What’s up people, I was chillin in the lab and decided to put a little "how to" joint together for all you trying to break into this biz, and all you interested in the craft of making dope beats. This section will feature some equipment, techniques and some info for y'all rookies. I will update the section on dope equipment wit my seal of approval, and the section on techniques every month, so keep up wit the site. Also if you’ve got any questions you wanna ask yours truly feel free -

Reviews:

MPC 3000 from Akai

I’m a little late in reviewing this masterpiece but I still believe it is one of the greatest tools in Hip Hop history. True producers already know what I’m talking about. The MPC 3000 by Akai is know as a workstation because it is just that. It happens to not only be a drum machine but also a sequencer for running entire studios from basements to 24 and even 32 track. The MPC 3000 has already made its way into the hearts of many producers such as Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest, Havoc from Mobb Deep, Diamond D from DITC, and even west coast producers like Dr. Dre.

The reason for its appeal is the ease of which you can chop up samples, the time of which you have available and also the rich palette of sounds you can create with the MPC’s envelops - i.e. “Drop” from the Pharcyde. Another appeal the MPC has is its  ability to connect to other types of equipment through MIDI(Musical Instrument Digital Interface)  easily and stress free. All of these plus’s add up to one outstanding machine. Finding an MPC 3000 won’t be easy, the goofs at Akai have already made the biggest blunder in the world. Yes it is true they have discontinued the MPC 3000 in favor of the new MPC 2000 a similar model but not quite the same features, in my opinion it is ten paces backward (not quite as good, but cheaper and it shows).
My Rating of the MPC 3000 is 5/5.
Next Month the ARS 10 by Esoniq
 

There are so many wack beats out there in the world that I don’t know where to begin to correct the damage, but I will start with simple production tips. A lot of people have a number of ways to do this most times people just get lucky (everybody should have a pile of crap in a crate somewhere), these should help you in your quest for creating dope beats.

- damn even I fall victim to this, never judge a record by its cover. Remember this and you will get by, every record is a gamble until you hear it.

- If you like it one day and you listen to it tomorrow and your not sure 10 times out of 10 its shit.

- If you play a song for your friends and they look at the ceiling its 1000% shit.

- You should always take free records/tapes/cds cause you never know.

- No matter how much equipment you have if you don’t know how to use it your shit.(this applies to DJ's too)

-You can never judge a track untill you hear vocals over top.

-Three seconds is all you need to tell if a sample is good or not, (anything after and your just waisting time). -either you like it or you don't
 

Most people are scared to put people on but quite frankly I just don’t care, (its not what you flip but how you flip it) so right now this is my current top ten list of dope sample records, in no particular order. Check it out… if you don’t have them get them!

1.  Roberta Flack - First take - yr.1969 Atlantic Records (not Killing Me Softly) shit...
2.  The Meters - self titled - yr. -- Josie Records
3.  Bob James - Three - yr. 1976 CTI Records
4.  Freddie Hubbard - First Light - yr. 1971 CTI records
5.  Lucky Tompson - Illuminations - yr. 1974 Groove Merchant Records
6.  Grover Washington Jr. - Paradise - yr. 1979 Elektra Records
7.  Grover Washington Jr. - Reed Seed - yr. 1978 Motown Records
8.  Tom Scott & the LA Express -  self titled - 1974 ODE/CBS/EPIC Records
9.  Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters - 1973 Columbia Records
10.   The Crusaders - Chain Reaction - 1975 Blue Thumb/ABC Records

Hit me off if you got any dope records you think are hot to sample p e a c e hip hop nation.