Fade
The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
What's up Clever, what's poppin'?
Chillin' right now in the lab as always. Got the MPC loaded up with some new shit I'm bout to fuck with.
Cleverwon is the name of your crew, what name do you go by? What does Cleverwon mean? Who makes up Cleverwon?
Yea man Cleverwon ProdukshunZ basically refers to our crew if ya want to call it that, but my name is P.A. When I used to rap a little back in like '97, I went by the name "Clever". When I sold my first beat I decided to create a company out of it, but Clever seemed too short. I added the "Won" cuz that's how I would tag my name on shit. So that's where the names comes from.
Cleverwon's members changes every year; we recruit new emcees/producers and also flush out those who ain't focused. I'm the main producer and then you got FuriouZ who produces too. He also has his side group Jonrah where he's strictly an emcee and I do a lot of their beats. My nigga Bibi is a producer too, although he don't be here that often so you won't hear too much of his stuff. He's the guy that was on the Motif in that video we did. The emcees that I been fuckin' with lately are J.J. Budget aka Ugly Yukling (from D.M.P.), Sho Seriouz, Split P, Full Moon, Prince Bar and I started fuckin' with the Resident Pothead, none other than Stresswon. But like I said, we're always changing and right now we happen to be one of the "flushing" stages.
What's it like in NJ? How's the scene there lately?
Yo I fuckin' LOVE Jersey man. I was born in Brooklyn, but raised here and I'll never leave. Buuuuuuuuuuuut the scene out here is garbage. Matter of fact, there really is no scene. You got clubs, bars and all that but if you want to see "real" Hip-Hop you gotta go to NYC. That's just how it is. But a lot of these young niggas are bringing that battle shit around, so I'm hoping to see a lot more events closer to where I live. I mean, I'm only 20 minutes from NY but that drive home is a bitch especially when your Henny'd up.
You're saying the NJ scene sucks? Where's Redman when you need him? Weren't The Artifacts from NJ too?
Redman is busy rubbing elbows with Cameron Diaz in Africa on MTV. Yea, the Artifacts are from Jersey.
Since you're right across from NY, I guess you feel the vibe of what's going on over there?
Yea in a way. I mean I go to shows out there if somebody I'm feeling is performing, but I don't chill up there unless I'm at my people's crib.
Tell us about your recording setup.
I have a room in my crib that's a dedicated studio. It has a booth with a double glass window and it's soundproof. All my equipment goes into my mixer, which connects to the soundcard in my PC. I record the beat into Sonar 4 and then just add the vocals.
Do you MC as well as produce for your group?
Nah, except when I'm drunk. Me, Bibi and Furiouz used to do this shit called "Producers Gone Wild" every Friday where we would get twisted and make fucked up tracks. Actually a couple came out hot, but it was unintentional. The emcees we were fuckin' with at that time were bullshittin' with recording tracks so we were like fuck it, we'll put our own vocals then.
What albums have you guys released so far?
Our first one was a compilation album that we released in April 2004 called "Vol. 1: The Briefing". A couple of months ago we put out "G-Light Mixtape: Vol. 1". Right now I'm working on "Vol. 1: The Agenda", which I hope to have finished by this winter. Its hard though because a lot of these niggas ain't really putting this music thing first, so it's hard to get the finished product in a decent amount of time. FLUSH!!! Nah seriously though, once i find an artist who is serious about this as I am and is disgusting on the mic, it's a wrap.
You started making beats in 1999, how has the production scene changed for you since then?
Wow....... Let's see. I always wanted to make beats, but I didn't have anything to make them on. I remember, I stole a copy of Hip-Hop Ejay (don't laugh bitches, it's better than nothing). But obviously I was limited to what I could do with that program. So I got my hands on Acid and SoundForge and started using them together. Then I found out that my cousin had just gotten the Triton, so I started using that. Eventually I got the Motif and that's basically the brain of my operation.
What's your process when making a track (instrumental or full song)?
I usually have some idea of a beat in my head when I sit down to make it. All day I have different melodies and shit bouncing around in my head, so it comes easy. I like to have some ice water by me so I don't have to interrupt my flow once I started. If I'm going the sample-free route, I'll usually choose an instrument and fuck around with a melody. Once that's down, I just spice it up, add drums, bass, until I feel like it's complete. If I'm going the sampling route, I'll dig thru some vinyl or browse Rhapsody until I find something I like. Then I'll listen to the song a couple of times to make sure I don't miss anything good, and I'll chop it up and create everything around it. Although I have made beats with an artist and a specific song in mind, most of the time I just make beats like this and they end up becoming songs once an artist comes in here a chooses it.
What's the most difficult part for you to put together when making a beat?
I ain't trying to sound cocky, but I don't have difficulty at all making a beat. It just comes naturally.
Tell us what it's like to work with MC's. Not a lot of IllMuzik members have worked with MC's, care to give them some insight?
First of all I won't fuck with an emcee who isn't open to criticism or who doesn't want to try anything out of the ordinary. But that's usually not a problem. Every emcee you work with will have positives and negatives. My favorite emcee to work with is my man J.J. Budget. His lyrics are way ahead of his time, and he always has some new shit. I hear his shit and I'm always like "Oh shit!!!". But, he takes forever in the booth. Then you have an emcee (I won't name names) who can get shit in one take, but ain't serious about this music. The best thing to do is just to be real with the emcee. If they're on Take 25 of Verse 1, you might want to tell them to run through their shit a few times before you record anymore. I find though, that being an engineer as well, the outcome of a song depends on your input. You shouldn't let the emcee decide the outcome of a song; to me the emcee is just like another instrument in my production. So I like to have a lot of input on the recording of a song over my beats.
What are some of the FX you put on an MC's voice besides reverb? Do you double it up like Eminem sometimes? Or is that wack?
I usually compress the vocals and might add effects like gate or chorus or delays and shit. Depends on the vocals though. Usually on the hooks I'll have the emcee double up the vocals. Again, it all depends on the emcee and what sounds good in each particular case. For example, I might have the emcee do the hook, then double it up two times, then I'll pan one to the left and the other to the right. Then I'll have him add an ad lib track or two, and maybe have him whisper the hook entirely. It works, and makes a huge difference in the final product.
The video you made for IllMuzik's video section was done when? What song is it? How many takes did you guys do?
That main session in that video was filmed in March 2005 if I remember correctly. That was just a night when we had a bunch of emcees here together. I had made that beat a week before, and they were feeling it when we cycled thru the available beats. I just filmed it, so that's why you don't see me in the video. Niggas was drunk and high, so there was only one take. My cousin (Rob Relish) didn't even realize I had the camera when I showed him the video.
Lately we've all seen lots of references to "Hooligans" in the forums. What's that all about?
You're a hooligan Fade. Everybody's a hooligan. That's just that bugged out, crazy side everybody has. You might not show it to a stranger (only true hooligans do that), but when you're chillin' wit ya people just wildin' out, you're being a hooligan. HOOLIGAN RADIO BYTCHES!!!!!!!!!
Speaking of Hooligans, tell us about Hooligan Radio.
Hooligan Radio is going great! It's fun as hell to do. Right now we're halfway through show #2. Stresswon got some exclusive audio for this show, and Furiouz makes a guest appearance too.
What's your ultimate goal with your music?
My goal is to perfect my craft and get rich off of this. I'd like to have the type of deal where I can bring anybody I want to a professional studio and just bang out a dope album. Complete creative control. That's why we'd rather do this shit on our own.
What/Who are your major influences?
I try not to let myself be influenced by anybody. But I give respect to RZA, Havoc of Mobb Deep, the Beatnuts and Premier. These are all producers that I looked up to before I started producing.
Who's your favorite producer?
Right now I'd say Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind from Jedi Mind Tricks.
Does Cleverwon perform live a lot?
Not as much as we'd like to, but you can catch us out here in Jersey and once in a while in NYC. We're planning to take a trip to Canada next year to promote, sell CD's and hopefully perform.
Word? You're coming to the Great White North? We'll go find Producer Gyal and then we can all go to Wanda's strip club. Whaddayathink?
Oooooooooooooooo... Sounds like a plan. I'll buy PG's 1st lap dance that night. Not yours though.
What's the one thing that really annoys you about today's rap scene?
Only one thing???? Yo I hate hearing about how rich you are, how gutta you are, what kind of heater you got, how much of a pimp you are. That's fuckin' wack to me. I don't care bout all that shit. Save that for the 14 year old girls and suburban kids who buy those albums.
I know what you're saying, but do you ever watch music videos on mute? Shit's hilarious!
Well, I don't watch videos too much now unless it's some good shit. But you might catch me watching a Cristina Milian/Ciara/Beyonce video on mute. It's so much better that way!
What are some of the things you like/dislike about IllMuzik? (Be nice!)
I like the fact that the moderators keep the bullshit away from this site. I think that is what makes us stand apart from other sites. I never joined any other site before, but I've read through them and it's filled with people arguing about Fabolous' best verse or Kanye's new sneakers. The shit I dislike about IllMuzik are just the new muthafuckas that like to talk slick. But Cold Truth handles them idiots nicely.
Any shoutouts you'd like to give?
First off shout out to you Fade for putting together this site. Stresswon and Furiouz my Jersey niggaz. Shoutout to Nomics (sick fuckin' beats!) and our resident poet Eurydice. Keep ya eyes open for Vol. 2 The Agenda coming soon!!! BROADCASTING LIVE FROM HOOLIGAN CHANNEL 58!!!!! SUCKAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!
Thanks for doing this interview and good luck with all your future projects. Keep Hooligan Radio alive!