Peace 4th, thanks for the interview. It’s an honor for us. You’ve been involved with many Wu-Tang classics. Tell me how you became affiliated with RZA and the Wu-Tang Clan?
Well our history goes way back to my early teenage years. When I met RZA I was in high school and as our relationship grew I later was introduced to GZA, ODB and Ghostface [Killah]. I had already been making music before I met RZA but it was something I didn’t reveal right away. Once he realized my talent we (RZA, ODB and Ghostface) began cutting demos in my bedroom, Aunt’s and Grandma’s basement. RZA had always played demos of him, Raekwon, Inspectah Deck and U-God for me, so by listening to those demos I felt like I was building a connection before I even got the chance to meet them. During my teenage years I began to travel back and forth from Ohio to New York to record and to experience the hip hop vibe of the city, which had been a dream of mine since my break dancing era when I was really young.
That’s a dope recap. Really paints the picture of how things developed between you all. Now you co-produced several songs on the purple tape with RZA. What’s it like working with RZA on that, and what was you guy’s formula to making those tracks? Who did what?
Well on Purple Tape I actually did little technical things on the mixing end and elements here and there, like scratches, etc. RZA usually knows exactly how he wants everything to sound and if it’s not right it won’t fly. There was one situation when he had me mix a song but our in-house engineer Choco Reynoso had already attempted several times to get it the way he wanted it, so I stepped up to the plate thinking I could pull it off, and I just knew it sounded good. Choco was like “maaaaan I’m telling you he real picky B” and I was like ‘nah he gonna like this’… Sure enough, I failed to get it to his liking also [laughs]. He eventually finished that mix himself.
Perfectionists usually are hard to satisfy but in RZA’s case who could argue!! In the beginning you did some of the scratching on 36 Chambers, which just celebrated it’s 20th anniversary. While working on the album did you except it to be that groundbreaking at the time?
Yes, I always believed in my heart and mind it would be a success. I actually thought things would grow to be bigger than it did but it’s still a legacy no doubt.
It’s a top-5 Hip Hop album of all-time. How did you first get involved in production and making beats, and what’s the first piece of equipment you had? (Ex. MPC, SP 1200, ETC…)
I was born into music. From my mother always playing the classics around the house, to my father and uncles jamming in grandma’s basement, all of which influenced me heavily. My first piece of equipment was a “sound designer” stereo with a “realistic” turntable from Radio Shack. I used to turn the function knob on the stereo between the tape and auxiliary input
(turntable) and use the balance to mix the turntable and tape, L=tape R=turntable, and put the balance in the middle to hear both (if you follow me). But that’s how making beats started for me, I was a DJ mixing. Later I got a Casio keyboard, and this is even before they came out with the “SK1” (their first sampling keyboard). We used to mix sections/breaks of old records to the drum rhythms programmed in the Casio and make pause mixes out of them. Having a 4-track tape recorder was like having Protools back then.
No doubt! Casio was a mainstay in my Father’s makeshift studio too. Who’s your most influential musical influences, across all genres of music?
I’m inspired by jazz, soul, funk, old rock, classical, old movie scores and soundtracks, new age, there’s even some old country and folk music I heard that was dope that inspired me.
Well rounded and diverse as expected. How often do you create, and what’s your formula when creating?
I have been doing a lot of mixing and mastering these days but my creativity sometimes comes out quick and other times it’s a long process depending on what I’m striving to do and the vibe that I’m in. There’s no one method to go about things in my opinion, whether you start out using drums first or instruments and samples first, but I’m a traditionalist so I still use a lot of old school methods with the new technology such as filtering bass-lines and break beat drum loops underneath or behind the kick & snare (fill-ins is what we used to call it), etc.
What would you consider the proudest moment in your career so far?
Just being heard is a blessing. Being able to present a unique sound and it being accepted by the masses; also being able to influence a whole new breed of sonic artists. And to have fans tell you that your music changed their lives for a better direction, and helped them get through tough times, I think that’s a big accomplishment. I mean that’s what music should provide for the people in my opinion.
Well our history goes way back to my early teenage years. When I met RZA I was in high school and as our relationship grew I later was introduced to GZA, ODB and Ghostface [Killah]. I had already been making music before I met RZA but it was something I didn’t reveal right away. Once he realized my talent we (RZA, ODB and Ghostface) began cutting demos in my bedroom, Aunt’s and Grandma’s basement. RZA had always played demos of him, Raekwon, Inspectah Deck and U-God for me, so by listening to those demos I felt like I was building a connection before I even got the chance to meet them. During my teenage years I began to travel back and forth from Ohio to New York to record and to experience the hip hop vibe of the city, which had been a dream of mine since my break dancing era when I was really young.
That’s a dope recap. Really paints the picture of how things developed between you all. Now you co-produced several songs on the purple tape with RZA. What’s it like working with RZA on that, and what was you guy’s formula to making those tracks? Who did what?
Well on Purple Tape I actually did little technical things on the mixing end and elements here and there, like scratches, etc. RZA usually knows exactly how he wants everything to sound and if it’s not right it won’t fly. There was one situation when he had me mix a song but our in-house engineer Choco Reynoso had already attempted several times to get it the way he wanted it, so I stepped up to the plate thinking I could pull it off, and I just knew it sounded good. Choco was like “maaaaan I’m telling you he real picky B” and I was like ‘nah he gonna like this’… Sure enough, I failed to get it to his liking also [laughs]. He eventually finished that mix himself.
Perfectionists usually are hard to satisfy but in RZA’s case who could argue!! In the beginning you did some of the scratching on 36 Chambers, which just celebrated it’s 20th anniversary. While working on the album did you except it to be that groundbreaking at the time?
Yes, I always believed in my heart and mind it would be a success. I actually thought things would grow to be bigger than it did but it’s still a legacy no doubt.
It’s a top-5 Hip Hop album of all-time. How did you first get involved in production and making beats, and what’s the first piece of equipment you had? (Ex. MPC, SP 1200, ETC…)
I was born into music. From my mother always playing the classics around the house, to my father and uncles jamming in grandma’s basement, all of which influenced me heavily. My first piece of equipment was a “sound designer” stereo with a “realistic” turntable from Radio Shack. I used to turn the function knob on the stereo between the tape and auxiliary input
(turntable) and use the balance to mix the turntable and tape, L=tape R=turntable, and put the balance in the middle to hear both (if you follow me). But that’s how making beats started for me, I was a DJ mixing. Later I got a Casio keyboard, and this is even before they came out with the “SK1” (their first sampling keyboard). We used to mix sections/breaks of old records to the drum rhythms programmed in the Casio and make pause mixes out of them. Having a 4-track tape recorder was like having Protools back then.
No doubt! Casio was a mainstay in my Father’s makeshift studio too. Who’s your most influential musical influences, across all genres of music?
I’m inspired by jazz, soul, funk, old rock, classical, old movie scores and soundtracks, new age, there’s even some old country and folk music I heard that was dope that inspired me.
Well rounded and diverse as expected. How often do you create, and what’s your formula when creating?
I have been doing a lot of mixing and mastering these days but my creativity sometimes comes out quick and other times it’s a long process depending on what I’m striving to do and the vibe that I’m in. There’s no one method to go about things in my opinion, whether you start out using drums first or instruments and samples first, but I’m a traditionalist so I still use a lot of old school methods with the new technology such as filtering bass-lines and break beat drum loops underneath or behind the kick & snare (fill-ins is what we used to call it), etc.
What would you consider the proudest moment in your career so far?
Just being heard is a blessing. Being able to present a unique sound and it being accepted by the masses; also being able to influence a whole new breed of sonic artists. And to have fans tell you that your music changed their lives for a better direction, and helped them get through tough times, I think that’s a big accomplishment. I mean that’s what music should provide for the people in my opinion.