ups and downs of working with gangsta clients

[hughmanatee]

yeah, there were a couple times they didnt have enough money to get them through the session, but they were reliable a number of times before that, so i would let them owe me for a couple hours, thats when i would get propositioned.

[Mane1234]

Maybe it's just me but nothing you described in the original post sounds like any fun. Drugs, drama, hangers on disturbing the session, and the thought of possible gunfire just doesn't sound anywhere close to worth 25 bucks an hour. Personally I'd be pretty damned concerned what someone around me did to get 9 years in prison. I'll bet it wasn't being in a pillow fight.

Give me a broke ass garage band any day to record over that.

[@?,*???&?]

All my rappers these days are college students. They do show up in groups of 7 or 8 at a time though. Occasionally don't bring enough $$ to pay the bill, it rides until the next time they are in.

Weird, they are 'so hourly' that it's not about doing good work, just as much as they can in a short period of time. It's about the monologue and not the sound quality with them.

[rwc]

Weird, they are 'so hourly' that it's not about doing good work, just as much as they can in a short period of time. It's about the monologue and not the sound quality with them.

Every rap session I have is about 2-3 hours in length.

It's almost part of their street rep or something, in the session, if they can get their rhymes out fast without fucking up.

And good rappers can do this.

But when they ask to do five songs in 2 hours, I tell them that is not going to work.

I also charge more hourly for people who book under three hours.

[@?,*???&?]

Weird, they are 'so hourly' that it's not about doing good work, just as much as they can in a short period of time. It's about the monologue and not the sound quality with them.

Every rap session I have is about 2-3 hours in length.

The last time mine came in, they did 19 songs in 8 hours. Barely a balance and a bounce by the time they were done. Problem, no one oversees what they are doing. It's like this at a major label level too on the stuff I've worked on.

[percussion boy]

What I don't get is why any rap producer with a few bucks would hire a studio.

Wouldn't you be good to go with, say, an mpc, a triton, one great stereo signal chain (mic/pre/converter), and a little pro tools rig with some kind of soft sampler? (Or less -- hell, Detroit techno was made with prosumer stuff.)

Any space you could rig for a good vocal sound would be enough -- no need to mic amps or instruments.

Maybe cutting in a studio (preferably with all your friends watching) is part of the ambience? "That's how the big guys do it."

[AstroDan]

gangsta rap is dead.

This is true.

Probably in the more refined cultural regions; check any average 19 year old mid-western white girl's iPod. All you can eat!

[Boogdish]

All you can eat!

(sorry, I'm legally obligated to post a picture of the fat boys in any thread about rap music where this phrase is brought up)

[xpulsar]

I have worked with some of the bigger Rap artists in Detroit. Mostly Interscope based jobs in studio's with an 88 input SSL G+ and a full time armed staff security guard. So I was not worried,but I have seen several guns in the studio and It has always made me edgy.

I have to say I have had good expeiriences ,but have heard some the horror stories.
I personally won't take any jobs from rapper's unless I have a P.O. # from a big label or they are not of the Gangster form of music.

I will say this that most "thug" rappers will have no problem shooting you for that Mic in your booth or your "Pro Tools" rig. Or at least having one of their friends do it.

I don't know if you recall hearing about a Detroit based Engineer shot to death by a client in his studio. His name was AJ. I knew him and he was a really nice guy. The guy who shot him owed him money and showed up to get his "songs" and basically shot him and took the computer that had the Pro Tools sessions on it.
It is a really sad story that is true and it can happen to anyone.

So I would say it is not worth it. NO MONEY IS !

[Alex Netick]

I don't think it's racist, but when all their songs are about stealing and killing people, and being "real" is a part of "the game, I'd really have to think twice about letting rappers into a studio with thousands of dollars worth of stuff that they could easily sell to any disreputable drug dealer or other lowlife. I don't do this for a living, but I remember I let some clowns into my studio to record some rap, and they stole some shit, which kind of pissed me off because i did it for nothing.

[Jay Reynolds]

I don't think it's racist, but when all their songs are about stealing and killing people, and being "real" is a part of "the game, I'd really have to think twice about letting rappers into a studio with thousands of dollars worth of stuff that they could easily sell to any disreputable drug dealer or other lowlife. I don't do this for a living, but I remember I let some clowns into my studio to record some rap, and they stole some shit, which kind of pissed me off because i did it for nothing.

What about mc's whose lyrics aren't about violence, crime, misogeny, etc.?
I think one of the greatest things to happen in the last couple of years is the oversized white t-shirt. Its become de riguer urban drug-dealer wear from coast to coast and makes it very easy to tell who the criminals are. The kid with the baggy pants and the oversized pollo shirt and his hat on sideways? You probably don't have to worry about him. The kid with the oversized white t-shirt on over his "wife-beater"? Either he's doing dirt, or he's got something to prove and trying to look like he's doing dirt. In either case, record at your own risk.
Really, the guys you really have to watch out for are the crack-heads. And if you can't tell the difference between a crack-head and a non-crack-head, get thee back to the 'burbs!

[Alex Netick]

The dudes who stole the shit were from Oakland, not the burbs. There was another guy I knew of out in Hayward who did rap, and he got robbed at gunpoint -- his brother-in-law told me about it. Come to think of it, I know another guy in Oakland whose rich parents bought him a studio who did alot of rap and he gut robbed (and I think pistol-whipped) at least once.

I don't think it's racist, but when all their songs are about stealing and killing people, and being "real" is a part of "the game, I'd really have to think twice about letting rappers into a studio with thousands of dollars worth of stuff that they could easily sell to any disreputable drug dealer or other lowlife. I don't do this for a living, but I remember I let some clowns into my studio to record some rap, and they stole some shit, which kind of pissed me off because i did it for nothing.

What about mc's whose lyrics aren't about violence, crime, misogeny, etc.?
I think one of the greatest things to happen in the last couple of years is the oversized white t-shirt. Its become de riguer urban drug-dealer wear from coast to coast and makes it very easy to tell who the criminals are. The kid with the baggy pants and the oversized pollo shirt and his hat on sideways? You probably don't have to worry about him. The kid with the oversized white t-shirt on over his "wife-beater"? Either he's doing dirt, or he's got something to prove and trying to look like he's doing dirt. In either case, record at your own risk.
Really, the guys you really have to watch out for are the crack-heads. And if you can't tell the difference between a crack-head and a non-crack-head, get thee back to the 'burbs!

[Alex Netick]

I've heard of people getting murdered over Playstations. In fact, I'm watching a show on the history channel right now about gang bangers who did just that.
The worse part of it is alot of these clowns are too young and stupid to do it right, so even if you give them your shit, they still might kill you.

[Jay Reynolds]

The dudes who stole the shit were from Oakland, not the burbs. There was another guy I knew of out in Hayward who did rap, and he got robbed at gunpoint -- his brother-in-law told me about it. Come to think of it, I know another guy in Oakland whose rich parents bought him a studio who did alot of rap and he gut robbed (and I think pistol-whipped) at least once.

I don't think it's racist, but when all their songs are about stealing and killing people, and being "real" is a part of "the game, I'd really have to think twice about letting rappers into a studio with thousands of dollars worth of stuff that they could easily sell to any disreputable drug dealer or other lowlife. I don't do this for a living, but I remember I let some clowns into my studio to record some rap, and they stole some shit, which kind of pissed me off because i did it for nothing.

What about mc's whose lyrics aren't about violence, crime, misogeny, etc.?
I think one of the greatest things to happen in the last couple of years is the oversized white t-shirt. Its become de riguer urban drug-dealer wear from coast to coast and makes it very easy to tell who the criminals are. The kid with the baggy pants and the oversized pollo shirt and his hat on sideways? You probably don't have to worry about him. The kid with the oversized white t-shirt on over his "wife-beater"? Either he's doing dirt, or he's got something to prove and trying to look like he's doing dirt. In either case, record at your own risk.
Really, the guys you really have to watch out for are the crack-heads. And if you can't tell the difference between a crack-head and a non-crack-head, get thee back to the 'burbs!

So everyone doing hip-hop is going to rob you?
And I don't think you've read my last post very carefully. What I'm saying is that if you don't have the tools to evaluate who you are dealing with as far as them being a thug, drug addict, or just a 20-something black kid who wants to express him/herself, record some other genre instead.

[Alex Netick]

My whole life I've been pretty careful about whomever I let into my life, and especially into my living space, and I've never been burglarized. I used to know a bunch of scumbag theiving drug people and I can tell you from personal experience that I saw alot of musical equipment for pretty cheap that they didn't get from their parents. In general, I stay pretty far away from people who have anything to do with rap or hip-hop or whatever you call it -- but that's just me. I also stay pretty far away from caucasian meth dirt-bags as well, who are probably just as likely to steal from you, but a bit less likely to shoot you in the head while they're doing it.