Earlier in the week, I was discussing how Pete Rock is getting his “just dessert” now by working with Kanye and Jay, and it’s very gratifying from a Hip Hop fan’s standpoint to see this happening. As the conversation about this continues, an interesting question(s) surfaces: “Is this going to be a trend with other artists working with ’90′s producers or is this just an isolated incident?”
The fact that Kanye reached back to Pete should not be taken lightly. I mean, it’s not as “exciting” to talk about as, let’s say, his incident with Taylor Swift or his exploits with Amber Rose; quite frankly, I, along with countless others, just want to hear good music. The 808 and Heartbreaks episode was cool and it allowed him to grow artistically, but let’s get back to the “beats and rhymes” of things and that seems to be what he is doing with the assistance of “The Chocolate Boy Wonder,” RZA, and DJ Premier (who I read is doing some cuts on Ye’s latest offering). But one has to be wondering: “Who else is going to follow suit?” That question is not rhetorical by any means; the game NEEDS it’s “soul” back and soon.
As I discuss Kanye, we have to keep in mind that he is, more or less, a unique brand in today’s market as he pretty much has carte blanche to do whatever he wants to even if it involves a $3 million recording tab chargeable to Def Jam. So, where do we point the finger for more of yesterday’s producers not getting sufficient work? Kanye can’t be the only one that wants to work with producers that inspired him to become, well, a producer! The blame can be applied to a lot of different places and the proverbial whipping boy is the A&R at the label. A brief time ago, before EVERY rapper executive produced their own album, the A&R was the driving force behind a Hip Hop album. See Mark Pitts (Biggie), Schott Free (Loud Records) and Dante Ross (Brand Nubian and Queen Latifah) as A&Rs that had more say at a time when the former model for making records made sense. These cats were (are) in the streets looking for talent and the labels put enough faith in them and their ear. Fast forward several years, now labels are not so quick to trust; A&R departments have now become just a couple of people (if that); and A&Rs have been marginalized as artists, for better or worse, are taking more and more control of their projects as their “crew” are handling more of the production duties.
With that said, artists, of course, share in the blame, too. Getting your dude who just copped an MPC or Fruity Loops last week to do the bulk of your project based on your relationship and the fact it’s bottom-line cheaper to do that has affected the music. There are some exceptions, but the exceptions are far from the rule. So, instead of giving Organized Noize, DJ Quik or Buckwild their asking price-or their adjusted price because it is a recession and everyone wants to work-they half step and get knock off beats that sound like it. So, as the artist cuts production costs, they may very well be cutting their potential album sales and shelf life as a consequence. This has evolved as the norm and the true beatsmiths are getting less and less work and are becoming a mere nostalgic afterthought.
Lastly, some blame needs to be placed on the producing greats from the ’90s themselves. It pains me to say that producers like Large Professor, Pete Rock and Diamond D haven’t been giving the fans the same level of undeniable heat that they used to. As much as I have been “big upping” Pete this week, his beats on a whole haven’t knocked like they used to. Sure, budgets aren’t the same and sample clearance is as much a difficulty as it’s ever been. Still, what about the beat that a producer slides to the independent cat who isn’t the least bit concerned with clearance as it will fly below the radar of most authorities, even those joints aren’t on smash. That’s where my criticism ends because the above named producers JV game sounds better than most cats “Varsity” level. Now, Buckwild has been the rare exception as his music still knocks regardless of current trends and legalities. His work withGame, Capone & Noreaga and Playaz Circle helped make those albums better just like Buck did when he first got in the game back in ’94.
Of course, it would be possible to blame the fans, too. That would be a valid point and not one that wouldn’t have its arguing points. However, as other genres appear to be “less” affected (Ed’s note: don’t get it twisted, all genres have shown a sales decline), I think by fans not purchasing product has been a big enough form of protest to lackluster music. It becomes too cliche to keep saying that fans aren’t buying your product because that’s how the industry is nowadays. REALLY? People still buy DVDs and go to the movies, both which suffer from downloading and piracy. Maybe it’s the material and not the fan? Also, Hip Hop has to STOP giving away so much free music and then get upset when preconditioned consumers are used to downloading and not buying. It’s cheapening the artform, but that discussion is for another day.
Do I have a solution: No. I’m not trying to pretend that I do, but we need to get this music back into the hands of those who know how to make it best. Ask yourself this: “Where would Hip Hop be over the last 10 years if it wasn’t for Just Blaze, Kanye and a few others?” The burden needs to be lifted from those torchbearers and shared with the producers that inspired them. Shout out to Em for giving Havoc a nod on his latest album, The Recovery, and hopefully this trend will continue. To all the artists, A&Rs, labels and misinformed fans that think ANY beat will do and that you don’t have to pay for quality, remember the old saying: “just ’cause you pour syrup on it don’t make it pancakes.”
Chris Moss
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