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Hi-Tek on RPMs & producing in Hip Hop’s Digital Era
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DJ Hi Tek sat down with Deft Magazine to discuss his production process, his collaboration with Talib Kweli–Revolutions Per Minute (RPM), and producing in the Digital Era of Hip Hop.
I’m sure you get this a lot, but I must begin with a little gratitude for your work on BlackStar and first Reflection Eternal albums, the timing, themes, and the production were all a breath of fresh air when they dropped in 99-2000. So my first question real question would be where were you in your development as producer at that time?
At the time I was really still learning how to produce, practicing and studying in the basement. I didn’t really consider myself a real producer at the time, I was immature and still taking advice from people that I met along the way, different engineers and allowing them to help me.
How do you think your work and position as a producer has affected the industry and what are your feelings on those affects as applied to today’s Hip Hop culture?
I think a lot of cats dig my style so I guess it was influential you know, but I dig a lot of other peoples style too. As a producer you have to keep an open mind and be receptive while continuing to re-invent yourself and grow.
With the title of the album “Reflection Eternal: Revolutions Per Minute” (RPM), and the fact that it’s an album and not just a collection of singles… it seems like you and Talib are making a statement about the state of Hip Hop and music in general. Talib mentions that cats live off of the short span of youtube sound clips and don’t really take it in as deep as an LP for example, you once spoke on the concept of the approach to putting together an entire album versus producing EPs and singles. Could you elaborate on that and tell us a bit about how you balance the production of an entire album in the new digital era of Hip Hop?
At the end of the day you’ve got to keep your ear to the street and see where the energy is and know what people actually want and where their attention is at the time. In any generation of music, as a producer you have to see what the people are feeling, what their movements are like, and pay attention to what’s going on. You can’t force what you want to do on the industry because it’s a game. You’ve got to do what you do from the heart, but at the same time play the game. You can’t come into the game trying to change it; you’ve got to be a player.
Words to live by…
Another aspect of the digital era of Hip Hop is media distribution methods such as access to music through web services like Soundcloud, BandCamp, Blogger, and what not, What’s your take on Web 2.0 from the perspective of a producer?
It’s good, and it’s only bad if you solely depend on that way of getting in touch with people through your music because everybody is not on the Internet. I think you’ve got to utilize those outlets but you’ve still got to do the physical distribution. You’ve got to tour and be in peoples faces, people go wrong when they think that if I put this on the internet it’s going to get across to everybody in the world and make an impact. When you go about it that way, it can make your music disposable. People might listen to it once or twice and then they say “OK that’s dope, now let me move on to the next song, what else can I find?”
Ok, somewhat along the same line another observation about production in the digital era of Hip Hop is that access to equipment, software, and technology is readily available to just about anybody who wants it… its like the guitar to rock-n-roll. It kind of levels the playing field in producing.
It does…
What qualities do you think separates great producers from the novices and amateurs?
I always say that there’s a difference between a beat maker and a producer. There’s a person who makes beats, and then there’s a producer. The person who just makes beats might be able to take that beat or simple idea and make an entire song out of it. As an amateur he knows how to make something new, but he doesn’t know what to do with it. A great producer is a person who can do it all and he may not even touch the buttons, but can still transform a single beat into something entirely new and deliver it to the world.
In listening to RPM, I can feel that there’s a vibe between you and Talib which is unique to previous collaborations, how would you describe that chemistry and why do you think listeners are so receptive to it?
I think it’s just our music individually, I have my goals about what I want to do musically, and Kweli is one of the illest MC’s slash…well I still call him a producer at this point because he’s not just a rapper who waits on a producer to make a beat. He has his own vision for what he’s trying to get across musically. He’s multi talented and has his own set of skills.
On RPM the two tracks “In this World” and “In the Red” seem to illustrate your unique sound with heavy synth bass, a lot of atmospherics, jumpy drums, and definitely that kind of soul factor… how do you feel that came to be your signature style?
It’s just the funk, coming out of Cincinnati I gotta have that heavy bass and feel some bump to it. But I still have to split the difference with what’s going on right now in music like I said before. I’m not into purposely making my sound gritty without getting across to the people. It sounds gritty but you still hear everything that’s going on, not gritty in quality, but sonically.
When you walk into the studio what’s your first step towards dropping a funky beat? Explain that day 1, first hour, first minute, first second scenario.
Aww man, I don’t really have a set process, I don’t even have a formula. I’m going for ideas and sounds; I may have heard a sound walking into the studio.
So you might sit down push a button then turn a knob and see what happens?
It depends on what I’ve heard; it could be a dripping faucet or any real life sound. I have to have an initial idea, so it’s based on really unique sounds but something has to spark it.
What would people be surprised to find out about you as far as your musical taste with respect to Hip Hop or even outside of Hip Hop if that’s something that you’re interested in?
I don’t know, they may catch me listening to some classical music.
Word, Beethoven and Mozart?
Yeah, anything that’s unique. I admire people who are mad scientists, stuff that keeps my soul hungry and burning.
Who are you feeling at the moment?
Gucci Mane, but really anyone doing something from the heart, it’s got to be real. I can always tell when it’s the real thing.
Haha, like Ray Charles and the old Pepsi commercials…
There’s a skit on the album I found absolutely hilarious. “You can choose to be as soft as a pillow or as hard as a rock…You don’t want to be that hard. That’s cavities and headaches “ Do you have any comments on that?
The basis for that was that some cats take this game so seriously that they forget about the structure of the business and end up dying for Hip Hop. Vice Versa, they want to be so unique that they get on some weirdo shit. There’s balance, you’ve got to stay sane out here, don’t let it make you go crazy. Just keep making music for the fun of it, come correct with uniqueness, and just respect the game and the art.
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