Don't string me along!

I can't put to much of the studio session out there, but I'll put what I can up here.. but man the beats that were made off of this footage is insane!!!!!

I'm 8 feet, look up 2 me!

Pretty cool, somebody got me as they 1st influence on myspace! Just thought i'd share...
(CLICK ON PIC)

Photographic memory!

After I worked on that track in Khalil's studio (about 2 entrees down from this one), he hit me the day after like, "Yo, I worked on that track you did and added some stuff." So, of course I was tryna get to the studio a.s.a.p. and listen to it. He was working on a Nike commercial when I got to the studio, so I couldn't even hear the track.

When I got to the studio Khalil, Dan (his musician), and this other dude that looked mad familiar were all there. You know when you introduce yourself to somebody, they tell you their name, and you immediately forget about it? Well that's what I always do, BUT I need to work on that. So they're working on this commercial, and the whole time I kept thinking to myself, "Who is this dude??" He looked white but he looked like he could be mixed with something. He seemed like a rapper, but he also looked like he knew how to produce because he was directing Khalil through the commercial a little bit. I figured that maybe he plugged Khalil with it because he would say things like, "I think the strings should sound like..." or "The snare drum should be a little bit louder."

More than half the people that come through the studio are people I need to know. Most of the time I am so quiet--just chillin and listening--trying to fit in. To be honest, that's the reason why I even get to go to the studio as much as I do because I don't bother anybody. I wait for my turn to hop on the board, then I go crazy!

Anywayz so they all took a little break from working on the commercial, and I asked dude, "Yo fam, what's your name again?"

He was like, "EVIDENCE."

I thought for a second, "From the group Dilated Peoples?"

He's like, "Yep."

Khalil came out the bathroom (nohomo) like, "What?"

I said "Na I was just telling Evidence that I couldn't figure out where I knew him from."

Khalil said, "Oh yeah, dude's a celebrity." I was kind of upset at myself, but then again if you don't know something ask questions. No matter what it is. So at the end of the night we were all walking out, and he asked me what I do. I told him, and Khalil said, "And yo dude's nice!"

So Evidence took my contact info down and said, "LET'S BUILD."

Don't hit my lip!

This has nothing to do with music but I had to share it just because it was a crazy experience. I went to a restaurant called Opaque. Some of have heard of this restaurant where you dine in the dark, but this was my 1st time hearing about it. So I go to this restaurant which was in Hollywood at the Hyatt Hotel and had no idea really what it was all about except for the fact that it was going to be pitch black and all blind people worked there. Before you even go in you sit in the lobby, they give you a menu so you can order your food beforehand. After we order we were escorted by a blind woman named Sofia into the restaurant, which like I said is pitch black. Now I don't mean the kind of pitch black where you can see a little bit of light from the kitchen or a candle. I'm saying so black to the point where you can't tell the difference when you close your eyes. She had me grab her shoulder to follow her into the restaurant. Who would have ever thought that I would be guided by a blind woman? Anywayz...we got inside, were seated, and she brought us bread and water and had to grab our hand in order for us to know where it was at. When she told us the butter was on top of the bread, I almost said forget putting butter on my bread because it was hard enough trying to figure out how much butter I put on the knife. As we're waiting on our food, our waitress sits a mother and daughter next to us. I could tell the mother was mad nervous about the experience because she kept laughing and asking the waitress questions. Well when she sat down our waitress Sophia said, "You have a table next to you."

The mother asked "Who's next to me?"

I said, "Me...Rocky."

She reached over and hit me on my lip. Neither she nor I realized how close we were to each other. So since nobody could see me, I was rubbing my lip off with my shirt for the next 10 minutes haha. When I finally got my food I had to use the fork to feel around to figure out where my chicken and mac & cheese were. I started to realize by this time I wanted my eyes back because it was getting annoying. I was pissed and getting stressed out. I wanted to see what I was eating. After eating the main course, they were going to bring out dessert but I was about ready to go. It was mad hot in there, and I just wanted to see. I really understood what our waitress experiences every day because it's not like she can just turn something like that off and on. It is something she lives with. I recommend this experience for anybody who can. Even though the food was 90 bucks per meal, the experience was worth it. It makes you appreciate your eyes.

SOHH.COM

So you know the 2nd solange audition video I did right? well if you have no clue what I'm talking about the big hiphop site SOHH.COM has posted my video under Hot press. The only wack thing about it is the link doesn't work :(.... well @ least it didnt last time I checked. Its still really dope to think that I'm not the only one who I thought the video was funny.

The top picture is the front page of sohh.com and I highlighted where to click the article at

The 2nd picture is where they talked about my video.

CLICK each picture to get a bigger view!

Home Alone!

I was left alone in my favorite place!!!! check out the video

Follow up

One thing I have learned in this industry is that showing your face can be just as important as showing off your talent. I was invited to Kim Burse's birthday party; I mentioned her in my Solange story. She was the one who was calling the shots and told the 30-year-old drummers they had no chance. She has done a lot of work with Destiny's Child--putting their band together, choosing backup singers, etc. So by showing my face, I'm hoping that this can take me a little bit further in the industry. I liked this event because she had some dope up-and-coming artists, bands, and some good music. Man I swear I wish I could have taped some stuff but the venue banned anyone from taping and made it clear that if anyone taped they would be kicked out. But man there was some funny footage I could have gotten. As I'm watching one of the performances this female catches my eye who ended up being K. D. Aubert from Soul Plane and Friday after Next. I also saw the black dude from Power Rangers lol hhhhmmmmm. The MC was B. Scott. I have no comment on dude...just look him up on YouTube or something. BRNT

Control!

I’m late putting this story up because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to talk about it, but I figured it was only fair to keep you guys updated on everything that’s going on. My dude Trey Lewis hit me a couple weeks ago informing me that he wanted to get a CD of beats to show his pops. Now for those that don’t know, his dad is Terry Lewis from the famous production duo, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (Flyte Time). When I called my manager to let him know the information we were both excited, but at the same time we knew that our beat selection wasn’t really up to par. So we both said we’d have to pass it up because our 1st impression could be our last. When I gave Trey the news he was like, “I wouldn’t even throw you in the lion’s den like that, just trust me.”

Ten minutes later, I’m on my way to Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis’ studio in Santa Monica. In this industry, you always have to be ready. You can miss opportunities by not being ready to go at the drop of a dime. When we get there Trey gives me the tour of the studio, and I must say that is the best studio I have ever been to—and I have been to some state-of-the-art studios before. (I wanted to get it on camera but was informed that it might not be a good look. Sorry!!) There were so many plaques, Grammy’s, and achievement awards. Any kind of music award you could think of, it was there. Anyway I showed Trey some updated beats of what I have done, and we waited for his pops to get there. He ended up not showing up that night, so we had to reschedule the session.

Next time I went up there, I finally got a chance to meet Terry Lewis himself. I was a little nervous at first but when that 1st beat played, I felt confident as he rocked his head to the hard-hitting drum and crazy abstract synth. I played 13 beats, and he only skipped about 2 or 3 of them.

Afterwards we talked for a while. He asked me questions like “Who’s your favorite producer?” and “What do you think a producer is?” As I talked he was typing my answers in his laptop. Then he asked, “Do you have any questions for me?” I asked him 3 questions: Do you have any regrets as a producer? What record are you most proud of? and Do you feel like there’s talent in Mpls?

So after the questionnaire he said, “You got talent. I’m going to show Jimmy these tracks.” He gave me the CD, and I took it. Like a dingdong. I wasn’t even thinking. I was supposed to let him keep it. Good thing he said, “Can I keep it?” “Of course” I said keep it! That could have been the difference between something happening and something not. But this was the same day I was playing for Slum Village so my mind was everywhere.

So last week Wednesday Trey hits me like “Yo my pops showed Jimmy the tracks, and they liked some of them. They want to know if you have the protools files.”

I’m like, “Of course! I have it on a drive.”

He said “This Friday at six they want you to come back up to the studio.”

So the night before I go through the tracks to make sure I have all the protools sessions, and of course I didn’t. I end up missing 3 off them, so I hit Mark and let him know he needs to send the tracks over ichat or zip them. He said that’s no problem, but he could only do it at work since he didn’t have the internet at the crib. So he had to wait until the morning. The next morning, which was the Friday I had the session, I hop on the internet but this time my internet wasn’t working. We both only had a short amount of time. See the problem was this: We didn’t know which tracks they were interested in, and I didn’t want to create more work for Trey and Terry by asking the names of the tracks. My homegirl Kelz was coming in town, and I figured they had internet at her hotel. So I had to head over that way to get the process started. I only had about 4 hours, and I knew that downloading the tracks was going to take a while. So I get there and start downloading the tracks, they were going fast so I’m thinking “Koo!” I went to get something to eat and came back, and they weren’t even halfway done. Then all of a sudden it canceled out by itself!!

3 minutes later Trey calls me like “I’m downstairs” so I didn’t have enough time to download them. I let him know what happened. We were both hoping that the ones they want aren’t the ones I couldn’t download. So we get to the studio, and he starts to show the tracks. The 1st one he shows is good to go; I have the file. 2nd one…yes! 3rd one I had, but the 4th one was the only one I didn’t have. 3 out of 4…that’s pretty good. He let me know he’s going to make something happen with the tracks, and he had a session this week in NY with Usher. So we’ll see what happens with this whole situation. I’m excited to even be working with them!

FYI, I still haven’t had a chance to meet Jimmy Jam. I’ll let you know when I do. And hopefully next time I bring them up in my blog it has something to do with a placement!!! lol Holla…….


http://www.flytetyme.com/

Story Time!

Drums Please.... 1st Audition for Solange's Band

About 2 weeks ago I get a call from uncle pauly around 4pm asking me if I could rush to Hollywood, there was an audition going on at SIR studios for Solange. They were looking for band members and since I play the drums, I definitely wanted to make that happen. I was kind of far and I needed to be there a.s.a.p so I started making calls but it was 4 in the afternoon which meant that EVERYBODY was at work. I had to call my lawyer (Elena) she lives around the corner and works from home so I asked her and thank God she was just getting home and was able to do that (thanks again!!!) So I get to SIR studios not knowing what to expect I have never auditioned to play drums before. So I get there and they have me fill out paperwork questions like "do I have a passport", or "would there be any reason as to why I cant travel". So I fill it out the lady tells me "I need a drum beat, a solo then go back into your drum beat". So I go up to the drums but there are no sticks, So I ask where are the sticks she says "o theres no sticks up there let me see what i can do" then she tells me to wait in the lobby. so the other guy marc jacob who was judging comes out like "you dont have any sticks and walks away shaking his head looking for sticks" when he cam back he said the studios didnt lend out sticks anymore because to many peolpe didnt bring em back. So he sat down and the couch across from me and said "why dont you any sticks" i told him I drum but im not from here and that I wasnt in LA just to try out for drumming audtions well he understood and went back and told the other lady was gong on. they asked me to come back in so we talked it out and she understand but up untill that point it was tight on niggaz... she said there was an audtion in 2 weeks I could come to I said thanks and walked out. As I'm walking out Marc comes back out and kind of whipsers to me "you should still try and find some sticks before six, im thinkig in my mind where am i gonna find sticks at right now in hollywood and im not driving. So I start making phone calls 1st person I called was uncle pauly he told me there was a store kiddy corner but when I looked at it, it said dvds cd and records. So I go over there and ask do they carry sticks he said no and the closet guitar center was on la brea (thinking to myself i knew la brea was far from where I was at especially since I was walking). So I asked how far of a walk he said 20-25 min walk... I said thanks and walked out. I called uncle pauly back he said up two blocks and down vine street there were some drum spots and pawn shops, so i attemped to make my way. By this time it was 5:45 so I finally get there after having a little bit of a rough time finding it, I walk into this grungy drum shop where the guy helping me didnt speak very good englsih all I said was I need sticks a.s.a.p he handed me used sticks and not only that they werent even a macth. I look at him like are you serious then said ok ill take I dont have time to figure anything else out I said how much he said 10 dollars. i said ok whatever I gave him my credit card because I didnt have any cash on me, so he runs it and it didnt go through the 1st time. He said let me try again but put your pin number in this time Im ike pin number just do it as a visa of course he didnt listen so again it didnt go through, by this time its 5:57 he asked somebody ele to come over and help the guy said you were doing it wrong your suppose to press visa lol. So anywayz it finally went through after all that, so I call marc and tell him I got sticks and im coming back can they wait he said were leaving at 6:01 on the dot, so I pulled my pants and ran so fast I got there at 6:02, and good thing there was another audition just getting done otherwise they probrably would of left. I get there sweating like crazy out of breath and im like I GOT STICKS (in a out of breath voice) shes like ok go on up same thing drum beat of your choice solo, then back to the drum beat then she says were also looking for personality. IM THINKING WHAT! personalty? what is that lol well whatever I didnt have to much time to think on it. As I get to the drums my socks are under my shoes from all the running I was doin I had my recs on which arnt made for running in lol. and I was till out of breath So I asked If I could take a sec to cacth it but I didnt want to take to much time because they already ready to go. So I start with a midtempo drum beat doin rolls on the hihate and triplets on the kick to let me know I got it... then I go into my solo and I just remember killing it, then I went back into my drumbeat then after that i was done. actually I think I did drum beat, solo, beat, solo, ending lol which is wak because people look to see if you can follow directions thats the only thing I felt I messed up on. So when I get home unlce pauly et me know that marc hit him and told him I was hot! so I'll keep you posted on the 2nd audtion, which is TODAY. Click link at the bottom to see what solange said about me!



and check out this pic..... SOLANGE

Slum Village Show

Friday Night I got the chance to get on the drums and rock out with Slum Village.  We were at Crash Mansion and it was DOPE! The house was packed, and the response was good.   I didn't  get to rehearse or even practice with them before hand, so I had to go with the flow and make it happen!  Thats one skill you definitely have to have in the industry, specifically here in Los Angeles is to be able to perform (do what you do) at the drop of dime. You don't always get the luxury to be 100% prepared, or even know what is going to happen, but when it does you come gotta be ready and on point, and impress everyone in the building.  Another lesson I am learning out here in LA is to have more than one hustle.  Most of you know me as Rockcity the producer, but now you are learning I can play the drums too.  Been playing the drums a lot longer than I have been making beats.  The fact I was able to use that talent for this show, allows me to open up the conversation, about the other things I do as well (producing).  Slum Village and their management were more open to hear about that,  because one of my hustles/talents (playing the drums) compliments the other (producing).  It was an honor to play with these dudes, and they were mad koo, and might be doing more shows down the line, so Stay Tuned!  Definitely want to thank those who help make this happen for me! 

Will I am

If you didn't get a chance to check out the Will I am video it made it on nahright.com yesterday!!!!! I also posted it on this Blog a couple of post down from this one check it out.

Complex/Honda Party