Working On A New Beat

I'm staying persistent with making beats. I started on one a couple of days ago and worked on it yesterday.

I plan on mixing it later today and then putting it up for sale.

You'll be the first to know...

Let's make it happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com

P.S. If you would like to know more about how you can make beats online and make your own beats check out my beat review site at www.RapBeatCreator.com.

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$700 Billion or Bust!!! Make Beats Or Die Bitches!!!

With all this talk about politics (Obama & McCain), the economy (Big bank takes little bank), and the $700 billion bailout (Um, where's my cut?) , its nice to know that making beats is still a good source of income.

I came across this ad about how to make money selling your own beats and of course I just had to see what it was about (since that's what I preach and teach).

What I found was a great candidate for review at my main site over at www.RapBeatCreator.com.

The site was called LiveOffBeats.com.

This site was not focused on how to make your own beats but it was focused on how to make money off the beats you've already made. I read the sales letter on the web page and I said to myself, "my subscribers might be interested in this."


I checked out the free video that was posted and it was pretty good. So I signed up for the newsletter about 2 weeks ago and I've been getting all sorts of free music "placement" tips.

The producer and webmaster is named Postman and he really has the production game down pat plus the Internet marketing game too. The testimonials are really good and he even list some names you may know of people who've used his system and made money.

So for all those people who are cryin' about not having any money and are too broke to buy a 25 cent Little Debbie Oatmeal Pie, this site is for you.

You already know how I feel about educating your self about the music biz...

....and the bottom line in ANY business is about what? Making money!

Click on the link below and see for your self:

www.LiveOffBeats.com

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com

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Beats On The Beach Music Seminar Hitting Miami,FL : NODFACTOR.COM

Check this out! For those that are able to check this out...please do it!

Click on the link below for hands on lessons on how to make your own beats:

Beats On The Beach Music Seminar Hitting Miami,FL : NODFACTOR.COM

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com

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Don't Be A Perfectionist!!!

Alot of people always ask what is the route to go when they start buying equipment. They want to wait until every 'i' is dotted and every 't' is crossed before they get started making beats.

The big phrase for this is "paralysis of analysis"... more commonly known as:

Procrastination

• Procrastination ultimately breeds a lot of excuses.
• Excuses are the tools of incompetence and builds monuments of nothingness.
• Therefore, there are no excuses!

Okay now that I got that off my chest...

...you don't have to have every piece of equipment in place before you can make your own beats.

You can get started with a simple beat machine. In fact, that's how I got started. Then I added another piece of equipment, then another. This is how you build a studio.

I don't know too many people who have built a studio right out the gate with everything in it they wanted at one time. It's not an overnight process.

How do you get started? Check out some books on music production. Ask other producers how they started. Make a list of the equipment you want and go for it.

If you don't start now then when. Remember, you don't have to be perfect. You just have to be good enough.

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com

The Source Magazine Picks 20 Greatest Producers

In 20 years, there have been some great Hiphop producers. For their 20th Anniversary, The Source magazine has named their top 20. I've put the list below. What do you think about this list? And why the hell isn't my name on it?! Or yours?! LOL!

Anyway, I can pretty much agree with the majority of the producers on this list. Who would you put on the list and who would you kick off? Here it is in alphabetical order:

1. Bomb Squad
2. DJ Paul and Juicy J
3. DJ Premier
4. DJ Quik
5. Dr. Dre
6. Erick Sermon
7. Jermaine Dupri
8. J Dilla
9. Kanye West
10. Lil Jon
11. Marley Marl
12. Mannie Fresh
13. Pete Rock
14. Puff Daddy & The Hitmen
15. RZA
16. Scott Storch
17. Swizz Beatz
18. The Neptunes
19. Timbaland
20. Wyclef Jean & Jerry Wonder

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
http://www.rapbeatcreator.com/

P.S. Our names should be on this list for the next twenty years. If you haven't check out Music Producer Pro then you might not get on the list. Click here to start making beats for only $39.00!





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The MF Doom Body Double Controversy - Is It True?

Wow! I don't know how many of you are familiar with my man MF Doom but it looks like he's catching some heat. It's been rumored that Doom has been using a body double or not even showing up at all for booked shows.

Now, Doom is my man hands down. I don't know what's going on as far as this body double business but he is a down to earth dude. The fans all see the "metal face" mask but all that aside I don't see Doom hiding anything.

Doom not only produced "Somethin's Gotta Give" on my High Risk album but he also helped me do some lawn work once and didn't ask for a penny. No joke. I put that on my daughter life. This is someone whose crashed at my crib before folks so I don't know about these allegations.

Like I said, I don't know what's going on. Dude wears a mask so it could be some clowns out there just gettin' money by using his name. I've seen Doom perform at clubs where there were only 20 people so why would he dodge a packed house? It doesn't make sense.

Check out the video below. ANYBODY could've done this.




Click the link below for the full story.

CunninLynguists Producer Calls Out MF Doom : NODFACTOR.COM

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com

Make Your Own Beats: To Beat Or To Blog? That Is The Question

Okay, so it's almost 3AM and I'm just sitting around. I'm kinda exhausted and I'm contemplating should I make a beat or post on my blog. Well, you're reading the results. Do you remember the post I put up a couple of months ago about the 3 essential things you need to make beats? It was The Will, The Way, and The Movement.

Well, I can tell you right now I'm having trouble with The Will and The Movement. I think I took the easy way out and just decided to blog. LOL. I'm such a lazy muthafucker sometimes. And I know my X-Board and Reasons both miss me but I'm just absent today.

Does this mean when you make your own beats you will get these slumps too? Probably so. Why? Because your HUMAN!!! Everyone is entitled to a break. Especially if you make beats using the computer or do any type of computer work for a long extended period of time. You need a break.

I just don't feel like making my own beats right now... Hey, at least I'm honest, right?

Tomorrow will be a different story. I'll holla...

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com

Rapper/Producer Daz Dillinger's New Album and What He Thinks About Making Beats

Dogg Pound member Daz Dillinger is set to release his latest album, "Only On The Left Side" next Tuesday, August 12th. I've been a Daz fan before he was called Dillinger in The Chronic and he's been pretty consistent even though he doesn't get a whole lot of publicity.

I liked what he said about making beats though.

“I’m doing a lot of producing, I just don’t be giving my beats out,” he says. ” I can make more money with my beats than the person I give it to. Because I put the records out, I’m seeing the money come in, I’m getting the ringtone money, everything. I can make a song tonight and have it up on iTunes in 2 days.”

I keep telling you cats that making your own beats is the way to go. No, you don't have to be a Daz Dillinger but you do have to be proactive and make things happen for yourself. If you're the writer and producer, you get to keep 100% of your publishing royalties if you know what you're doing.

The traditional music business is dead. I like what he said about iTunes. People are looking for new joints to put on their iPods that not everybody has. People are tired of the same songs being played on the radio 20 times a day. There is a golden opportunity at hand and people like Daz Dillinger are ahead of the game. Peace...

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com

Make Your Own Beats...Or Else!!!

Hey this is just a thought that I had. If CL Smooth would have been making beats, would his career have flourished as much or greater than Pete Rock's? We all know Pete Rock is sick on the beats and he can flow too. Not as good as CL but he held his own in the group and on his solo joints.

I don't know why Pete Rock and CL Smooth actually broke up. I've heard it was over, you guessed it...BEATS! There was a point in the 90's when Pete Rock was making beats for everybody. Pete was blowin' up and CL was getting blown off. That's just one example of someone who was the beat maker that thrived while others in the group fell by the wayside.

How about Teddy Riley and Guy. Boy, Aaron Hall sure could sing! I mean the ladies were on that dude back in the day even though some said he had a stuttering problem. Teddy was the man though. He coined the New Jack Swing era and made lots of money making beats for other artists besides Guy. I mean from Keith Sweat to Micheal Jackson he made a lot of beats. He produced from countless rap artists too.

Aaron Hall put out some solo albums but so what? I mean the albums were dope but Teddy was collecting checks...FAT CHECKS!!! All from making beats.

Am I advocating that if you are an artists you should take some time to learn how to make your own beats? Hell yeah that's what I'm saying. See you may not always be hot as an artist. And rappers are a dime a dozen. Producers though, producers stand the test of time. Look at Russell Simmons. He even produced a few of Run-DMC's early joints before he became the mogul that we all know. I'll bet he's still gettin' royalty checks too from the 80's.

With that said, I'm out. Tomorrow I'm going to discuss some preventive maintenance stuff to help you in your business as you make your own beats. Until then...

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com

There's No Magic Pill To Make Your Own Beats

The Blastmaster KRS-ONE & The Hot Instrumentalist, Mello Melanin

In this Hiphop "Matrix" there is no shortcut to being successful. In other words, Neo, there is no blue pill! There is nothing magical about making your own beats. There is nothing magical about being successful.

However there is a formula for luck and here it is:

Luck = Opportunity + Preparation

Let's break that down really quick. You've heard of people being in the right place at the right time. We'll they were lucky. An opportunity presented itself and they were prepared when it happened. No magic necessary.

So the question is how can you be prepared when an opportunity presents itself?

I like to relate my lessons by using my own experiences so here is a perfect example of how I was lucky. At my church, our youth ministry was working on events for planning their youth week. The director of the youth ministry was a friend of mine by the name of Server. Server had seen my group Prophetix perform several times before and he and several other people asked me if we would perform during youth week. I was a bit hesitant at first but I eventually said yes.

About a week later, I was told that KRS-ONE would be performing for our youth week as well. I thought that would be cool because I knew we would be opening up for him. Well, the show went better than I expected and KRS was very impressed with our show. I knew he was giving a lecture to the kids the following day so I went to it because I had heard him speak many times before. He did a History of Hiphop speech that was great!

Later that day, the church had a fish fry and all the kids took pictures with KRS. As we were leaving, I got a "gut feeling" that I should ask him for a contact number. I followed my instinct and asked. He gave me his number but stated it would best if I called him when he got back in 2 weeks from touring in California.

This is were the "luck" comes in...

I asked him if I could come on the tour with him and he looked at me real serious and replied "Word! Are you serious?" My response of course was "YES". He said the he could work it out but he'd have to check on the logistics. I was to call the number he had given me on Sunday evening and you bet I did.

I called the other members of Prophetix and let them know what was going on and they couldn't believe it but I could. Lo and behold, I get a phone call back from KRS and he told me that he wouldn't pay for our trip out to California but he would pay for our trip back, pay for our hotel, pay us $500.00 a piece, and pay us a per diem which is money for every day we were out there in Cali. Sounded fair to me. The total time from me asking him could I go to actually being on a plane to Los Angeles was less than a week!

My "luck" got even better though...

When we got settled in Los Angeles, we had a meeting with KRS where we were debrief on how the shows would go. He explained that he didn't want us to open up for him but he wanted us to actually be on stage with him during his set. No joke. Talk about a trill. Imagine being on stage with KRS-ONE while you perform his classic joints with him in front of packed audiences. It was great! And we got to perform in so many other cities in Cali from San Fransisco to San Diego in the process so that made the 2 weeks even better.

So yes, I do consider myself lucky but I was prepared when the opportunity presented itself. That is the point I'm making.

Are you prepared if someone comes to you right now and asks you for a CD full of beats or a full demo package? What have you done up to this point in your career to say that you are ready for a life changing opportunity? You should alway be prepared for an opportunity. You'll never know if it will be the lucky one that changes your life.

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
http://www.rapbeatcreator.com/

P.S. Get started building your catalog of beats today. Check out Music Producer Pro if you haven't done so already by clicking here!

Did You See Kanye West & Sway On MTV Last Night?

Photo Credit: Justin Borucki

Did anyone happen to catch the MTV special "Choose or Lose & Kanye West Present: Homecoming"? I thought it was great! Here is someone who's been ridiculed for one reason or another who goes out and actually helps someone he didn't know.

Now, I'm not saying that Kanye never helped anyone before this because I'm sure he has. It was just good to see him do this with war veterans from Iraq. The stories that these three people had were very touching. Yep, I said touching.

See even though they were being filmed giving away items, paying off the soldiers debts, etc., the point was that they were helping somebody who thought there was no end in sight to their misery. I give Mr. West a thumbs up fa sho for doing this.

These soldiers are dying everyday just so people like you and I can enjoy the freedoms that we have such as blogging or making your own beats or whatever. The stories of when they joined the military were even more chilling to me. They had joined pre-9/11. They weren't expecting to go to war and now they were living history. One man said he'd never even held a gun before. They were all young people too.

I know he only helped 3 people during the special but how many other lives were touched just by watching it?

Kanye knows what it's like to lose a loved one and I do too. I lost my uncle (R.I.P.) to a senseless murder by some teenagers the same day as his mom died. But those that are living must go on. Thanks Kanye West and MTV! We needed that...

For the full story click on the link below:

Kanye West And MTV Hear Veterans' Stories In 'Homecoming' - News Story Music, Celebrity, Artist News MTV News

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com

Beat Maker Scott Storch Loses Crib? You've Got To Be Kidding Me!

Umm, what the hell is this about?

Multi-Million Dollar producer Scott Storch loses his house to foreclosure!!!??? How does this keep happening? How can we, as Hiphoppas, see artist like MC Hammer lose their butts because of poor money management skills and still keep ending up in the poor house? I mean, was I the only one to read Donald Passman's book, "All You Need To Know About The Music Business"?




Click on the link below to read the full Scott Storch story:

Will Hollywood end up homeless? Another celebrity foreclosure - WalletPop

Honestly, I can't say what this man is going through. We've all been through rough times. I know I've had my share.

I just wanna know, "What da hell was on his mind?!?!". Damn, this man was at one time worth over $70 million dollars and he bought a home worth $10 million with a mortgage on it. That's just bad math. Even worse is that he didn't buy it straight out or get such a ridiculously low payment he could have maintained off of royalties alone. That's making your music work for you.

For those who don't know who Scott Storch is, here is a link to his discography of production credits:

Scott Storch discography - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What producer wouldn't want to have a catalog like this? As I read some of these songs and artist names, I just feel like something must've really went wrong is this dude's life. I hope he bounces back because he's a dope producer and he knows how to make hits.

Bottom line: Manage your money and cover your ass(ets). I hope this isn't another story of how people around him mismanaged his money because if it is, even Gary Coleman could've told him to watch out for that a long time ago.

Peace...

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com

Make Your Own Beats: What Are You Waiting For?

Have you ever dreamed of programming drums like Timbaland or Swizz Beats?

Then click here to make your own beats!

Are you a rapper or emcee that really wants to put out a demo or album but just can get your hands on the right music?

Then click here to make your own beats!

Are you in a group where one person handles most of the production of beats and you have to wait on him or her to give you beats or get into the studio to record?

Then click here to make your own beats!

Are you a Hiphoppa in need of some extra cash?

The click here to make your own beats!

Do you want to leave a lasting mark on the music industry and have a long career?

That's right - you need to click here to make your own beats!

Am I serious about you making your own beats? Yes, yes, and yes! I'm sure many people can relate to my story. I've been in the music business since 1988. I've been in several groups where someone else handled the beat making duties and most of the time I never had a problem with it.

I always felt like I could make my own beats but I never really pursued it because I was so focused on becoming the best emcee (for those that are Hiphop dialect challenged, an emcee is also called a rapper - but not all rappers are emcees. That a topic for another article). I'm a perfectionist so in my mind, I became one of the best emcees. I mean I've even performed at the Apollo in Harlem with one group I was in called The Insane Cirkle so I thought I was "the man".

Everything was fine for a while but we always had to go back to a certain producer with our ideas and he would charge us by the hour for studio time to put the ideas together and record songs & demos. I kept encouraging the members of the group to get our own equipment and no one moved a muscle.

One day, one of co-workers at my slightly above minimum wage job who had some connections with Dallas Austin and some other people offered to let me use a Boss 660 drum machine that he had laying around the house. I accepted and I began to make killer beats. The only drawback was that I couldn't make any melodies with it so I still end up going back to the same producer to help me finish the rest of the track and I was still paying him for studio time...and giving him production credits. But I did make some money with the 660.

I knew I couldn't keep the Boss 660 forever so I bought my first piece of equipment: A Roland PMA - Personal Music Assistant. At the time it was cutting edge technology because I could produce on the go. I was a public transportation user back then and I could make my own beats while I was on the train. It was MIDI capable so I could sync it up with other MIDI instruments in the studio and the sounds that it produced weren't bad. I made some money with it too.

Later after The Insane Cirkle broke up, I found myself in another group called Prophetix with my homeboy Eddie Meeks. Prophetix accomplished many great things and once again I shrugged off the production duties to work on my lyrics because our deejay, Jon Doe, was our producer who made really hot beats. With me being from down south, I wanted more bass kicks in the music I rhymed over but no one was feeling me on that concept. Most of the hit rap songs that you listen to have 808 kick drum sounds in them and so do the classics. As with the last group I got tired of waiting for beats and waiting to record in the studio so one day I went out and bought Reasons 3.0 and an EMU X-Board 25 and the rest is history.

The members of Prophetix disbanded for one reason or another and I'm REALLY glad I got my own equipment. There is an old saying that goes, "God blesses the child that's got his own". Well, I no longer have to wait on others to make music for me or wait to go to the studio just to record scratch vocals. Sure, I'll rhyme over another producers beats but I don't have to wait on anybody and my studio time is not limited by anybody else. If I have a good idea, I don't have to wait a week or two to get it recorded. I can do it all from the comfort of my home studio when ever I want to do it.

The point I'm trying to say is WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? There are endless optionS for making your own beats. I not a fool though. I know everyone can't afford an MPC 3000 or software like Reasons. As much as I love what the MPC does, it was just simply out of my budget. One great option for new producers to get is to get Music Producer Pro. It comes with software you can download off the Internet and it is full of tutorials that can help you get started today. It is currently selling at $34.95 at the time of this writing but it's easily worth $250 to $300.

If you don't get started making your own beats now when will you get started?

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com

P.S. To make your own beats, get started now by clicking here to go to the Music Producer Pro website. You won't be sorry! Peace...

Cain't Get Right: The Rap Beat Creator Has A Brain Fart

For the last few days, I have done NOTHING productive...well at least it seems that way in my mind. I feel like I've been spinning my wheels. I have an old Dell laptop that I've been working with for a while and I've just been having all kinds of challenges dealing with this thing.

One day last week, I decided to pull out the Dell because my wife was using our desktop computer and I really wanted to do some "stuff" on it. We just moved back in late April and we are still getting situated in our new home. With something as important as a computer, I try to keep all my things together. Well, for the life of me, I couldn't find my power cord for the Dell which I haven't used in months.

I looked every place in our garage that I thought it could be. I looked in the den. I looked in the office. I looked in our bedroom. I even looked in the "junk" drawer in the kitchen.

All the while, I'm trippin' ' cause I know it's here in the house and it should be somewhere near the computer. Eventually, I postponed my search, frustrated as hell.

The story continues...

This past Sunday, my brother-in-law called me about setting up his computer for wireless networking. After I spoke with him for a while about it, I began my search again for the missing cord.

Maybe it's being anal but when I'm ready to work on the computer, I have to have at it with no delays. I decided to look in the hall closet and to my surprise it was there along with some other cords that my wife had collected when she was setting up our Playstation.

YES!!!! I was estatic. So I began setting up my wireless network and the Dell was working fine.

Then I had problems setting up the wireless network. Here I am trying to set up a network by taking shortcuts and I wasted several minutes all because thought I could just simply hook up some wires. WRONG!!!

When I moved, I switched to Comcast from AT&T to have the fasted connection possible. But I forgot that the software that comes with the router searches for the type of Internet connection you use. Duhhhhhh!!!

Well, by the time I figured that out, the Dell started to lockup so I started doing hard boots on it. In my "inpatientness", I bypassed the screen that said, "Windows was shutdown improperly an it is checking your files to make sure they are not damaged."

BIG MISTAKE!!!

I could have thrown the Dell across the room but it wasn't the computer's fault. It was my fault. And guess what. Now the computer won't boot up Windows and I spent Monday evening trying to figure it out.

This story has 2 morals.

• Lesson #1: You should definitely have a dedicated computer to operate your business if you have a family or more than one person in the household that uses the computer. Anything can happen such as computer crashes, viruses, or simply someone wanting to use the computer when you need it.
• Lesson #2: Don't force your computer to do silly things because you're impatient with it. I'm going to try to work on the Dell a bit more but since its so old, I may just by a new one.

The result of these few days of banging my head against the wall is that I didn't create any beats at all. I just beat my head up against the wall only producing a big knot on my head filled with frustration.

Holla...

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
http://www.rapbeatcreator.com/

Beat Makers: Copyright Your Music or Get Caught Up in Some Bull****

You know, this music business is a funny business. Its a different business because we don't sell widgets. We sell songs which are also known as intellectual property. As with any kind of property you own you have to protect it. If you have a house, you get an alarm, a dog, or a gun. With songs you have to do the same.

There is an old saying: it's a thin line between famous and broke.

Alot of artists are so caught up in the glamour and glitz, fame and glory that they don't learn about copyrights and music publishing until their money is gone. By then its too late and that hit song that you made and thought you owned was really owned by someone else WHO KNEW about copyrighting the music.

I can site numerous examples of artists getting screwed out of their money because they didn't know about copyrights and publishing. They go hand in hand.

The other day I posted a link to an article about the late J. Dilla (R.I.P.) and how his estate was getting ripped off because people wanted to use his name and music for profit and didn't want to pay his estate.

That's garbage!!!

Our songs are our assets. They are what makes us money for years. They can make us money for generations if we protect them. I mean wouldn't you love to have control of James Brown's mega hit "I Feel Good"?

Imagine if he hadn't copyrighted it and exploited it...and somebody ELSE did!!!

Here's another old school, real life example from the Hiphop world. Back in the late 80's and early 90's, The D.O.C. was the man. He had several guess spots on N.W.A. records and his solo album was off the chain. Due to his youth, he didn't understand publishing and the infamous Eazy-E, traded him a gold chain for his publishing rights. Yep, you read that right. A GOLD CHAIN!!!

Now imagine how much money James Brown's song had made and what his life would've been like if he traded his rights for a freakin' gold chain back when he made "I Feel Good". We probably wouldnt've even heard of James at all.

I can't stress enough that the music business is a business and it requires constant education. With any business you want to start, you have to get education. Even if you wanted to own a McDonald's restaurant, you would have to go to Hamburger University...sounds funny but its true.

Fortunately, getting a good education about the music business is not as expensive as owning a Mickey D's but being uneducated will cost you more in the long run.

Here is another recent copyright issue I found on the Internet with Soulja Boy.

News: Possible proof that Soulja Boy has not infringed on copyrights

http://tripletimexl.com/news-possible-proof-that-soulja-boy-has-not-infringed-on-copyrights/

If you are serious, I hope you will take what I'm saying to you to the heart and head. I'd hate to see you lookin' broke as hell like MC Hammer.

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
http://www.rapbeatcreator.com/

P.S. If you would like to get more info on copyrights and other legal documents such as producer agreements (my real beat makers will need these!!!) click here.

88 KEYS:It’s A Man’s World : NODFACTOR.COM

Here's a great article on 88 Keys that I found while surfing the net. It took me a while to read it because of all the distractions but it was well worth it. I love a great success story. Here it goes:

Article starts here >>>>

It’s about time 88 Keys started yelling. The totally off the radar producer has been quietly amassing an enviable discography. From Black Star’s “Thieves in The Night” (thanks Eskay!) to Beanie Sigel’s “Watch Your Bitches” and Musiq Soulchild’s “Her” he’s kept heads ringing for years. Now he is preparing to release his first solo album, The Death of Adam, executive produced by Kanye West. Yeah, that Kanye West. On the eve of the Brooklyn Hip-Hop festival 88 Keys took a moment to speak with Nodfactor about the little death, producing for Jay-Z and why he’ll never give up his MPC-3000.

NODFACTOR: Tell me what your CD, The Death of Adam, is all about. What is that title supposed to be about?

88 Keys: The title is actually a reference to the female genitalia. The vagina. The entire album is based around the woman’s vagina, and the character Adam who represents the man. Just trying to get some. Just trying to get his off.

For the rest of the interview click on the link below:

88 KEYS:It’s A Man’s World : NODFACTOR.COM

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist

P.S. You should definitely check out Music Producer Pro if you are serious about creating rap beats. Click here now for more info!

LA Weekly - Music - Who's Biting J Dilla's Beats? - Jeff Weiss - The Essential Online Resource for Los Angeles

OMG! Don't let this happen to you. Jay Dilla aka James Yancey was one of the greatest beat makers to walk this earth. He made lots of money but his death has brought much sorrow into the world with people using his name to make money (and NOT sharing it with his family) and illegal downloads on the internet.

His mom is having a hard time dealing with his estate because so many people are out for themselves. Its very sad. Check out the link below for the full story.

LA Weekly - Music - Who's Biting J Dilla's Beats? - Jeff Weiss - The Essential Online Resource for Los Angeles

Rest In Peace Jay Dee!

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist

http://www.rapbeatcreator.com/

P.S. Copyright your music today! Click here now for more info...

Ghostface Killah In Iron Man Movie

I finally got to check out the Iron Man movie last week. I thought it was a dope movie for many reasons. One in particular was toward the beginning of the movie when Tony Stark was on his private jet. While Tony was having a party on his jet with his flight attentants, he had a big screen TV in background with a Ghostface Killah video playing.

For those that aren't fans of Ghostface, they wouldn't have known that one of his alter egos is Iron Man aka Tony Stark. I thought what a great deal for Ghost. He doesn't sell a whole bunch of albums but he is the most consistent of the Wu Tang Clan. Truely underrated and when I met him back in the day he was very cool & humble.

One of the other reasons I liked the movie was that I'm a big kid. Iron Man was one of my favorite heroes growing up.

Also did I mention that I've always had a fantasy to fly?

Ummm, I'll tell you about that later...

Holla!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
http://www.rapbeatcreator.com/

P. S. Getting your music into soundtracks is a great way to get lots of income. If you would like to learn how to make rap beats so you can market your songs to the music supervisors for blockbuster movies click here!

P.S. Iron Man pic courtesy of Zane Rosenthal & Marvel Entertainment. Ghostface Killah pic courtesy of Adam Bielawski / Photorazzi.

BET Awards: The Best One Yet?

Whassup folks,

Did you happen to catch the BET Awards a few nights ago? Some people are saying this is the best one yet. I would have to agree with those critics. I watch the BET Awards on Tuesday night and I really enjoyed it. If you didn't watch it, you missed a treat. Everybody did a pretty good job and there were even some GREAT performances that night.

Let's get started from the beginning. D.L. Hughley was the host and he was nuts. I would've liked for him to tell more jokes but the show wasn't about him. His opening monologue was great. He ain't as busy as Steve Harvey and Cedric the Entertainer but he is still a King of Comedy.

The opening act was Usher performing "Love In The Club". Although it wasn't one of his best performances, he gets major props on dancing on 2 moving conveyor belts going in the opposite direction. That took a lot of skill. Alot of lip syncing but that's to be expected when a person has that much dancing talent. A-Town represent!!!

Young Jeezy's set was okay but his mic sounded horrible. I thought that was unacceptable for BET because they got long money and that should have been fixed. Also, there is a slight possibility that Jeezy didn't do a sound check but I seriously doubt that was the problem. He brought out the beat creator himself, Kanye West to close out his set and his mic was horrible too. Thumbs down to BET again for the lousy engineering during this set.

Next was Keyshia Cole. Although I think she is sexy as hell and can blow with the best of them, that didn't stop her performance from being garbage. She came down from a pedestal which had been done so many times before but what really hurt her was not having any background singers. She's too dope to miss that and I don't know if it was her decision or not but her opening song was wack as hell. Then she went into her second song which was last summer's banger "Let It Go" that featured Missy Elliot & Lil Kim. Keyshia ripped off her dress and oh my God! That's one fine sista. She was rockin' some long white boots that took my mind off the horrible opening song. Lil Kim was okay and Missy wasn't there at all but Keyshia...wow. I'm still a fan...

Oh yeah. Her mom and her sister were wildin' out at the pre-show. Also, during one of the introductions of the award presenters later in the actual show, Keyshia's sister's boobs almost fell out of her dress. I'm sure men who like stacked women (me included) were just wait for them to pop out but it never happened...

I can't remember if Ne-yo went next but his show was dope. His choreographer went nuts and the whole dance team looked solid. He was probably my runner up for one of the best acts of the night. The brother's singing was pretty good even though he was dancing which was a downside to Usher's show: singing and dancing at the same time.

Also in the running for "Best Performance" was Ms. Alicia Keys. She can rock the house by herself but this time she brought along some guest from the 90's: SWV, En Vogue (all four of the original divas), and TLC (R.I.P. Left Eye). Me and my wife were out of our seats because it was basically an old skool concert for us. And since we both from "The A", when everybody on stage started doing the Bankhead Bounce, we went bannanas and started doing it too. What a treat!!!
Now we all know Chris Brown can dance, right? He's been dope since "Run It" and this time he had Ciera with him. They did an awesome routine where she fell down backwards and he caught her with the heel of his foot, kicked her back up and kept on rockin'. Hot!! Very Hot!!!

One of the wildest performances of the night was my homie T-Pain. If nothing else, he gets props for his outfit. My wife said it was teardrops and I said it was paisley but aren't paisley prints shaped like teardrops? Anyway...T-Pain did his thing and his acceptance speech for "Best Collaboration" with Kanye West was too funny.

Back to his show... Pain did "Ringleader" then he brought out Flo Rida who rocked "Lo". Flo dropped a verse then out came Rick Ross to perform his current hit which also features T-Pain. Then came my joint - "I'm So Hood" by DJ Khaleed - the remix version featuring ATL's own Big Boi from Outkast and Ludacris. It was cool because I've met both of them on several occasions and Luda was the first commercial radio DJ to play my vinyl on the air back in the day. Good to see them both makin' moves. T-Pain's set gets props all the way around.

Rihanna's set was cool. What was dope about her set was that you could look around in the audience and see people in the crowd singing with her on "Take a Bow". She only did that one song and I really wasn't that familiar with it but she did pretty good.

At this point the show went into overdrive. After D.L. Hughley introduced Marvin Sapp as Warren Sapp, Marvin tore it down with "Never Should Have Made It". It was good to hear because he changed the energy of the show. And the song is dedicated to his late father so that made it even better when he won the award for "Best Gospel Artist". At the end of Sapp's set, Hughley appologized for calling him Warren which showed alot of character for Hughley.

Sapp's set was great segway into the "Lifetime Achievement Award" presentation by Queen Latifah for Al Green. This was probably the best part of the show. After a video presentation about Al Green career, Jill Scott came out and started singing an Al Green classic. She was followed by Anthony Hamilton who sounded damn near like Al Green. The Mr. Missing In Action himself, Maxwell, came out and closed up that part of the set.

Then Mr. Green got up, accepted his award, then tore the stage down! I mean everybody was up out of their chair dancing & singing along. It was good to see Al turn it out in front of so many young heads. He had so much energy and stage presence. His career of 30 years is truly a lifetime achievement and most artist including myself dream of having careers that long. Thanks Al for all the good music you have put out over the years.

Next was Nelly who came out and rocked with Jermaine Dupri and then Fergie. His set was good but its hard to follow Al Green!!! Nice try Nelly but you still get mad props because the girls in T-Pain's set all had Apple Bottom Jeans on...even the ones on stilts.

To close out, Lil Wayne, who won the "Viewer's Choice", rocked with T-Pain so joint from his new album. It wasn't his hottest joint ever but the crowd was amped and rightfully so. Wayne is the man right now especially with over 1 million 1st week record sales. Nobody's done that since 50 Cent. Big ups Lil Wayne! You deserve it!

So yes, this year's BET Awards was probably the best ever and you can catch the reruns if you missed it.... Holla!!!

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
http://www.rapbeatcreator.com/

P.S. Don't forget I will be posting a series of tutorials on the blog as well as email. If you haven't already signed up for my email list, you da one who's missin' out!!!

P.S.S. All pics courtesy of BET, Inc.

Hear & See Me Create A Rap Beat From Scratch

Over the next few days I will be showing you how I create a beat from scratch. I will be using audio and video so you can see just how easy this is. If you're on my email list, you will be getting these videos in your inbox. If not, what are you waiting on?

Subscribe today and you'll get 7 free rap beats while they last.

Be on the look out for the next post or email.

Holla...

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist

P.S. As always if you want to learn how to make rap beats, check out Music Producer Pro by clicking here.