|
One very prescient memory for me was an article I read on Aqua and Joe 3H around the time they were getting pub for working with Jay.
They were going on and on about how their beats are better because they grind harder than the next man. How, when everybody's asleep, they sleep beatmaking and shit...
Needless to say, that EXTREME grind did nothing for their longevity because, as a production crew, they are no where to be found. I know that Joe 3H is on the industry side these days (mainly because his pops was already an industry big wig), but I'm sure Aqua is somewhere just reminiscing about the good ole days.
And that leads me to my point: Stop talking and just let your artistry prove it's worth. It don't matter if you tell me that you grind constantly, barely sleep, don't even find time to masturbate, etc..., if your music sucks. Because, then it was all for naught. It's like a cat getting a steal on the courts and beating out everybody only to lay it up in the opposing team's basket. You worked hard for nothing.
Now, this mentality is ESPECIALLY prevalent on production forums. There's a contingency of cats who believe that, for every new track you make, you should search through 20 albums for a new drum break. Vinyl only. Don't dare you come in there talking about using breakbeat comps. Only their heroes get a pass for doing that, because, they've already put in hard work before to get to their current status and can now take it easy. Even worse are the cats who like to swear up and down about what techniques or equipment another cat uses like they were in the studio with the mofo.
Then, you hear their music and it either sounds like a carbon copy of whomever (usually either Madlib, Pete Rock, Primo, El-P or REALLY underground cats like Jel) they idolize or it's some real left field, under underground shit that only they momma and boys could love.
Although, I will say, they are just as bad as the upstarts who take every shortcut in the book hoping to become a superproducer overnight, coming off sounding like a clone of whomever the latest producer of the moment is. Most recently, Lex Luger.
Then, there's the cats in the electronic music realm who think that using synth presets is the devil. All the while, the cats they're trying to emulate either: A. Pay some cat to make patches for them or B. Buy up all the newest gear and soft synths so they can get to the presets first.
At the end of the day, I think people get misguided from the true goal, which is to make good music. You can burden yourself with all these constraints and petty requirements, making things harder on yourself without actually gaining any improvement on your craft. Come to grips with the fact that most OKP's are of the Nut Hugger lineage, so, if you' re not part of the little cliques that exist 'round here, your posts will probably tank like Souljaboy's album sales.
|
Printer-friendly copy 
Email this topic to a friend
The Lesson
