...an explanation of how they make their stuff?

[beestyboi]

ideally i'm looking for a video of them in the studio working out a tune. or audio even. a 'behind the scenes' i guess.. like a 'well for this one adam came in with 3 second loop , then we added a thing, then we did this, etc' or 'this one started with lyrics and we built a foundation around that by doing this, blaaah...'


for awhile it seemed like they'd record their jams, for hours, then go back to pick out loops/parts, and add to that. or adrock would somehow mastermind most of it with a sampler and come in with whole song ideas.,,, ?


i know magicians dont give up secrets, but im dying to know what they do.... does this kind of stuff exist?

[Brother McDuff]

from my own research, i've gathered:

a) there's really no ideal video (that i've found) that gives you a definitive look into their development of making a song. you really just gotta collect little tidbits of info from here and there on how different elements of songs were put together.

b) furthermore, their process has changed and metamorphisized so frequently and often throughout their career that there really isn't an ultimate method to the madness.

c) you'll find alot of "in-studio" interviews, but ive never been able to find one where they go into any real depth about the making of a song at hand.

d) each record, in theory, had it's own approach overall, though even within that there's your handfuls of songs that just came out of fuckin' around and shit eventually coming together in the end.

e) you can usually find at least one or two factoids regarding any given song from their catalogue, some more than than others, given you search hard enough. but I'm with you in that it would be great to just get a top to bottom run-down of even just one joint, just to observe the thought process and different stages of development.

not quite a head-on answer, but hopefully it's of use to you.

[beestyboi]

cool man, thanks a bunch.. great points, useful indeed (y)

i've heard lots of interviews, and yeah it's like putting a puzzle together... but how great would a full top to bottom type thing be.. or even just a 'day in the life in the studio'

doesnt get any better than beasties.. :cool:

[tjpop]

somewhat related...one question I always thought that I'd ask them if I ever met them at a store signing or such is:

do the lines they individually sing come from lines that they individually wrote? like, everything Yauch sings - is that coming from his head, or do they sing each other's writings? I would hope that it would be that they each sing what they wrote, but that probably is not realistic. or is it?

Now, some of the lines they sing seem obvious that they individually wrote it. for example Mike D in Professor Booty:
The logo I sport is the face of the monkey
Union made, Ben Davis quality it's no junk see
My chrome is shining, just like an icicle
I ride around town in my low-rider bicyle!

but others you don't really know. for example Mike D in Professor Booty:
You got, you got, you got, you got, you got
You got the boomin system but it's blastin out doo
Do you think it's chocolate milk, but it's watered down YOO-HOO

[Brother McDuff]

ive found both, actually. ive read cases where they write individually, and ive read cases where they all write it together and then split it up. more commonly the latter though.

once again, im obviously no expert, but this is what ive gathered from lots of reading.

[pm0ney]

ive found both, actually. ive read cases where they write individually, and ive read cases where they all write it together and then split it up. more commonly the latter though.

once again, im obviously no expert, but this is what ive gathered from lots of reading.

Which goes to show how tight they are as a group. I'd say 99.9% of MC's would never let anyone else finish their rhymes. They want the credit for those punch lines.

[Brother McDuff]

Which goes to show how tight they are as a group. I'd say 99.9% of MC's would never let anyone else finish their rhymes. They want the credit for those punch lines.

the bboys, i feel, are a unit vocally, and shine best when they rhyme so. in their strongest form they are interweaving lines, most notably paul's boutique and hello nasty era raps. splitting their verses three ways, like 4 bar 4 bar 4 bar, has it's charms (like TT5B and CYH), but when they are rhyming as one, i.e. trading words, phrases, and lacing each other's backups and adlibs is where they really excel and enter their own realm of mc-manship. that's when the snowballin' heats up and blows socks off.