I'm assuming you dig for your samples. Scratch that - I'm assuming you sample. Well if you do, then that means you spend lots of time looking for the perfect drum break for your next beat. There are tons of breaks out there, and many of them have been snatched up over the years either by famous Hip ...
Marketing your beats is probably one of the most boring and annoying things that you have to do in the music industry. I've written articles where I discussed many possible ways that marketing can really affect how well you succeed in the Hip Hop world, but what is the best? We all know that unfo...
With the announcement from Native Instruments about their Maschine 2.0 software about to be released soon, as well as their brand new Maschine Studio hardware controller, there's been a hot debate all over the internet about whether or not to pay for software upgrades. I own Maschine MK1 and when...
I'm sure that most of you read the title of this article and were immediately confused. Why would I even DARE ask such a question, especially on a Hip Hop production community such as IllMuzik? Just the mere thought of making beats other than Hip Hop has probably never even crossed your mind (or may...
I've often wondered why producers are overlooked and not treated as equal to rappers. I know that rappers are at the forefront and are the ones seen on stage, in videos, and are heard on the airwaves, but producers, however, are the ones that piece everything together and make sure that every single...
Money is very important, but so is music. Without music, there would be no money, and vice versa. When it comes to making beats and possibly making money from those beats, you could be faced with some tough choices, namely, does money affect your beat making? I'm sure that today there are many pe...
With what exactly? If you have to ask me that question then you must be either blind, deaf, dumb, or all of those combined. If that's the case then I should call you DJ Helen Keller. Hip Hop music is at an all-time high of oversaturation and it doesn't look like it's going to end anywhere in the nea...
It's always difficult to find some good drum sounds for your productions, and Hip Hop producers often look towards vinyl or drum kits for those sounds. However, what's often overlooked is old drum machines because they all have some great sounds that can easily be manipulated to match our sound. The...
There has been a disturbing trend in the world of Hip Hop over the past decade or so, and it's something that needs to be addressed NOW. I actually first discovered it back in 1996. I know it's hard to believe but it began back in the day when a friend of mine came over one day to freestyle. What ha...
Success comes in all shapes and forms. Most people tend to associate money with success, and while that may very well be a good fit, it's not the only type of success there is. If you're hitting the studio on a regular basis and you're working really hard on your beats, hoping to blow up and get som...
I have a challenge for you: organize your samples. I know it's a tedious task because no one wants to have to sort anything, but by organizing your files, guess what will happen? You'll work better! Too often we're used to taking a sample from whichever source, such as a vinyl record, or just an MP3...
At least I hope! This won't be a "Hip Hop today sucks, old school is the best" type of article, instead it's about which direction Hip Hop is headed. Some say that everything eventually comes back into style and I strongly believe that the same can hold true for Hip Hop. We've seen it go through man...
