Welcome to THIS edition of GOOD QUESTION, brought to you by THISENT.com! I’m your columnist M.J. Walker.
We’re longtime fans of Red Alert Studios’ award-winning producer/recording artist Sam Rhansum, and with this series we wanted to honor him and his incredible career in the music industry.
During our recent conversation I asked Rhansum THIS GOOD QUESTION: Who are your TOP 5 favorite music producers?
His fourth answer was, “Kanye West.
Ye is always vocal. We know this. He was very vocal about being taken seriously as an artist and a producer, taken seriously as both roles together.
I felt his struggle to my bones. Been there. Still there. Having a deep knowledge of both roles changes how you produce. Plus, you understand the hard choice of what to give away to another or keep for yourself.
I know with many of his hits, I bet you he had verses already written for himself. First time I heard “Izzo” I flipped. That track was so addictive. The loose groove with tight kicks and snares, and that drum pattern was so dope. That hi-hat only hitting on the upbeat twice a measure, instead of driving the beat like most, it was riding it. So much open space for the groove to breathe. Same for the drums in “Stand Up” by Ludacris.
Then when “You Don’t Know My Name” by Alicia Keys came out, and I found out Kanye did it?! Man, he was getting my diversity props. There are a lot of one-sided or one trick pony producers out there, and that’s not always a bad thing. Find what you do and do it well. But when you decide you want to learn what others do well too? That’s mastery of your craft, because everything you learn from a creative stretch you will apply to what you do eventually.
When “Slow Jamz” and “Overnight Celebrity” hit, his whole Chipmunk-style started. The sampling game was a whole new level. There are ways to speed up and make a sample fit without the pitch, or at least at that time without that overstated of a pitch change. But he let it ride and it became a sound. And just like the other producers I was feeling, Ye was starting to be the sound of the genre for a while.
People were trying to copy what he was doing, but when I heard “Jesus Walks” I was like, damn, it was musical. It moved. It rises and falls. I mean, tons of hit songs have tracks that could never win a beat battle. They don’t speak on their own, and that’s fine sometimes because a dope rapper can come in and make a nice track a dope song. But Ye is musical. He understands making music, not just making beats, and he refuses to be traditional. He’ll ignore genre stereotypes.
“Gold Digger” has a vocal sample in the background throughout his verses. You think that would be the worst choice. It’s too confusing. You never take attention off the rapper’s words. But here it works. The whole damn beat has no hats, just lo-fi kicks and claps. The simplicity is loud. Then to throw out “Stronger”?! Man, Hip Hop producers would stay away from that 4-on-the-floor beat. That’s EDM territory. The verse beat breaks to EDM 909 style snares too. That was just unheard of!
“Good Life” just feels good to this day. Ye has an ear for flipping things. “Run This Town”, “Niggas in Paris”, “Clique”; these tracks speak for themselves. All of them feature rappers that make hits, write sick bars, but these tracks speak on their own.
Dude is a music genius.
Sampling is an artform in its own, and knowing how to chop and flip them, to use them like paint colors on a canvas takes talent.” |THIS.
[By M.J. Walker]
“My five favorite producers is a tough one. I dig every style of music out there and try to find something that moves me in every song I hear. But I do gravitate to those that evolve and create stuff that influences their entire genre. Like, it made such an impact sonically with their style and pallet that what they created became the sound of music for a while. When I get impressed by these types, I study them. I go back and follow their evolution. And I can talk about them like I was there. As much as Hip Hop and music in general is who I am, not just what I do, I’m still just a student and a fan.” – Sam Rhansum
