Q&A With Lip Beats

Of all the new producers coming out of West Virginia, the one that has really stood out in my opinion is none other than Lip Beats. After breaking out with the 6’6 240 track “Welcome to Huggstown,” Lip has gone on to work with Paycheck Game and R.O.B amongst others. He’s putting in major work this year, and I had a chance to holler at him this week to give The Dub a sneak peek at what he’s up to…

L-NO: First off, I know you play a lot of instruments live on your beats. How long have you been a musician; what instruments did you start with, and when did you start incorporating that into hip hop production?

Lip Beats: I got my first guitar when I was about 13-14 years old. So it’s getting close to 17-18yrs now. I jammed with different guys I went to school with here and there; high school talent show crap but never really got into an actual band and gigged until I was around 20. I really enjoyed playing back then but never really loved “being in a band.” No one seemed to have the same work ethic. There would be plans to meet at 7:00, and everyone would roll in at 7:30-7:45. When I was already there, tuned up, ready to go 15 minutes early. I’m also more of a loner then a social butterfly. That’s what got me into trying to produce my own drum work and using sequencers. It was failed attempt to make a rock/blues album on my own, that lead to a 10 year stretch of making hip-hop music. Once I got into the synth and strings and piano tones, the guitar started to take more of a back seat, and became more of a tool for song composition, rather than composing for the sake of playing guitar if that makes any sense. I didn’t really get back to trying to add more live guitar and bass until probably 2 yrs ago.

L-NO: What instrument do you think you’re the strongest with?

Lip Beats: I would have to say guitar because of all the years of experience with it, although I’ve been getting more compliments about my basslines lately than anything. But I personally think I need another year before I really start calling myself a ‘bass player’.

L-NO: Did you ever play in any local rock bands or anything prior to doing the hip hop thing?

Lip Beats: Yeah, I played guitar in a shitty R&B boy band for awhile when I lived in Canton, Ohio. It was funny stuff. 3 singers, with their dance moves, the whole 9 yards. But we gigged a lot and I think it was a good overall experience. Only band I was ever with that played in front of a few hundred people. I had another friend while I lived in OH named Matt Francis, and we played a lot of blues music together. Going to a few different bars and jamming with the local blues players. Then I did a bit of studio work in Akron for a few groups here and there as a sit-in guitar player. I had one short lived attempt while here in Charleston about maybe 4-5 yrs ago but we only played 1 gig at the Blue Parrot before it just fizzled.

L-NO: Who are some of the producers that inspired you to start making beats?

Lip Beats: Well, no one really at first, because I was trying to make blues and rock music. I kinda fell into making beats because a friend of mine came over to my apartment around 1999-2000 and heard some of my music and just started rapping over it. So even though I was making what most would consider ‘hip-hop music’ it wasn’t really the initial intention. But some of the first hip-hop I really remember that I was like ‘wow what is that?’ was probably the Beastie Boys” License to Ill” album and Dre’s “The Chronic” album. For years I didn’t play with samples, but when I got a copy of Talib Kweli and DJ Hi-Tek’s “Reflection Eterna”l I started looking more into samples. That’s when I started to later respect people like DJ-Hi-Tek, J-Dilla, DJ Premier and 9^th wonder.

L-NO: You’ve worked with both some of The Dub’s most respected artists (ex -Paycheck Game) and also with some new up and coming artists (ex- R.O.B.) How did you get hooked up with some of the artists you’ve been producing for?

Lip Beats: I asked, and said “pretty please with sugar on top.” A hot beat helps as well. Really, I owe a lot to DJ Monstalung. He heard some of the first tracks I released on WVRAPSCENE.COM, trying to find some artists to work with and immediately asked if I would start sending some to him for use with some artists on the SoundVision label. But I think the big one that got me noticed a bit was the sample flip I did of the WVU marching band that ended up being “Welcome to Huggstown.” That lead to being asked to submit tracks for 6’6 240’s new album (still due to be released). While doing those tracks I started making some that didn’t really fit the mold what SV was trying to achieve for 6’6’s new album, so the good ones I sent and asked if Paycheck would like them.

As far as R.O.B., he downloaded a few tracks off my website that I had on there for free and I absolutely loved what he did with them. Wasn’t the normal, ‘hey I’m a gangster’ flow and I could tell he really had the writing skills and a good tone of voice for it. So I started sending him tracks soon after that. He is sitting on some bangers right now that no one has heard, and I can’t wait to hear what happens.

L-NO: I think you recorded the most lopsided victory in MonstaLung’s latest series of beat battles. How do you feel about beat battles in general?

Lip Beats: I have a love/hate relationship with beat battles. I’m old school ‘music shouldn’t be a competition’ kinda guy, but at the same time when you would really love to get paid to make beats, you have to step outside your comfort zone a bit to make a name for yourself. Sometimes a YouTube channel and a website isn’t enough for people to take notice, and when Monstalung hosts anything you’re going to get a bit more exposure to people you might not have been able to reach. I’m more of a fan of ‘beat cyphers’ where a group of producers flip the same sample. This way, if people want to debate who was better then who, then they can, but you also get to learn something. You get to hear what part someone took verse what part you sampled and how they used it. It’s a different way to peak into the mind of another producer, and much more effective for actually learning something rather than “you post 5 hot beats and ill post 5 hot beats and we will see what everyone happens to like today.” I could do 5 really super hot slow, groovy jams and get my ass handed to me because my competitor did 5 “ok” club bangers. So I don’t pay attention to the results maybe as much as some others may, but it’s still fun.

L-NO: How would you describe your production style to those who haven’t heard it?

Lip Beats: Random. Most people have heard my sample flip skills, but I think as the year progresses they will start to see a lot more diversity in my production. Non-sampled bangers, pop jams…I have a guy right now that wants to pay me to do a few techno/dub step tracks.

L-NO: What makes a good sample to you, and where do you find most of your samples?

Lip Beats: I get almost all of my records from Budget Tapes and Records in Kanawha City. And probably 90% of my samples come off of vinyl that I bought there, although I will snatch some off YouTube from time to time. When I’m listening for samples I’m usually looking for 3 main things. 1. Tone. Do I think the overall feel of the combined instruments sound good? 2. Chord or note changes. The more the better cause it gives you more freedom to really screw with the sample naturally instead of pitch shifting it to get more options. 3. I like it when it’s not so busy. Any fast songs with lots and lots of busy hi-hats and percussion I usually stay away from.

L-NO: We’ve talked about this a bit before, but for the other production geeks out there, tell us about your setup.

Lip Beats: I have a cheap ass Casio keyboard that is used only as a midi controller. I’ve had this for over 10 years and its probably getting replaced this year with a M-Audio 88 key controller. I have an M-Audio Trigger Finger and a Novation Remote Zero. It’s mostly for the transport control features. Much easier to use if then the P.C. keyboard when you have a guitar of bass in your hands. I have a Stanton turntable with a Numark mixer for getting my samples off vinyl. Everything runs into an MBox2 running ProTools 7 LE.
Reason 3 and FL Studio 9 are the backbone of all the beats. And I chop my samples in Recycle 2. Then there is a huge list of plug-ins for effects and VST instruments. My latest big purchase was Native Instruments Komplete 7. Another important feature is Guinness beer and Johnny Walker black label scotch, both of which I fully endorse.

L-NO: Before we wrap it up here, what projects do you have in the works for 2011?

Lip Beats: Well, we’re still waiting on 6’6 240’s album to drop which should be this year sometime. R.O.B. probably has almost enough beats to make another album. White Mic has a couple he is sitting on. I did one for Brain Trauma, and a lot of beats for D. Alliff, Ray-P and others that should see the light of day sometime this year. Also working hard on some beats for Paycheck Game, and I recently got back in touch with and old Detroit connection which may lead to work with groups in various other states. Also have a few random people from YouTube that are looking for beats from Indiana and NY. So I have a lot on my plate for this year.