Hope you get well soon but take your time man!
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Thanks guys. Today is the first day Iām feeling like Iām getting better. Iāve been looking forward to sharing more about his battle - it was a special one for me. Mine was Beat #4. I want to share with you guys a bit about making this - since weāve been making music together for a while nowā¦
So I have started the practice of fasting during the season of Lent (the 40 days leading up to Easter). My wife, my kids and I choose to give up something that we crave - not because itās āsinfulā but because we love that thing and are willing to give it up for a while in place of talking to God more often. I chose to give up beatmaking for 40 days.
I wasnāt sure if the battle would still be running after Easter and when I saw it was still open, I made quick work getting to making my beat. Being fresh out of the Holy week journey and Easter weekend, I decided I wanted to make something that I had been reflecting on:
- Sacrifice (Good Friday): Fat Joe
- Liminal/in between space(Saturday): O.C.
- Resurrection (Easter Sunday) Guru
Getting to it, I spent my evenings digging through the crates with those that went before me: I imagined being in the same record shops with Buckwild, Diamond D and DJ Premier, looking at the records they pulled. But this time in particular I allowed myself to be āmoved by the spiritā. I deliberately asked the divine: āWhy donāt you point me to some of the deep cuts and favorite selections you want in this production?ā. I also deliberately invited creative āwhat ifsā and ālets see what this turns intoā moments along the way, just because.
So here is what came together:
Part one (Sacrifice): Fat Joe - The Shit is Real
This is a tension that I held especially when I was a teenager: although I'm not a gangster, I chose to keep company with them for many years. Underneath their hardness, I also saw a divine nature - an almost sacrificial posture. Most of them grew up without father figures, they experienced lots more violence than I and they were surrounded by poverty and hardship - they chose their illicit trades and fully committed to the best of their abilities. I almost imagined that they were making soul sacrifices in the process of their lives and as hard and painful as they lived (and they inflicted) they were still beloved children of God.
šŖ½ I wanted to juxtapose Fat Joeās storytelling about his Gangster life, with an angelic uplifting beautiful choral melody.
(Note:It turns out DJ Premier had a similar inspiration for making his remix!
If you want, check out the full interview in this clip which starts with Premier telling the story about how he got connected with the DITC crew)
So after 15 minutes of jamming on my Digitakt - this is what I pulled together:
Cristo Redentor - Harvey Mandel (1968)
NT - Kool and the Gang (1971)
Bam Bam - Sister Nancy (1982)
(Side Note: Prodigy and Havoc of Mobb Deep rocked our brains with our nose bones on Shook ones II in a similar way: a sparse and beautiful melody layered with them revealing their most rugged of rugged outlooks on life)
Part two (In between): O.C. - Word Life
The Saturday following the Crucifixion must have been a time of disbelief, shock, shame, sadness, anger and deep questioning. O.C. is like a mystic holding the ying and yang polarities of life in his hand. He waxes lyrical about both sides of the coin. He is honest.The sample I chose was used by Buckwild for Artifacts āCāmon with the cāmonā:
- - Ripped open by Metal Explosions - Galt MacDermot (Canadian!)
- - Iām glad youāre mine - Al Green
Part three (Resurrection): Guru - Lifesaver
I have am grateful to Guru for creating masterpieces. Along with with Premier, their albums punctuated over the best 20 years of Hiphop (in my opinion). When I came across this track I knew I wanted to put it at the end (just like Guru is the last verse in Speak ya clout). He came to give direction because he is the LifeSaver.... Jeru the Damaja once said that Guru saved his life - literally taking him off the streets and putting him into the studio instead. Even in the controversy and sadness of his end days, his intelligence, advice and positive influence live on.- : Hirosho Fukumura & Sadao Watanabe - Mr Blue (1978)
Here is the original music video by Guru:
Here is my beat:
Iāve included the full remix of the Fat Joe track I did here:
Big up @Yabba for setting up this one. And congrats again to everyone who made music on this one!
Hope to see you all in the next beat battle! I will post it up shortly.
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