hip hop production
Hip hop production is the creation of hip hop music in a recording studio. While the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music creation, including recording the rapping of an MC, a turntablist or DJ providing a beat, playing samples and " ...
Carson
Carson may refer to:
People
*Carson (surname), people with the surname
*Carson (given name), people with the given name
Places
;In the United States
* Carson, California, a city
* Carson Township, Fayette County, Illinois
*Carson, Iowa, a city
* ...
supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to:
* Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields
* Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry
* Supergroup ...
Ab-Soul
Herbert Anthony Stevens IV (born February 23, 1987), better known by his stage name Ab-Soul, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Raised in Carson, California, he signed to indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2007, where ...
. Their best known productions include "
Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe
"Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" ( edited for radio as "Trick, Don't Kill My Vibe" or simply "Don't Kill My Vibe"), is a song by American rapper Kendrick Lamar, from his major-label debut studio album ''Good Kid, M.A.A.D City'' (2012). The song, pr ...
" by Kendrick Lamar, "There He Go" by Schoolboy Q, and "Terrorist Threats" by Ab-Soul. They frequently co-produce songs together and put the finishing touches on the projects released by Top Dawg Entertainment.
History
All four members of the group, Tae Beast, Willie B, Sounwave and Dave Free, grew up in the Los Angeles, California area. They all started out as solo producers before working with
Ab-Soul
Herbert Anthony Stevens IV (born February 23, 1987), better known by his stage name Ab-Soul, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Raised in Carson, California, he signed to indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2007, where ...
. Top Dawg Entertainment began signing all four producers to deals to become in-house producers for the record label. Shortly after all signing, Sounwave and Dave Free were in the studio, when Dave Free said, "We should get all our producers together and make this one Voltron of production." He felt they all had different great qualities about their productions that would fit well together. In November 2012, '' Complex'' named the group one of the "Top 25 New Producers to Watch Out For". In July 2013, BET named Digi+Phonics as a group, as one of the top ten young producers on the rise. Members of the group also worked on ScHoolboy Q's major label debut album ''
Oxymoron
An oxymoron (usual plural oxymorons, more rarely oxymora) is a figure of speech that juxtaposes concepts with opposing meanings within a word or phrase that creates an ostensible self-contradiction. An oxymoron can be used as a rhetorical devi ...
''.
Members
TaeBeast
TaeBeast is an American record producer from Los Angeles, California. His is influenced by the likes of J Dilla,
RZA
Robert Fitzgerald Diggs (born July 5, 1969), better known by his stage name the RZA ( ), is an American rapper, actor, filmmaker, and record producer. He is the ''de facto'' leader of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, having produced most albums ...
Ab-Soul
Herbert Anthony Stevens IV (born February 23, 1987), better known by his stage name Ab-Soul, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Raised in Carson, California, he signed to indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2007, where ...
, in 2010, one of which became "Turn Me Up". Soon after he had a meeting with TDE, it resulted in him signing with the record label as a producer. On July 15, 2010, Tae Beast released his first project, an instrumental mixtape titled ''The Tae Beast Tape''. On October 1, 2012 he released the sequel to his first mixtape, aptly titled ''The Tae Beast Tape 2''. In early 2014, he earned placement on ScHoolboy Q's album ''Oxymoron'' by producing "Grooveline Pt. 2" and produced the Logic and Big Sean song "Alright". He then produced two songs on Ab-Soul's third studio album '' These Days...''.
TaeBeast is known for his drum loops and sample chopping in his productions. His best known productions include Kendrick Lamar's "Hood Politics", ScHoolboy Q's "Groovy Tony", Mac Miller's "Small Worlds" and J. Cole "Punchin The Clock". He has produced for Kendrick Lamar, ScHoolboy Q, Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, Sir, Mac Miller, Logic, Jhene Aiko, Big Sean, Young Thug, J. Cole and others
Sounwave
Mark Anthony Spears, better known by his stage name Sounwave, is an American record producer from
Compton, California
Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and, on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city in Los Angeles County to incorporat ...
. Sounwave credits " Up Jumps da Boogie" by Timbaland as the first hip hop instrumental he ever listened to. From the age of ten he started using a Korg drum machine to make simple drum beats. From there, he graduated to a 4-track machine and then to the MTV Music Generator for
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
. After using that for a while he hooked up with rapper
Bishop Lamont
Philip Brandon Martin (born October 31, 1978), better known as Bishop Lamont, is an American rapper from Carson, California. He was signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment record label and released one project under the label, eventually le ...
from
Carson, California
Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International Airport. Incorporated on February 20, 1968, ...
, and a song he produced for him with MTV Music Generator received local radio placement. In 2005, Sounwave was originally discovered by Top Dawg Entertainment co-founder Terrence "Punch" Henderson, who had him meet with TDE CEO, Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith. Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith was originally unimpressed with Sounwave, however, he persisted and honed his craft which ended up "blowing away" Tiffith.
Sounwave's earliest work for Top Dawg Entertainment surfaced on the self-titled ''Kendrick Lamar EP'', and Jay Rock's compilation track "Fa Sho" in 2009 and 2010 respectively. In 2011, Sounwave produced a bulk of Kendrick Lamar's mixtape/album '' Section.80'', which landed him on ''Complex''s "15 New Producers to Watch" list. He also produced three songs on Lamar's critically acclaimed second album '' Good Kid, M.A.A.D City'' (2012). Sounwave is best known for producing Kendrick Lamar's hit single "
Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe
"Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" ( edited for radio as "Trick, Don't Kill My Vibe" or simply "Don't Kill My Vibe"), is a song by American rapper Kendrick Lamar, from his major-label debut studio album ''Good Kid, M.A.A.D City'' (2012). The song, pr ...
A.D.H.D
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise Development ...
" and ScHoolboy Q's "There He Go". Then in 2014, he earned placement on Top Dawg Entertainment artist Isaiah Rashad's ''
Cilvia Demo
''Cilvia Demo'' (also referred to as ''Cilvia'') is the debut studio album by American rapper Isaiah Rashad. It was released on January 28, 2014, by Top Dawg Entertainment. The album features guest appearances from Jean Deaux and Michael Da Vinci, ...
'' and produced "Hoover Street" and "Prescription/Oxymoron" on ScHoolboy Q's ''Oxymoron''. He also is known for not significantly producing for artists outside of the Top Dawg Entertainment label, except "Finally Here" by
Flo Rida
Tramar Lacel Dillard (born September 16, 1979), better known by his stage name Flo Rida (, ), is an American rapper and singer. His 2007 breakout single " Low" was number one for 10 weeks in the United States and broke the record for digital dow ...
from his second album '' R.O.O.T.S.'' (2009). Sounwave is also credited with production on four tracks on ScHoolboy Q's fourth studio album, '' Blank Face LP''. He was a major contributor to '' Black Panther: The Album''. In 2019, Sounwave co-wrote the song "London Boy" with Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff and
Cautious Clay
Joshua Karpeh (born January 30, 1993), known professionally as Cautious Clay, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.
, produced by Swift and Antonoff, a co-production by Sounwave, for Swift's seventh studio album ''
Lover
Lover or lovers may refer to a person having a sexual or romantic relationship with someone outside marriage. In this context see:
* Sexual partner
* Mistress (lover)
* Extramarital sex
* Premarital sex
Lover or Lovers may also refer to:
Geogr ...
'' (2019).
Dave Free
David Friley, better known by the names Dave Free, Dee.Jay.Dave, or Miyatola serves as a member of Digi+Phonics, former president of Top Dawg Entertainment, a
music video director
A music video director is the head of music video production. The director conceives of videos' artistic and dramatic aspects while instructing the musical act, technical crew, actors, models, and dancers. They may or may not be in collaboration ...
and Kendrick Lamar's manager. When co-directing music videos alongside Lamar, they are collectively known as The Little Homies. Shortly after launching Top Dawg Entertainment and signing Jay Rock, Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith reached out to Kendrick Lamar's childhood friend Dave Free to serve as president and general manager of the record label. During 2004 he served as social media director of the label. By February 2006, he had been promoted to president of the TDE.
He is best known for producing Ab-Soul's song "Terrorist Threats". Recently he has been more involved with the business side of Top Dawg Entertainment rather than producing. In 2020, Free co-founded production company PGLang, alongside Lamar. On January 13, 2022, it was announced that he is going to produce an untitled film with Lamar through PGLang as well as Trey Parker and Matt Stone through Parker County, and distributed by Paramount Pictures.
Willie B
Willie Brown better known by his stage names Willie B and The Ichiban Don, is American hip hop recording artist and record producer that began producing professionally in 2006. On January 6, 2011, Willie B released a mixtape titled ''I'm Not a Producer'' hosted by DJ Age & featuring guest appearances from Jay Rock, Talib Kweli,
Busta Rhymes
Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...
Crooked I
Dominick Antron Wickliffe (born September 23, 1976), better known by his stage names Crooked I and Kxng Crooked, (stylised as KXNG Crooked and pronounced "King Crooked") is an American rapper from Long Beach, California. He is best known as a for ...
Bishop Lamont
Philip Brandon Martin (born October 31, 1978), better known as Bishop Lamont, is an American rapper from Carson, California. He was signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment record label and released one project under the label, eventually le ...
, Glasses Malone, and Kurupt. He is best known for producing Kendrick Lamar's "Ignorance Is Bliss" and "Rigamortis" from Lamar's '' Overly Dedicated'' and '' Section 80'', respectively. He has also produced Ab-Soul's "Black Lip Bastard", and ScHoolboy Q's "Gangsta in Designer (No Concept)", from his second studio album '' Habits & Contradictions'', among other songs for TDE. Outside of TDE he has produced for artists such as Freddie Gibbs,
Childish Gambino
Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (; born September 25, 1983), also known by his stage name Childish Gambino (), is an American entertainer, writer, director, and producer. After working in Derrick Comedy while studying at New York University, Glove ...
,
Wale
Wale or WALE may refer to:
Places
*Wale, Devon, a hamlet in England
*Wale, Tomaszów Mazowiecki County, a village in Poland
People
*Wale (surname)
*Wale (rapper), stage name of American rapper Olubowale Victor Akintimehin
Radio and television ...
and Apollo the Great, among others. On July 27, 2013, he released the first ever
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...