Cheap Rappers vs Hungry Producers
I’m going to write an article about this in my Magazine (Eight-O-Eight) but I thought I’d share some shizznits with the rest of you. Your responses will help me complete the column.
As a producer, I’ve invested a lot of money into my budget studio throughout the years. I bought a lot of items, sold a lot of items, and took huge losses in simply finding out what works well for me. Everything thing I bought, I had to learn how to use it. makes no sense having a piece of equipment that can do everything you ever desired, but you have no idea how to use it. Then you have to make everything work together. I sacraficed a lot of parties and pussy just to simply make beats. Seriously!
But when it comes to the MC’s, I almost feel like a lot of you expect years of a producers investment to be handed to you. Don’t get me wrong, I TOTALLY respect an MC because I can’t even spit two words out my mouth that rhyme, so to do a whole song is amazing, but some of you just have no respect for what a producer does. Unless you can come out with a dope accapella cd, you need to support your producers more. We support you! You use our beats and press up cd’s and make your little chump change selling a few joints here and there, but I’ve yet to see any of you give two cents back to the producer. From my experience, most of you come empty handed..want to drink beer, eat snacks..walk in the house with dirty shoes on your feet, want beats for free but can’t even bring a blank cd to record your own FREE music, use our time to engineer your music, and the only time you call back is for MORE FREE shit! “Eh dawg.. you made anything new lately?” (Does this sound like you??)
Anyways, some of you really need to treat yourself as a business and stop cutting corners. You know you’ve got some lyrics in your head, and how it feels when you hear a beat that fits it perfectly. maybe you need to invest in that beat. Don’t skimp and lay the vocal to a free beat just because it’s free. “Mary had a little lamb” can be sung over a Dilla beat, but it doesn’t mean it would sound right. It seems like no one wants to pay for beats, but everyone needs them. The reason is because sucka, wanksta, wannbee ass producers are selling their 2 minute creations for $20 a piece, and many of you are taking em because you don’t want to pay more for something that is better. Why do yourself like that? All it takes is 6 songs. You can open up for a group with 6 songs. You can come out with an EP with 6 songs. Wouldn’t it sound better than your catalog of bullshit that took you years to create?? Listen to some of your material! Some of that crap should never be played in front of people! Just think how small the investment really is. Six beats (lets say @ $400/piece) is $2400. What kind of business can you get into for that price? A Gas Station? No. A Barber shop? No. A Rosco’s Chicken and Rib joint with Aunt Jemma on the greens? No. You can’t even own a got-damned hot dog stand in the slum of all projects with $2400! Even if you don’t have a job, would it hurt to flip a burger for a few months to make your dreams come true. Half of you spend close to, if not more than $100 a week on weed and alcohol. Simply being clean and sober for a month will knock out two birds with one stone! I bet you can find a quick 5G’s to put some spinning rims on that bucket ass hooptie you drive! As a producer, I’m not gonna get rich off you, but you need to support us a whole lot more. If something breaks, how we gonna keep making beats? If I need something to improve my mixes on YOUR song, how am I going to afford it? A lot of you get these free beats, and don’t do anything with the song except smoke blunts in the back of your boys car while listen to the music. You don’t push the music because it comes easily for you. I rarely see people on the streets selling cd’s with dope underground producers. Lots of times, I hear 50 Cent instrumentals with the wackest vocals. There’s so many dope producers out here, and 99% of you MC’s ain’t doing a damn thing to help this Hip-Hop shit. I’m talking to any and all emcees that have never given two nickels to your producer(s) but you always want their beats. Shame on you!
PS. Next time you lay vocals, brush your teeth! Y’all breath is killing our Mic’s and Pop filters (that you didn’t pay for either!)
*the full story of this will be in the 808 magazine, I promise! All responses welcome* 
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