Tuesday, February 24, 2009

talking to Murder

So I'm talking to Murder Yesterday bout my progress and everything. He inform me that he still hasnt had the opp to sit down and listen to the mixtape but i shouldnt keep beating myself up. Basically saying the everyone their own worst critic and he has heard my lyrics and im gifted. In my mind is I need to reinvent myself and its the same mind frame Beat M.D. is having as we work on new beats.
Volume 2 ima put in more time to listening to details and how ima deliver my flow. Also work more on original tracks. So far myself im working on 3 beats and Beat M.D. said he working on 3. So all that left is us getting together and put our touches on each other beat if needed. I want the next time I drop something it leaves a good impact. Most the work on this one will be in house cause im tired of chasing people who came to me to work together. I take my work serious and when I sit and make or beat or have the idea that i got someone else on the track. Like the past year that situation has held me back. There might be like 2 or 3 people i'll call on for collabo but other then that it strictly in house.
But as far as the mixtapes like alot of people like the ILL R&B making me think am i just a 16 on a R&B track. If I am I am and i'll just stretch on that.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

My Thoughts

After a couple feedback and me listening the mixtape a couple times my thought on my mixtape is that I feel I rushed a lot of stuff...many times I think that's my flaw, Im rushing stuff before i post. I dont really listen with my critical ear when it comes to my own work. I can pick out everyone else flaw like who needs to have more attitude or how to say a certain word...but with me its like I'm just trying get it done. The chemistry of the tracks were off and I should of worked more on my mixing. I always felt I ad problems with my deliverance and it showed a lot on some tracks. The only flaw i think i fixed was rushing my flow and actually listen for the beat. Even though some tracks show i was a lil off beat. I gotta dedicate more time to every track and maybe accept help with creativeness on certain tracks. I feel every time i expose my flaws im losing a chance to connect with a potential supporter. My networking and researching is on point but i believe Im not using these tools right. The other day a beat I had made for another friend I listen to it but I really never liked it but I liked the hook i picked out for it. So I re did the whole beat and gave it more edge, I still want Beat M.D. to put his touches to it too, but in the end i think ima keep it for myself. In all I really need to put in more work and dedication into my work.



Saturday, February 21, 2009

MixTapes

"Set The Table Vol 1"
1. Prophet Intro
2. Last of a dying breed - ILL McKenzie feat Nat-Hi
3. Zoom Pass ya Snippet - ILL Mckenzie Feat Madison Jay
4. ILL Style - ILL McKenzie
5. Take as Prescribed - ILL McKenzie Feat Will I. Murder
6. Any Advice Skit
7. The Truth - ILL McKenzie
8. Tomorrow Snippet - ILL McKenzie
9. Product Skit
10. Rydas - J Curry
11. Feelin It - ILL McKenzie
12. ILL One - ILL McKenzie Feat Beat M.D.
13. Killing Skit
14. Cold Dish
15. Prophet Cake Freestyle
16. Ms Luv Me Too Freestyle
17. Pre Game Skit
18. No Looking Back - ILL McKenzie feat Billy Dee, Will I. Murder, J. Rich
19. Dream Skit
20. Long Time Coming
21. Dinner Serve
22. Cheap Outro SKit

http://www.sendspace.com/file/6diily

"ILL R&B Calm B4 The Storm"

1. Intro
2. This Girl Remix Freaky zeeky feat ILL McKenzie
3. Diva Remix Beyonce feat ILL McKenzie
4. Get This Girl Skit
5. Freakum Dress Remix - Beyonce feat ILL McKenzie
6. Good Loving Slim feat ILL McKenzie
7. Force Myself Skit
8. Blame it Remix -Jamie Foxx Feat ILL McKenzie
9. I dont Know(she Bad) Click 2 Times
10.Suck My tongue skit
11. Turn Me on Remix -Keri Hilson Feat ILL McKenzie
12. Im Leaving - Jesse McCartney Feat ILL McKenzie
13. Wish the sex Skit
14. Let Him go - Click 2 Times
15. Come Over Remix - Estelle Feat ILL McKenzie
16. Cupid Remix - 112 Feat ILL McKenzie
17. What did I do Skit
18. Heartless Remix - Kanye West feat ILL McKenzie
19. Go On Girl Remix - Ne-yo Feat ILL McKenzie
20. Mans Touch Skit
21. Buddy Remix - Musiq feat Earl Prophet

http://www.sendspace.com/file/zk167o

The Start

It's your Boy I Dub. I thought I set up a site to talk bout the music world around me. Most that know me know when i start typing writing format goes out the window along with grammar...half the time when I'm watching Tv and still typing away. With that said sometimes I go off subject or start rambling and forget periods and comma, so if my world interest you just be prepared to be lost from time to time.

Where should I start but at the beginning, I was born in Queens, NY on May 27, 1984. Basically under the stars of the Gemini. Most the time I joke around and say it is the reason for my twisted personality. Then you got the fact that both my parents are Jamaican, making me not the average American. American culture I had to adapt on my own, it wasn't like I had my parents that were big sports fans or was in music like regular American families. I spend up til i was bout ten my house was filled with R&B and Reggae. I loved music, I wanted to be involved with this, but let me wind back to when i was 3. My dad job moved to North Carolina, in a world I didnt fit in. At a camp in cary is where i first heard the word ni**a. when a white kid shouted lets play keep away from the ni**a. At first I didnt know what that meant but realize everyone was keeping away from me. It made me curious bout this word so i went home and asked my mom. It was then explained to me and my mom talked to a camp ad visor the next day. I believe this when my mean streak started, anyone said something out the way i fought them all through elementary school. It kinda how I meant one of my longest last friend, the world knows him as Beat M.D. We actually got in a fight on the playground. cant remember why but we did. Got so bad that my forth grade teacher said something out the way and I hit her. This is when I learn to bottle stuff up when they though it was necessary to have me meet with the school counselor for an hour a day. What I learn was wrting eases me, so through out school when everyone else was taking notes I was writing lyrics. At this stage of my life i was just writing to be writing and it was mostly love songs.
My cousins Will I. Murder and Earl Prophet lived in Greensboro, NC. Being that i aint really have any friends at this time I loved when they came to visit or we went to visit them. It was a totally different world. around that time all we had in common was video games. That changed when i started listening to there music collection. The main thing that caught my ear was Method Man. I've heard rap before but it never got my full attention till then. My cousin Murder already knew how to freestyle and had lil rap crew of his own. Every once in awhile I would catch him out the blue spit something. Prophet knew how to beat box real good, so my idea was to record us on my karaoke machine. At first it was something to pass the time. The term your ur own worst critic doesnt define me. I would always listen back to our tapes and though I was the worst out the group. I was missing something and basically was never talking about anything.
Back at school I was still the shy quiet kid. Still writing lyrics instead of notes but this time it was rap lyrics. Still at the state that people would say things and it would roll off my back. Sooner or later around my middle school years I would realize that this only made me a target. After 2 years of controlling my anger one day our English teacher left the room and I deciding to take a nap, well in someone mind it was time to mess with me. After putting my head down for awhile someone started throwing pieces of paper me. The first couple pieces paper I ignored then the third hit me and I snapped. I got up asking who did it, one of my classmates was laughing, at this point I chose not to use names. As soon as I saw him I charged him and started pounding him, I saw blood but it didnt stop me. The teacher came in and was in a state of shock while he pulled me off of my classmate and pulled me out in the hallway and questioned me. I really aint have much to say but i was sent to I.S.S.. Cant remember how many days I was in that room but anger problem had emerged. The next year my mom let me play football again for the school.
Besides music I had football. Middle school football you actually had to try out and make the cuts. After i think 3 weeks of try outs I made the team. It was my 8th grade year, I had played one year in pee wee in 5th grade so it had been awhile since i had actually played. The one thing that impress the coaches was my love to hit someone. It actually got me a starting job, I was suppose to be a bench warmer but the gut in front of me the coach said was scared to hit. This was the start of my attention being drawn away from music. Middle school I played Linebacker and Tight End. I was the weakside Linebacker and the Blocking tight end. The coach drew up plays that I would actually go out for a pass but we never used them. My hands were terrible, and all the starters played both sides of the ball in Middle school. This was the best year of my football life, my team went undefeated. I wasnt an impact player but I had my moments, The one I remember the most was when I injured a player in the Carniage game. Most my friends were on the football team and tht rolled over into my High school years.
High School years I was know as the quiet shy kid on the football team, or I was known by the people I hung out with. The difference between middle school and High School was middle school team had the tradition of winning it was the complete opposite in high school. By my sophomore year my love for the game started decreasing, with that the reason I got on the team in middle school went away. My last game of my sophomore year, I remember it like it was yesterday. I had 4 solo tackles in the game and it could of been five. But when the opportunity for the fifth tackle came for the first time I didnt want to hit someone. After the runner ran by me I was taken out the game. Forth quarter with bout 3 minute left on the clock my focus went back to music. I still finished my high school years playing football but I was no longer 100% into it.
Everyone in high school that rap freestyle during lunch, I wasnt confident enough to do that. Very few people actually knew I wrote or rapped. Till one day this white boy that knew i rapped was going around saying he was going call me out. Word got back to me and i took two period writing a verse bout him. I really dont think he knew I knew he was going try and diss me. So during lunch I was at my table eating when he came with a group of people and just started spitting. After he was done i smiled and spit my verse which surprised him. Someone told me his verse was entitled G.O.A.T. Garbage of all time, so i called mines Jamerican G.O.A.T. That one battle build my confidence up to the point one of my subject book I cleared out just for rhymes. If anyone hasnt notice yet I wasnt doing to good in school because the simple fact my head was filled with music. The problem was I was writing to beats in my head that didnt really exist. 16 bars? what the hell is a bar i was just writing. One of my many flaws i still dont know how to count a bar. Someone down the line tried to explain to me but it went through one ear out the other. Most the time i just listen for the snare. My senior year my boy Beat M.D. would always be like yo go battle S.Y.N.P. in a joking way. Even though I had spit that one time in the cafe and for a English assignment of writing a poem. It was suppose to be a a,b,a pattern i think, but i made it a dis against that guy again that happen to be in my class. After all that I aint think i was no match for S.Y.N.P. and i remember when i was writing something and M.D. took it to him and he read it. His exact words was that cute but you aint ready. I aint really try to challenge him again after that. Instead I would test myself sometimes against Nat-Hi. He had improved himself since middle school. Seem everyone had surpassed me, but next year i would be in Greensboro for college that means closer to my cousins. Yea seem like everything was going get better to pick up somethings from my cousin Murder till my mom heard he was charged with some felonies. In the back of my mind I was thinking my plan was going down the drain and I was worried bout what was going happen to him.
By the time it was time for me to come to greensboro for college, Murder had beat his charges with probation and some other things he had to do. He had alot of limitations but at that point our mind set was on the same goal. The Rap game but around this time we were just talk, everyone was taking actions and all we were doing was writing raps and putting up verses as away status on AIM. Females the ultimate distraction, and it didnt really dawn on me till lil birds from raleigh kept whispering in my ears bout people from high school. I was always known as the guy that wanted to start his own label. Someone beat me to it, S.N.Y.P.E. was no longer sign to his people label, he was on the move of starting his own. But that wasnt the motivation to start figuring out how he did things, Another bird whisper in my ear bout Nat-Hi first album dropping and it was professionally recorded. After that the group as a whole had a meeting and the main problem was money. At this point and time we were three guys with no jobs and college students. So my main goal was to get better and figure the ins and outs of the game itself. To pass the time i would chat online. My main spots back then was College Club, Aggie Blvd, and Dimes Only. Aggie Blvd introduce me to DJ Pyro he was at a level I wanted to be at and wish I took advantage of at a young age. Me and Murder would just talk about sometimes where we should be at and we had the right tools and network. Pyro had a small broadcast he would do over the net, so i thought the team could absorb some knowledge from him.
Our first encounter with Pyro was at the place he was staying. He had alot of equipment, we had conversation bout the game and he asked us bout our self and what not. He told us if we ever wanted to record hit him up. He also gave us some instrumentals. It wasn't till that moment that I started looking up prices for equipment and started planning out how we were going go about things. Then came another reality check when I went back to raleigh for my sister graduation. The first thing was back in jail and I saw my boy Madison. This is the point where I started noticing people who I aint know was rapping putting out mixtapes. We had a convo bout what he was doing and he gave me a cd of his man Benzik called No Vaseline. After hearing it I remembering calling Prophet letting him know we need to do something to get our foot in the door. This was also around the time Murder was getting out of jail again so we held a meeting. Murder came out this time with a notebook full of rhymes but it was like sometimes the motivation wasnt there. In the meeting we talked about a two year plan. Which included buying recording equipment, putting out a mixtape, and just getting our foot in the door.
Two years had pass and with a little knowledge from a couple people and we were on track. This is also around the time Beat M.D. came back in the picture. A person who also loved the music game like me and was determine. After I feel I rushed our first recording and didnt have all the pieces together. Verses werent line up with the beat, the mixing wasn't good. It was a bad first impression to the world in my mind. Feedback is always something I appreciated weather it helped a lil or alot i can always notice the diff in my next recording.
When Beat M.D. came into the picture he told me he was messing around with fruity loops and sent me some beats. I been trying myself to understand the program and it looked like he had a more understanding then me. Every once and a while he would come travel to greensboro and we would shoot ideas to each other. But just when things were looking up and progress was starting to go up Murder got in trouble again and Prophet was losing interest. In my mind I had to put this project on my back to reach the finish line.
Keeping my ears to the street I found out about another High School friend that was in greensboro making moves Tigo B. He was part of a crew with some established rappers in Greensboro. Every once and awhile I would hit him up to see whats good. He sometimes asked me did I need studio time, but at the point I wasnt comfortable recording nowhere but my place. My confidence level still wasnt up. Matter fact it was around this time I started to just want to give it up. Murder was stable now but his priorities wasnt with music and Prophet no longer believe we had a chance then Billy Dee hit me up.
Billy Dee was a student at A&T trying get his foot in the door like me. He hit me up asking did I want to submit a song to a Mixtape. For someone to show interest in my music like that, change my whole view of things. I told him give me a deadline and i'll have something for ya. I called up Prophet, Murder, and M.D. to talk bout ideas. Everything was ago except Murder was a maybe, Beat M.D. came through and we did a beat on the spot. Prophet at the last min Canceled on me to record so it was just me and M.D. That day we recorded ILL One, did the beat, wrote to it and recorded. That day if any was the day I started feeling like a One Man Dynasty.
I started working on more beats and me and M.D. kept in touch more on ideas. His Mind frame was we need a hit to get notice. The next time he came to greensboro and we came up with a beat that words just flowed as I heard the beat. Sort of like a song of encouragement. I could hear someone singing the hook so I added a paino where the hook was, then added a lil base. As I started to write i knew it was a hit but I aint want to go at this alone. I needed a male singer so at my job i tried my best to convince my co worker to do the hook. After awhile I hit up Billy Dee and sent him the beat, he told me he liked it and he had an idea for a hook. I told him I did too but I'll listen to his idea too. We then set up a meeting and what not did our parts of the track. At the same time learned about something I had been doing wrong when I recorded tracks. I reached out to Murder for the second verse and he said he would come through. He did his verse all we needed was My boy J Rich and the finally piece of the puzzle was put together. All i got was good reviews from the track, even people I didnt know. All in all I wasnt the only person on track so I needed that hit alone. I wanted to know I could be successful solo.
M.D. had a new VST we were playing around with and out came "Take as Prescribed". It was originally called I double L but after I spit my verse and heard what Murder came up with for the hook, a thought came in my head. I really dont care how people take this track, if they think im dissing someone. This is medicine for the mind they can just take this as prescribed and I rolled with it. The response I got from it was I came hard but the mixing was bad. I never rerecorded it because to produce the emotions I had at the time was hard to duplicate.
My whole mind frame now was to let the beat talk to me. One of my problems was i was forcing a subject when I was writing. Now a days I let the beat talk to me for two min and just start writing. But once again once I thought progress was moving smoothly and it came to a hault. New people were coming into my life to network but as fast as they came as they left. My girl and Beat M.D. were the only ones to encourage me to keep moving. After awhile my personal life took a turn and I moved back to Raleigh.
As soon as I came back to Raleigh I actually got back in contact with Nat-Hi after four years. I reached out to Madison Jay as well. Those were two people with two different styles that made me want to change my style up and get better. The only way I saw myself getting better was actually recording as much as possible. With as much people as possible. My goals are working on deliverance and flow.

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