We recently caught up with Adrian “Drop” Santalla (left) and Phenom (right), of Miami-based production team Drop Dead Beats. They have had production placements through a span of genres and have engineering credits in a diverse list of projects as well. Having worked with artists like Pitbull, Fat Joe, DJ Khaled, Gloria Estefan and Trina to name a few – and in 2010, they will surely take the industry by storm. Most recently they produced “Triumph” for Pitbull’s newest album Rebelution – a song that got picked up and licensed by ESPN, as well as NBC’s The Office. Read on as we dive into their humble beginnings, their musical direction and even end it off with a little bit of music industry talk. Click below to read more….
Obviously its no secret that Cool & Dre represent Miami to the fullest. Well, they’ve been doing their thing for more than a decade and had classic hits along the way. I love all of the styles they bring and you could see the versatility by the two beats below, which happen to be probably two of my favorite instrumentals from these guys. Fat Joe’s “All I Need” and Ja-Rule’s “New York”. Listen/download below…
Cool & Dre beat for “All I Need” as originally appeared on Fat Joe’s Loyalty album (2002)
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Cool & Dre beat for “New York” as originally appeared on Ja-Rule’s R.U.L.E. album (2004)
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Cool-N-Dre got their twitter on and spoke on some of their favorite producers in the past 15-20 years. Some of them include peers of theirs, but I saw this Twitter action going down in real time over on their twitter page. Gave props to DJ Premier, Kanye, Pete Rock, RZA, Organized Noize and more. To see the entire list click below…
MTV News caught up with Cool-N-Dre during their week-long run that they stayed here in Miami. And yo, Dre could’ve easily taken this question towards the depths of hell, but he kept it classy and kept it real and wish his ex-girl, Christina Milian, and her family the best. Also, check them speak about working with Lady Gaga after the jump via OS…
Before Khaled even put out his first album, Listennn – he was a DJ and he put out ONE mixtape in his whole career called This Ain’t A Movie Dawg back in 2005. Till this day, Khaled will swear to you that he’s never ever put out mixtapes (even though he clearly did), he only puts out ”movies”…lol. Those were his exact words to me. But either way, it was full of back-to-back exclusives from everybody. Including the following interlude track that had a younger Scott Storch in his prime – replaying a couple of his most famous beats live on his Motif for Khaled in a random studio session while Khaled was talking and later in the clip, Timbaland pops up to speak some positive vibes and do a little beatboxing for a live rendition of one of the more famous Scottie x Timbo collabos. Obviously, this was before they had their initial fallout. Listen/download below…
Khaled, Scott Storch & Timbaland – The Live Session (2005)
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In less than a week, iStandard iNc and DBHH Management bring you the first annual ‘Beats on The Beach’ Miami Music Seminar Presented by Roland, IK Multimedia, Remix Magazine and ASCAP October 9-11th 2008 @ The Doubletree Surfcomber Hotel in Miami Florida aka South Beach. ‘Beats on The Beach’will consist of incredible networking opportunities, keynote speakers, interactive industry panels, artist and producer showcases, giveaways, surprise guests as well as Miami’s best offering- their sexy nightlife at some of the most incredible clubs on the beach!! Confirmed panelist include JIM JONSIN (pictured above), as well as DJ CLUE, Sha Money XL, Cool and Dre, Lenny S, Riggs Morales, Julian Boothe, Omar Grant, Dre Mckenzie, Gorilla Tek, Bob Celestin, John Ingram, The Runners, Jimmy Kendrix, Alamo, Diaz Brothers and Red Spyda. More info at www.beatsonthebeach.com
I love seeing Consequence’s videos where he’s backstage chillin with different artists and such. This time, he’s hanging out with Pharrell and DJ Premier for a classic clip where they each impersonate Busta Rhymes as well as get into some classic Premo discussion. Too dope to pass up.
Paul Mawhinney was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. Over the years he has amassed what has become the world’s largest record collection. Over 3 Million records. Due to health issues and a struggling record industry Paul is being forced to sell his collection. If interested, he;s only asking for $3 Million US. That’s pennies if you ask me. Go to www.thegreatestmusiccollection.com for more details.
ALSO NOTE: I am also selling my collection. Its not as extensive as Mr. Paul, but I got tons of classic and rare finds that I’ve picked up through my travels inside of all the Opa-Locka thrift stores from the years of 2003 to 2006. And tons of jazz collections and rock collections. I’m also selling it in pieces as well. Holla at me at miamihiphop@gmail.com
One of my favorite hip-hop albums of all time, Reasonable Doubt. I know this documentary is a bit old, but I just love it when quality hip-hop documentaries come to fruition. Pretty much everyone that was involved with the making of Reasonable Doubt, made an appearance on it. Foxy Brown with her high-pitch voice came through to talk about the behind the scenes of recording “Ain’t No Nigga” when she was just a teenager. Irv Gotti rolled through and discussed the inner workings of creating “Can I Live?”. But my moment was Memphis Bleek’s “cheeseburger” story. That and it was definitely fulfilling to see Memphis Bleek in the cut and just realizing how true-to-life Jay-Z’s “as long as I’m alive he’s a millionaire” line is. Memphis Bleek must’ve saved dude’s a life or something because he [Bleek] hit the lottery by winning the lifelong monetary backing of Jiggaman. But yeah, a great documentary to those who haven’t seen it.
Spotted at this dope website for hip-hop producers and crate diggers called
Selling over a million copies in his first week and smashing the notion that cd sales are out the window. The Carter III has proved otherwise. Now here’s a focus on the production aspect of the CD with the release of all the instrumentals from the disc featuring beats from Cool-N-Dre, Swizz Beats, Streetrunner, Jim Jonsin and much more.
Introducing our new “Hip Hop Producers”section, where we’ll have features on the best local and (national) producers/beatmakers, as well as tips, tutorials and behind the scenes videos from time to time. We’ll post it as we get it. This section will be for those interested in the makings of hip-hop production.
So, what better way to introduce the section than by giving you guys (producers) afree downloadof some dope hip-hop drums.
Before Khaled even put out his first album, Listennn – he was a DJ and he put out ONE mixtape in his whole career called This Ain’t A Movie Dawg back in 2005. Till this day, Khaled will swear to you that he’s never ever put out mixtapes (even though he clearly did), he only puts out ”movies”…lol. Those were his exact words to me. But either way, it was full of back-to-back exclusives from everybody. Including the following interlude track that had a younger Scott Storch in his prime – replaying a couple of his most famous beats live on his Motif for Khaled in a random studio session while Khaled was talking and later in the clip, Timbaland pops up to speak some positive vibes and do a little beatboxing for a live rendition of one of the more famous Scottie x Timbo collabos. Obviously, this was before they had their initial fallout. Listen/download below…
