Building a better boom-bap

Daven “Prestige” Vanderpool comes to Montreal to drop some knowledge on hip hop production

by SCOTT C

It’s not every day that young, up-and-coming beatmakers and producers get to rub shoulders with bona fide hit-makers, so a hip hop production workshop at the Nest this week is news they should note. Daven “Prestige” Vanderpool was one of the guys that made up P Diddy’s Hitmen production squad in the ’90s, responsible for big tunes like Biggie Smalls’ “Notorious,” a remix of Faith Evans’ “Love Like This” and LL Cool J’s “Wanna Get Paid” featuring the Lost Boyz. He’ll be breaking things up into two seminars, one focusing on the art of beat-making, the other on the basics of the music business. The Mirror spoke to Prestige over the phone from New York City.

Mirror: I’m familiar with your production credits and see that you’ve worked with Jay-Z, Biggie, Lil’ Kim and so on, so what would make you decide to start doing workshops?

Prestige: Well, the production I hear, it seems like a lot of cats don’t really know how to do it right. I think the production variety has just gone down.

M: So what are you referring to—keyboard and synth beats, drums?

P: Just the overall quality of beats as a whole. Cats do not put the same effort in that they used to.

M: Do you think that’s just down to not knowing production techniques, or is it simply a matter of listening to more music?

P: When I was coming up, I was checking out a lot of different kinds of music. A lot of the generation coming up doesn’t know about jazz artists or any other producers other than what they hear on the radio today. How are you going to learn if you don’t know what came before you?

Man versus machine

M: I can remember how secretive certain hip hop producers were about their techniques, the equipment that they used, right on down to the sample sources they used to create tracks. Is this now a matter of, the more people know, the better it is for everyone?

P: When it comes right down to it, it’s all about developing your own style. Everyone eventually works out their own style, whether you copy someone else or work it out on your own.

M: What’s your weapon of choice?

P: I use an MPC. All the hits I’ve made weren’t on the MPC, though.

M: What did you use for “Notorious”?

P: I used a Roland S770. It’s never the machine, though. It’s the man.

M: So how do you broach that at a workshop, where everybody is coming from working with different tools?

P: It’s all about how you pick out your styles and put things together. It’s all about knowing what goes together and making it work.

M: So who are some of the producers that have influenced you and that you check for today?

P: Quincy Jones, the Mizell Brothers, Bob James. That’s how I learned how to arrange music. When I first started diggin’, I was only listening for the beats and the drums, but as time went on, I started listening to the songs all the way through, and this is where I started to pick up on how songs were arranged. That’s how I learned what came from what.

Profits and pitfalls

M: Will you be focusing on sample-based production, on playing and arranging your own sound, or both?

P: I do both. These days, some people are looking for that original track while others definitely want to stick to sample-based music. I can make both things come to life as a producer.

M: As a producer, would you say that the way you’ve handled yourself, business-wise, up to now has been favourable and profitable?

P: It’s been profitable.

M: So you’ve had some pitfalls with the business end of things?

P: Of course. We all have those in this business. It’s not really set up for you to win.

M: No, it’s not. So is that what you’re trying to impart to people at the workshop? There’s still a lot of people who think getting a major label deal is the best thing that could ever happen to them.

P: I just talk about basic music-industry knowledge. A lot of it comes from the kind of person that you are. If you’re hungry and aggressive about getting your beats out there, things could work for you, or not. If you’re more behind the scenes, that could work for you too—but there’s no guarantees.

At the Nest (3673 Ste-Dominique) on Saturday, April 15, 1–3 p.m. and 5–7 p.m., $25 ($20 in advance), info and registration at 887-2689 or hyphen.ent@gmail.com