......the making of one of my newest beats entitled "Living."

Check out the first edit of the new Los Foley video, "Change Gon' Come." I did the beat and tracked the vocals. I still have to take some footage of myself and send it to Dave, who's going to splice it in somewhere. Anyway, let me know what you think. We need some feedback before we take it hard to market. E-mail me at beatbox25683@yahoo.com or send me a message on myspace. Enjoy....

Its about that time. I just wrote a bangin' intro track for Los Foley's new album "The Contender," which will be hitting stores in May 2008. The majority of the tracks have been completed, most recorded over the Summer. Tracking should be done within the next few months. I'll keep you all posted.

I just watched the first edit of the "Change Gon' Come" video.....looks sweet, capturing the essence of hip hop while focusing on that old school feel. It was filmed and edited in Detroit by Dave, the owner of Vigilante Cartel. Check out other videos at www.vigilantecartel.com. In the meanwhile, I'm working on the MASTER MIX for the song and of course brewing up some new beats.....peace.

I've kinda been out of the HIP HOP GAME for a while since my RnB stuff has been selling so well. But, its time to start movin' again as the Los Foley project nears completion. We're anticipating an album drop in the Spring. Check out the single "Change Gon' Come" at www.myspace.com/losfoley and keep your eyes open for the music video. In the meantime, I'll have some hot instrumentals droppin' soon....stay up on it.


Check out the latest:

..its been R&B lately with no samples, mainly guitar with a few other instruments to fill the sound and add crispness. But, I always go on these SPURTS with the music I'm writing. Today its R&B, the next its Hip-Hop, and cycles around to Rock, which until now I had not written in over six years. My friend Marvin does the same thing, just with styles he's playing instead of writing. I think his latest kick was trying to find the hottest organ sound. Anyway, I need a way to compromise these genres because, I'd like to write in all of them. I may just be trying to find my niche or maybe I was meant to walk aimlessly, constantly searching for my place...who knows.

Here's one of my latest tracks entitled "Su Amor." Enjoy.

I'm posting my EQUIPMENT because I'm not one of those producers who fears others copying my sound. The truth is that talent makes good music, not equipment. Although, I do believe there are a few must haves.

The First is the MPC. I have a 2000xl but a 2000 or 2500 would be sweet too. This is the brains of the hip hop studio. Everything is run through this machine. Many times, I'll play a guitar riff or a piano chord progression and sample it into the MPC just because of the different ways you can manipulate the sound within it. Gotta have an MP. You need a nice set of monitors as well. I have a set of KRK V4's. They work great for me. I also have a set of M-Audio B4x monitors that I use because the V4's accentuate the low end and the M-Audios push more of the highs. Next, I have the Alesis Multimix 16 firewire mixer. This is on the low end of the spectrum as far as firewire mixers are concerned, but it has 12 inputs and thats enough for me, plus you can bypass the preamps. So, if you wanna use a nice preamp for vocals you don't have to worry about it ruining sound quality. I use an M-Audio 88es midi controller with Logic for midi sounds and have several sound pack upgrades. I also do all of my mastering in Logic.
I bounce a two track from my MPC through a Sonic Maximizer 482i into Logic on my ibook G4. It slows down the highs to match up with the bass waves. It helps smooth out the sound. I have a few pairs of headphones. A pair of AKG K141s and a pair of Sennheisser HD280's. Both are pretty decent, one open back, one closed. As far as microphones and hip hop go, all you really need is a Shure SM58 and thats what I have. It all works for me.


Thats it. There are so many things that I can add to my setup and maybe I need them or maybe I don't. That is a question that can send producers on a wild goose chase for the nicest setup possible yet their tracks still sound like garbage. It's all about the ear not the equipment.