"Oh, you mean THIS shirt? Yeah... That's Caesar"

…& Listen!

I’ve been in the studio with this kid working on a few things for his project(s)¹. He’s super talented & a really really REALLY good dude. He’s fam’… He just needs to break bread over at my place (aka have a meal at my place with my family & friends [oxtail from Island Spice anyone?]) , meet my wife & babysit my daughters at LEAST once.

Note:

1. See “Cris Keys“
2. Scroll over the photo of Cris Cab killin’ it on stage to download this gem of a freebie. Oh & you’re welcome!

Shouts:

• My best friend/manager Daniel C. Glogower of Skyscraper Management MARCH Management… I’ll admit, I wasn’t a “believer” at first but now after hearing (and witnessing) Cris at work… I publicly go on record & admit: You saw the vision WAY before I did. Holy sh*t! I’m ready to purchase Cris Cab’s music from iTunes right NOW! He’s come a LONG way and, just to think, he’s JUST getting warmed up. #BeastMode
• To the homey Skateboard P. for getting in the studio with Cris Cab & delivering this heat rock. Dope!

It’s coming!

Welcome To The Family

At The Akai Professional Photo Shoot In My RL Polo Maine Guide Steez w/Raw Dawg
(not shown)

i just peed a little bit… RT @eightyocho To all of my fellow beat makers (or "music producers" if you're snooty!) fb.me/1fuePyyiq—
The Führer of Funk (@LiduAl) January 05, 2012

Shouts:

• Sean C. (aka Citizen Cane) for reaching out & “recruiting me”.
• Jonathan Hayes & Dan Gill for ALL of your help, conversations & generosity.
• Jack O’Donnell for seeing the vision & knowing exactly which steps to take to see it through & make it happen. You are the leader!
• Roger Linn for creating my buddy Raw Dawg… I’ll forever be grateful.
• Q-Tip… One of my heroes ’til this day & beyond. I wouldn’t even be in the game or know how to do shit had it not been for Peoples’ Instinctive Travels & The Paths of Rhythm. Thanks for that one Chief. With every mere mention of this album forces me to revisit it SO… *opens iTunes*
• Oh & Shannon n’ Matt in shipping.

Post Script: And “yes”… That IS yours truly posing with the one & only Raw Dawg @ 1:05. Your eyes do not deceive you. So as more is revealed about this great piece of life changing equipment & the steps involved in creating it, I shall post more (insider’s) detail if I’m allowed to.

Portrait by Olivier Lefebvre

Spotted: iPhone Savior

RIP Steve Jobs

Little Vic - Valley Stream, NY

Boom baps make my ears smile—
Little Vic (@IAmLittleVic) October 20, 2011

Shouts:

• To the very generous Little Vic… Again, thank you for the rare vinyl record I had been looking for & also thank you for Fido FiHunnit! Oh & thanks for the “He’s already a legionary…” bomb you dropped on the GLMG! submittal verse. I listen to all of y’all submittals how these teenagers out here listen to Kendrick Lamar & Kreashawn (on repeat).
• To the Orena Clan (ain’t nothin’ to f*ck wit’!) I heard that there’s about 60 of y’all all living within a 3 town radio out in Nassau County. I’ll say this, when we start touring… our NY shows had better not be empty… But all of y’all can’t get on the guest list either so…
• To m’man, the LEGENDARY hip hop producer Buckwild from D.I.T.C. Crew… Thanks for working with Little Vic. We all have to get back in the studio again real soon for you to bang out some more hot shit like you made here with “History Is Written”. Oh & thanks for not signing him. #NoBacksies

Post Script: “Heres a joint me and Buckwild did during a late session… It’s only right to have a pic of my brother Anthony a.k.a. “Goomba” with 100k and a .38 on his lap.. My dad is my hero.” © Little Vic

@whostherobert call back—
Peter Rosenberg (@Rosenbergradio) October 21, 2011

Planters BiyOtch!

Shouts:

• Peter Rosenberg for whatever his reaction’s going to be when I tell him that Robert Akins III is OFFICIALLY my artist.
• Cipher Sounds for keeping the real dope hip hop music (and laughs) coming.
• K Foxx for keepin’ them boys in check.

Tre DeJean Hailing From Arlington, TX

Damn, I almost forgot you have to speak things into existence. With that said…—
Tre DeJean (@TreDeJean) September 18, 2011

Shouts:

• To USPS for overnighting this piece of paper Tre DeJean‘s signing in the photo above.
• To Canya Reial for producing this awesome song we’re listing to called “Awesome”. We will definitely need this one for his official Locksmith Music debut album. Thanks for this banger kiiid. Oh & I’m going to lay my verse down on this one for the album as well… Hey, gotta give the fans SOME incentive to become SUPPORTERS right?
• Last but most certainly NOT least… Tre DeJean… Man… We’re gon’ KILL ‘em with the abstract heart-felt writing & melodies. People don’t know this yet but they should REALLY consider hiring protection. I’m jus’ sayin’…

Mann95

@Racqnroll Excited and ready.. Never nervous.. #fact (lol)—
MANNY (@mann95) October 19, 2011

Shouts:

• Mann95… Even though I STILL don’t know where you got your rap name from… I DO, however, know we are going to GET THIS SHIT!!! Let’s GO!
• KG… Hold m’man Mann95 down man… Damn! (I could rhyme)

Post Script: …True Purpose! It’s Locksmith Music biyOtch!

"Nobody is afraid of the gun until they see it." -@whostherobert—
Robert Akins III (@whostherobert) October 19, 2011

Shout: Robert Akins III – 1 of 5 Champions… You’re incredible dude! Wait ’til these people hear what you’re doing NOW!

My story here is a quick lil’ trip down memory lane for me. I remember it like it was yesterday.

(Click On Photos For Further Commentary)

I want to say the year was late 1994. One day Q-Tip was out diggin’ in a small town called Malverne on Long Island at “Red” & Amy Carrero’s house. He was cop’n records from The Carrero’s eldest son, the guy who taught me all about diggin’, the late/great John “Crates” Carrero¹ (my mentor). R.I.P. I used to work for John. He’d pay me in cash then, eventually, I opted to take my pay in vinyl (one of the few best decisions I’ve ever made). John had just “paid” me for the day so I had my little pile of about 8 or 10 records for the day. One of those records was Bobby Hutcherson’s Montara…

My Key To The Esoteric

Mint condition; factory sealed. I opened it earlier that day & was bug’n out thinking, “this is DEFINITELY a sample for A Tribe Called Quest.” This all went down before ‘Tip showed up to dig. He spends maybe about an hour or less going thru records at the crib. Right before he leaves I humbly approach ‘Tip & suggested he check out this Bobby Hutcherson record. I played the sample for him & he liked it. He asked John how much for the record but John actually held me down. He said that it was my record & that he’d have to get a price from me. All said with a smirk of course. So ‘Tip turned to me & asked how much I wanted for the record. I told him he could have it for free. By the way, my mind was doing somersaults since The Abstract Poetic’s arrival at the house. ‘Tip gave me a pound (does the hip hop community even say “pound” anymore or did this go out during ’96?) *shrugs* & said that I could drop it off at his session in the city that week & that there’s “this kid” he wanted me to meet anyway. I agreed… Because I’m no idiot… I’m a self-proclaimed ‘Tribe’ “stan”.

Jonathan, John & Jackie

Q-Tip tells me to meet him at Battery Studio at a certain time. This would be the first of many times I’d go there (for other peoples’ sessions: The Roots, Bush Babees, meeting Mos Def, D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Shawn J. Period ALL before these artists started their professional careers.) So I arrive at the studio &, much to my dismay, I found out that the session had pretty much ended right before I got there. ‘Tribe was still there… & “this kid”. I guess ‘Tip just wanted to get all of the work done & out of the way before having any ‘outside’ visitors disrupting their work flow. So, upon my arrival, after Dani the receptionist grants me access… I see Phife & Litro laughing (my first time meeting them), Bob Power just sitting behind the boards laughing as well, Ali was in a different room at the time; I don’t really recall seeing Jarobi there at all that day & Q-Tip & “this kid” literally running around the studio chasing each other like they were playing tag or something. ‘Tip notices me then give me A POUND & introduces me to everybody… by my old nickname: Bogie. My mind is spinning because I’m in the studio with A Tribe Called (f*ckin’) QUEST!!! This was at the top of my bucket list.

As he introduces me to everybody I couldn’t help but noticing that both Q-Tip & “this kid” had the same Ralph Lauren Polo Sport jacket that I always wanted to cop but just never got around to saving my money to be able to buy it. It’s the same bubble coat Bootie Brown wore in The Pharcyde video for “Drop”. I couldn’t shake my attention off of that. ‘Tip had the black coat; “this kid” had the green one. “This kid” also had a Ralph Lauren Polo 5 panel duckbill cap on which I had NEVER seen before. I was trying to figure out which store he might’ve gotten it from: Macy’s? Bloomy’s? The Polo Mansion? Nah… I was just over there earlier that week & I never saw it or else I’d have at least cop’d THAT. The cap was dope! So ‘Tip puts his arms around me & “this kid” & was like, “yo this is m’man Jay Dee. He do beats. Yo this is Bogie. He got beats too.” The funny thing is I then felt compelled to give my beat tape which I wanted to surprise ‘Tip with to this Jay Dee guy. So I did. Had my production name & company name on there with my “office” phone number… a.k.a. my parents’ phone number. I also had my Smart Beep² pager number on there. Jay Dee took my beat tape, gave me a pound & we were all there just chillin’ at that point while things were being wrapped up. I actually don’t remember hearing any music that day. I was a lil’ let down about that. I was really looking forward to hearing some exclusive ‘Tribe songs that day. Jay Dee & I carried on some small talk. You know I asked him about that Polo cap. We also talked about the fact that we both used the MPC 3000 but it wasn’t anywhere near an “in depth” conversation about it at all:

Jay Dee: “What’chu use?”
Bogie: “A 3000. What’chu use?”
Jay Dee: “I got a 3000 too & I got an SP’.”
Bogie: “Word? The only time I ever saw an SP’ in person was at Pharoahe Monch’s crib³.”

Anyway, he tells me he’s from Detroit & that he was leaving in a couple of days.

MPC 3000 Technicians: Bogie & Jay Dee

A few days later Jay Dee called my crib. I get on the cordless & take it down to the basement where my “studio” was set up. So he’s like, “yo… check this out.” He then starts playing a few beats over the phone. These were ‘my beats’. So he plays about 4 of my tracks & I’m now thinking he’s playing joints for me that he likes because he’s new rapper who ‘Tip was about to put on. So now I’m getting a lil’ amp’d & I start interjecting while he’s playing ‘my beats’ for me like, “Ah okay, you like that one? Cool. Oh you f*cks with that one too? Bet.” I’m already counting dollar signs in my head thinking to myself, “How much do I charge him? Do give him a quote on beats now or do I have to go through ‘Tip to set this all up?” Then… The laughter begins.

So now Jay Dee’s laughing when I’m asking him if he liked those particular beats on my beat tape which I had just given him a few days ago. He’s like, “Nah… Listen again.” So he plays all of the same beats for me (‘my beats’) but then I noticed something peculiar so then I had to ask, “Yo… How’d you changed the drums on my beats? On a cassette?” I was baffled. It turned out that Jay Dee not only caught the same samples I did but chop’d them up almost the same exact way I did. The only difference I could detect over the phone was that the drums were different. His drum patterns & sounds just knocked way harder & more left field than mine. I felt like putting holes in a couple of egg shells & putting them over my eyes because I was “Buggin’ Out, Buggin’ Out, Buggin’ Out I’m Buggin’ Out!” Yo, this was crazy to me. Him & I just started laughing over the phone. He even went as far as to name the records we sampled to further prove that he actually did the beat, before hearing my beat tape, as well. I still have those beats on 3.5″ floppy diskettes but lately they haven’t been able to load up on my MP’. In the event that they do in the future, I’ll add ‘em to this post &, for all of the people who had the pleasure of knowing Jay Dee back then & get the super early beat tapes he used to distribute, you’ll hear which beats I’m referring to for sure. They’re kind of unforgettable.

Anyway, from that day on we started calling each other almost every week & just play beats over the phone. It got to the point where I knew I was being annihilated because his beats would get crazier & crazier each week. Then eventually, upon his suggestion, we started mailing⁴ each other cassettes. That’s when I started feeling like I’d never make it in the biz. I used to use these 10 min. cassettes (5 minutes one each side) & try to squeeze in as many beats as I could but usually it would be about 12 beats on there. Quick minute long fade-in/fade-out beats one after the other. This dude would sent like a little more than double the amount of beats I’d send & they’d ALL be on some “how is ‘this kid’ making beats like THIS?!?!” Even the joints that we’d sample off of the same artist… the same record… the same SONG even would just have a completely different “feel” to ‘em. It was unexplainable. I remember when he first played me a beat he made using the CryBaby Wah Wah pedal. Holy sh*t dude! WTF?? This dude just wasn’t playing fair at ALL. Now it all seemed to make perfect sense as to why he was up in A Tribe Called Quest’s session & I was asked to come thru at the tail end.

Welcome 2 New York

(The photos of ‘Dilla [& myself] were taken at the end of May in 2000. Not when we first crossed paths back in ’94ish.)

I’ve already made this “lil’ (quick) trip down memory lane” way too long. But that’s pretty much it for this story. I hope I didn’t put any of y’all to sleep with my focus on being as detailed & descriptive as possible. *ha*

Notes:

1. More in loving memory of my mentor John “Crates” Carrero in a future post. May his soul RIP… Salute!
2. How many of y’all remember Smart Beep in the Tri-State? All of my 30-Somethings+ stand UP!
3. This mention was clearly me trying to pull a stunt move on my part. Hey, I had to… ‘Dilla had the stupid fresh Polo 5 panel & bubble coat. *Kanye shrug*
4. Yes… MAIL-ING. Not to be confused with E-mailing. Once emailing became the rave, this was later referred to as “snail mail”. Now, it’s either only used for bills or a check… or Disney vacation packages once ‘they’ find out that you’re married.

Sidebar: Just the other day I went to the J. Dilla Foundation One Won’t Do J. Dilla Tribute & had chance to chop it up with Ma Dukes & Joy (the mother of one of ‘Dilla’s daughters). They were actually recalling the times when I used to call the crib & the daycare center Ma Dukes ran back then asking for Jay Dee. They joked that all of the kids Ma Dukes took care of knew who I was by my funny name (88-Keys). I started using “88-Keys” when I was calling Jay Dee just so I could feel like I’d really someday make it in the industry… on some self-worth sh*t. Joy even said, “I know that ain’t his real name.” *laughs ensue*

Shouts:

• Q-Tip… Thanks for literally being one of my few heroes & for introducing me to the one they called Jay Dee. ‘Tip you’re a real life Black superhero… Hancock. *Drake punch line*
• Ma Dukes & Joy… Thanks for the many years of patching me thru to your beloved son & father of your child (respectively). Also, you are doing an amazing job with the J. Dilla Foundation & keeping his legacy alive. My heart goes out to you & your entire family.
• J. Dilla… Man… Too soon m’man… Way too soon! – RIP – (“Them’s the Buddy Lee’s”) …Love!

Polo Guy & Beer Pong Champ

If you’re like me & never heard this mixtape then I just made your night… or day (or whenever you come across this post). I’ll have more to post on Asher in the weeks to follow. He’s a really good human being. Please (continue) to show your support for all that he does because he’s doing it for our hip hop community. Word! Download (click “track” to DL) & share his mixtape below. Y’know… The one that you’re listening to right now! Yeah… This one.

Shouts: To Asher P. Roth & his crew (Boyder Yo!, Brain Bangley & DJ Wreckineyez)

Post Script: I did, however, PURCHASE Asleep In The Bread Aisle straight from iTunes so I’m not a total loser.