"Yo, so you wanna be a producer?"
B
Y B I L A L A L L A H
Back
It's a hot ass muphuckin' day in L.A. amd I got madd stuff to do-
among them, taking this trip up Robertson Blvd., rollin' toward West Hollywood. Next item
on the agenda is a one-hour conversation with DJ Mixmaster Muggs of Cypress Hill. I'm
thinkin,. Damn! I'm about to talk to the funkiest White boy in Hip-Hop.
Arriving at the Buzztone/Immortal office, I'm greeted by a receptionist who looks like
she's straight off an Ivory Soap commercial. She calls for Muggs to escort me to the back
lounge for the interview. Needless to say, he was mad cool and gave much love and respect
to the Original Man. We kicked it, wit' Muggs talking about things like his early days as
a DJ, his musical influences, plus offering up a few recording tips.
It was good to hear from an artist who has such a strong appreciation for all types of
music, and Muggs does. Maybe that's what gives him the Midas touch on the boards, who
knows? One thing's for sure, through- his production projects for everyone from Daddy
Freddy to Yo-Yo and, of couse, the Hill, House of Pain and now Ice Cube, are solid proof
of his seriousness. Check out how one of the year's most sucsessful Hip-Hop producers
works on his craft.
RapPages:So How long have you been producing?
MUGGS:I started about '89. I was DJing before that, around '85. We put the 7A3 record
together, but I had no equipment. I had a lot of the ideas and other people produced it.
RapPages:You did'nt produce it, but you arranged it?
MUGGS:I had a lot of the records, and they did it all. I was young and had no musical
experience, no equipment. That's when I really started. I bought some equipment and
started on the Cypress Hill stuff. We'd been together before I met 7A3.
RapPages:Exen before that project, huh?
MUGGS:Yeah. I'd been down with them(Cypress Hill) since '84.
RapPages:So what made you do the 7A3 thing first?
MUGGS:They had a deal already. We did this club, and they were like, "Do you wanna
come DJ for us", and I was like, "Bet". Then I did MEllow Man Ace's demo
and got him signed. He acted like I did'nt have anything to do with it, and he went and
did his thing. You know one thing led to another, and we finally came up after all them
years.
RapPages:Yeah, that happens with a lot of people. Their first effort doesn't do as well as
they expect, then they take a little time, parlay, and BAM!
MUGGS:I like that album a lot, but that record company was butt. Geffen Records sucks for
rap. They didn't know what they was doin.
RapPages:When you first started producing the Cypress Hill stuff, what type of equipment
were you using?
MUGGS:SP1200 and a 4-track. That was it. That's all I used for the whole album. I did it
at home, then we went in and boom-the SP120 just played that shit over and over again.
RapPages:You did all of that on a SP1200 and a 4-track?
MUGGS:No, I did it at home on a 4-track and had like the whole idea done, so when I went
into the studio, it was just a matter of doin two songs a day. Like that, we would knock
the shit out.
RapPages:I've noticed a lot of producers are doing that. THey're working at home., the
once they go into the studio, it's just a matter of transferring them music.
MUGGS:It's like building a house. You get you blueprint before you start building. I like
to have all of the kinks worked out of the song where, if I don't like the song, I'll do
it all at the house.
RapPages:So when you got into the studio, you're not wasting any time or money.
MUGGS:Sometimes you may need a little extra thing here or there.
RapPages:As far as the whole production aspect of putting music together, what do you like
doing best- mixing, producing, or engineering?:
MUGGS:I like sitting at home and doing the music in my house better than anything. Better
than doing shows, better than taking pictures, videos- all that shit that comes along with
it.
RapPages:Could you explain the difference between producing an album, and engineering an
album?
MUGGS:An engineer is someone who works for the producer and controls the board and gets
your EQs they way you want them. Mixing the album is when you've done did the album and
produced it, and you're going to make sure that all levels sound like this, like "I
want the drums louder than the bassline." or "I want to drop out here."
Than's an actual mix. Now producing a record is you do the shit. You do the beats an' shit
and you make sure....like,"Okay, kick your lyrics. I don't like them; do it
again." You make it sound the way you want it to sound. The overall thing.
RapPages:Who were some of you musical insoirations?
MUGGS:I had a lot. From the Hip-Hop side, it was Marley Marl, EPMD and Ced Gee from
Ultramagnetic- people like that. Then I listen to a lot of old funk, old rock'n'roll like
Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. You can see a lot of that in the Cypress Hill image. A lot
of the image from our group comes from Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. That's why it's all
they way it is- the skulls, the dark and everythin.
RapPages:So, what inspired you to stop being just a DJ and actually saying, "Phukk
it, I want to produce my own stuff!"?
MUGGS:I was producing on the sidee, doing my shit, and once we got the Cypress deal, that
kinda boomed. But also, DMC and all the DJ contests...you don't make no money being a DJ.
It's fun, and I still do i. I'll have a good time, go do clubs, but I like making music
more. It's more of a challenge, because DJing only goes so far. If you go to the DJ
contests, they're doin' the same shit that Richie Rich, Alladin, Plastic Man and them were
doni' three or four years ago. It's the same shit over and over again, but the music is
endless.
RapPages:In your opinion, who's the greatest producer in rap music?
MUGGS:Pete Rock is coming the phukk up right now. But me, I like Marley MArl. He
influenced me the most. All his early Biz records, the Kane shit, MC Shan, Shante- all
that shit is the funkiest shit.
RapPages:How do you work at home? Do you wake up in the middle of the night?
MUGGS:It's different. I wake up in the morning sometimes and work on shit. Some of our
best songs come together in 15 0r 20 minutes; some on 'em take three or four months to
come together. I just did this song for Ice Cube called "Check Yourself." It's
Cube and Das Efx, and I did the music in 20 minutes. Two or three samples, and they just
fit. I put 'em on a disk and sent it to him, and he said, "I wanna use this."
Some songs, I'll sit there and lay a drum loop, then a bass. But it won't work, then six
months later I'll find the right bassline.
RapPages:If you were in a record store and you got a country song, and old blues song and
a jazz song, which one would you go to first?
MUGGS:I'd go definitly to the jazz or blues. I like the blues a lot. You can hear blues
guitars in a lotta my stuff, at lotta BB King. If you listen to BB King, you'll notice
that he has the same guitar sound in all his songs. If you listen to Otis Redding, he has
the same drum sounds in every song, the same beat under his shit ya know?. So for me, I
feel I could use the same beat on every record as long as it was different, and you can't
tell, because I speeded it up, put another snare, mor hi-hats, and some other shit. It's
just the sound that I go for. I like that Memphis sound.
RapPages:A lot of young of producers hear about SP1200's, but they don't make 'em anymore,
so what equipment do you suggeste young producers get their hands on?
MUGGS:They got an MPC-60 out-that's a sampling drum machine. They got an S-950 - that
ain't a drum machine, but you can get loops up in it. I got one, but I never learned how
to use it. I'm not technical at all. I'm just a DJ who learned how to use a drummachine,
and I know what I like. SP1200's are impossible to find. I've been tryin' to buy another
one and can't find one. I just bought an 8-track, so now I got a 1200, and a 8-track.
RapPages:As far as demos are concerned, what do you need to make one? Is a basic 4-track
good, or should you go with an 8 or 16 track?
MUGGS:It depends on who's listening to your demo. A demo isn't a finished product. The
people listening to your demo should be able to hear potential in your stuff, and work
with that potential, ya know? "Is there somethin' here...is the somethin' I can
mold?" That's what I look for in a demo- "Can I work with it and make it
dope?"
RapPages:As far as you're concerned, what is the ultimate tracking system? You did you
shit at home, you're getting ready to go in the studio, and get busy, what are you lookin'
for?
MUGGS:I go to a 24-track. I use Image Recording; they got a SSL board in the back. I
usually work in the fron on this old board- I don't know what it is called, but that's
where I track all my shit and do vocals. Then I go in the back and mix on the SSL.
RapPages:What about people talkin' about 48-tracks. Is all that necessary?
MUGGS:Naw, Man. On some songs, I use five or six tracks. I did "Hole in the
Head" on like four tracks of music, and maybe five tracks of vocals. I like to use a
lotta vocals instead of samples. Like I got Sen, and he'll fill in spots ya know, like
accenting certain words or adding echo. Sometimes too much music can phukk shit up. I like
simplicity in the music, like DJ Mark, the 45 King. Simple funky shit.
RapPages:A lot of people are offended by your company name, Soul Assasins. They thing
you're sayin' that you assasinate the soul. Explain what you mean.
MUGGS:We take the old sould, and we kill it. We tear that shit up! You know what I'm
sayin'? We ain't dissin'. I love soul music. I listen to it all the time.
RapPages:How do you feel about live instrumentation being incorporated in Hip-Hop
production, like the Brand New Heavies, Arrested Development, etc?
MUGGS:I think it's cool, but personally, it sounds too clean. I like that grungy, dirty
soundin' shit.
RapPages:Do you think that live instruments will cut out Djs?
MUGGS:Never. You're gonna have the best of both worlds. I use live instruments now and
then, but what I'll do is sample it so I can get that dirty feel. I know people who'll add
a track of static to their mix, like real low, just to make it dirty.
RapPages:What are some of your up-and-coming projects?
MUGGS:A group called Funkdoobiest on Epic. We're doin' a couple of tracks for Ice Cube,
and that's it right now. We jsut started on the new Cypress Hill record. It'll be out in
March or April.
RapPages:I heard it was on the spanglish tip?
MUGGS:Naw, it's the same shit as before. A lotta people came out and tried to get over
with that, but can't none of 'em go to New York and rock the house, you know what I'm
sayin'? We wanted the hardcore b-boy respect. Then afterwards, we could do whatever we
wanted to do. So after we drop the album, we're gonna drop an EP in in Spanglish, so it'll
be Spanish/English Hip-Hop
RapPages:"Latin Lingo" was dope. I did'nt know what the phukk he was sayin', but
it was flavor.
MUGGS:See, we want shit like that, where brothers who don't even know Spanish will still
want to bump the shit in their trunk, ya know? Hardcore Hip-Hop, not no watered-down shit!
We could've got a lot more play if we had changed the names of songs, like Naughty did
with "Ghetto Bastard", but we said Phukk it.
The
interview is taken from 1993 february issue of RapPages