Cutting
through the Statik with Da Beatminerz
Words by Taj Reid
A few weeks ago, Dork Magazine spoke with two classic producers
- Mr. Walt and Evil Dee of Da Beatminerz. We were able to catch
them amongst the promo frenzy for their latest release, Fully
Loaded with Statik. Looking back, these guys were a huge influence
on my musical taste. They’re impact during the mid 90’s
is largely responsible for my inability to listen to songs without
samples to this day. Who could deny the captivation of a horn’s
smooth aesthetic colliding with the raw textures of a filtered
kick and snare?
But, all things aside, I’ll never forget when I was a sophomore
in college. My friends and I would have hour-long debates about
who was the greatest beatmaker, emcee, etc. We were your ultimate
cliché - saying things like: "What! Jeru could eat
Biggie alive." - "Nah man, Nas could take them all."
- "Who cares about them, it’s all about Primo. He makes
them sound nice. Without him, they’re all just average emcees!"
Usually, it was at this point that all communication broke down
and people started buggin’. But, no matter how heated the
debate became, some civility would return and the next statements
were, "Forget Primo! Rza’s the man..." or "But
what about Black Moon!?"
As you’ll see in the following interview, Evil Dee and Mr.
Walt address that question - What about Black Moon? How could
anyone mention the 90’s without mentioning Black Moon’s
influence and more specifically the beat infrastructure set up
by these two Brooklyn brothers. Fully Loaded with Statik is their
latest effort and they’re confident that people will be
reminded of their relevance as innovators and as a beat making
collective.
DM: What was your creative process when you were developing Fully
Loaded with Statik?
Mr. Walt: Our mind was on some - We got something to prove, type
stuff. This is our chance to make the record we want to make.
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