Monday, October 20, 2008

looking back on it...

a little while ago i wrote a post (look at me, look at you). i didn't think anyone would really pay attention to it. but in fact someone was paying attention. i got this insightful comment that i'm going to share with the rest of you-


rrougher says: Responsibility these days is like a ripped piece of paper someone has, that they tape to a piece of paper you have, and then disown their piece. Because in that way they take credit for identifying the problem, admit to being involved, and pretend like they have helped fixed it in some way.

But having stuck the responsibility tape to someone else, have performed their responsibility and are no longer responsible.

These same people go around critiquing what you do. Making it their business when they weren't even involved in the first place. Taking credit for what you did or belittling it, either way, ripping little pieces off your sheet of paper. Which is how these people get their damn scraps of paper in the first place.

Because no one wants to be responsible but everyone wants to have an opinion. Which is stupid because opinions are transient, only existing for a brief moment when expressed and even then are essentially worthless.

I think we need to stop taking responsibility and start taking some fucking action. Like Mos said 'don't talk about it be about it' and 'freedom ain't free' so you better go out and make some moves cause your going to have to spend more than your piece of shit opinion to get it.



truuuue.



-custamato



ps- sometimes if i don't notice that i've gotten a comment. if i haven't posted in a while i won't know that i have one until i log in next.

but better late then never. if you comment, i WILL see it sooner or later so...rest assured, i hear you talking.

random thing...

i'm starting to see why i should to keep pushing.


good lookin' fam~







custamato~

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Small Metal Objects...

so here it is...another ep.

smo grey resize
(CLICK THIS PICTURE)



i'm pretty proud of this ep and the response its gotten so far. it was a lot of fun to make. i took a trip to albany and recorded it in roughly 48 hours. the fastest i've ever put a project down.

the whole thing has a fun vibe that was born from that spontaneity. i did some of the production at home, some while i was in new york. wrote some of the ep at home, some in new york...


it clocks in a little shorter than my last (which was "f*ck has day" if you don't know). 20:32 seconds to be exact.

so, here it is: Small Metal Objects


(in case you don't trust your boy and you want to listen to it first)



as a matter of fact...let me give you the track by track break down. i haven't done that before:

it was my second time in albany, ny. i was there visiting my dudes deejay tone and awar. i was kicking around the idea of a follow up ep. i was going to originally do it on a digi 8-track that a friend of mine let me hold. tone told me to just wait til i get there and we'd knock it out in his studio. who am i to say no to that? his set up is official-

see?

we screwed around for most of the week, got some other stuff out of the way, then set out (in the last 2 days that i was there) to record the 'small metal objects' ep...


1. intro- the very last thing i did for the ep. i had a sample in mind but i didn't think it would work. i had done a trial version of this loop earlier and didn't like the way it sounded. i decided to try again real quick and it looped up real nice that time. everyone in the studio with me just looked at me like "wtf are u talking about, Has?"

2. ain't got it in ya- i did this beat in my basement in philly. i wanted to do something similar to certain dilla beats where he'd chop the sample up, but wouldn't add drums. he'd just let the drums in the sample act as the pattern. i chopped this sample up and rearranged it, let the drums in the sample rock. added the 808 for some bottom...nice. my man deejay tone put together the crazy switch into the o.g.
i wrote part of that song in the studio.

3. small metal objects- again i laced that in my basement. i had this record that i wanted to use for a long time but i was never satisfied with what i came up with. so i would leave it alone, come back to it later. for whatever reason, i wanted to rock over that break. i hooked it, then i need something to go over it. i pulled that record and listened to it AGAIN. i finally figured out a way to lace it that felt good. i wanted this beat to have a strange, mysterious quality. i think it worked out. i wrote the song in albany. i got a rough version of the beat, and i stayed up all night writing it. it was hard to come up with the lyrics to that one for some reason...

4. the quiet things- about my ex. anyone who's been through a bad breakup knows the peaks and vallies that come with it. one day your fine, the next day you miss her so much you ache. this was the catalyst for s.m.o.
i had this song that broke down into this part...it touched me, maaaan. i threw my usual rules out the window for this one. some deep drums made this one thump. i wrote this one at home in philly. it kinda just flowed from the pen. this became a favorite on the ep.

5. inhuman interlude- made this beat at home. used some new techniques on that beat. it came out fresh. originally i wanted to do a posse cut with this one. it just didn't pan out though. i searched for a rhyme to throw over this beat but i didn't find anything i was satisfied with and i didn't have time to write anything new. a friend from college left me a voicemail about f*ck has day. he went on a drunk rant and i thought it was hilarious. i always saved it with the intention of using it on something and it worked really well on here.

6. dogma- i made this beat in albany. i was gonna put a different song on the ep. an old song called 'sub ether'. i had a sample in mind for it but as i was looking for it i came across these strings and stopped to fiddle around with them. about 15 later i had the beat for dogma. i usually don't make beats that fast but it happened and i just went with it.
the rhyme was for a song with another rapper. it had no chance of ever being done so i took it, switched some stuff around and added some bars. it was too fly to let go to waste. i asked awar to hop on the track and it came out real retarded. deejay tone let me use this story record he had to add the little quotes. classic.

7. the commentary pt.1- while i looked for a rhyme for the inhuman beat deejay tone looked through some old pro tools sessions he had recently rediscovered. one of them had the sample for what would become the commentary. as it played i spit that rhyme and a few bars in we stopped dead in our tracks, shut the door to the studio and went in. he parallel double parked that beat sideways. it's the only track on the ep that i did not produce. it's also a big favorite from the ep.

8. small metal outro- another one i did in albany. me and tone went record shopping and picked up some crazy crate gems. when we got back to the crib, i grabbed this from one of the records i picked up. hooked it up on site in the studio. later when we were wrapping the ep up, i got in the studio and just said whatever came to mind. as a side note, we'd been watching that eli porter video real heavy while i was in albany. in this track i shout out envy, marv-o, and eli himself. i also quote some things from the video. on the title track awar, deejay tone and his friend, heath, lent us some vocal ambiance for the intro to the song...heath also quotes the video.



speaking of videos, here's the video (if you haven't seen...or have) i put together for "the quiet things":







there you have it. download and enjoy...











Lo Custamato~