Louis Den Beat Cypher 05 - 11th June - Rainbow Pub Digbeth Birmingham ft ODDISEE, CHARLIE DARK, BABY J, MORGAN ZARATE, KELAKOVSKI, YUNGUN,MYSTRO!

swiped from the facebook! you should already know but just in case im hittin you over the head with it now!!.

!!! ONE OFF VENUE @ RAINBOW PUB DIGBETH CHECK THE LOCATION...BRING ALL HEADS! !!!

For those unfamiliar with Louis Den Beat Battles its an online community of hiphop beatmakers and producers taking part in weekly beat making challenges run from our myspace (http://www.myspace.com/louisdenbeatbattles), our Beat Cypher nights are an extension of this taking beat making to the live platform with invited producers coming to showcase their material and emcees / vocalists sharing the stage performing special versions of their tracks over the nights producers.

The online beat community Louis Den Beat Battles (http://www.louisden.com) returns with another installment of the "Beat Cypher" night; the aim of "Louis Den Beat Cypher" is to showcase the production element of hip-hop in a live setting, the main focus will be on the 4 profiled producers of the night as well as live PA's from artists.

At Louis Den Beat Cypher we mix more established talent with those making noise in the underground and centre it around a production setting, all beats from the evening will be played out live from some or all of the hardware used to create it allowing the producers to make all manner of live changes to their beats as they are being played; the artists PA's are also over these beats meaning we'll be connecting them with producers they may not necessarily have worked with before making a unique never to be repeated again performance of their tracks.


LOUIS DEN BEAT CYPHER 05!
Louis Den Beat Cypher returns for its June installment, in association with Punch Records' "Bass Festival", this years Bass Festival theme is "Inspired By Africa/Africans" so expect some of the sample challenges to fall in line with the theme and links to the continent via some of the featured producers!.



ON THE BOARDS

ODDISEE (low budget/diamond district/ave.to)
All the way from Washington DC...the newest edition of what you've been missing, ladies & gentlement we have the mighty ODDISEE!!, producer/emcee from the Low Budget camp (DMV based collective of producers/emcees that features KEV BROWN, DJ RODDY RODD, KENN STARR & more!) and the newly formed DIAMOND DISTRICT (group featuring Oddisee beats & rappers yU & XO), Oddisee will be all the way from the states in Birmingham city playing his fresh sought after blaps!.

Those unfamiliar with Oddisee he got his start back in '02 when his self produced track "Musik Lounge" was featured on DJ JAZZY JEFF's "THE MAGNIFICENT" (BBE), since then he's gone on to producer a string of remix albums for Trek Life, Wordsworth and his own remix album of classic hiphop tracks as well as 2 installments of his Instrumental series, production work for LITTLE BROTHER, KEV BROWN, SAIGON, FREEWAY and the very very dope (and free) "In The Ruff" LP for his new crew "DIAMOND DISTRICT" as well as the new compilation "MENTAL LIBERATION" (out on Mellow Music Group) which features INVINCIBLE, FINALE, BLACK MILK, RAPPER BIG POOH and a whole host of others..Oddisee @ LouisDen is NOT gonna be one to miss!.

CHARLIE DARK (blacktronica) / MORGAN ZARATE (spacek)
Collectively known as the MPC BROTHERS, Chalier & Morgan have carved their own lanes in the scene; Charlie Dark a worldwide respected DJ, Poet and Producer provided the sonic backdrop for his group ATTICA BLUES as well as going on to form the legendary London based club night BLACKTRONICA which provided a live venue for the leading DJ's/Producers in UK's black electronica scene.

Morgan Zarate is a DJ, producer & drummer hailing from London; as part of the Spacek trio he produced the groups first 2 albums Curvatia and Vintage Hi-Tech, as a soloist he's produced for the likes of AMP FIDDLER, RAPHAEL SAADIQ, FRANK N DANK and his own dope single "Sticks & Stones" which featured ESKA and GHOSTFACE.

BABY J (ftp/babyfood)
Veteran of the UK scene BABY J has put in work to solidfy himself as one of Britain's leading producers. He's laid down work and crafted classics for SKINNYMAN, MOORISH DELTA 7, MALIK, BLADE and more recently remixes for MARK RONSON which led to him and his AUTOURAGE crew joining Ronson in his string recent UK dates. He's also worked stateside with WU-TANG, DEAD PREZ and the A-ALIKES.

KELAKOVSKI (louis den)
KELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLZZZZZZZZZ!! returns to rep for the underdogs and show the our invited producers how louisden does it!. Since the first beat cypher back in Oct 08 KELZ has gone from strength to strength, he's produced part of the upcoming EATGOOD compilation and has had a track (THE MOON) alongside SONNYJIM on the new "FEEDING TIME AT THE ZOO" complilation from YNR and he's been tearing up beat events around the country having peformed at BEATSHED, END OF THE WEAK and a much talked about beat battle with APOLLO at the sir smurf lil album launch from last year last year (check youtube if you dont know!). No doubt Kelz will have fresh new bangers in stock for the crowd.


ON THE MIC

* MYSTRO
The mighty Mystro aka Mys Diggi, one half of the deadly Natural Born Spittaz crew and host of the famous London based hiphop club night Kung:Fu. Mystro has released a string of classic tracks over the years such as "Tellin You", "Suprise" and "Strong Rhyming"; more recently Mys has found plenty of success across the pond in Austrila rockin shows and collobarting over there for an extended period and released the Diggi Down Unda album as well as installments of the Tip Of The Mysberg mixtapes. Mystro blessing the beat cypher is indeed an honour no doubt he'll smash proceedings!.

*YUNGUN
A young African-English Londoner who also goes by the name of Essa, is widely renowned as one of the UK's leading hip-hop MCs. Steering well clear of tired Hip-Hop stereotypes, his debut full-length The Essance (Janomi Records, 2004) was widely recognised as one of the UK's most accomplished Hip-Hop albums, with its varied mix of party vibes, thoughtful reflection and even bilingual Spanish-English madness! (album of the month: Touch, four stars: Hip Hop Connection). The 2006 follow-up Grown Man Business was a collaboration with Yungun's long-time touring DJ, Mr. Thing (UK DMC champion, formerly of world DMC champions the Scratch Perverts) on the fast-rising Silent Soundz label. He has also appeared alongside artists such as Slum Village, KRS-One, Prince Paul and De La Soul.

*ETHEL CEE
Ethel Cee aka E.Cee first came to national attention as one half of Versus (one of the illest female mc-duos Philadelphia has ever seen) and under the umbrella of the tight-knit hip-hop network Squadzilla. Deftly combining drum and bass, house, and hip-hop and a resume getting longer by the minute, her rhymes about love, loss and frontin' are sure to position her as the girl "who's got next" in the hip-hop/dance scene. She is currently gearing up for her first solo LP due in 2009, following from her recent EP success.

*EATGOOD RECORDS
As well as playing hosts to the event, the EAT GOOD RECORDS (who need no introduction heh..) roster too will be performing a selection of tracks over the nights producers, expect slick rhymes and wordplay from SONNYJIM & KOSYNE, REDBEARD and TAHARKA as you'll get a sneak peek of the brand new EAT GOOD COMPILATION which drops the same month.


OPEN BEATS & BEAT BATTLE
All this and our regular OPEN BEATS slots where producers can bring beats to entertain the crowd; we'll play up to 3 beats max (depeding on time limits!) where you can let the crowd hear how you get down on the boards, obviously with the allstar lineup we'll be in good company so bring your A game!, build/network with other emcees/producers exchange numbers and vibe out!.

We'll also have the BUCKS FIZZ BEAT BATTLE for heads feeling more competitive, as with the open beats, bring a BEAT CD of your best material and sign up on the night; heads that get drawn (at random) will compete for a bottle of Tescos finest and any other prizes we can throw in on the night!

Of course it wouldnt be a beat cypher without the resident DJ CRO (Crate Escape/Jibbering) taking care of the wheels; hiphop treats/breaks spun all night to compiment the nights entertainment, oh and if this all WASNT ENOUGH!! alternative vibes in the smaller front room will come courtesy of the CENTRAL PROJECTION crew (Deep/Progrssive Drum N Bass) with support from URBAN MIDNIGHT, so if you've got any mates who arent really into blaps like we all are!! get em to appreicate the deep sounds of the the front room.


THIS IS A CRAZY LINEUP AND HAS TAKEN THE LONGEST TIME TO PLAN (between LOUISDEN,BASS) theres been lengthy back and forths securing PA's / Producers and performance fees!!, ALL THIS ENTERTAINMENT FOR £5.00!! YOU COULD EASILY PAY DOUBLE THAT JUST TO SEE ONE OF THE FEATURED ACTS ON THE NIGHT!! SO PLEEEEASE RESPECT THE WORK THATS GONE IN BY PAYING IN ON THE DOOR AND NOT TRYING TO BLAG A DISCOUNT/FREEBIES!! LOUISDEN WANT TO KEEP THE BEAT CYPHER GOING AND MAKE EACH ONE BETTER AND BETTER AND OF COURSE IT NEEDS SUPPORT FOR IT TO WORK!....PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD TO ALL HEADS!!.

see you there!!!


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LouisDen BeatCypher 05
Live Hiphop Production Showcase & Beat Jam
ODDISEE | BABY J | CHARLIE DARK | MORGAN ZARATE | KELAKOVSKI
YUNGUN | MYSTRO | ETHEL CEE | EATGOOD RECORDS
+open beats/beat battle/DJ CRO

ONE OFF VENUE FOR BEAT CYPHER..CHECK FUTURE EVENTS FOR LOCATION!!
11th June 2009
The Rainbow Pub
160 High St
Digbeth
Birmingham
B12 OLD
9PM - LATE
£5.00 ENTRY ALL NIGHT
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COPY & PASTE LINKS TO SUPPORT

full size flyer front
http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp355/louisdenbeatbattles/beatcypherjune/louisdenbeatcypher_june_front_web.jpg

full size flyer back
http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp355/louisdenbeatbattles/beatcypherjune/louisdenbeatcypher_june_back_web.jpg

vertical stretch profile pic for myspace
http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp355/louisdenbeatbattles/beatcypherjune/louisdenbeatcypher_june_profile.jpg

compact version for myspace comment / wall comment / profile pic
http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp355/louisdenbeatbattles/beatcypherjune/louisdenbeatcypher_june_web.jpg

small version of back for myspace comment / blog etc
http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp355/louisdenbeatbattles/beatcypherjune/louisdenbeatcypher_june_blog.jpg


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Pause Week Lab Session Video / New Homework "Battered Breaks"

Head over to the Louis Den myspace to peep the "Pause Week" beats and check the new homework "Battered Breaks" where the challenge is to try and re-flip some of the most used breaks in hiphop!.

Pause Week Blog on Louis Den Myspace
Homework 53 - "Battered Breaks"

Free Raul Supreme Beat Tape Vol 2 - "Spaceship"

Raul is killing it right now!, If youve been in tune to his myspace/twitter updates you'll see he's been posting the progress of "Beat Tape 2" for the past month or so and he's finally come thru; finnished it and droped the project.

Spaceship is a collection of brand new Raul Supreme beats for sale and its evident that he's elevated to another level with his beats (not that they werent sick before) but playing this off Beat Tape Vol 1 which dropped almost a year ago!.

Rauls off beat swing and soulful samples have been upped a gear with stuttery glitches, booming basses and spacey synths, it a sick little instrumental journey and rather than keep the blaps locked away on some "Beats For Sale" ish he's put them out there for the the world to digest...wise choice!! this should no doubt lead to more work and big things for Raul!!.


BAG IT NOW!!..



RAUL SUPREME - BEAT TAPE VOL 2. (SPACESHIP) [2009]




LINK:http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LMNQ787H




Holla at Raul On Myspace
Or On Twitter!

Wizard On The up and UP!

Wizard, OG ldbb head and one half of OSB'z and Filthysox (hold tight KidEight???!!) has been busy on the grind lately...trust me he's probably one the busiest producers I know and has been churning out free material constantly for the past year or so, not only this but he's also been getting them placements on the low so heres some info on em in case you didnt know.


Verbal Kent & Kaz One - Brave New Rap



The brand new album from Verbal Kent and long time collaborator Kaz One "Brave New Rap" features guest vocals from Wordsworth, Ill Bill and Braille and exclusively produced by Kaz One save the one track "Fast Forward" which Wiz managed to bag production on!, check that out over at Undergroundhiphop.com if you wanna bag a sneaky listen. For a Louis Den / Eat Good 6 degrees of seperation also peep the track "Snake F*ckers and Andrioids" (WTF LOL..!) which features Sonnyjim and emcee/producer supremo Soweto Kinch.





Next up we got the crew "Weatherproof" with their album "Metropolis", gotta be honest I dont know much about these guys but they're a New Jersy based hiphop outfit who seem to have been puttin in plenty of work over the years...annnnnyway despite the uninspirational artwork lol (sorry fellas) Wiz has connected with these cats too an save the 1 track produced by the legendary Domingo, Wizard has produced the whole album for these guys, so go check that out..

Weatherproof - Metropolois Snippet




And finally, whilst Wiz is on this 2Pac work ethic heres the newest Ozb's album (which is Wizard and Scizzahz sharing the mic and boards) HAY CLASS THUGS!, the new LP features production from Louis Den heads Archimedes, Kelakovski and Raul Supreme as well as the guys themselves!.


OSB'z - Hay Class Thugs [2009]



http://sharebee.com/ab707733




I'll close this with a timely CHWOIIIIIIIIIIIIIT, soak the music up if you know whats good for you!.



Holla at Wizard on Myspace.

Louis Den Stars In Their Eyes Homework / FIFTY Lab session video

What up people, some new louis den updates for you, check the links below for more details.

Louis Den Episode 50 - FIFTY
Heads had to flip samples/artists or anything around theme 50, lab session video has been uploaded to the myspace, check it out!.

Louis Den Episode 50 Lab Session Video


Homework 51 - Louis Den Stars In Their Eyes
This week the new homework is in a "Stars In Their Eyes" style talent show, heads have to mimick/imitate a producer of their choice, hey even a LOUIS DEN producer if you like hahaha just like in the TV Program we're expecting a jokes session!.

Louis Den Homework 51 Blog


more blogs coming this week..got some ill music for you!...and the official BEAT CYPHER 05 blog post!.

Louis Den Beat Cypher #4 - ROUND ONE/TWO

April 16th 2009 was a sick night! The beat cypher went off in full effect. This time round Myke Forte, Ranx Diggla, Sivey and DJ IQ arrived with blaps that will make you quit!! I finally got time to knock up the two highlight videos of round one and round two...peep them below.
ONE

TWO

Keep an eye out for the "sample flip" video from the night. Dropping soon.

BEAT CYPHER #5 IS ON IT'S WAY. GONA BE PATRICK CRAZEE.

ab.

LDBB Episode 49 Up!!

GO check the Myspace now to peep the chat show blaps session!, some nice beats in this one.

Louis Den Episode 49 - TV Chat Show Blaps

New Homework 50 - "Fifty"

New homework over at the Louis Den myspace...this week you need to draw inspiration from the word/number FIFTY/50, as its challenge 50! check the blog for a further explination!! beats due SUNDAY 17th MAY!!.

Louis Den Myspace Blog

New Homework! - "Chat Show Blaps!"

This week we want heads to flip samples from chat show theme tunes!, gonna have to dig through some cheesy intros/titles to gind something you think you can flip!! details in the myspace blog!.

Homework 49 - "Chat Show Blaps"

New Louis Den Video Dirty South Beats

OKAAAAAAAAAAAAAY, session video up..



In the lab Sunday just gone with myself, Kelz, Eyebs & Myke Forte to crunk it out over the beats we got entered, check it out and see what you think.

Dirty South Beats Lab Sesison Video.

Scotland's For Me

Last weekend saw a little listening session held in Underground Solush'n record spot, Edinburgh for select heads to hear the latest Jaisu and S-Type blaps coming from their respective bits of hardware. Luckily I was there to film the occasion and I have put together a highlight reel for your viewing pleasure. Peep right here, right now.

It is fair to say these boys got beats for days and it looks like 2009 is gona shape up to be a promising step forward in their beat game! I knew them first!!!!!! hah.

ALSO

Today also saw S-Type (http://www.myspace.com/stype) release a new beat mix of bangers he's been working on in the lab.

download right here - it is fire

That is all for today. Remember! Behind Closed Doors is still available, just! We have under 100 copies left for sale. head over to http://www.louisden.com/bcd to cop one of your own. VOL.2 IS COMING!

New Louis Den Homework - "LINN DRUM HARDWARE BATTLE"

New homework, LDBB back in the buildin!!, this week we want you to use sounds from the 80's game changing drum machine the "LINN DRUM", sounds are provided and we also want you to freak tracks from notable artists who used the machine!, all links are in the myspace blog below!...Check it out!.

Homework 47 - "Linn Drum Hardware Battle"

Louis Den Beat Cypher 04 Spotlight - Ranx Diggla

The final installment of the Beat Cypher spotlights is on Birmingham's own RANX DIGGLA, producer and emcee for Birmingham supergroup MSI & Asylum; very legendary respected mic heavyweights, Ranx and his group are one of the cornerstones of Birmingham hiphop so it was an honor having him bless the beat cypher and his group take the stage..all this and Ranx has been supporting the night from the jump..respect due indeed!..

Peep game!.



Louis Den Beat Cypher 04 Spotlight - Ranx Diggla
Hey!!, please introduce yourself to everybody; let us know who you are what you do and how long you've been doing it!.
The name is Ranx aka Diggla. I am the producer and one of the MC's from the MSI/ASYLUM clique. I started messing with the beats when my mom got me a Yamaha DD10 for christmas way back in 1988 lol.

Was there a defining moment (event / hearing a record etc) that led you into making beats / becoming a producer?.
I have been beatboxing from as far back as i can remember. My brother and i used to clash on regular basis when we were kids. So it was a natural progression from creatin beats with my mouth to banging them out on my dd10. After i began rhyming in my mid teens the production was put on the back burner. That was until i met The Brooklyn Ripper (producer of the first MSI/ASYLUM album). He spotted my interest in production and borrowed me his Roland R-8. I programmed a few beats brought them back to his, we threw a some samples other them and the rest is history.


What was your first peice of equipment and what were those beats like?, any interesting stories about things were doing to begin with / finding your feet?
Although i had my dd10 it was very limited. The quantize on it was mad stiff and the sound that it produced wasn't that good. It wasn't until i got my hands on a Casio SK-1 which had a built in sampler but could only take four separate 1 second samples. I'd speed up anything i wished to sample to fit it in within the second and slow it down afterwards. It had a real gritty like sound to it and I came out with some really dark sounding beats. I borrowed that off an old friend named Olton and he never got it back. Sorry and Thanks Olton.

Whats the one bit of advice youd give to anyone starting out today?
Try to be different... bring something new to the table. There are a lot of good producers out there but their music sounds the same as everthing else at the mo. A lot of producers beats either sound like Dilla or Premier.

What can heads expect from you at LOUIS DEN BEAT CYPHER?
Serious bass and beats that make you feel compelled to spit on em even if you aren't a MC. Plus i might be pissed by the end of night so expect loads of jokes and laughter! Peace, love and prosperity to you all... see you on thursday Bitches!!!

FREE MUSIC
MSI & Asylum - Marvelous (produced by Ranx)

Louis Den Beat Cypher 04 Spotlight - Myke Forte

Ouch, got so caught up in the runnings to the beat cypher I didnt finish these features before the night itself, no worries tho lets get it crackin with the last two installments and more free music!.

We got introduced to Myke back in beat cypher 01 in october, its crazy connecting with a next head whose basically doing exactly the same thing as you and your peeps; into the same stuff but just never crossed paths and this is exactly what happened. Myke came along to the first beat cypher and even brought his MPC2500 with him just in case an opportunity came to play some blaps or jam (dope hahaha)...since then he's been all up on the homeworks, a regular lab fixture; lined up work on Sonnyjim's upcoming Austrailian LP and started a collab project with Raul Supreme!!, lets get a little more from him!.

Louis Den Beat Cypher 04 Spotlight - Myke Forte
Hey!!, please introduce yourself to everybody; let us know who you are what you do and how long you've been doing it!.
Whats up peoples, The names Myke Forte, im a 29 year old father of one very special girl, so yeah im a family man just like Winchester, but dont get it twisted, i still know how to gets down nah mean!! lol Been making beats for about 5 years now, 3 of which was taken seriously.
I love making music its meditation for me when i feel like i wanna blow up the whole world! I also rap (But most peeps dont know) under the alter-ego Mike Leforde. Grew up in Winson Green, Birmingham

Was there a defining moment (event / hearing a record etc) that led you into making beats / becoming a producer?
Well...I fell in love with hip hop after hearing a tape of Ultramagnetic Mc's (Critical Beatdown) that my uncle had stashed away, which got me on to all kinds of other artists like, Grand Puba, Rakim, Masta Ace, TCQ, Gangstarr, Pharcyde, you know that real shit! Many years on studied BA HONS in Visual Communication as i loved designing and drawing and being creative etc. Half way through the course my daughter was born, I left and took up making beats with remaining money from my student loan. After hearing the Love Album by TCQ and Slum do their thing i wanted to make music that sounded like that!! I loved jazz music by that point so i thought time to start making beats, a close friend of mine (Shawn) was into D Jaying , from like the age of 13-14, He was the first person I knew with an MPC.

What was your first peice of equipment and what were those beats like?, any interesting stories about things were doing to begin with / finding your feet?
My first bit of software was music on the playstation with the sample box...remember that!!...so yeah started out with that making drum and bass and hip hop. I then started using reason 2.0 which i got as a demo with some other software on the mac, during this time, i started listening for sounds within music that i liked and tried to emulate it, with no luck whatsoever.

Whats the one bit of advice youd give to anyone starting out today?
Dont be afraid to experiment, i wish i did a bit more. Have fun with it and enjoy what you do.

What can heads expect from you at LOUIS DEN BEAT CYPHER?
Im quite laidback as a person so my beats have a tendency to follow that nature. Soulful, love basslines with a bit of swing.
Just hope you enjoy. Peace

FREE DOWNLOADS!
This was the first beat tape i put together after getting the mpc (J Dilla Tribute by myself and Smith The Mister)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VQQU83LG

Another one shortly after that Discovering Myke Forte
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=99SMW66P

Louis Den Beat Cypher 04 Spotlight - Sivey

Whooo, 1 more day to go to the Beat Cypher 04!! still lots of prep to take care of but it should be a good one one!! maad lookin forward to it, also remember! if you do reach tomorrow you'll be among the first to know about the very very very special BEAT CYPHER 05 line up taking place in June which WILL be nuts!!.

Ok now for Siveys spotlight!, old Sivz is a monster on the boards and has been consistently killin LDBB from the jump; it's gonna be extra dope being able to hear his exclusive new bangers tomorrow so heres a little from the man himself!.

Louis Den Beat Cypher 04 Spotlight - Sivey

Hey!!, please introduce yourself to everybody; let us know who you are what you do and how long you've been doing it!.
Wassup people, my name is Sivey/D. Sivey/Dave... I'm a beatmaker and remixer from St Albans, Hertfordshire (just north of London). Been making beats since about 2003 after messing around with various genres. Still dip into other stuff but it's all about the beats at the moment. Have done a load of tracks for Lowkey & Stylah and a few other UK mcs as well as a few joints with US MCs such as Nino Bless & Diabolic.


Was there a defining moment (event / hearing a record etc) that led you into making beats / becoming a producer?.
Hmm... not really. The stuff I was making when first trying out making 'music' was all sample based but generally not hip hop. I was looping up disco tracks on some house shit or making fatboy slim type stuff with James Brown samples... It was cool but i got bored of trying to make whole tracks with progressions & stuff & didn't really have the capability. So the natural progression was to hip hop beats because I was comfortable with samples and I could bang out ideas without having to make complete, self-contained tracks.



What was your first peice of equipment and what were those beats like?, any interesting stories about things were doing to begin with / finding your feet?
Shamefully my *first* encounter with making music was with Hip Hop eJay with the terrible pretend scratching simulator that you did with a mouse... I rinsed all the sounds on it over and over and ended up buying a few others just to get different sounds. Then Hip Hop eJay 2 came and it had a real simple step sequencer for drums and you could import your own samples, so I tried using that to make my "own" beats but it was obviously really limited. Then I heard about Fruity Loops so I copped the demo version online and I understood it enough to get started making different types of tunes and learning new stuff every time. Which still happens now when I make new beats.


Whats the one bit of advice youd give to anyone starting out today?
Be true to yourself and never give up on your dreams, you can achieve anything if you believe in it... Pfff PSYCHE! I guess try and do something new and different as often as possible, whether something small like the way you EQ your sample or something more obvious like a whole different style of beat. Also, if you're wack and have been for ages, just give up. Unless you're just doing it for your own pleasure obviously... no harm in that.

What can heads expect from you at LOUIS DEN BEAT CYPHER?
I'm gonna try and play a mixture of sample-based and synthy/composed beats in a couple of different styles. I'll definitely be watching people's reactions to see where I should take things next...


FREE DOWNLOAD
Sivey Starter Kit (exclusive tracks, remixes and a beat to boot!!)

Oddisee presents Diamond District In The Ruff

Sorry to break up the producer spotlight posts (it's LDBC 4 tomorrow if you didn't know, have a quick look to the right of the page) but when one of your favourite producers and rappers drops a new project and it's free, it's only right, right?

Diamond District consist of Oddisee, X.O. and YU, all hailing from DC and keeping that boom bap sound alive. Anyways get your download on, soak up the dope music and be sure to check out Oddisee's other music projects which get the Louis Den seal of approval.

CLICK ON THE COVER TO DOWNLOAD THE ALBUM

Now back to the producer spotlights...

Louis Den Beat Cypher 04 Spotlight - DJ IQ

These worked well last time so we're bringing you another installment of the producers spotlight!, running from now till the beat cypher itself which is THIS THURSDAY!!, I'll be dropping you an exclusive Q&A with each of the beat cypher producers so you can get a better idea of what they're about and get your hands on some exclusive music from them (in case you're unfamiliar with their sound)

We kick this one off with Man behind Mancan music...DJ IQ!!!

Louis Den BeatCypher 04 Spotlight "DJ IQ"



Hey!!, please introduce yourself to everybody; let us know who you are what you do and how long you've been doing it!.
Hello, I'm DJ IQ. I DJ, So by this i mean mixing & selecting records, scratching, beat juggling, getting the party started!
I also produce, by this i mean making beats, recording songs, mixtapes and generally bringing projects to reality! i've been doing this for far too long, ha ha nah on the real i'm just getting started....


Was there a defining moment (event / hearing a record etc) that led you into making beats / becoming a producer?.
I can't say there was one defining moment, around the time when i started djing for jehst in the early 00's is when i started to wanna make beats. Before that i didn't even know it was possible, i'd just mix records and cut em up all the time. Now its fully fledged art to me, expression and all that!


What was your first peice of equipment and what were those beats like?, any interesting stories about things were doing to begin with / finding your feet?
I started on an mpc 1000, now using a 2500 and to be honest they pretty similar! i'm a scatty worker man...most people can't understand me LOL I'm like throw the rule book out the window NO RULES and lets make some hip hop that BANGS. Some beats i don't even got the parts to anymore but its just RAW you know what i mean?


Whats the one bit of advice youd give to anyone starting out today?
Do it for the love man, if you want the P's u got to study the game. Hip Hop doesn't owe you a living so you got to go hard!!!!


What can heads expect from you at LOUIS DEN BEAT CYPHER?
Merkage.....

FREE DOWNLOADS (DJ IQ PRODUCED TRACKS)
"Gully" Asaviour & Apatight taken from the A-Loop Theory Mixtape
The Aim'"taken from Asaviour's Play 2 Win 2 Mixtape

DJ IQ & Asaviour's "A Loop Theory" album is out now on Saving Grace music!!.

New Louis Den Homework - "DETOX SUBMISSIONS"

A bit of roleplay here where we ask ldbb producers to play the part of Aftermath in house producers lol its a bit of fun in an effort to encourage some EPIC BEATS!, check the blog out for more details.




Louis Den Homework 46 - "Detox Submissions"

The GET YOURS challenge!!

Last week Prolifik aka AB0181 dropped this little promo for our Behind Closed Doors project..

GET YOURS?


and yesterday Polish beat head skeet007 dropped a response on youtube.

GOT MINE!


haha truly excellent!!, so with skeet007 leading, we encourage all other BCD heads to rep with their copy of Behind Closed Doors backed with one of their beats!! see how many responses we can get!!.

you can see who else has bagged a copy of the project by checking the BCD Tracking Google map...take a look!.

Behind Closed Doors Copy Tracking Google Map

Ed Strong am Legend

Check out ldbb resident and producer for his badman crew THE IRS in the stronghold lab building a beat!, good to see a beatmaking video from him finally!! keep it up menng!.



Oh and guess what, Ed features on our BEHIND CLOSED DOORS HIPHOP PRODUCTION DVD/CD VOL 1, he's in the Q&A section and has x2 blaps on the exclusive Beat CD...check it oooot.

Jaisu the man the myth..

BAAAAANG...a sick beatmaking video from courtesy of our man Jaisu, check him out as he re-flips a Dilla sample making use of alternative parts of the track, also look out for 5:30 in where he's gettin the kick drum placed just right super spidey hads rockin the stop/play/undo at MP crashin speed!!.



pff REDONKULOID...

best to ever do it AB0181 on the CAM/editing.

PLUG PLUG..to hear x2 exclusive Jaisu bliddaps check out the BEHIND CLOSED DOORS project...copies ARE going!! get one or miss out!.

Louis Den Beat Cypher 04 - April 16th 2009, NEW VENUE!

Normally the beat cypher announcement should have gone up a good couple weeks ago but we've been secretly having a venue beef story thats longer than the star wars saga.. :-[

Basically our old spot Rootys @ the Custard Factory has closed and is waiting to be sold, after almost calling it off and finding another place (which looked promising) we kinda left us hangin; and had one more chance to either flop or find another place, luckily we made it happen!.

All this and the BEHIND CLOSED DOORS DVD/CD that had to be ready for launch meant its been hectic to say the least SO THERES 3 WEEKS to the beat cypher... ;) LETS GET EM

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS LAUNCH PARTY!
This beat cypher is the official launch party for PROLIFIK (aka AB0181) and KOSYNE's DVD project BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, its a hiphop production magazine DVD/CD and features exclusive interviews, Q&A slots, beats from the lab and a diggin feature from producers The Last Skeptik, S-Type, Eyebs, Kelakovski, Darren Paul, Figaro, Ed Strong & Budgie and also comes bundled with an album length beat CD showcasing raw beats out the lab from our featured producers...at BEAT CYPHER 04 you'll be able to (hopefully) see some of the DVD and have the opportunity to bag yourself one of the limited edition of 300 first pressing!.

ON THE BOARDS
Under 18's DMC champ and Jehsts former tour dj, DJ IQ having just dropped his A-LOOP THEORY album he'll have plenty of fresh blaps to play us, he came by on beat cypher 01 with Jehst and was keen to hit us up to showcase his production. RANX DIGGLA from the mighty MSI & ASYLUM is also in the building...one of the resident beatmakers for the legendary Brum crew he's hungry to show us his beats; an important member of brums hiphop scene he's been up on the beat cypher from last oct (and was one of the cats I first hollered at when sketching the BCD project)...he's told me Beat Cypher movement got him his fulltime beat making mojo back so lets see.

Also joining the producers are LDBB residents SIVEY, producer for Lowkey, Stylah, Doc Brown, Nino Bless and more! and MYKE FORTE...down with us from the first beat cypher he's been up on the homeworks and many a lab session and has patiently waited for spot since then!!..the wait is over.

On the Mic backed by the talened producers we have ASAVIOUR!, OG YNR head now spearheadding his own label Saving Grace and promting his current release THE A-LOOP THEORY produced by DJ IQ (see what we did there??). Birmingham legends MSI & ASYLUM, coming thru to show support for the Beat Cypher and their producer RANX are bound to tear the mic apart!, and finally Londons RAMSON BADBONEZ promting his new Mix CD mixed by Harry Love and London's SALVO promoting his new 7 inch single "The Info" which features KASHMERE and CHESTER P..out on the KING KONG HOLDING COMPANY label.

We also got the usual OPEN BEATS round to play your beats out to the crowd..be sure to sign up early..places are even more limited than ever before now as we have to wrap up a little earlier (we have to kickstart proceedings a lot earlier so dont sleep..arrive late and you may miss out.

ANDDDDD following on from last time the totally pimped out extravagant BUCKS FIZZ BEAT BATTLE which was won by SHEARS, we've got the got head to head with the other battle entrants for EAT GOOD / LOUIS DEN / SAVING GRACE / BEHIND CLOSED DOORS goodies, sign up at http://www.louisden.com/beatcypher.

Of course all handled by our trusty resident DJ, DJ CRO!, spinning beats/instrumentals and hiphop treats before we kick the night off!.


PLEASE SUPPORT THE NIGHT!....ITS TAKES A LOT OF TIME AND PLANNING TO PUT THESE NIGHTS TOGETHER; ESPECIALLY NEGOTIATING WITH THE PERFORMERS AS THERES SO MANY HEADS ON THE BILL...BUT IF YOU SUPPORT WE WILL CONTINUE TO PUT THESE NIGHTS ON..

bang..

im spent..just CAAAME OUTTTT!!



COPY & PASTE LINKS TO SUPPORT

full size flyer back


full size flyer front


profile pic save this and upload as your myspace pic









myspace comment / wall comment / facebook profile pic
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Behind Closed Doors +Feedback!

What up, its been a very hectic couple of weeks and I still havent written a little peice on the "Behind Closed Doors" project; I'll probably post a little bit on my myspace its just one thing after another at the moment tho!! as im on the beat cypher grizzle too!

But yeahhh! THANK YOU SO MUCH everyone who ordered a copy, we appreciate ANY sort of feedback so if you got a minute do join in on the Behind Closed Doors Vol 1 thread over at the louisden forum and let us know your thoughts, Myself and Pro already have ideas swirling in our heads re: Volume 2 but really we gotta push our product fall back and take all the feedback onboard before we get rolling with it!.

SO!! if you havent already ordered a copy I suggest you do!! head over to http://www.louisden.com/bcd and click BUY!.

Ok...back on it!!, BEAT CYPHER 04 blog coming...NEW HOMEWORK..MONDAY!.

.kos

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS - NOW AVAILABLE!

Yes, we've told you a hundred times over the last little while, but it is now official. BEHIND CLOSED DOORS IS AVAILABLE TO BUY!
good times! After a year of filming between Glasgow, Birmingham and London the final product is signed, sealed and can be delivered! Head over to http://www.louisden.com/bcd to get your copy now! Especially since we have only pressed up a limited first run of 300 (all hand-numbered).

So...Volume One is done and dusted (complete with exclusive beat CD) and we are already looking forward to Volume Two. Support the movement people, 2009 is shaping up to be a big year already! in the words of diddy LETS GO!!!!

A!.

New Louis Den Homework - "QUEENSBRIDGE WEEK"

New blog over at the LDBB myspace!, this week we're after dark moody dungeon beats similar to Mobb Deeps early material; in "Queensbridge" week!.





Check the myspace blog for more details.

S-Type & Jaisu are The Tartan Bullieeeeees

BULLY!
BULLIES!.

Check it out, a new video blog series from S-Type & Jaisu under the name Tartan Bullies; rather than a straight beat making vid the guys are filming these themselves bringing you beats and BS....banter, jokes and plenty more; feels like some spin off steez think of it as the CSI:Miami or Frasier to the Making Beats / Beat Tape series...BULLLIEEEEEEEEEEES.

TBTV Episode 1


.kos

Jaisu Beat Tape VOL.5

Straight from the source...

Homework 44 - "Beats from Beatmakers Makin Beats" ???!

sounds weird and it is!!!, following on from our new found motto "you can sample anything" we've got a bit of a challlenging homework for you this week, check the myspace blog for more details.





Homework 44 Blog.

Behind Closed Doors is Close!.

So close infact that I have a little info-teaser to show for it. The drop date is around the corner people and I hope everyone is as amped as me and kos are!. (replace amped for worried!). Nah fo real, it has been a long time coming and its time to deliver. Anyways, on MARCH 23RD 2009, you can own the Behind Closed Doors DVD with an exclusive beat CD featuring beats from everyone on the DVD. We will be shipping worldwide and prices will follow shortly. If you have been following Louis Den, AB0181, or the length of Jaisu's hair then this is the DVD for you. LETS DO THIS!.

p.s to keep an eye on the timer clock...visit...www.louisden.com/bcd.
A.

Beat Cypher 03 - Round One

Ok theres plenty more to come but I thought id get the ball rolling with the first installment!! the intro took me the longest time to put together hahaha but I was mad inspired of Andys ILL work on DVD 02 so I felt i needed to up it a gear.




more coming soon!


.kos

HOMEWORK 43 - "Boy Bands"

New homework up at the Myspace blog, this week we're gonna get you to work even harder using music from Boy Bands as the source material!..no going the easy route and samplin Jackson 5 now (although thats valid haha).




Peep game here..

Beat Cypher 03 Prelim report!

Thanks so much to everyone who made it out!!! the rep grows bigger..Phonics killed it, Raul killed it, Percy killed it and Winchester killed it too!

Worked real well this time round seeing as everyone had a proper distinctive vibe! Kyza did the damn thing as it Pentalk and Jyager, the Open beats were sick; shouts to everyone who made noise!! crowd were real receptive!....for those of you who missed it...SLIPPPPPPPPPIN' we had the scot crew come from one end the hastings lot from the other lol wots your excuse????.

hehe..

big apologies to Wiz who didnt get drawn for the beat battle, luck of the draw partner I really wanted to put you on but at the same time I had to keep it fair with the random draw..how the game goes :(

but massive props to Shears to killin the beat battle!! and the other entrants Mr Brown, Sivey and Jeekay for gettin the crowd moving with their beats! we had Sivey and Shears drawn first and then Mr Brown and Jeekay second very nice stuf indeed.

Ohhhhhh and the Dilla flips were too much!! respects paid!, great beats!.

So yeah! thank you so much to EVERYONE that made it down; the Beat Cypher feels real good and positive right now and everyone whos ever shown love; performing, open beats, or just turning up!! have all played a part..PROPS!.

vids to follow!!...and beat cypher 02 featuring Darren Paul | Jaisu | S-Type and Reog Du Casq are for sale right now!!!! hit the shop up!.


finally props to Andy (AB0181) who got last weeks Dillamation featured on the Stonesthrow front page!! (just remember where he dropped it first heheh).

Louis Den Beat Cypher 03 Spotlight - Raul Supreme

To quote Redman...TONIGHTS THE NIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!, we're all set for the beat cypher! im phoning/textin heads left right and centre sorting out beats/set times and running orders but its ill!! feels like Christmas hahaha!.

Anyway last but by no means least is Birminghams own Raul Supreme on the producer line up!; be sure to check his in depth answers and his dope beat tape download!.

Rauls an ill cat! and met him a long long time ago shortly after Louis Den first started up!; introduced through Kela he hit the odd lab session but a few months into the den became a permanent fixture!! geekin out with us over beats week in and week out and firmly in the fold!. Fun fact! I still remember back before I met Kelz stalkin his myspace out and seeing Raul on his top 8 thinkin to my self "dang, how many ill cats does this dude know" haha funny how things come together over time eh??...aite lets do this.

Louis Den BeatCypher 03 Spotlight "Raul Supreme"

Hey!!, please introduce yourself to everybody; let us know who you are what you do and how long you've been doing it!.
Hey I go by the name of Raul Supreme representing me myself and I at the minute nuff props however to Kosyne for bringing hip hop producers together in the form of Louis den and all the cats who enter challenges each week n make this thing happen. I've been doing beats for like 4-5 years now been taking it seriously for the last say 2-3. I'm a sample fanatic I still to this day love getting a new record and chopping that up to perfection whilst getting creative with synths, plugins, drums the works.

Was there a defining moment (event / hearing a record etc) that led you into making beats / becoming a producer?.
When I was 16 my mum got me this brand new Dell Dimensions desktop computer I wasn't a 'hip hop head' per say at the time but I just started kind of experimenting with a variety of different music programmes such as Steinberg Cubase SX 1 I think it was. (Shout outs to Cubase by the way) I didn't really know what I was making but erm it was something. I had been listening to a lot of DJ Premier at the time some of his older works such as 'BOOM' and 'FULL CLIP' and I definitely tried to recreate what I was hearing. Although I never actually knew anything about arranging drums, where to even get drums, snares or whatever I looked for help I eventually got back in contact with 1 of my cousins (shout outs to Twisted Revren) who laid down what you would call the basics of hip hop production he in turn became a major inspiration in my starting years. If I didn't get that new computer though I probably wouldn't be here today as a producer real talk.

What was your first piece of equipment and what were those beats like?, any interesting stories about things were doing to begin with / finding your feet?
My first piece of equipment was as mentioned above Steinberg Cubase SX1 man I made like five beats inside Cusbase well with the inclusion of the ones no one ever knew about ten. I liked Cubase but the user interface for me was too much for my head at the time, don't wanna tread on any toes here but the first things I saw were time signatures, erm channels that meant nothing to me the whole layout wasn't 'simple' enough for me to use it effectively so I eventually made the transition to Fl Studio 3 formally known as Fruity Loops (Shououts to Kosyne lol) I'll have to post up some Cubase joints man they were green reflector jacket + black bin bag liners and sausages GARBAGE.

Whats the one bit of advice youd give to anyone starting out today?
Some advice i'd give is just make music for the love I've come across many heads that do it for the wrong reasons whether that's fame or whatever do it because you can't go without making a beat because in the long run you will prevail ya dig.

What can heads expect from you at LOUIS DEN BEAT CYPHER?
Heads can expect some variation I plan on showing versatility however hope to stay true to my sound should be a good show I want to make everyone who turns up snap their necks nah mean lol but erm yeah i hope to get the crowd stirred up and get the involved

Finally any plugs or shout outs..
Shout outs out firstly to the Louis Den heads once again who make this happen, erm Twisted Revren and the Ill City movement, shout outs to ma man Kelakovski killin' the beats, Kosyne, TLG, Jigsaw Soul, Eyebs the whole Louis den persuasion. Look out for more beat tapes coming soon featuring all head knocking instrumentals with the inclusion of brand new tracks with sick emcees from across the nation.

FREE DOWNLOADS
Raul Supreme - Beat Tape Vol 1 (2008)
Raul supreme Myspace

Louis Den Beat Cypher 03 Spotlight - Winchester

MANNNN! we got a day before the beat cypher!!...ooooweeee this is gonna be ILL, theres still 1 (or 2) places left on the beat battle so REGISTER if you wanna show us what you've got..details are at www.louisden.com/beatcypher. We've got 2 more producer spotlights to drop and this is number 3!.

I got hip on to Winchester back in the day through the ughh forums; he posted his group's (pentalk) music and the odd blap or 2 and was hype to hear dope UK emcees over his sick blaps (we talkin '01/'02 here) tut tut I should have been more up on my Brum hiphop knowledge! but since then I've been following his work and have had the pleasure of meeting him a couple times he's been in the city...after hollering at him though the net I found out he was well up for the Beat Cypher so here were are!!..heres his Q&A.

Louis Den BeatCypher 03 Spotlight "Winchester"

Hey!!, please introduce yourself to everybody; let us know who you are what you do and how long you've been doing it!.
I am Jamie Winchester ,born in the funky year of 1973 in hastings ,married for 8 years,2 kids im a family man lol.i have been dj,ing since i was 15 and workingg on beats sice i was about 16/17 .I have been in the group pentalk since day 1 and still get the same buzz now from our stuff as i did way back in early 90,s.I gave up my retail managment career 18months ago,to concentrate on setting up the pentalk lab(recording studio).

Was there a defining moment (event / hearing a record etc) that led you into making beats / becoming a producer?.
after skinving of school and catching a train to bristol (tonys records)i brought critical beat down,when i heard those beats ,i decided this was the syle i wanted to do ..lol oh and when i seen chad jackson 1987 dmc world champ winner...that was it ,i was gonna be dmc champ....never happend tho sadly .

What was your first piece of equipment and what were those beats like?, any interesting stories about things were doing to begin with / finding your feet?
My first bit of gear was a yamahah drum pad machine,it had 4 pads on it and u used sticks; damn it was shit so traded it in for a roland tr 707 I think drum machine

I thought my beats were banging,but they probably were shit. Interesting stories, I used to ring D&D studios for tips back in the days I'd speak to dave,he was the guy who told me how to trigger my akai s950 from my sp1200 and how to set the programmes out. Thanks Dave lol he prob thinking that s that british git taking up all my time.

Whats the one bit of advice youd give to anyone starting out today?
Always finish your beats; or at least burn what you have done to cd or stereo wav.that way you will feel you are being more productive even if it's shit!.

What can heads expect from you at LOUIS DEN BEAT CYPHER?
Free beer and money if they cheer and make noise when im playing lol. They can expect some dirty sounding stuff some jazz type,funk eiry and deffo some noise!.

Finally any plugs or shout outs..
Plugs and shout outs def must start with Mr Kosyne,who is also killing it on the mic and beats...

My whole Pentalk crew,Shortchange,perge,casey,soweto,di natch,baja,rex dogg,Kashrex,msi and md7.Also my welsh family,Nic cadman,the whole riverfront arts centre crew,lozz dennis,levi,versatile,uc people,Nomadic poet.oh my wife and family

Can i plug the pentalk lab at the riverfront newport lol..........newport city radio.

FREE DOWNLOADS
Pentalk Promo CD (Circa 2000) all production by Winchester
Winchester Myspace

Louis Den Beat Cypher 03 Spotlight - Percy Filth

Monday is here!, not long now; the Beat Cypher is just round the corner...so continuing the Spotlight series I'll hit you all off another round; this time we're with Birmingham producer Percy Filth.

Louis Den BeatCypher 03 Spotlight "Percy Filth"

Hey!!, please introduce yourself to everybody; let us know who you are what you do and how long you've been doing it!.
My name is lord percy filth i am 34 i have been into hip hop since 82 and making beats since 96.

Was there a defining moment (event / hearing a record etc) that led you into making beats / becoming a producer?.
Above the law "murder rap" was the tune that first inspired me to make beats but kit wasn't as readily available back then so it took me a while to actually start out.

What was your first piece of equipment and what were those beats like?, any interesting stories about things were doing to begin with / finding your feet?
My first bit of kit was an old mac and a copy of cubase in 1995, it took me 18 months to start using it because I had to teach myself from scratch with no help. My beats consisted of looped samples and click and move drums. Good ideas but needed expansion.

Whats the one bit of advice youd give to anyone starting out today?
For heads starting out today I would suggest you start buying wax straight away, keep copping them slices and you will have a solid arsenal to rely upon once you get your technique locked down.

What can heads expect from you at LOUIS DEN BEAT CYPHER?
At the cypher heads can expect spaced out electronics and bounce, twixed with horned out boom bappery.

Finally any plugs or shout outs..
I wanna plug my new e.p out soon on Aerosolik/Eatgood entitled "elbow grease", available on all formats and featuring the talents of maylay sparks, foreign beggars,j-sands, stig of the dump, juice aleem plus many many more.

shout outs go to all Louis Den crew from near and far, Jez at Aerosolik, Eatgood and all my friends and fam.


FREE DOWNLOADS
Percy Filth ft Sonnyjim, Redbeard & DJ Cro - High Grade (from the Dont Take It Percynal EP)
Mad Skillz - Nod Factor (Percy Filth Remix)


Percy Filth Myspace

Dilla month starts here!!

Dilla a.k.a Jay Dee - My Tribute 2009 from Andy Brown on Vimeo.
Today after listening to several batches of Dilla's beats I got amped and got out my video camera, tripod, some records and coloured card and got to work. This took, all in all, 5 hours to make (filming and editing). But you know what, it was worth it. REST IN BEATS DILLA DAWG! THIS ONE'S FOR YOU. peace. ab.

Louis Den Beat Cypher 03 Spotlight - Jon Phonics

In the run up to the beat cypher I figure it'd be cool to get you guys hip to the producers we are going to showcase; you may not be plugged into the production world so this will serve as an attempt to get you better aquainted with the line up and let you hear some treats from the guys we've got on the bill.

So over the next few days I'll be droppin a Producer Spotlight blog with some short interview questions and a free download to hold you down till Thursday 12th!, kicking it off we've got West Londons finest, JON PHONICS.

Louis Den BeatCypher 03 Spotlight "Jon Phonics"

Hey!!, please introduce yourself to everybody; let us know who you are what you do and how long you've been doing it!.
Hello, I'm Jon Phonics aka Ill Smith, fresh sniff of the girls wear or you get shift so beware. I make beats with samples, drums, synths, and the occasional traditional instrument. Ive been doing it about four years, and im just starting to get good thanks to louis den school for gifted beat geeks.

Was there a defining moment (event / hearing a record etc) that led you into making beats / becoming a producer?.
I began seriously getting into production when i saw a track from my first beat cd materialize into the track 'Rep Dat' by Mr Drastick & Doc Brown, Sarah Love was playing it and they made a video which was on the telly (dap c) so i thought 'you know what, let me try this thing properly...'and bought an MPC2000xl.

What was your first piece of equipment and what were those beats like?, any interesting stories about things were doing to begin with / finding your feet?
Before the 2000XL i used Reason, my reason beats sounded like a mix between mobb deep and nightmares on wax (in the worst possible way). When i got the 2000xl, everything started to make a bit more sense, but the beats still jus sounded like a poor man's havoc. I just used to 16 level everything.

Whats the one bit of advice youd give to anyone starting out today?
Man I don't know im still starting out myself...haha.

What can heads expect from you at LOUIS DEN BEAT CYPHER?
Some ol grimey london shit, brown frequency bass, lol. Just some good ol Johnblaze that I hope people can get jiggy with!

Finally any plugs or shout outs..
Urm, look out for the exciting new installment of my free download ish, coming next month feat. Kosyne, Triple Darkness, Jehst, Jyager, Kyza, Verb T, Kashmere, Stylah, Skandal, Grimlok and more. Also look out for the new Verb T album later this year, and also a new YNR productions compilation featuring an exclusive track from myself and Jyager plus a ton more of other exclusive new shit on there, which is all very exciting. You know louisdensquad, takeover in this and alls that. biggidybloaw. we killin elephants in the backyard.


FREE DOWNLOAD
Jon Phonics - Half Past Calm [2008]

1. State Of Hip Hop - M9 & Prophet
2. Remember - T-Bear, Sir Smurf Lil' & Raggo Zulu Rebel
3. Nothing Wrong - Mr Drastick & Luc Skyz
4. The Lions Den - Cyrus Malachi
5. Black Tragedy (Half Past Calm Mix) - Phoenix Da Icefire,Iverse & Prophet
6. More Forward (Ill Rhythmikz Remix) - T-Bear
7. Alternate Take - Verb T & Fliptrix
8. Lost Planet - M9
9. In The Ends - Sir Smurf LIl'
10. Forbidden Chamber - Nine Planets
11. Jealousy's A Bitch - Mr Drastick & Verb T
12. Celebrate - T-Bear
13. More Forward - T-Bear

LINK: megaupload | zshare
Jon Phonics Myspace

Homework 42 - "P Funk Week!"

This week you gotta flip some P Funk samples...see what grooves you can come up with!..Deadline SUNDAY 17:30...check the myspace blog for more info.

Homework 42 - "Its P Funk Week"

.KOS

Louis Den Beat Cypher 03 - February 12th 2009

Ok people, we're back!; I would have blogged this a while back but I did put the word out through other various channels and didnt want this to disappear off the front page...but the time is nowww!.

We're doing this AGAIN!, thrid time round trying to make everything bigger and better with the addtion of a BEAT BATTLE as well as 4 unique producers and PA's from some of the countries illest performers and upandcomers


I see plenty of myspace profiles from Midlands artists..plenty of them trying to sell beats, network or just out there as producers!! Well I know (normally) producers are background/humble people who probably would rather stay in perfecting their craft then hit a jam up with beat cd's but..

THIS JAM IS FOR EVERYONE BUT ESPECIALLY PRODUCERS!!

You understand that hahaha!...so when you do drag yourself out to a jam and all you can think about is beats or wonder who in the crowd makes beats or if there are other producers to build with...just remember here at the Beat Cypher THIS IS THE VERY PLATFORM FOR THAT...so do come out!!! dang; I'm happy just doing our Louis Den Beat Battles and linkin my producer buds on the regular but I want the whole beatmaking community to vibe/benefit from this which is why the outlet came about and why we're all trying to keep this going.

Emcee Vocalist?
This jam is for you, half the bill are local artists perhaps you could get put onto new talent, touch base with a new producer? theres plenty of producers in the crowd they'll be beat CD's/Phone numbers/Email Addresses/Phone numbers floating about ready for you to make new links.

Producer??
Vibe of the local talent! get new ideas; talk to heads..BUILD!; they'll be artists to link and connect with; ask the more established producers on the showcase for tips/ideas; yes its dog eat dog but theres enough of the pie out there for the talented cats that want to get somewhere reach out!!..join the beat battle!...not competitive?? sign up to the open beats; get those beats aired on a nice sound system ask for feedback..get better! connect!.

Fan / Beat Head
EVERYBODY should fall into the category! well along with hearing amazing beats all night you'll get to see the cream of the UK's talent in the form of the PA's and hear all the latest and greatest treats spun by DJ CRO! so all this and a party to boot!.

SO...

SPREAD THE WORD
Swipe this blog entry!, copy and paste it; take the e-flyers!, change your profile pic; hit up friends you know on the sites you're signed up to and get them to come to the beat cypher or pariticpate in the battle!, bring heads out with you..build participate and enjoy!!, swipe the links at the bottom of the post with links to the flyers etc..

Send the louis den press release to any contacts you have they may be interested or of use to the night!, again links at the bottom of the post!.


GET NOTICED!
You interested in getting on the beat cypher in some way??, well of course theres the traditional sign up routes (open beats/beat battle/on the spot open mic etc). But if you want to be showcased/profiled how about you come out to the night bring a few heads with you and hit up a familiar face of the LouisDen / EatGood team for more info! (Kos, Cro, Kela, Sonnyjim, Redbeard)!! remember we cant put EVERYONE on at once and we need a good turn out to keep doing them! its a cycle!!.


aite!! thats me done haha sorry for going off, this is just how determined we all are to make success of this!...now for the traditional swipe!..

---

Louis Den Beat Cypher 03
JON PHONICS | PERCY FILTH | WINCHESTER | RAUL SUPREME
KYZA | PENTALK | JYAGER





ON THE BEATS
This time round we've got JON PHONICS, PERCY FILTH, WINCHESTER and RAUL SUPREME providing the blaps all playing beats straight out the equipment for the beat cypher and for the PA's.

ON THE MIC
The mighty KYZA (Dented Records) due to release his new project SOS hopefully airing some new tracks out for Birmingham (and I think his first solo PA in Brum too!).

The newest YNR signee JYAGER who hit the first beat cypher back in Oct 08 to back SIR SMURF LIL' this time he's out reppin himself for a solo set.

Brum mic heavyweights PENTALK, consisting of CASEY, PERGE and the Mobo award winning SOWETO KINCH, expect a few mics to take a beating in the process!...

all this plus the usual OPEN BEATS round where we'll play your blaps to the crowd for feedback!! bring bangers..sleepy beats wont get reloads!!...

and somethin a little special.

OPEN BEAT BATTLE JUDGED BY JEHST!
not just Jehst! but the crowd too haha, yeahhh this time we're gonna try our hand at a beat battle so if you think you've got beats to be one of the illest in the crowd! then register now at http://www.louisden.com/beatcypher ,we'll be keeping track of all the entrants from now until the beat cypher itself..the 10 best beatmakers will go into a random draw to determine the participants for the actual beat battle which'll have EAT GOOD / LOUIS DEN prizes....big.


Please do come out and support...£3.50 so do come out...and as you can see this is doesnt come out of nowhere so we need the support so we can keep putting these on!.

see you there!


Louis Den Beat Cypher 03
JON PHONICS | PERCY FILTH | WINCHESTER | RAUL SUPREME
KYZA | PENTALK | JYAGER
OPEN BEATS | OPEN BEAT BATTLE (register at http://www.louisden.com/beatcypher)
£3.50 before 9PM, £5.00 after
18+ only (ID maybe required!)
HOSTED BY REDBEARD, SONNYJIM & KOSYNE

---

LINKS / PROMO

LARGE FRONT	LARGE BACK
<img src="http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp355/louisdenbeatbattles/beatcypherfeb/louisdenbeatcypher3_1.jpg">	<img src="http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp355/louisdenbeatbattles/beatcypherfeb/louisdenbeatcypher3_2.jpg">
MYSPACE PROFILE	COMMENT/WALL
<img src="http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp355/louisdenbeatbattles/beatcypherfeb/louisden_beatcypher03_profile.jpg">	<img src="http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp355/louisdenbeatbattles/beatcypherfeb/louisden_beatcypher03_basic.jpg">

PRESS RELEASE (PDF FORMAT)
Download Here or copy and paste link below.

http://www.louisden.com/beatcypher/Louis Den Beat Cypher 03 Press Release.pdf



I WILL SEE YOU THERE!.

.KOS

Panned Kraklez

I truly think Wizard & Scizzahs have lost the plot, this is bonkers...I wish I could tell you what this is about but I can't; all you can do is watch hahaha.

(check for the parts where they both come out of character from catchin too much joke).

Episode 1


Episode 2


Episode 3


Episode 4


Episode 5


Episode 6


when you've figured this out...tell me?!!

.kos

Louis Den Street Fighter 2 Blaps - Video Up!!

For those who cant be bothered to go check the blog!, video is below!!..


Louis Den Beat Battles Episode 39 - Street Fighter 2 Sounds



Full blog here!, you should read it and drop a comment!.

Homework 41 - "Please Dont Sue Us!"

New Louis Den Homework entitled, "Please Dont Sue Us!"; details over at the myspace blog..take part make blaps and build!.





"Please Dont Sue Us" Homework Louis Den Myspace Blog

"Behind Closed Doors" is so close you can smell it!

This me and Andy's (Ab0181 aka Prolifik) pet project; a little over a year ago we decided we wanted to collab on some beat/film projects; ldbb was a few months in and he already expressed an interest in coming down to Brum from Edinburgh to film an ep but I thought nahhhh lets do somethin bigger!. The first project we did was 2007's "Wrapped up".

Many phone convos later we decided on a Beatmaking documentary magazine was the way to go and after various linkups and road trips we've got the cream of the footage almost edited down and ready to go....

A DVD is coming! and hopefully subsequent volumes..stay tuned!, I'll leave you with Andys words and a snippet of our "Diggin With Darren Paul" segment.


Behind Closed Doors is finally touching down! Well, in web promo format at the moment.

As from today, there will be weekly uploads of sections from myself and kosyne's first DVD project together: BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. Documenting what makes the UK's leading underground beatmakers tick.

In this snippet, we follow Darren Paul on a mission as he gives some insight into what digging for records means to him, what he is looking for and how much to spend.

THIS IS A WEB PROMO (the quality is quite reduced) , SO IT ONLY CONTAINS PORTIONS OF THE FINAL PRODUCT WHICH WILL BE AVAILABLE TO BUY IN FULL QUALITY ON DVD.

More info on the dropping date will appear here very shortly. i might even make a video about it.





Support it when we drop it!, quantities may be limited!

New Louis Den Homework - "SOAPS & SITCOMS"

Homework for those who dont know is what we call the weekly beatmaking challenges over at Louis Den Beat Battles (home being our myspace http://www.myspace.com/louisdenbeatbattles.

Anyway this weeks challenge is to flip music from soap or sitcom tv programs, full details, rules and how to submit are in our latest myspace blog entry!..

new videos on the way and a full blog about the next beat cypher event on the 12th.

Soaps & Sitcoms Homework Blog.

Yancey Boys Instrumentals!

CHAIRRR!..





Available now from the stonesthrow digital store!!

Dont get me wrong Illa J did the damn thing with these beats; but with the instros now out you now have the option of jammin out to them vintage Dillz blaps, reason Im diggin it so much is that these beats are from the same era as his Umaah beat tape Vintage which is that classic Jay Dee sound.

Wax out soon apparently....hmm to wait or not to wait.

LINK:http://www.stonesthrow.com/store/album/jdilla/yancey-boys-instrumentals

The beat battles are BACK!.

For all those wanting to get on some beat battle action; we've got the first homework of the new year for all of you over at the ldbb myspace, this weeks challenge is the flip music from the Steet Fighter 2 soundtrack; links are provided so.. GET ON IT, deadline is this Sunday 18th Jan..

FIGHT!

LINK: Louis Den Homework 39 - Street Fighter 2 samples


hit the blog up with comments as well!.

Readbeard presents Tha 40 minute wonda!....FREE DL.

Beastin on the blogs today!, heres the last one for today; gotta tell you about my boy REDBEARDS free promo "THA 40 MINUTE WONDA", clocking in at a suprising 40 minutes check out this Eat Good promo as it serves as a perfect introduction Redbeard one of the mc's on the EAT GOOD RECORDS roster (for those who dont realise the EAT GOOD / LOUIS DEN link...well pretty much all the EAT GOOD music comes out of the Den! and a lot of it happens to be over connected Louis Den producers) so you will be into this!.

Production credits include R2ThaBeatz, Roeg Du Casq, Percy Filth, Wizard, Mikee Lazy & More!.


REDBEARD - THA 40 MINUTE WONDA


01 Tha 40 Minute Wonda Intro
02 Ninja Scrollz Part 1
03 Strong horn 5 Minute Session
04 Highgrade ft Sonnyjim (Twist Face Mix)
05 Suka Ducks ft Kosyne
06 Aston Villainz
07 Birmingham vs Ipswich ft Sonnyjim,Kosyne & Jimmy Davis (Snippet)
08 Mind Gamez
09 Point Blank ft Sonnyjim & Kosyne
10 Digital.Visual.Direction'z
11 This 1'z 4
12 Home From Home
13 Tha Good Tha Bad & Tha Bearded
14 Faith (Remix)
15 Track Record ft Kosyne
16 Tha 40 Minute Wonda Outro

LINK: http://sharebee.com/d1fc7e77
MYSPACE: http://www.myspace.com/redbeardthabeardedwonda


The full length LP THE BEARDED WONDA will be dropping on EAT GOOD RECORDS soon.

.kos

Super Exile Wednesday

I first got put on to L.A badman on the beats Exile via an MP3 blog (SCREEEAMM DOWNLOADING ILLEEGAL!!!) hush your noise it was because of me getting Emanon's (Emanon is the group of rapper Aloe Blacc and Exile on the boards/the occasional verse) "Waiting Room" off a blog which led me to cop the real CD and in turn find out about Exile.

Annnyway way back in 06 he dropped his producer album "Dirty Science" on Sound In Color which featured Blu and led to the pretty much impossible to find in physical media "Below The Heavens", "Radio" his new LP is a concept album of him only sampling stuff he's found on the LA airwaves...a brave concept but the bits I've heard have been great and it sounds like one worth picking up.

Heres a few promos.


EXILE ON VIMBY TALKING ABOUT THE NEW RELEASE

VIMBY - EXILE

FIRST VIDEO OFF RADIO "WERE ALL IN POWER"

"Radio" is out Plug Research now digitally on CD 20th Jan. I'll be picking it up;

.kos

Vibe Article On Dillas Estate

* Ma dukes..(dillas mom)


Read up on the latest regarding J.Dilla's (RIP) estate, seems things havent really been right since dude passed and its quite a sad article regarding the state of affairs of Dilla's beat catalog, royalties and benefit dough..

Anyway its not an upbeat read but it looks as if things are beginning to get better for it..lets hope we can to hear more of his unreleased gems; until then the heads supposedly riding for Dilla are stopping his mom from using his name for benefit gigs/fund raisers and busy trying to sue Busta over blaps he would have dibbs over originally (see Dillagence)..aw well its easy to talk like this from the outside in lets hope it improves.

LINK: J.Dillas myspace blog

UP BEAT FEEL GOOD BONUS NOTE TO LEAVE YOU WITH

Jaylib, (J.Dilla & Madlib) on Power 106 circa 2004..in depth interview and lots of geekin out with dillz and libz on the Fantastic Four radio show with J-Rocc too.


LINK: http://www.sendspace.com/file/qq6eew

.kos

Elaquent Presents - After Midnight (free download)

Elaquent is dOOOOOOOOOOOPE!!! for those who dont know get to know!!, he's put out 3 free download projects in the past (In Color Vol.1 & 2 and Godspeed) and has just dropped his 4th "After Midnight".

I got put on to eQ via Darren Paul a while ago and have been bumping his joints since, (this was around the time In Color 2 dropped..I got part 1 and did my homework), sonn is ill on the beats; dope drums /swing and a video game/sega head to boot! (thats a plus by the way); even had Kelz buggin out for ages as he tried to get his head around eQ's sound!....

Anyway Quelz has even come thru for an LDBB challenge in the past (Jacko sounds) and will hopefully surface again, i'll leave you with the mans own blurb about his project and a download link..

Support it yo..its thats good ishhhh.


After Midnight...
After Midnight. Concept is fairly simple. Laidback vibes. Nighttime music. “play dis only at night”. Something about the nighttime induces different feelings and emotions than the daytime. Jazzy. Soulful. Didnt want to get too left field with it. Want yall to listen to it before sleepytime. Had to incorporate a lo-fi, live type of feeling that lots of music today doesnt have...of course the shit gotta swing. If some of the drums sound off-beat...your senses arent lying, it is. Like I sed in my in colour vol 2 liner notes...perfect is boring.

Feel the vibe and the grooves. Sometimes I dont wanna go to the club. Sometimes I wanna just vibe out and shoot some pool, or just relax. People nowadays are afraid to relax. So, if you havent caught the idea...musically, I wanted to tell a story...12am until 7am....so having said that, enjoy....if possible, play it only at night. Haha.

One love,
-eQ



01. After Midnight
02. The Love
03. All For One ft Mishoo the Drumkit
04. Daylight Savings
05. Tip Toes
06. Too Good (One for Isaac)
07. 2 AM Reflections ft Moka Only & Es
08. Gobstopper
09. Mystery
10. Peanut Butter
11. Take it Higher (Remix) ft Tha Connection
12. Graffiti High
13. Theory in Practice ft O-Phrap
14. High Score (Interlude)
15. 12 O'Clock ft Thesaurus Rex
16. Stars Aligned
17. Sleep Walking
18. Higher Level ft Es & Solar C

LINK:http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?dmz0jmdzonk
HOLLLAatTHEkid:http://www.myspace.com/elaquenthiphop

YOU RECORDIN SHEEEUN? - Jaisu Beat Tape #4

Sounds of the MPC powerhouse that is Jaisu...my man KILLLS it with 6 blaps (with their OG Samples) straight out the MPC...raw beats that'll make you wanna slap suttin; Prolifik aka AB0181 on the cam, Jaisu is next up (I swear a lot of the ldbb regulars are) I think me and Pro are gonna make it out mission this year that YOU ALL get the notice/exposure yawl deserve.




damn.

GET YOUR WEIGHT UP OR GET ATE UP!.

LDBB IS BACK ON MONDAY!.

.kos