Interviews Svenghali

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With one of the smoothest beats to ever win the Beat This! Competition, Svenghali brought his best to the table in January to win the title. Sampling that Sade song is not easy to do, but he managed to pull it off. Keep reading to learn more about the current champ.

What's up? Tell everyone who Svenghali is.

Svenghali is a man that was touched early in life by the Hip Hop culture. I was introduced to Hip Hop as a youngster during the summer of '79 by a neighbor and I've been fortunate enough to grow and transform with it. I ran the gamut from a graffiti artist to a break dancer, to deejay, to an emcee, back to a deejay and back to the present, a producer. I'm an avid reader because I have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and I also have a very intense interest in the sciences, in particular cosmology (the study of the universe). I'm a fan of the NFL and the New York Jets, when I'm in the mood I'll go to an NBA game or watch a really good one on television. I listen to talk (politics) radio while drivin'and listen to Jazz (straight-ahead) more than I listen to Hip Hop. I am an exploring, evolving and ever-changing human being, that makes beats.

What's with the name Svenghali?

I first saw the name Svengali on the cover of a Gil Evans album and I really dug the sound of it, so I researched the name and found out that Svengali was a hypnotist villain in a novel Trilby by George du Maurier. Based on the character in story the name came to mean a person with evil intent that tries to persuade another to do what is desired. In a sense that's what I try do with my music, sans the evil. My desire is to persuade people to feel me on these tracks, but you have to listen. When people sit with my tracks and vibe to 'em they always have a different assessment, comprehension and appreciation for it as opposed to when they first listened to it. All of my tracks are like that. They're subtle and hypnotic... Svenghali.

How did you feel winning the Beat This! Competition?

Winning the competition was a big surprise, not because I didn't believe the track could win but more so because most of the cats that are part of the IllMuzik family are really into choppin' samples and being that I do what I do, and not what everyone else is doin' I felt like I would be slept on.

Tell us how you put your winning beat together.

The winning beat was put together back in 2002. Although Pearls is my favorite song by Sade, truth be told there wasn't much thought or premeditation that went into it. I always wanted to do something with one of her tracks, so I went into my little record collection, thought about getting some sort of vocal sample, saw the name, pulled the album, sped up the sample and built the track around the vocals.

What equipment and software do you use?

I own an MPC2000. I also own a Roland VS 1680 but I don't use it (I hate the way it compresses all of the sounds). I don't own a keyboard and I don't have Pro Tools yet, but one of my dudes, SooDynamek (he should be an IllMuzik member by the time you read this) kindly granted me the use of his Pro Tools and Yamaha Motif keyboard on many occasions.

Care to tell us about the MPC? In case someone's interested in checking it out, is the MPC really all it's cracked up to be?

Yeah it is. Understand that drum machines have their place in Hip Hop from the Linn Drum to the SP12 to the Roland 909, the list goes on. The drum machine is to Hip Hop music what the Fender guitar is to Rock & Roll, it's imbedded. No disrespect to software producers because you got dudes like 9th Wonder and Chrysalis (and many more I'm sure) creating wonderful music with no drum machine in site. I'm so old school that I see something that just seems really wrong about making Hip Hop entirely off of a computer. Software programs only register to me as post-production materials. The drum machine is where the organics come from, seen? It's like I still don't see a DJ cuttin' compact discs. That shit is retarded to me, but that's me, but that's technology, and I ain't mad at it.

Do you prefer to sample or compose?

I like both. I started off real heavy in the samplin,' but after a while I felt limited by what I could accomplish using heavily sample-based tracks. The inability to move around and introduce changes really forced me (a person that was not "musically trained") to learn how to put music together, learn to identify notes, chords and song keys.

True. But don't you find that non-sampled beats sound too "clean"?

I like the sound of hi-fidelity music and I always have. The bigger, the harder, the better. I still prefer samplin' and incorporating them into what I do but I do like the challenge of making a completely original song that's bhangin.' I think it's much harder to do.

Have you ever worked with MC's? If so, what was that like?

I've worked with a few emcees and the experience varied. The majority of them haven't been good. You got the good dudes, real sincere cats that are trying hard but just don't have "it". You got the cats that take the shit lightly and think they can just turn it up a notch "once they get into the booth" and don't. Then you got the cats that feel like they know more than you (because you're humble) and don't take direction well. Can't forget all the cats that got it but they can't stay focused, off the street hustle, or out of prison (usually the case with everyone I ever seriously worked with). And occasionally you will have the cat that comes in focused, cocky with the wordplay and swagger to back it up. It's a crap shoot.

When and why did you start making beats?

I made my first beat when I was 16 years old. I copped a Roland TR-808 at a pawn shop for three hundred dollars. The first time I knew that I wanted to make beats was when "It's Yours" by Jazzy Jay & T La Rock first dropped. That was a Russell Simmons joint under the Party Time label imprint (before Def Jam). Up until then, Hip Hop was primarily party rhymes on party music tracks provided by live bands or (backspinnin') breaks on records. "It's Yours" was the first record that sounded like Hip Hop to me. It was modern soundin' boom bap and it wasn't a remake or some variation of a song. It was an actual original sequence coming out of a drum machine (an Oberheim DMX I believe it was). There were well-defined choruses and verses, organized and structured scratching, beat breakdowns, the works. But it was T La Rock's vocabulary and flow which was unlike any I had heard up until that point, and that put it over the top for me. His explanatory method of rhyming, his command of the vocabulary and his authoritative and confident delivery made that song in my opinion one of the true revolutionary records in Hip Hop history. It changed the course of how Hip Hop records were made and set the stage for Run D.M.C., LL Cool J and the many that followed.

What/Who are some of your musical influences?

I like everything from Bebop to 70's Rock to Classical music. My musical influences include a wide range and variety of people and it would be just impossible to try and name but I'll name a few. Roy Ayers, Al Green, George Gershwin, Earth Wind and Fire, DJ Marley Marl, Cole Porter, Marvin Gaye, Charlie Parker, Andre "Dirty Dre" Harris & Vidal Davis (Jill Scott, Floetry, Glen Lewis), Premier, James Brown, Cream, The Bomb Squad, D'Angelo, Grover Washington Jr., J. Dilla, Steely Dan, Curtis Mayfield, Bill Evans, Ali Shaheed and Tip, Quincy Jones, Elton John and Dr. Dre.

If you could work with a well known Hip-Hop producer, who would it be, and why?

Hi-Tek - Cause he's creative, has an open-mind and not afraid to try new things. I really dig his sound selection.

How did you discover IllMuzik? How has it helped you?

I discovered IllMuzik by doing a search on Yahoo. I'd heard that there were sites like these online. I knew I had to get actively involved in some things if I wanted to get my beats heard and it was equally as important for me to hear what others were doing, so IllMuzik was a perfect outlet to help me get some of those goals accomplished.

Why do you think there's so much beef in rap music?

By nature rap is aggressive and competitive. Egos are now a bigger part of the equation and really have a good deal to do with the number of beefs.

Do you dig?

Nah, I can't say that I dig anymore. Back in the 90's that's all I did. But I got away from it when I started composing. I buy a few records here and there but nothin' serious.

Do you think that too many people are getting into music production and calling themselves 'producers'?

Hell yeah. The word producer is so watered down these days that I don't even refer to myself as one. But the technology makes it more affordable thus more accessible for the average Joe. To me a producer is someone that can take a project from the beginning to the end. Create the track, inspire ideas, and help set the proper environment for the artist while providing guidance and confidence in an attempt to get the peak performance for that record. That's what a producer does.

Have you collaborated with other members on IllMuzik? If so, who?

I haven't collaborated with anyone on the site, although I've been contacted by a few cats from IllMuzik about doin' so. It's a possibility, but I've got so much on my plate not to mention being a full-time husband, daddy, son, brother and knowledge seeking human being. This year I'm making a concerted effort to get my tracks and my name out there.

Do you have any up coming projects?

I got some things poppin' but they ain't worth talkin' about until the deal's in writing and on the table. But I can say this, (cause it looks like it's a lock right now) it's very likely that I'll land a track or two on Trick Daddy's new album.

That would be a big accomplishment! Can you offer any advice as far as making a hot beat?

Make sure to let the track breathe and live, don't clutter sounds. Placement of sounds, the selection, and arrangements are very important. Make sure dem drums sound right. Don't sample shitty kicks or snares cause there is no studio that's going to make something that sounds shitty to begin with, sound good in the end. Don't be lazy, put the extra time in analyzing the track and don't be afraid to make changes or additions. Most of all be realistic and honest with yourself.

Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. Any shoutouts you'd like to give?

Shout to Fade, SooDynamek and the whole IllMuzik family.