Rhythm Roulette

For the latest installment of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal presents Psycho Les of The Beatnuts, whose random records consisted of albums from The Crusaders, Jim Caraldi, and Jan Garber. Les gave all the records a spin, but ended up pulling from the Jim Caraldi jawn, as well as Jan Garber record. Two beats in record time.

In this episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal presents K-Def.

In this episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal presents Apathy.

In this episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal presents Erick the Architect of the Flatbush Zombies.

In this episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal presents Big K.R.I.T.

In this episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal presents Nottz.

In this episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal presents BINK!

In this episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal presents Hi-Tek.

In this episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal linked with Havoc of Mobb Deep to show us why he's considered a living legend.

In this episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal presents Da Beatminerz make some heat in the studio.

In this episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal presents Dot Da Genius crafting a mean beat.

In this episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal presents DJ Dahi who makes three beats.

In this episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal presents MeLo-X.

When we took Brasstracks to Norman’s Sound & Vision in Williamsburg for Mass Appeal Rhythm Roulette, they ended up with Gene McDaniels’ 100 Lbs. of Clay!, The 5th Dimension Live!!, and Jack Ü’s self-titled album. After they find their initial loop with 5th Dimension’s “I Just Want To Be Your Friend,” they quickly get to work and bring their idea to life. Then a slow piano progression on Gene’s record catches their ears for another beat. No love for Jack Ü in this episode of Rhythm Roulette.

The 45 King has been the mastermind behind several hip hop classics, old and new. His claim to fame started with "The 900 Number" which will forever stay funky fresh. Then with his Flavor Unit, he went on to produce several cuts on Queen Latifah's debut album "All Hail The Queen." After a few remixes here and there, the 45 King's name was inescapable as he went on to produce Jay Z's "Hard Knock Life" and Eminem's "Stan." Especially with a name like The 45 King, you know we had to take him to the shop to see his sampling chops firsthand in Mass Appeal's Rhythm Roulette.

In this episode Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal caught up with Childish Major. A few years ago, “U.O.E.N.O.” was everywhere. The phrase almost reached YOLO levels. The producer behind that Rocko track, Childish Major, has kept his head down over the year and lived in the studio by working with Two-9, SZA and Isaiah Rashad, Spillage Village, Jeezy, and Miloh Smith and OG Maco. His extensive work with southern rappers had us looking forward to some slow cooked beats for perfection.

For this new episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal headed to the studio with Iman Omari. Originally from California, Iman Omari has experienced the best of both coasts after moving to New York. His development of “vibe music” put him on wax with Kendrick Lamar as well as being featured low-key at Kendrick’s Grammy performance (he used “Omari’s Mood” for the opening). Iman’s ends up with Vintage on Vinyl "The Essential Grooves Part 3," Hanni El Khatib's "Moonlight," and Earth, Wind & Fire's "Electric Universe." His fear of finding unusable records quickly fades away.

For this episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal headed to the studio with Thes One. As part of the beloved west coast duo, People Under The Stairs, Thes One was responsible for some some of the underground hip hop's smoothest Cali vibes. Thes One walks out of the record shop with Orquesta Conexion Latina, Joanna Gardner’s self-titled album, and the Modern Jazz Quartet’s The Sheriff. He gets right to work with his notepad and equipment, ripping various parts of Joanna’s songs for the ultimate lounge music creation. He didn’t expect to find anything on the “shitty” record but found the drums and melody strictly from Ms. Gardner. Thes One set out to only use parts of the records for his beat (no added outside drums) and he prevailed.

For this installment of the Mass Appeal series Rhythm Roulette, we hit up ESTA. from Soulection, to see what he could do with three random records. The long description for ESTA. on his Facebook page reads: “Music Producer from Southern California.” That’s all you really need to know. It’s best to dive into his music without any other preconceptions other than it feels good. It’s just like Bob Marley said: “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” That’s how he’s found his home in Soulection and a cult following around the world. His remixes and original music can be heavy at times but it’s only heavy in the sense that your favorite winter blanket sits on your shoulders in January–it still warms the soul. After hitting up Record Surplus, ESTA. walks out with Irish Rovers’ Tales to Warm Your Mind, The Ritchie Family’s Arabian Nights, and Robert Yanes’ Disco de Oro. He turns down using The Irish Rovers and The Ritchie Family, sampling Robert Yanes for his beat. ESTA. finds his string sample to loop and a vocal bit to lay over. Then he opts to use his laptop keyboard over the MIDI keyboard for the majority of the beat to add percussion, bass, and other effects. It’s mind boggling to try and understand how ESTA's mind works while using the laptop keyboard instead of the MIDI.

For this episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal linked with Ayatollah. Ayatollah has been a staple of east coast hip hop for years. The Queens native is most well known for turning heads on Mos Def’s beautifully stark “Ms. Fat Booty.” But he’s also locked in time with Talib Kweli, various Wu-Tang members, Cormega, Tragedy Khadafi, Styles P, Pharoahe Monch, Boot Camp Clik, Buckshot, Smif-n-Wessun, Sean Price, and more. Outside of his work with other artists, he’s released a solid work of instrumental projects as well. After a quick blindfolded browse at the Future Shock Records, Ayatollah ends up with Roy Ayers’ Vibrations, a BBE Disco record, and the compilation album Urban Classics 2. Set up at the DJ booth in the shop, Ayatollah chops up the Roy Ayers record with his MPC then adds some of his own scratches. He also throws on a sample from the “Where Did You Go” track from The J’s and “Yes It’s You” by Sweet Charles.

For this episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal linked up with Jake One. Very few artists can traverse the constantly shifting borders between the underground and the mainstream like Jake One. The Seattle producer is respected, and rightfully so, in both worlds for his work with 50 Cent and G-Unit, De La Soul, E-40, DOOM, and more. He's also worked on complete projects with Freeway and Brother Ali. Then with Mayer Hawthorne, he put out a feel good album under the Tuxedo moniker. Basically, his production credits weigh a ton. From Spin Cycle to his studio in Washington, Jake lucks out with The Best of Herbie Hancock, The Manhattans' Forever By Your Side, and a Reverend E. Stanley Branch record. Jake One's sampling methods kick in immediately as he skips around the records, finding a "Yeah!" from Rev. Branch and some drums from The Manhattans. He hears something worth taking from the choir on Rev. Branch's record then drums from Herbie. The Manhattans also helped provide a snare. As the beat comes together all on his keyboard, he goes back to the choir to find some shouting to fill out the beat. Jake tinkers around with a bass line and before you know it, he's sequenced a beat fit for the church and the club.

For this episode of Rhythm Roulette, we linked up with Stro Elliot. Stro is best known for his work as one half of the duo The Procussions, as well as his prolific career as a solo beatmaker. His beats blend classic hip hop and soul samples with hard hitting percussions. He’s worked with Soulection and will be releasing an instrumental album via House Shoes’ Street Corner Music imprint later this year.

For this episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal linked with beat-making maestro Nick Hook. We’re convinced that there’s no type of music Nick Hook isn’t capable of masterminding. The St. Louis producer went from Cubic Zirconia founder to live MPC sets to now creating music for other artists as well as himself. He also co-produced the first single from our compilation tape. He’s not afraid to try new things from scratch and that’s what made him such a prime candidate for our next episode of Rhythm Roulette.

For this episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal heads up to Toronto to link with Wondagurl. If you crossed paths with WondaGurl, consider yourself blessed. Although she’s a shy and kind girl on the surface, she’s one of the meanest producers in the game. Since learning some tricks of the trade from Boi-1da, she’s been getting placements with Travis Scott (“Antidote” & “Uptown”), Jay Z (“Crown”), Drake (“Used To” & “Company”), SZA (“Teen Spirit”), and Rihanna (“Bitch Better Have My Money”). That’s not all of her credits either. After hitting up Rotate This, WondaGurl ends up with Solid Sound’s “A Wooden Box,” Images In Vogue’s “In The House,” and The Magnolias’ Concrete Pillbox. Laying The Magnolias to the side, Wonda uses samples from the other two records for a bass heavy beat.

Mass Appeal headed up to Seattle to link with Tendai "Baba" Maraire for the latest episode of Rhythm Roulette. We like to think that Shabazz Palaces are iconoclasts. They started from scratch and built up their own sound to represent their diverse influences and messages that they felt were important to convey. And when you break down their lyrics and music, it's not a surprise that each member needs more than one creative outlet to get out all their thoughts. Tendai "Baba" Maraire, is a part of the Black Constellation, Chimurenga Renaissance, as well as putting out solo material. Oh, and he's also contributed some garment work to the Seattle Art Museum's African Renaissances exhibit. Tendai enters a record shop in a "gentrified" part of Seattle and walks out with a Misa Panamericana record, a Missa Luba record, and a Pacha Siku record. Watch the magic unfold above as he and some additional musicians take some samples and build a crazy record around them.

For this episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal linked up with araabMUZIK. If you start making music for the Diplomats before you're supposed to graduate from high school, you better pray that you're consistently at the top of your game. That's what araabMUZIK has been doing and then some. The Rhode Island producer has made a name for himself, in more than one way. His live MPC sets are dizzying and his imagination behind the boards is still expanding. He also miraculously survived a gunshot to the head in an attempted robbery in Harlem earlier in February. But he pushed through and released his album Dream World in July and produced Joe Budden's last album Rage & The Machine. As you can assume, it was only a matter of time before we got araab for Rhythm Roulette. We hit up Moodies Records in the Bronx and ended up with CDs from Blue Magic, Diana Ross & The Supremes, and The Dramatics (he's not messing with vinyl). Then back at the studio with his AKAI MPC, araabMUZIK chops up samples and does what he does best. Layer after layer, he builds in his signature sound and producer drops for what could be the intro to the next Dipset album.

For this episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal linked up with DJ Burn One and The 5 Points Bakery. It shouldn't be a surprise when you look at the diverse catalog of someone like DJ Burn One once you read over his unofficial musical history: he grew up listening to '80s music with his mom, country music with his dad, and joined the church choir as a young child. He flipped his own mixtapes at school and learned some basics of marketing while working at a local record shop. Eventually he found his way to connect with T.I. and Grand Hustle. From there, he flexed his production skills to end up working with Gucci Mane, Freddie Gibbs, A$AP Rocky, and more. He currently runs Five Points Music Group in Atlanta. DJ Burn One is joined by The Five Points Bakery (Go! Ricky Go! and Walt Live) for the latest episode today. They take home The Green Birds' Diapason, a Be'lakor album, and Shonen Knife's Burning Farm. Each member takes a stab at his record to hunt for a sample. They end up adding some homemade samples by entering the No Rules Percussion booth.

For this episode of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal went to Atlanta to link up with acclaimed producer Drumma Boy. With a rich classical musical history in his family, Drumma Boy entered the realm of hip hop production at a young age. But earning enough money on his own with placements with Jeezy, Gangsta Boo, T.I., Gucci Mane, and more proved that a college degree isn't the only way to a stable career. Now he has his own company called Drum Squad which includes a production company, film company, and record label. He continues to also give back to his community with charities for colleges and the homeless. We stepped into Wax N Facts with Drumma Boy to walk out with Bar-Kays' Animal, Gideon's I Gotta Be Me, and The Rough Guide To Psychedelic Cumbia. Drumma Boy takes a liking to the cumbia record and goes to work. The end result is something you and your parents could get down with at a Latino block party.

For this edition of Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal linked up with Salaam Remi. Getting his first taste of studio work with Kurtis Blowe, Salaam Remi was destined to work with some of the greats like Nas, Amy Winehouse, Fugees (The Score), Ini Kamoze (“Here Comes The Hotstepper”), Jurassic 5, and more. He’s also worked on soundtracks for films like Office Space, Zoolander, The Departed, and Blood Diamond. He’s most recently been working with Bodega Bamz, Joell Ortiz, and Nitty Scott as No Panty. After hitting up A-1 Records, Salaam ends up with George Faith’s Soulful, Danny La Rue in London, and The Who’s Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy. Putting his faith in George Faith, he finds the backbone of his beat and then pulls some samples from the others. Joell Ortiz also makes a short cameo to comment on the work-in-progress beat

For the last Rhythm Roulette of 2016, we linked with the man responsible for some of this year's biggest tracks: Charlie Heat. The Grammy-nominated Charlie Heat is a name you'll be seeing a lot more of in 2017. Since working with Lil Uzi Vert early on, the Jersey artist Charlie Heat caught the ear of Kanye and has been on a tear ever since. We headed to Philly to see how Charlie comes up with this stuff. After hitting up a record shop, he walks out with The Best Of Fabienne Delsol & The Bristols, Mutabaruka's The Mystery Unfolds, and a Lou Reed record. After he finds his first golden sample, he slowly adds layer after layer for a certified banger. He continues hunting within the records and ends up making a whopping four beats in total. But for the final beat, he decides to work from the ground up, building it from scratch.