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Editor’s Picks
DJ Clark Kent on Beats, Creativity, and the Big Smoke Screen in Music
20 years ago, I interviewed legendary Brooklyn DJ/Producer DJ Clark Kent. Sadly, today, October 26,…
Post-Disco: Uptown Meets Downtown — Hip Hop, Punk, and the Art World
Whenever the connection between hip hop and punk is mentioned, the assumption is that we’re talking…
The Sample Clearance “Tax” and the Primary Beneficiaries of the Sample Clearance System
When the music industry first took notice of sampling, their burning question had to have been: How can…
Q-Tip Needle Dropping, As Kanye West and No I.D. Look On
“By 1977, many DJs had followed Kool Herc’s lead, none more notable than Grandmaster Flash and Afrika…
What’s a Loop Really About?
Here's a very important point: No song "comes with" a loop in the way that most people think. Instead,…
Can You Beat The Clock? How Long Does it Take to Develop a Skill For Beatmaking?
How long did it take me to develop a real skill for beatmaking? The beatmaking know-how? That took me…
BeatTips MusicStudy and Source Material: Gwen McCrae – “90% Of Me Is You”
I learned more about how to create drums and drum patterns from this song than I did listening to any hip…
Don’t Over Cook The Beat: Overproducing and How to Avoid It
Picture this. You’re in the lab making a new beat. You’re nodding your head, the beat is dope —…
LL Cool J – ‘Mama Said Knock You Out’: A 30th Anniversary Retrospective
After the success of LL Cool J's double Platinum selling 1987 album Bigger And Deffer, LL was on top of…
Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…: A 25th Anniversary Retrospective
The year was 1994. We were in the midst of a Golden Era, but we had no idea at the time. Within it, a new…