ups and downs of working with gangsta clients

[rwc]

If you want to do gangsta rap, then by all means do so, but... don't whine when you or your gear gets shot.

I've had closer experiences with violence with evil middle aged women in wedding bands than I ever have with any form of rap.

[fossiltooth]

gangsta rap is dead.

This is true.

Tons of people are still making it though. Nowadays, many of the "gangstas" who used to make it are just a little more interested in "Keeping it Hyphie" and making danceable electro rap with really annoying, gratingly high synth sounds that aren't quite a lead or a pad. Ahhh... the call of cocaine.

You whiteboys need to get out the damn house.

Actually, I should get out of the house. I don't think anyone's saying that "hyphie" anymore...

I'm also uncertain of the spelling.

there are people who don't show up after giving deposits in rock

I so misunderstood that . . .

This is hysterical.


Give it a minute...

....oh... there it is!




Awesome.

[Brian]

I'm old and I used to work for drug dealers a lot! Almost every "non church" group was using it to fund the group. Mostly just weed, not much violence there. Then came "sherm" and then Thai stick, blow, pharms, and imorted weed. Then all the violence started. I keep a loaded 40 cal on me at all times now. There have been a few atempts. Most clients don't do any of that stuffnow and it's good to know gangsta rap is officially dead.
In Memphis we have 36 mafia nad yo gotti. I wish they would go away.
I've been avoiding rap since it started, I suffered financially, but, I'm glad I did avoid it.

[logancircle]

The only trouble I've had is in communicating ideas. One rapper I work with says stuff like, "Give that beat that little hip-hop flavor," which just meant add a subtle swing to the kick drum. "I want the guitar to come in all cut-up and play another beat and work with that flavor," meant kick on distortion for the chorus. Since I'm trained as a librarian to figure out what someone is really looking for, we always figure it out. The second I saw a lethal weapon being waved around that would be the end of the session permanently.
cd

[megajoe]

Eventually I'll just stop driving there and they'll have to come to the studio I work at.

Are you sure that's what oyu want? 20 or so people stopping by your place randomly and knowing what gear you have and where it's located? hmmm...

Yep, I'm sure. It's arguably the best studio in the area. Studio A has the SSL G series, Studer A800, HD|3 with 32 analog i/o, huge and awesome mic cabinet, six foot tall rack of outboard gear, etc etc etc. We've had these people do stuff in our studio before, they never come more than 3 or 4 at a time. The people not involved in making the music never come over.

Beats on a playstation?! I haven't seen that one yet. I have seen people do it with the NES or a Commodore 64, but I'm assuming these guys aren't trying to be funny.

One time I had a guy with an audio CD that wanted me to remix this beat he bought. It took me a while to explain to him that it was not possible without the original tracks. He believed there was a piece of software where I could just separate everything. I still think he left without completely believing me.

It seems to me, that you are diffusing the original question, (whether or not to allow these types of people in your studio or not) by naming off a gear list... not by telling us how nice these gangsta musicians really are, when they're not armed (yeah...right...) And, this item in green... ever hear of going off on a tangent? This is what that looks like.

Look, I'm not trying to "attack" you, but I am pointing out that you are excusing your excuse.

If you want to do gangsta rap, then by all means do so, but... don't whine when you or your gear gets shot. Oh, BTW, most major rappers have said already last year, that gangsta rap is dead. Especially some of the OGs themselves. Remember Tupac? Biggie? etc?

Cheers

I didn't realize I ever asked the question "do you allow these types of people in your studio?"

I just thought I was starting a discussion. It's a relatively new experience for me.

Sorry about going off on a tanget. I didn't realize that doing so was a negative action worthy of highlighting. I thought it was relavant to the "working with people who have no idea what they're doing" subject brought up in the previous post.

I do what pays. I don't consider myself at a point right now where I should pick out whatever artist I want to work with. I don't care if 'gangsta' rap is dead. I also don't care what the hottest thing since sliced bread is. If these people are gangstas and make rap music, then so be it. I don't care, as long as they pay me and I'm not threatened or injured (which I was assured wouldn't happen tonight, after a rowdy evening).

[jamoo]

I've had guns pulled on me 3 times in my life, and I don't recommend it. Thinking about it doesn't make me feel tough; I'm reminded of how helpless and scared I felt. When someone points a gun at you, whether criminal or law enforcement, the possibility of death or maiming is right there in your face, and the control is in the other, angry person's favor.

well said. i wonder why the angry person is the one with the gun, when they've the greatest impetus to use it...... murphy's law or something.

[Jay Reynolds]

gangsta rap is dead

Tell that to the guys a block away from me who were blasting it out of their tenement window for five hours straight yesterday.
I think there is a certain disconnect going on here that is fairly common. We're used to thinking in terms of a traditional "production to distribution" arc. But, in the case of a lot of rap, its being used more for a custom soundtrack for whatever is going on that month. Buying a cd of beats so that you and your crew can freestyle in the car is pretty common. As is the vanity cd. These guys don't really care about sharing their vision with the world. They just want something that is unique to themselves and their "set".
Its also worth pointing out that a whole lot the "gantsa rap" that one used to hear on the radio was, to not put too fine of a point on it, fake as hell (big caveat: shooting someone else is gangsta, getting shot it isn't (another one: going to court because of your crew=gangsta, going to court because of your security team=not)). There is a big, big difference between Ice Cube and the doughboys you see on the corner in their white t-shirts. And no one is more aware of this than the doughboys themselves. So they are more content listening to their own lyrics over really raw/bad sounding beats because it is, at the end of the day, more real than anything that is or used to be on the radio. That's why when you listen to the track and suggest that a live guitarist would help the feel, these clients will look at you like you just recommended that they take a dump on their playstation. They keeps it real...real quantized and thin.

[hughmanatee]

I do a lot of thug rap, and usually dislike it, but the money smells like coke and hoes asses so i can't complain. I for a while was working with this kid rapping from Canada, he would literally come over the border to record, he said there just werent any studios around that were cheap enough. i charged $30 an hour, and he was a good client, but he would be at my door open alcohol in hand and be like "damn cops always getting in my shit" and its like man, you cant walk down a busy street in the largest city in the state drinking openly and think someone won't say anything. (said client actually grew up here, moved to canada like 10 years ago). there were a couple times he told me he was on his way, then at the door he's like I got some friends is it cool if they do some back-ups for me, i say yeah, and within 10 minutes theres 15 people i have never seen before in my small ass apartment to lay down an "End up Missin' B". I talked to him about it, just said this place is too small for all those heads, and its difficult to get around/work, next session he did the same thing minus 1 head. then he either got arrested or went back to canada, havent heard from him in a long time.

I try to give people the benefit of the doubt most of the time, but in situations where there are tons of kids here all "Heated" then it gets to be scary, when they know that mic in front of them would resell for a couple gs, thats why i call my B-2 Pro the expensive mic. most of the rappers ive worked with are good kids with a persona to act out in front of the mic, and they know that, its the ones who think life really is "grabbin the steel, just to eat a meal"that are the bad eggs.

[Jay Reynolds]

One more thing: there is (to me and some others) a difference between Rap and Hip-hop. I don't think anyone's sure what the criteria are, but Rap seems to have more to do with a focus on the commercial/lowest common denominator elements in the marketplace. Hip-hop, on the other hand, is part of a larger culture that includes turntablism (dj'ing) and dance (breaking or pop-locking) and is like other forms of music in that it is a vehicle of creative expression. I have trouble thinking of De La Soul, Outkast, or MF Doom as Rap, just as I can't consider 2Live Crew or Insane Clow Posse to be Hip-hop. Hip-hop fans aren't interested in listening to lyrics explicitly about violence, crime, misogyny, and homophobia. Rap fans love that shit.
For a good example of Hip-hop at its finest, I'd recommend De La Soul's "De La Soul is Dead". I've been listening to that one for more than a decade and I'm still unraveling the lyrics (another good indicator of Rap vs Hip-hop: Rap lyrics are pretty much available on the first listen while Hip-hop (like Jazz, perhaps) takes multiple listens to truly appreciate).

[hautacam]

For a good example of Hip-hop at its finest, I'd recommend De La Soul's "De La Soul is Dead". I've been listening to that one for more than a decade and I'm still unraveling the lyrics (another good indicator of Rap vs Hip-hop: Rap lyrics are pretty much available on the first listen while Hip-hop (like Jazz, perhaps) takes multiple listens to truly appreciate).

De La Soul is Dead is amazing. The hardcore hip hop parody song is genius, and so is basically everything else on that record. I have been listening to that record for years and I am STILL trying to unravel the lyrics. Completely genius and complex but not pretentious. They just freakin rip into everyone on that album.

[Jay Reynolds]

For a good example of Hip-hop at its finest, I'd recommend De La Soul's "De La Soul is Dead". I've been listening to that one for more than a decade and I'm still unraveling the lyrics (another good indicator of Rap vs Hip-hop: Rap lyrics are pretty much available on the first listen while Hip-hop (like Jazz, perhaps) takes multiple listens to truly appreciate).

De La Soul is Dead is amazing. The hardcore hip hop parody song is genius, and so is basically everything else on that record. I have been listening to that record for years and I am STILL trying to unravel the lyrics. Completely genius and complex but not pretentious. They just freakin rip into everyone on that album.

Bitties in the BK Lounge is pretty hard to beat, too. Three short "songs" about why Burger King sucks, for the patrons and the employees.

[Shane Michael Rose]

maybe its that boston is not the best city of this kind of thing (sort of a lame independent hip hop community)

the clients that i have had who cary guns and stuff usually "forget" to bring money. i have yet to get paid really well from these gigs.

a rock band that does a long weekend a month for six months to get their full length done is much better money for me.

[jamoo]

I do a lot of thug rap, and usually dislike it, but the money smells like coke and hoes asses so i can't complain.

how do you know those are hoes asses?

[hughmanatee]

I was actually recording some gangsta kids for a while and they would bring girls over, and the girls would leave to go buy them/me/us beer whenever we got low, and there have been a couple times I've been offered some kind of sexual favor from one of them after a quick nod from one of the guys. This is the same group that had a female vocalist they worked with, and she was talking about slingin' smack, i just kind of wrote it off, but after they left, i found a little bit of heroine just sitting on my table. that was it for them. Thanks but, no thanks.

and besides, i dont know about you but I can smell a hoes ass from a mile away, although I live in a place where the air is clean so it really stands out.

[jamoo]

and there have been a couple times I've been offered some kind of sexual favor from one of them after a quick nod from one of the guys. [snip]

and besides, i dont know about you but I can smell a hoes ass from a mile away, although I live in a place where the air is clean so it really stands out.

what do the guys expect to get in return for sharing their 'commodities', free engineering time? whew. we work with what we got i guess.

otherwise i see what you're sayin'. i appreciate clean air and several non-hoes asses.