Smiff and Cash

I did this interview a couple of months ago, but it was never picked up....oh well, people need to know the hotness behind Killer Mike. People need to get to know Smiff and Cash.

Sometimes a producer and a rapper come together to make themselves more than they were before: like Pete Rock and C.L Smooth, Guru and Premier, and Outkast and Outkast, Smiff and Cash have taken Killer Mike to that proverbial next level. But this was not a case of a rapper finding his star produceris backyard: Smiff and Cash came to Killer Mike via the small Caribbean island of St. Kitts, which has a population of 35,000. The twosome went of to produce “Deuces Wild” and “That’s Life” among other standout tracks on Killer Mike’s excellent I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind mixtape. Although Killer Mike has cosigned onto their career, the twosome of Jevon “Smiff” Manchester and Stephen “Cash” Claxton plan to take on the whole world of hip hop by storm.

SS: I heard that Killer Mike linked up with you while you were in New York: how did he get a hold of your tapes?

Cash: We had been making doing stuff for a whole bunch of people in New York, you know starving artist. We were struggling trying to make it and we considering giving up this whole production thing. We decided to give it one last shot, so we made a demo with all our best beats and sent it to every major label in the U.S. At the last minute, Smith was like maybe we should send it to Aquemini, but I was like nah,nah. We ended up sending it to Aquemini and the next thing you know two months later we received the call saying they were feeling us and they would like to meet us. A month after that we went down to Atlanta and met with Killer Mike and he showed us love from that point on. The rest is history.

SS: Do you think your past as an artist helps when you’re producing. I’ve read that you consider yourself producers, not beat makers. For example, in “Deuces Wild” it sounds like it was crafted, from hook to baseline, with Killer Mike in mind.

Smith: You’re absolutely right. I think the artist background definitely help us with our production, it makes it that much better. Our approach to producing: as we always say we’re not beat makers, we’re producers. The main goal is to make songs, not to let a rapper get on a beat. The fact that we were once rappers we know what to do in terms of music to bring out the best in a rapper or a singer

Cash: Just from our experience, as an artist and from listen to a million songs, we know what a good rap record is. A lot of times we could give a rapper the dopest beat ever and they could take it in a totally wrong direction and the track wouldn’t turn out as you would hope it to be. We make a beat and immediately hear a hook on it or we hear a concept for the album. Even if they don’t accept our concept, we let them know. Generally we don’t give someone a beat and hope for the best. A lot of time we present the track with the concept.

Smith: Most of times when we come hooks, that one we do, we come with hooks. We know what it takes to make a good record basically

SS: I get that from you…your music doesn’t have a geographic center. It’s not southern, or typically east coast or west coast. Do you think being from the Caribbean effected your openness of what hip hop could be?

Cash: We grew up as a hip hop lover and not from a specific region we were open to whatever. I grew up listening to everything under the sun. I didn’t care where the rapper was from because no one was from St. Kitts. From the get go we didn’t approach it to trying to have one style over the other; we just wanted to make a good rap song. I guess it because we listen to so many types of rap songs. A lot of times the style just sort of fit together. Like we could have a New York type of song with a sample with southern drums on it: I don’t think about that. We just make good songs.

Smiff: Growing up in the Caribbean, we have influence by so many different genres, calypso, soco, reggae, dancehall, stuff like that. Our music can’t be one style just by default.

SS: It seems like Killer Mike picks up on this well…When you work with Killer Mike, it seems seamless, but is it like that with other artist?

Cash: I don’t know if it as seamless. I think a part of it is that we work so much with Killer. He knows us and he knows what we looking for and we know what he’s capable of. So when we work together, it comes naturally. We can’t really expect strong chemistry with somebody you don’t really know. After somebody knows what kind of records we come with time after time, then it start coming. We would be in the studio with Killer night after night to like eight in the morning for like six months straight. We lived in the studio with Killer basically. We were sleeping like four hours a day.

Smiff: We learned a lot hanging out with Killer…Hanging out in clubs, lot of times on tour, going out to eat, straight up chilling and stuff like that, and helped us get a feel that helps in the studio. That definitely helps with the chemistry in the studio. It easy for us to get chemistry with other artist, but with Killer we spent so much time together it’s like magic in the studio.

SS: Who is some other artist we should be looking for you working with in the future?

Cash: Everyone wants to work with Jay-Z, Kayne, Little Wayne, and Chamillionaire.

SS: It’s funny you bring Chamillionaire up. I think you would be really good on your tracks.

Cash: Actually, we have a track with Chamillionaire on F.L. Jones Underground that’s coming up. Keep an eye on that.

Smiff: Personally, I want to work with the Clipse, I would want to work with Alicia Keys on R&B, we both want to work with Rihanna cause of the Caribbean connection for sure. I feel like something we could come up for Rihanna would be real special.

SS: What is your favorite thing you worked on so far?

Cash: That’s a tough one…”That’s Life” or “Deuces Wild” or, that’s a tough one, to be real.

SS: Personally, my favorite is “Deuces Wild”.

Smiff: My favorite is "Juggernaut". The energy that the beat brought out of Killer, I think that song was perfect. I like the hardcore hip hop tracks.

SS: Who are some other producers you jock right now, who push you competively to the next level?

Cash: You got Timbaland, that the person who got me excited about beatmaking in the first place. It’s like half admiration, half wanting to get to that level. I don’t know if you can call it trying to compete, just trying to get to this level. I remember when I was younger; I was just listening to the beat, not even the song. Timbaland is the first person that really got me excited about production. Of course, you got Dr. Dre. You know, I thinking about the people at the top, because that’s where I’m aiming in the next three years.

Smiff: I really impressed with the Runners, they are definitely doing their thing. I’m also impressed with Just Blaze, he’s the best with sampling.

SS: Do you start with the sample, or the drum, or the bassline with your songs? What is the process like?

Smiff: There’s really no formula. I might have some drums and Cash may have some samples chopped up and we could go from there. Or it might be the under way around and Cash may lay some keyboard on the track. We don’t have anything in particular; we just go with the flow.

SS: What equipment are you using right now?

Cash: We use a computer program called Making Waves.

SS: What are your career expectations from here on out? Do you see yourself making more drops or vocalizing on tracks?

Smiff: We specifically look for that type of thing, but we’re up for anything as long as the track good. If you ever heard the track we did for Aqua Teen Hunger Force, that was me on the hook.

SS: How did that come about?

Cash: I came up with the hook before we even seen the film. We look to see what is going to benefit the song.

SS: How is the industry in Atlanta versus the industry in New York? Do you have a preference?

Cash: I don’t know if I have like a preference, the circumstances for us are different, because I New York we were fending for ourselves. In Atlanta we have a crew backing us. The circumstances would make it Atlanta more than anything else.

Smiff: We really don’t know. I felt like people in the industry are more welcoming, I guess you could say. They definitely were showing us more love.

SS: I think a lot of this was due to Killer, they were more open to show you more love whereas in New York you were scrapping by, no one was willing to cosign you.

Cash: We have to deal with more middle men rather than deal directly with the artist, it was like ten doors between them. In Atlanta, after we dealt with Killer, we straight up talking to Bun B.

SS: It seems like southern artist may, I hate to say it, harder work ethics. They seem like they’re ready to work with anyone who’s ready to work as hard as they are.

Smiff: I don’t know if I say they have more work ethic, I definitely say they more open to appreciate work with different people. I don’t think you have to have the big name to work with them.

SS: Is their anything you would want to tell our readers?

Cash: Look out for the S.L. Jones Underground Album; we’re executive producers on that. It got Clipse, Chamillionaire, Gangster Boo, and a whole gang of people on there. We got some stuff with Grand Hustle also. Everyone should keep an ear out for Smiff and Cash; we've got a lot to offer.

Critics are Vampiric....

Vampire Weekend came and went this weekend and I didn't see them. But it wasn't because of the band exposes the chasm within indie rock concerning class, race, and appropriation. I just couldn't get tickets. Look, I understand this schism within indie rock as someone who mainly frequent establishments within the indie rock 'scene' and being a black male. I also understand it as someone who could charitable be called poor and I don't mean the 'I'm waiting for mom to send me a check so I can buy ecstasy' poor (Although I've been that kind of poor too, I can't throw stones). But after the gangbang the group took from The Voice and New York Magazine, I commend Creative Loafing for standing up for the band. They make serviceable, if slightly unambitious indie rock. They actually need the Afrobeat influence to keep things interesting. But this is the indie rock realness test and Vampire Weekend failed and exposed the delusions of those who participate in the culture that they aren't merely slumming it as young white kids have always done. The band simply remind these kids they are truly from Scarietta (Marietta), The G-Net (Gwinnett), or The Woody (Dunwoody), so even if their clothes have holes in them, there is someone always out there that will take them to American Apparel. Indie rock needs this discussion, it just doesn't need to single out a band as a martyr for the culture's insecurities. As they say in hip hop circles, eat a dick.

I want to hook up with one of those R & B Bitches

Hip Hop Honors brought up a lot of issues for me related to this thing called, you know, hip hop. How in the world was Missy Elliot honored and why wasn't Roxanne Shante honored. And if Missy was honored, who would perform on a tribute to her...somehow, despite the fact that the show has been shown twice since its premiere, I managed or escaped seeing her honored. But the question of who is relevant enough to perform and who be in the same vein continues to plague me. Really, the question of whether there are any female MC's worth listening to.

In my mind, in the mainstream hip hop world, there may be only two or three female MC's or group to emerge since the dawn of the century.

Shawna

This chick has always teetered on the edge of a never will be...even her biggest hit to date is assisted by a smart hook with Too Short on it. I think her association with Ludacris has actually hurt rather than help her: but really, I don't think that she has it....she somewhere stuck between Eve and the holy menage of sex rap of Fox/Kim/Trina. If you had to pick between an R & B chick or her for a verse, go with the R & B chick.











Diamond and Princess from Crime Mobb



These are two emcees you could only really understand if you had prolonged exposure to females from DeKalb county. The way they spit, super fast with syllables spilling over each other, with the slight snarl at the end, is reminiscent of any of my lame attempts to pick up chicks from the county. It's comfort music for me. There are very few metaphors, just verbal jabs and parries. Still, I couldn't see these two honoring anyone.

To Be Continued: First of Five Parts

The Sparrow Sings Better Than T-Pain

I come to a real difficult crossroad with T-Pain lately; due to his near ubiquity, the Busta Rhymes of our time has managed to creep into my radar and actually make music I will not only listen to, but look forward to hearing. It's one thing to sit around with your buddy's complaining about Mr. Hair Extension.

Now Kayne had to do it....a matter of a fact, who else could do it...But I can't deny the good life.



But that could all be attributed to an inferior artist lucking into a guest appearance that puts them in a good light. And to be perfectly honest, the use of his voice mirrored the ghostly voices used in house music for year, which meshed perfectly with Kayne's new emphasis on swooshing house synths instead of soul samples.

But then Piles had to come out with Shawty, totally smashing my preconceptions into a smoldering heap on recriminations. I checked my underwear to see if my period had started.

This couldn't even be attributed to a superior artist. Piles is a serviceable MC, at his best. This wasn't exactly Aesop Rock spitting couplets: This just showed that pop music lives in another universe from serious artist. Talent just isn't a part of the equation, with the subjective experience trumping everything you like.

During the time I first heard Shawty I was extremely horny. Summer fever had struck in the worst way and I was single. To complicated matters I wasn't going out to solve my woman problems. You can add to the problem, (and yes, it is a problem) that there has been a dearth of good lovemaking songs coming from R&B (R. Kelly's Zoo doesn't count, that's comedy) and you had the formula for a grand masturbation song.

Can't wait for next year

I really hate to join the chorus, but I have to say it for myself: the VMA's were a hot mess. MTV has truly jumped the shark and they now have to admit they have no idea how to deal with today’s super segmented music world. They showed their confusion by segregating different type of acts to their own hotel suites or clubs. This mere act admitted that in today’s musical environment, no one can hold the big stage, which is half the point of these types of things.

Personally, coming from the indie rock world of small stages, these things tend to bore me. And I have to say, I would have wanted to be in all of those suites at some times. I hate Fall Out Boy and Gym Class Heroes, but there suite looked like a ton of fun. By the time Lil Wayne showed up to cut a verse, you know the white girl was viva. Kayne seemed to thrive in his performances and suite, even if the industry types seemed decidedly non-pulsed by his performance of the great song “Good Life”. It almost made me want to buy the Kayne album, if I did those kinds of things.

The Foo Fighters hosted a suite, which surprisingly rocked, especially when Mastodon completely brutalized the assembled industry, which looked like their eyes where going to burst through their eye sockets a’la Metacolypse. And then came the cover of “Hotel in Cambodia” with System of the Down frontman and the Queens. Let’s just say that it took me to a place where I’m bratty and 16 again.

But most people are there for the spectacle, which this VMA’s failed at terribly. Britney was supposed to take care of this, but she was a honey bun out of shape (although she was just right for me) and a soma away from a nap. But unlike others, I can say that I wouldn’t care if I was her either. I’m a multimillionaire who never cared about music: why start to try now when I can play with the kids for the rest of my life.

The only other big stage performer was Chris Brown, yes homo. I’m neither a little girl or tey ghey, no Byron Crawford, so let’s just say, hated it. That move to big performance just made them seem insecure with their small room performances, which they kept cutting short anyway, Kayne excepted.

Then the true highlight was barely shown. Kid Rock took it too Tommy Lee, ghetto fights style. If MTV was smart, they would have zoomed in on the fight and kept security away that precious millisecond it would have taken to really let some blows get exchanged. Now that’s show business and rock n roll all in one.

50 Cents vs. Kayne: a landslide before the avalanche

In the skewed sales environment of mainstream rap, 50 Cents’ fired off a salvo that he just might regret: He has promised to retire if his next album Curtis doesn’t sell as many records as Kayne’s Graduation on September 11th. 50 trained his bullying on a figure that is both ill prepared to respond but may finally endanger his career to extinction, through inactivity. Kayne isn’t a battle rapper and may even lose to 50 on the basis of pure mechanical skill, but he doesn’t have to. Kayne seems content to let his music speak for itself while 50 Cents seems to be relying on publicity to push his album. All the while, the whispers within the music industry is that Kenny Chesney’s next album is a shoo in to sell more than both of these albums, making 50 Cents fears all but moot. 50 Cents’ tantrums has eclipsed a well known malcontent in Kayne and managed to make his fictive rival seem like a champion of art for art sake.

The declaration unleashed 50 is just the first of many publicity tricks in the run up to his album release. 50 issued a challenge to Kayne to debate which of their albums would sell the most, which Kayne wisely turned down. In addition, the next step 50 took in creating buzz was terrorizing the Interscope Records office, tearing a 70 inch plasma screen TV off the wall, throwing his blackberry through a window raining glass on a midtown New York sidewalk., and making yet another series of declaration. The first edict was that he was going on a vacation, an extended rendezvous, rather than promote his album. The second edict was that he would escape from the record labels clutches at any cost. What act could provoke such a bold proclamation and general hooliganism in the middle of New York?

A leak of his third single from Curtis, “Follow My Lead:” hit the internet before his preferred deployment date, which was sometime in October. Finally, this carnival was about the music. But wait, wouldn’t getting the music to the public as soon as there was demand only build on the anticipation. Not when the “leaked” singles from the upcoming album received tepid at best response. The official singles from the album, “Amusement Park” and “Ayo, Technology” failed to grasp the imagination, or worst yet the radio dials and TV screens of America. “Amusement Park” was seen as another “Candy Shop” an overt attempt to use flimsy sexual innuendo to get a girl flavored hit while “Ayo, Technology” lacks the panache of Timbaland and Justin Timberlake collaborations by themselves, essentially making 50 Cent’s a guest on his own song.

This would seem to indicate the “street” singles “Fully Loaded Clip”,” I Get Money”, and “Straight to the Bank” failed to ignite any riots or make any suburban teenager harbor any notions of being gully, with the possible exception of “I Get Money”. Then he released a mix tape only song, “Part Time Lover”, which in abstentious attempt at a for the ladies song which get sidetracked when he reflexively diss Lil Wayne, presumably to get a subliminal dig at the budding professional relationship between Wayne and Ye. You get the feeling that the man could have explored some of this with a mix tape instead of rushing this out to a mass audience, with all of the intended pressures of the endeavor.

Did Kayne waste the interim between his albums with such nonsense? His mix tape, despite having many rehashes from past albums, is well received. He expanded his musical palette by rapping over music from indie club music vixen Kid Sister, Erasure by Thom Yorke, and certified indie hit “Young Folks” by Peter, Bjorn, and John. The mix tape also contained two collaboration between himself, Pharrell Williams, and Lupe Fiasco which contain the seedling products of a supergroup called CSR. His leaks position him well for radio spins and his video so far have outstripped 50’s in plays on the two major outlets, MTV and BET. He made a well publicized and received appearance at Live Earth, topped with a performance with the reanimated Police. Kayne responded with music for his constituents and widen his audience at the same time, which would indicate albums sell would follow suit. His megalomania reveals itself as glee over the quality of his recordings, which was obvious from his appearance on Tim Westwood’s show on RadioOne. His album is about essentially about the correct things: no matter what you actually feel about the single “Stronger”, you have to admire someone who would take the chance of sampling Daft Punk for their first single.

September 11^th could only serve to expose to a judicious morale killer to 50 Cents. His pointless beefing with figures outside of his sphere of influence only signals his desperation. Kayne fanbase is different from 50’s and he saw to it that they remembered that while 50 Cents rehashed his own themes at a new target. It almost reassuring to think that Curtis may soon follow his former rival, Ja Rule, into an involuntary exodus just as Ja Rule emerged from pop’s Afghanistan via Lil Wayne. This time, however, the reason for the fall can only be blamed on the man himself.

Psycedelia and the musings of Lil’ Wayne: I can’t feel my face

Psycedelia is an oft times overlooked ingredient in modern day hip hop: while rock has cultivated its links to altered states of being, the drug culture within hip hop has been limited to copious amounts of marijuana smoke and ignores the implications of the use of heavy drugs. Maybe this is for the best; I wouldn’t want to encounter a cultural analogue to the ceaseless doodling and creative abandon of jam bands, which is the unfortunate nadir of rock music experience with pharmacology. Still, the effects of the use of the hallucinogenic stimulant ecstasy and prescription medicine have forever changed what can be said in rhyme.

This isn’t to imply that hip hop hasn’t dabbled in expanding your mind, dude. Reports have recently come out about Redman experimentation with acid during his most productive periods of recording, Cam’ron openly talks about his love affair with scripts, and how else can you explain “The Greatest Pac Man Victory in History” by Aesop without mushrooms as a starting point. Then you always have Houston and the sizzurp. But most hip hop shies away from openly embracing these kinds of experiences: being a head is not being a part of some cool sub cultural realm of experience, a head is someone on the street scrambling for drug money.

Then Lil Wayne started his ascent into rap respectability and we can only hope the kid keeps taking ecstasy, xanax, and whatever else he can get his hands on. Non sequiturs spill out of his mouth: wait, he already said this better than I can by saying “when I open my mouth all bullets come out.” Wayne focuses his Psycedelia in his words, unlike rock’s preoccupation of leaving the issue at the mere music, except for notable exceptions in Frank Zappa and the Beatles. Most of Wayne’s most psychedelic moments take place over beats on mixtapes that purport in no way to be Psycedelia. Wayne’s take is not one that focuses on subjectivity or subject matter; his delivery and word choices are his strengths as a rapper.

Wayne style is more akin to a free verse poet rather than a rapper who focuses on narrative or forming an iconic image through boast. Wayne has more in common with Walt Whitman or one of the beat poets such as Ginsberg rather than emulation of other rappers such as Tupac or Biggie. It’s a form of expression unencumbered by formalism and the cult of personality that permeates rap music. He’s truly on some other shit, in the parlance of the street. His only formal requirement is to rhyme. Some bring up that he did show a undue amount of respect to one Shawn Carter, but one couldn’t imagine Hova going to some of the heights that Wayne going to. Also, the sheer quirkiness and dexterity of Wayne voice separates him from Jay’s monotone delivery.

Apparently this upward trend will continue on The Carter Three, if the leaks are to be believed. Two tracks in particular lend themselves to this discussion. “I Feel Like Dying” directly addresses drug use, with a distant female vocalizing that she feels like dying when the drugs are gone. It’s a song that explores the dark corner of pharmacology that any heavy drug user knows. Meanwhile, “La La La” is more staightfoward I love the hood song, but could also be used as an analogue for a more meaningful life gained through reflection.