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Undefined is somewhat of an old skool legend in our eyes! Way before Rago Magazine went on the internet and was just an A5 magazine, we used to rave on about Crisis Center and a main part of that crew was this talented individual. Undefined is holding it down for 'real NYC rap' and with a bunch of new stuff going down, Tricksta went to get all the latest...
Where are you from and what’s the Hip-Hop scene like there?
I'm from Long Island, New York about 15 minutes outside Manhattan. Right now there is alot of dope music out you just have to weed through the mass amounts of garbage to find it. Regardless NY always has that street shit locked don't let the radio fool you.
How did you get into music and is there anybody or anything you credit as an influence?
Definitely my mom, growing up she constantly had all types of music playing at our house. I really got exposed to soul music from her and that's definitely one of my favorite forms of music to this day. It's also funny that alot of the beats I've made have come from sampling her 45's & LP collection.
As a producer you’ve worked with quite a few artists, but for those that don’t know tell us who you worked with?
I've been fortunate enough to work with Army of the Pharaohs,[Vinnie Paz,Reef The Lost Cauze,Chief Kamachi], Outerspace, Sabac Red [Non Phixion],King Syze, Big Lou,Shaabam Sahdeeq,Doap Nixon, Block McCloud, Nyce Da Future, El Gant, Famoso, Killa Rellik. I just did a joint for my man Tools featuring Termanlogy which is really ill.
Out of all the artists that you have worked with what was the most memorable experience and why?
Probably Army Of The Pharaohs cause when I made the Henry The 8th beat everyone that heard it was like that's some AOTP type shit. I know they were working on their first album so the timing was perfect. I shopped it to Vinnie Paz and before I knew it, it was recorded and the album was out. It also really put me on the map as a producer cause that record blew up worldwide so it was great exposure. One really memorable studio experience was when my man that owns Illified Mission studio let me sit in on a PMD session. It was just me him and PMD [EPMD is my favorite group of all time] I got to play like 5 beats for P and he caught a nice freestyle to a couple, we drank some Heineken's and just chilled. It was dope. That's a legend right there.
So what you released to date and what releases have your beats been on?
I just dropped The Manual Labor Sessions Mixtape which is 14 tracks all produced by me, I also have production on the following albums Army Of The Pharaohs - The Torture papers || Outerspace- Gods Fury || King Syze- Syzemology || King Syze- The Labor Union || Doap Nixon - Sour Diesel || Sabac Red - The Ritual || El Gant - Hungry || Famoso- Audio Dope || Crisis Center Vol.1 || Crisis Center Version 2.0 || Alvare Never Heard Of This, Plus a ton of mixtapes with cats like Big Lou, Lost Souls & Block McCloud, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Killer Rellik & many more. I also have plans to release a cd sorta like the Alchemist cutting room floor. A bunch of joints that just got lost in the mix but definitely need to be heard.
When did you actually start making beats?
I seriously started to make beats in 1999/2000. I've always been around heads making tracks and I was putting my 2 cents in here and there but in "99 I finally got some gear and really started creating for real.
How long did it take you to get moving and what was your first release?
It took a minute to get things rolling. It's still nerve racking playing beats for people. It's hard too put yourself out there like that but you need criticism to grow. My first release came from the crew High Counsil [We were like a Wu Tang Clan type of group] I did beats on the first record we dropped [High Council Allstars] as well as the tracks for a side group that formed from HC called Unsafe Depths and all the Crisis Center records. After that Crisis Center Version 2.0 EP I started to shop beats to people outside thew crew.
What’s your studio set up like?
My main weapon of choice is the ASR-10, Regardless of how much gear I add in the future I'll always rock on the ASR. I also have a digital 12 track to give my beats a quick mix, a Korg DDD-1 drum machine to fuck around on. A Technique 1200 of course for sampling, 1000's of records and Reason. I like to do alot of my work in the big studio after the vocals are layed and it's mixdown time
What’s your favourite bit of kit in the studio?
My record collection [laughs]
Do you have any studio tips for any producers coming into the game?
Don't expect to make money..lol. Be prepared to deal with alot of different attitudes in the game! Some Mc's need to realize that this is a 2 way street. Making tracks is not an easy thing to do and alot of cats blow and tour because of the beats on their albums not necessarily their flow and lyrics. For up and comers find what gear whats for you and do your thing. Everyone has an opinion on what machine or program is the best to use for creating but in the end a dope beat is a dope beat regardless on what it was made on.
When you set out to make a track do you have a certain formula that you work too?
Not really sometimes I spend weeks sampling and compiling sounds and ideas and other times I just load the machine up with different instruments and bang away at the keys until I feel something.
So is there anything you are working on or promoting at the moment?
Right now I'm promoting my new mixtape The Manual Labor Sessions, you can download it for free at http://www.execute1200.com/manuallabor it's just a sampler of some of my favorite joints I produced to get people more familiar with my work. I also have new stuff in the works with AOTP, Randam Luck, Custom Made, HTA [Tools, Famoso, Mokeout] Brown Bag Allstars and a bunch of other really dope Mc's. Also be on the lookout for the Manual Labor Sessions Mixtape Pt 2.
Forget budgets and the politics, if you could work with any Hip-Hop artist who would it be and why?
Kool G Rap cause in my opinion he's the greatest of all time. He is the definition of raw Hip Hop and that's what I'm all about. I have some beats that I'm getting ready to shop to him so hopefully this year that will pop off. Okay forget about Hip-Hop for a minute, is there anybody outside of our genre you would like to work with and why? No question Bjork. I've been a fan of her from the beginning, I have every record she had done from LP to Single. I've remixed a bunch of her acapella's and the finished product sounds crazy. I would love to just vibe in the studio with her, make real grimy type of track and just watch her do her thing it.
Do you have a My Space page?
www.myspace.com/undefinedbeats . I constantly updated it with new music, info and news.
People are jumping from My Space to Facebook and Twitter. It seems there are loads of these type of websites popping up. What’s your whole take on the Internet and these social networking websites?
I love the promotion aspect of the Internet, that can't be denied but I can't really get wrapped up in spending all my time on the computer. Like most people I have a hectic schedule and I need as much time to create tracks as possible. I definitely spend a certain amount of time promoting on the web but I got in this game to make music and that's first priority hands down.
Interview by Tricksta
www.myspace.com/trickstawolftown
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