Caliber X Hip Hop Beats

Producers and Artists You have the Power....Don't get took in....Self help courses are for suckers...

In this post, I'm addressing something here that I see a lot, and absolutely hate.  Self help courses for musicians, artists, and producers.  I've bought and listened to a few, just to see what they were really about.  Let me tell you what they are all about.  They are NOT about helping you, or freeing you, or anything like it. They are about helping whoever is publishing them make lots of money and prey upon you as an artist.  They make all these claims about having the secret, the formula, the answers, whatever.  What they do is talk a lot and don't tell you shit.  Then at the end they say oh, and if you want the real knowledge, the deep knowledge, then buy this other course, and then this one, and then.....U know where I'm going.  Don't get suckered by these clowns.  There is no magic bullet, and there is no get rich quick schemes that work.  They aren't designed to help you, or free you, or anything but take your money.  It is money you can spend in real ways that will really help your career.  Hard work, self promotion, and the grind of putting it out there one fan at a time, is what is going to get you somewhere.  I don't care how big your mailing list gets.  If you aren't putting out the real deal you won't sell anything.  Anybody who tells you otherwise, is just trying to sucker you and sell you stuff.  They aren't helping you promote you, they are fishing for suckers.  They are only interested in making you their customer.  They use BS and sneaky psychological tactics to make you feel like you are someone they care about about, then hit you up for money over and over again, under the guise of being your helpful friend with all the answers.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Most times it is just a repackage job on some self  help course they got took on about a year back.  Instead of offering real value, they just repackage the same old self help BS and pass that BS on to you, their loyal friends.  Don't waste your time on these things or these people.  They only sell false hopes and dreams.  There are actually some great Kindle books on Amazon that cost less than $5 and honestly will give you more value and better info than these expensive courses offered by some shady really dudes out there.  Long ago those cats made a choice about taking people's hard earned money and offering no real value.  They stopped caring except about themselves.  They are the ones responsible to the declining beat prices and quality out there.  They are fishing for suckers and I guarantee, if you buy one of those slick willy shortcut courses, you, in the end will end up feeling taken and unhappy about it, saying wtf?  Nobody ever said music was supposed to be easy.  Quit thinking of it in terms of easy or hard.  If you are true on it, and know it, then music isn't even a choice for you.  Get it in your mind now that you will do, whatever you have to do to make it.  Do not however get on the losing track of trying to sucker or rip people off cuz you view it as easier or think you are entitled to easy success.  That path has no future.  None.  Good music and class acts are timeless, the rest of the clowns and their antics just come and go.  Be classy and be real on it.  Be authentic. Do the hard work, and get a real future out of it.  Much Love!

$5 Hip hop Beats Why not?

Okay real deal.  If someone is trying to sell you a $5 dollar beat, ask yourself why?  Either they know it aint worth shit, or they don't have confidence in themselves or their craft.  I remember when we started on beats and production way back.  Nobody used stolen software, people bought that shit.  Nobody even leased beats like they do now.  Nobody ever , and I mean ever gave them away.  You know what?  Every studio you went to back then, had at least one producer that was real hot shit.  We had a small studio in a large complex full of top notch spots.  Every night we'd be rollin up into a new one and be like dam......  Those of you in the Chi, will know what the Riverfront art center is.  Some of the best studios and producers from all over the city were in there back then.  Verifiable fact.  That's where we cut our teeth and learned our craft and it was hard to be around so many talented producers, but they were real, and spit real game, and had real connections.  We was lucky enough to fall in with the hottest two producers in that spot back then.  The business use to be tight like that.  Not just anyone could get in or get education on it.  Nowadayz with all these five dollar beats around, kits and whack pc producers, shit has just went south.  It is what it is.  I'm not trying to change that, but as I've said before $5-10 beats are a suckers game.  A $5 dollar rock, is just an overpriced rock after all.  Convenience store beats is all they amount to.  I don't care how talented you might be, unless you invest some real cake in those beatz, you are just wasting your money and time.  Get with real producers that you actually respect.  Get in a studio that has real gear and with an engineer who knows how to use it.  It makes all the difference.  By surrounding yourself with a higher caliber of people, you elevate yourself to another level.  If you spin you wheels near the bottom of the game, and never invest in yourself, you are going nowhere fast.  Don't count on luck, or listen to low ball beat makerz' bullshit.  Ask anyone 'Real with it' in the industry and they will tel, you that unless you do whatever you can to invest in your rise to fame, or wherever you want to go, you won't make it.  Two years from now you'll still be right where you are because you tried to keep taking the cheap, and easy way.  Always lookin for that shortcut.  Quit trying to game the industry and the fans.  Secret...It doesn't work.  You are only runnin game on yourself, along with a million other stupid mofo's doin the same and getting nowhere.  Get real on it, and do something you haven't done before.  Get a clear vision of not only what you want, but also of who and what you are as an artist.  Until you do, you will just keep runnin in place.  Eventually this will just burn you out, cause you heartache, and probably push you out of the game.  We hate to see talent leave the game, that's why we tell you this.  It don't go to be our beats.  They are not for everyone.  What we are saying is that there are various levels of producers out there, and most are very good at what they do.  Aside from these working pros you have the beat makers.  They are not producers, they make and sell cheap beatz to as many people as they can in a cookie cutter fashion.  They don't care who uses them or why.  They only care about grabbing your change and then on to the next cat dumb enough to believe their hype.  Don't mess about!  Get on some real shit and make real music that's really you!  All successful artists you admire have a very, very clear vision or what and who they are as artists.  They don't follow or copy, anyone, period.    Much Love!

Our beats are different.....why is that important to you? One word, Value.

Are you tired of the same old thing?  Tired of fantastic plastic beats? Identikit beats?  Tinny, digi-beatz with no soul?  Give us a listen and you will instantly hear something...That's right we don't do that.  We are experienced and well rounded/genre spanning producers, not simple beat makers.  We make our beats in our studio.  We use live instruments, and professional musicians.  Getting a beat from us is more like getting a major label recording session than getting a pc produced plastic beat made by jo scmo tha beat killa on it......  So ask yourself, what do you want?  You want to sound like everybody else?  If you do that's fine, there are plenty of those other cats around and they are happy to sell you a beats they've already sold over 100 or even 1000 times.  We don't do that either.  Once one of our beats has run enough, we take it out of rotation so not too many folks get on it.  Why?  As a service to the folks that bought it.  Just cuz a beat sells well we don't want any more than 50-75 people worldwide on it.  It's rude to people that are using it and in the long run helps nobody.  We know that fewer artists on a track means that more of them have a chance to come up with it and that looks good for us, and represents more value for them. We simply do more for the artists that work with us.  We don't overhype or oversell our beats cuz ,we care that if someone buys a beat that they get more than the value of just the beat.  We want our artists to succeed.  The sale of a beat is the start of our relationship with an artist, not the end-that's the other guys.  We have a large roster of incredible studio musicians, all working professionals.  Our producers are deep with experience and styles.  Our sound designers know their craft and aren't just recycling sounds from other packs like everyone else. Our dj's kill it live.  We got more depth and more to offer than the other guy.  Our beats and our services are all aimed at helping you get there, not taking your money and leaving you where you stand.  Sure our beats cost more up front, but our other services, like track outs, re-arrangement, mixing, recording, mastering, etc are largely either included or much cheaper to purchase as an add on, for folks that have bought or leased beats from us.  We are only interested in putting out the best and working with artists who know their craft.  That low end scrape for change beat game isn't what we are playin.  We aint hungry on it like that.  We are professionals, and only work with professionals.  If you are serious about developing a real sound that will instantly get you noticed and get even the radio dj's noddin, then you gotta step it up and use professionals on your music.  You have to invest in yourself, to get a return.  Do less tracks,if you have to, but with better quality and quit spinnin your wheels on it.  If you want a real career then you have to do whatever you can to set yourself and your sound apart, otherwise you just get lost in all the noise of everybody sounding the same.  You want to be a leader or a follower?  Kanye West said it best I think...I'd rather be a d**k than a swallower........Much Love!

Hottest hip hop beatz ...now you got em..so what do you do with em?

Alright, you found your beats.  You got in your head what you wanna do with em, but we want to give you a few pointers on how to make your vox not only sound right over most tracks but sound great.  First thing, and it's a big one.  Do not use a junk microphone.  If  it's all u got, then you are gonna have to work with it.  Just bcuz a mic looks like a shock mount condenser don't mean it sounds any better than a Mr. Microphone.  Try to find a good deal on a used mic if you need to spend less, but that mic will help define your sound, and give your voice a presence in the mix that a cheap or directional stage mic will not.  Second  When using any condenser mic make sure your board or interface has phantom power to run it.  I've spotted this in mixes a lot where the vocals have no low end and are really low and tinny sounding.  Gotta power a condenser to get it to do it's thing.  Dig the difference when you do.  Most mic boxes have it, and usb mics don't need it, but a good quality studio mic definitely does, and they are your best bet for great vocals on your tracks.  They give you a large sound.  Next get in a booth.  A booth is built in a way to zero that mic signal and minimize bounce noise, and reverb.  Don't try to get by with a mic screen or a 'gobo' Those do not work well and are just an amateur solution that will give you noisy, amateur results.  I don't know why artists think that a 40 dollar piece of foam does what a booth does.  It doesn't.  Plus I know this:  Having recorded a lot of MC's over the years in the booths at the studio.  The booth is a headspace, and helps artists get in there and quickly get on their game.  Yeah it's a mental thing, but it makes a difference.  Plus it's a dedicated spot to at a moments notice, to go in and drop it like it's hot.  Get one, build one out of a closet, or at least find a studio with good rates on using theirs.  This brings me to my next point.  If you just don't have the setup and are really trying to make a hot record.  Bite that bullet and book a studio.  Just make sure to not waste time there.  Practice ahead, get everything set, then get in, get it done, and get out.  A well prepared artist can track a lot of stuff in 4 hours if they are hustlin, and 6 if they are slow.  With studio rates coming down all the time that should only cost your around 100-200 bucks, even with an engineer.  Even if the studio guy costs a little more, it will be worth it to book him, if you don't know how to run their gear.  At some studios it's included, some not, and some it's not even allowed for you to run the consoles.  Check the spots you have in mind and shop around.  Remember quality and clear, precise sound capture is what will give you the material to be able to mix down the tracks in a controllable way, and prepare them for fx, final mastering.  Which is my final point.  This is optional and depends on how good you are at mixing your own tracks down, but a good mastering guy will get better sound out of those vocals and tracks than you ever will.  That's all they do.  We master in house at our studio, but frequently have masters done at outside services specializing in certain types of music because they are specialists.  This service can be expensive or cheap.  Most will master a track for you free as an example.  After you get your mixes fine tuned, give it a try and see what a difference it makes.  This stuff is all pretty basic and we'll get into various effects and what not in later posts.  I just wanted to give out a general overview of some do's and don'ts regarding recording vocals over your beats.  So if you've got the hottest hip hop beats you can find, then we want you to kill it on those beats, and have the knowledge to get the amazing sound you want when finished.  As always any questions can be emailed to us at caliberxbeatz@hotmail.com Stay Blessed!

Good deals on hip hop beats, you owe it to yourself to look beyond the low price ....

Don't settle ever..always strive for more on your sounds..gotta give more of yourself to get more outta yourself......

Someone I respect told me that once
Now I'm tellin you.

A lot of the times in our fast paced society we get taken in by the allure of an easy low price, the quick ticket to all our dreams, and tend to, in the moment, often times, look past the quality aspect.  Don't get took on your beats.  In music production it really is about quality reputation and precision.  A proper beat will give a talented artist the canvas they need to create amazing rhymes over.  Don't let 10 or 20 bucks in price difference scare you away from higher caliber beats.  Producers generally charge by the confidence they have in what they are putting out.  Not to say always, but a low price usually means a hungry, and probably amateur producer bangin em out in 20 minutes or so.  Don't get on those cheap beats. Why waste your money and time?  How are you ever gonna get to the top of this game on cheap beats a thousand other catz are using?  Why is anybody going to buy your track if a thousand other up and comers are on it as well.  They're a cheap rip off, except in rare cases.  Lots of people even say they are killing the gold and silver producers out of the game.  So you might be getting what you think is a good deal on hip hop beats, but is it a good deal for hip hop if all the top producers leave the game for other things, and all that is left are the noobz? By spenind a little more on your beatz you are working with producers that are actually offering real value, and not just a click track, with a bell, or some plastic beats made on plasticbeatmaker 1.01. We know that not everybody can afford an album full of high priced beats and there are good producers out there on compact setups,.  We aren't suggesting that, but you should be carefully selecting and 'crafting the beat lineup of your album to coincide with the tale the album tells.  Set that mood, just like a live dj would craft a set to play the dancefloor crowd a certain way.  This is an art form in itself, but 3 well placed tracks done over better quality beatz, can easily push an record in need of some help to the next level. Leading and ending with bangerz at least, but one more near the middle is even better. If that extra 30-100 bucks extra you spent on those three beats gets you a radio hit, a club banger, or a lot of internet hype, you're gonna be happy you did it.  Cuz it's one more notch up the ratchet for your career. If you don't push it like that, you'll never know.  You owe it to yourself to get on the best beats you can afford.  We price our beats in what we feel is the very reasonable range for serious and professional artists.  Our beats are a bit more avante garde than the general variety, with a bit more depth than most, we pride ourselves on their cinematic feel,  and they sound nothing like identikit beats, so we charge a great rate for a great value in a real beat.  Again, We market to serious artists and professionals.  We produce differently, making our beats in our studio, with a wide range of both digital software and live instruments, lots of analog gear, not at a computer desk. We are actually remodeling and doubling the size of our studio this year due to traffic. Were old skool and just not interested in selling down on that level and while we could probably sell more beatz cheaper.  We've always maintained that our service is dedicated to empowering artistic freedom.  Quality beats for quality artists.  We like working with a certain caliber of artist on our beatz because of what they do with them.  We also do production for other studios under contract.  Were by no means saying that we are the only ones making original beats, but we're damn good and we know it and when you, as an artist are looking to up that game on a new type of beat, we think were a great bet.  As always though, we recommend shopping a lot of producers and beats, don't take anybody's word for it.  Good deals on hip hop beats is about a lot more than the price.  A cheap rock is still just a rock....That's why when you shop at the studio, you get a much higher Caliber of beatz.  Stay Blessed!

Uncommon hip hop beats , what makes a beat uncommon

This might be an easy question for producers to answer, but I find not so much for artists.  A lot of them just end up not having anything real to base their beat selection on other than a feeling.  Truth is, that's really good.  Cuz it doesn't matter what creds a producer has or what he talks up about himself or his beatz.  What matters is the beats and how they make you feel.  The rest is just xtra.  Lots of producers are really seling you and image and don't focus on the beats.  Once you know how to spot it, you get around that pretty quick. Don't believe the hype, finding uncommon hip hop beats is really a personal thing for each artist.  Do your homework and your money won;t be wasted on whack beatz.

Ok so what makes a beat unique, or uncommon.  From an artist's standpoint, the question should be asked instead like: Will this beat make me sound unique?  Is it the kind beat my audience will jump up and down for?  Is it going to make me feel good to get on this track and am i gonna kill with it?  Does this beat take me to a place where I can spit genius? If you can answer these questions in the yes mode then you are on the right track with a beat.  If you aint sure and don't love it, then move on.  You can always come back to it.  Beat selection isn't a science.  Stop trying to know and feel it out.  It's all about you and what you can bring.  If a beats got it on that tip then she's a keeper.

Do your shopping first.  Find those gems.  More than you need and then cut that list down to what you need and maybe a couple xtras.  After you've got that all squared, then buy or lease your beats.  I think this kind of prep in shopping a project for serious artists, really helps them get valuable focus and momentum on a project with total confidence on it from day 1.  You did the hard work, now get in the booth and have fun with it.  Your fans will be able to tell when you aint trying to make some whack beatz work for you.  Even on a subliminal level your flows and rhymes will just have that 'feel' of authenticity.  We record a lot of hip hop artists, and can hear it instantly when it's forced.  The fans do too, they just don't know what to call it, but they know they like to hear cats that can really get down, instead of the struggling clowns.
     They don't want to see you workin, they want to see you playin at it, cuz after all to them you are the best!  Prove it to them by being professional and by doing the work, so that you can, as an artist, deliver 100% heat to them time after time.  After that, you got em comin back like Mc'Donald's.  and 9 billion served sounds real nice fam! Stay Blessed! Much Love!