My studio is fully analog. There's nothing modern. There's not even a computer in my studio.
Adrian Younge
Cee Lo - to me, his voice is classic; I've personally said to him before, 'For me, your voice is as special as a Michael Jackson vocal,' because of what he can do, his range. I said that to him, and I mean that.
I started buying ill, obscure records, and then I saw Portishead and Air live, and my mouth was on the ground.
I love sampling, and RZA loves sampling, too.
Generally, as a composer, it's perceived as an employer-employee relationship.
'Luke Cage' came out in 1972 at the height of the blaxploitation era. It was a literary response to this notion of blaxploitation movies. It was the first time in American culture that Hollywood was embracing black movies.
My music sounds different because the techniques are archaic, seeing as most people only record digitally.
I always compare myself to what I did last, so I've got to try and beat what I did last. I'm always upping my own bar.
When Curtis Mayfield made 'Super Fly,' he used the lyric to make a statement.
I grew up, and I'm getting the chance to make music with the people I idolized.
People don't realize how much it means to your music to record on tape, whether it be for new music or old music. People don't realize how much or how imperative it is to use actual hardware when making drums because those are actual percussion samplers. They're hardware instruments that are made to have the drum hit.
I've always been a big fan of Kendrick's, but it's different when you hear him on your own production.
Luke Cage is seen in 'Jessica Jones,' but he doesn't really come into his own until the 'Luke Cage' series. That's when you really see who he is.
It's important to the world to see superheroes that are spread across our demographic.
As me being somebody that makes arguably nostalgic music, I cannot stand when somebody tries to make old music just to sound old.
Sometimes, a concept is needed to spark myself and the vocalist; sometimes a concept isn't necessary for that spark. It all depends on the moment, because I don't want to be that dude that every album has to be this story or that story.
'Luke Cage' is a gift. There's so many different ways you can look at it.
I'm a film composer, but I'm a hip-hop guy.
We love high-end art, but when you're looking at high-end art in music, a lot of the time, it's appreciated academically, but you can't feel it as much.
As a freelance artist, you have to please somebody instead of just making music. But when the employer trusts and leans on you to determine what is right for a scene or feeling, that's ideal.
When you get older, you try to get what you wanted as a kid. Maybe you wanted an arcade in your house or Q-Tip rapping on your beats.
I like golden-era hip-hop because they were recording on a 2-inch tape. There was dirty, raw sampling. It's nasty. It has a vibe to it.
I can't do too much musical movement with a lot of MC's, because they don't know how to follow me. But with Souls of Mischief, I could go anywhere because they are musicians - they rap as musicians, and they play instruments and produce, so they get that.
I'd never record digitally. It's not because its' a horrible way to record, it's just not the best way to record my music, because my music is rawer, darker and a little more nostalgic.
To me, recording with live instruments and tape takes things back to an older sound that I like but that's still fresh.
People like RZA and DJ Premier are really on the balcony to scope my musical theories. They also help me focus on making sure I make money, making sure I get the notoriety I should, just regular stuff that friends do when you're in the business. And to call them friends is amazing.
I always feel like young people are more emotionally in tune with new and timeless music.
I remember those moments in my life when the tape came out on that Tuesday, and I went to Sam Goody to cop it. And sitting and listening to it. In awe of the music I was listening to, but also imagining this music at the hip-hop clubs and with the homies in the car.
I basically wake up at five in the morning and grab coffee and just get to the studio. And I have a list of things I need to get done every day. Sometimes it's just mixing, sometimes it's actually writing, sometimes it's writing, recording, and mixing. It all depends on what is necessary that day.
I don't like to focus on just hip-hop because with hip-hop, I can only do so much; with a vocalist, I can only do so much, but the limitations are varying.
When I did 'Venice Dawn,' there were times where people would cry after listening to it.
I want listeners to feel as though they went through an experience.
Having Ghost and Raekwon together on multiple tracks is almost like cheating because they fit so well together. Their chemistry is undeniable, and they clearly make each other better.
It's important for a young black kid to see a Mexican hero, just to know that we're all equal.
I'm a hip hop dude who loves scoring for film.
A lot of people record on a laptop and use plug-ins, which might be OK for the kind of music that they're doing. But for the kind of music that I'm doing, that just doesn't work. I can't cut corners; everything has to be organic.
Change the sound. Make people rethink what they're doing. That's what I really wanna do.
A lot of Ennio Morricone's music is just - it's very soulful, very cinematic, and very psychedelic.
I always say to people that I left hip-hop in '97, meaning that I departed from listening to predominately hip-hop and just started really getting into records from the late '60s, early '70s. And once I made that change, I realized how much great music was made back in the day, and it started to become apparent how much we've lost in music.
Like with me, like around '97, for Christmas my parents bought me an MPC 2000 sampler and a little eight-track cassette recorder. And I started sampling records and, you know, producing hip-hop beats. And it got to the point where I realized - I innately realized that the music I liked the most was made by people that played instruments.
I was really raised on hip-hop, and hip-hop introduced me basically to all the music I listen to now.
To me, the Ennio Morricone kind of sound is a derivative of soul music.
I tell people, 'I don't make music, I make worlds.'
I'm the black dude that loves old black culture. I also love old white culture. I just love history, but I'm the guy that wants to bring things back and push them forward.
I love the song 'Picasso Baby,' and I think the performance art piece was brilliant. I love that fact that Jay Z is continuing to raise the bar on hip hop.
I have a J.D., but I'm not a practicing attorney as far as entertainment law goes.
Basically, if you work hard and practice an instrument every day, you'll learn how to play like a professional. You'll get better and better each day. And that's how it works for me. I wasn't magically inclined to play. I had to keep practicing and practicing to train my fingers.
When people make the educated argument that things should go back, it's more like going back to a feeling they had when they heard some of the music that came out. Not going back to that music being rehashed. That's stupid.
When you're recording live, really good vintage instruments onto two-inch tape, it's the best fidelity you can get.
I know all my different formulas to get certain sounds. I've been doing this so long that I don't experiment anymore. Or let me rephrase: I've been doing this so long that I don't have to experiment as much. You always want to evolve and change, but if I go in and I know it's a certain type of song, I know exactly where I'm going to place the mics.
