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Critical Beatdown Round Two
Article by:
Melanie J Cornish
 “Its round two. Once again three tracks put to producers who have changed the way in which production has ebbed and flowed throughout the years. These tracks were easy to remember for the chosen three, as you will find radio love, drums and videos being talked about with enthusiasm when it comes to Marley Marl, The RZA and Kanye’s production technique.
The masters at work this time round are, DJ Clark Kent, literally Brooklyn’s finest. Having made a name for himself in all aspects of the industry, DJing, producing, A&Ring and now taking a shot at developing his own artists and company. If Super producer Clark Kent doesn’t like what he hears, then it is most certainly the time to step your game up.
Having infused many Hip-Hop projects with his deftly crafted beats and having produced and rapped on two mainstream projects of his own, Californian import but New York adopted Alchemist provides us with his input as to what factors encouraged these tracks a place in his memory.
Finally the third producer to dissect the selected tracks is the man known for his outstanding contribution in production on the multi-platinum albums from Alicia Keys. But with his roots deeply submersed in Hip-Hop, Kerry ‘Krucial’ Brothers has been actively ‘bringing back the hood’ along with his own artist, Illz and walking the Hip-Hop path again.
So here we have three minds, three opinions and three tracks that allow us to sit back and absorb what this music was really built on.
Marley Marl – The Symphony
Clark Kent : At that point in the game Marley was DJing on the radio and when he first brought that it was remarkable because it wasn’t the artists record, it was Marley’s record. I thought it was incredible first of all, a producer having his own record, the beat was stupid, it was just crazy and it just uplifted things a little more than usual. Marley Marl was already that guy, so he didn’t really change much, you know he was into sampling, that was the type of sample you would have heard and just wouldn’t have used, but Marley was looking at it from a total different angle. Marley was right for that; it was his turn right then and there.
Alchemist : You know growing up at that period in time The Juice Crew was like one of the most dominant crews. I wasn’t making music then; you know I was just a fan. You know for example I remember that video so well, I remember when Kane had his arm broken and he had his cast in the video. The thing about Marley was if you ever saw the video, there was a little skit at the start of the video where they were all in a saloon, like an old western flick and there is a beat that was playing right before the track starts. Marley made a beat just for the video and it was just for the video, it was never released and I remember thinking how funky that little beat was and then years later the Alcoholiks sampled it and made a record out of it with Ole Dirty Bastard. You know that was incredible. Nowadays you see people doing all types of crazy shit with their videos but I think that was the first time I ever seen something like that. You know when you think production it is not just beat making, that is production and I took note to that stuff too. That track was crazy.
Krucial : The Symphony was crazy, I didn't want that track to end, it was one of those tracks that made you wanna spit a verse even if you couldn't rhyme. It definitely started a standard in Hip Hop as far as what we use to call posse cuts. Anytime you got more than two rappers not from the same group on a record we called it a Symphony. Marley is a pioneer in his own rite. The rawness of the drums and the piano loop; he made everybody want to get an SP-12. He was the first person to use a Sample on records, before that it was either Live Musicians, drum machines or an actual turntable. His sound to me ushered in "The First Golden Era. "
RZA – C.R.E.A.M
Clark Kent : That was a totally unbelievable track, how many people had slow beats being singles and being hits as rappers? That was incredible. That track meant a lot to me as the Wu Tangs style and sound was so grimy and it was important that a grimy, hard, street record would be received by the mainstream the way it was. That was straight Hip-Hop on regular radio. You know first of all a sick ass group and then unbelievable grimy music on regular radio by a producer that a lot of people slept on because he used to be a rapper.
Alchemist : That was crazy. The Wu Tang just came with a sound that was so needed at that time. They bridged that old school era; you know you can always tell the installations of the old classic era, making references to intellect. They come from that old era of Hip-Hop and they bridged that and the way RZA looped that was something so simple. But that song was so classic and when you find the sample, you are like "Damn all he did was loop it and put some drums to it." But that was the magic of the music. I always remember that as sometimes you find a loop... and it is so crazy. It is not about how much you do to it sometimes, it is about making a really classic record. But then you have to respect it when someone chops up a sample and does it differently, I do that a lot too. But at the same time I will chop it to pieces and you will say you can’t believe I did that, but then I will just loop up a record too as there are no rules. The RZA proved that as he will just get on the keyboards and play some crazy melodies and then he will just loop up a classic soul record like it is all his, just showing his versatility.
Krucial : Another Classic. RZA is a Genius, His style Raw yet soulful, his imperfect style, represented real life, this song created a new term used still today. Wu Tang came with their own slang and were in their own lane period. C.R.E.A.M, had the soulful piano, the raw drums, the voices in the track. It was something you never heard with heart felt lyrics from the streets.
Kanye - Testify
Clark Kent : I mean to me, Kanye West is a new version of Marley Marl with the samples. You know it was hard drums, which he is good with and he uses the drums very well. He is a great producer, a great producer and what I really like about Kanye is he just doesn’t give you the best; he gives you the whole direction of the song. He gives something to you.
Alchemist : There was a female voice in it? That was hot, I mean I can’t lie, I kind of slept on that because of whatever I was working on at the time. But that was dope, just Kanye West you have to give props to if you are talking about production because what RZA and them took from that era to theirs, Kanye took from the RZA’s era and brought it into the era that we are in now. You know if there was a period in rap that if you could find a section in a record where there wasn’t a sample or someone singing, no-one would touch it and I think Kanye was good to show you that if there is a vibe to it you got to hook it up and do what you have to do, work around the singing. There was nothing that bothered me about that beat when you realize there is a voice going through it all the time you realize there is nothing that you can’t do with this music. It is another testament to show you that there are no rules. And Kanye definitely does that as you know I hear Kanye’s shit and a lot of the sounds come in and I understand why he chose to throw on some B-Boy shit, sounds comes in without being quantized, you know he just pressed play on some sounds and heard them and thought it sounded dope and that just goes to show that you can be creative in a lot of different ways.
Krucial : Hot use of the vocal Sample, I personally enjoy soul voices in the background as it helps to dictate the zone of the track. Kanye's style reminds me of RZA at times and Common sounds great on this record; he compliments Kanye’s production well. Chicago has a lot of Soul.
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