Now picture this

ARTICLE by Supa Sam

Now picture this. An Akai MPC sitting on a desk next a Triton, Motif, or a Fantom keyboard. Accompanying these items is a Mac or PC loaded with Protools, Reasons, Logic, Cubase, Fruity Loops, or any other of the fine music programs that technology has to offer. Then, you add the turntable, CD player and mixer for your sampling and you’re just about set. With some of these musical weapons you are know ready to become the next Dr.Dre or Kanye West …… not. But many aspiring producers have this ideology. Becoming a producer takes much more than having the equipment or being able to speed up records to sound like the Chipmunks. Producing hip-hop music is an art, craft, and skill that requires time, dedication, and understanding. Over the last few years’ hip-hop music has seen a decline in many areas and production unfortunately is on that freefall. Here are a few reasons why I think that production has taking such a hit.

1. Find your own style.
I would be lying if I said that musicians don’t have influences over other musicians or producer having the same over other producers, but where would hip hop be if Herbie Luv Bug copied Marley Marl down to a science or if Pete Rock bit Premier’s style. Hip-hop would be stagnated and very repetitive. Ever since Kanye West, Just Blaze, and Heatmakers laced artist such as Jay-Z and the Dipset with speeded up souls samples (RZA was actually the first to do so), the sound spread like an epidemic. Massive producers starting emulating that particular production sound all over. The same thing happened with Lil John, Scott Storch and a host of other producers. It’s alright to admire a style or sound and implement a little of it into what you’re trying to do as a producer but to just take a producer’s sound is not hip hop, that’s Xeroxing. Don’t get me wrong there are definitely some A-list producers who have taken a thing or two and incorporate it into their production catalog but because they understand what producing is about they always manage to put their own style into whatever was taken so it still sounds like their own work.

2. Appreciate the art
Music is an art and just like any other fine art it has to be appreciated. Today’s producer does not pay homage to their predecessors or the music they take from. Many producers sample things and don’t know who their sampling or if the recording was previously used by someone else. Most people who want to become producers do it for the acclaim and monetary benefits and not for the love of the art.

3. Production gridlock
Due to the large influx of producers, artists are being bombarded with tracks daily. Whether by CD, email, or listening session, this massive submission of music has caused production gridlock, which in turn has brought down the value of production. For example, 10 years ago the average producer could fetch anywhere from 5000 to 10,000 for a track from an artist/label even if the producer wasn’t well known. Now that production has become so saturated and under cutting has become so popular, the average producer is now getting anywhere from 1500 to 3000 if they’re lucky. The relationship between the artist and producer has become estranged and has negatively affected the quality of the music and the direction of hip-hop, which brings me to my next point.

4. Producer vs. Beatmaker
A producer is supposed to follow his/her music from the beginning to the end. Collaborating with the artist and making sure that the artist is doing the right thing with the music and the music is doing the right thing for the artist is an obligation meant for the producer. Now days, producers have been reduced to become beatmakers. Beatmakers make a bunch of tracks and submit it to artist, managers, labels, and wait for a response. Artist 2 track what music they like and pretty much do what they feel to the music. The producer doesn’t really have any input or say so on the direction of the song. The producer then has to live or die with the product whether they like it or not. In some instances the song comes out hot and the producer is looked at as a talent but that is usually rare and the producer has to account for sub par music, which destroys their creditability. Another problem that occurs with being a beatmaker is that artist put out music that they haven’t paid for or have gotten authorization from the producer to be used publicly. Artists basically kill the value of tracks by recording it and putting it out on mixtapes and radio because other artist hear the music and lose interest in the beat.

5. Blame the Producer
You can look at many issues and attribute it to the decline of hip-hop but the bottom line is the music. Personally, I put a majority of the blame on producers because they create the music. Producers have to reclaim their status and take back control of the hip-hop game if it’s going to survive or better yet be resurrected. People such as Kool Herc, Afrika Bambatta and Grand Master Flash help give birth to the hip-hop production game and it has evolved wonderfully until the last few years. The next few years are going to be crucial in hip-hop production because the music and the culture are symbiotic to each other. So if there is no music, then there is no hip-hop.