shit?
HAZ: Definitly gotta listen to their flow & some of their content they rhyme bout, just makes it easier for me to work round their style etc. I like the beat to compliment the rhymes or vice versa. I gotta basic setup, a laptop, 8channel mixer (for recording), running FruityLoops 9 XXL & Nuendo 3. A turntable & few stacks of records & some good headphones. I've prolly missed out a few bits but this is my everyday toys, it's all I need really lol.
TA-KU: Yeah bro I would definitley see what style they have, what steez they rhyme over but also ask them what vibe they want the track to be, then get busy. Alot of the time I give the emcee a variety of beats to choose from. My set up is simple. Fruity Loops, Cool Edit Pro, Soft Synths. All done on the PC. Record & chop up the records in cool edit and chuck into Fruity and get busy. easy as! (easy for you too say Reggie)
That's a wrap. Don't need to add anything just the some examples of your art that you've created. Cop their work below homies & jump into the beats!
Ta-Ku Beats - Taku Beatape 2010
If you don't already know these two beatmakers, wake up, get familiar & start diggin for the gold these two create & bury underground. 6 beat under. That far underground. Keep an ear out for sure. Shot for the interview bros, respect. Time to hit Mangere Fried Chicken! lol
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