A Whole New Brand of Hip Hop

When an artist is a well-oiled, one man machine, getting signed to a big label should be a cakewalk, right? Wrong! Well, kinda. David E. Beats has been on his grind since he was about 16 years old, when he got into his first fight that launched the song that got him attention from Interscope. When he uploaded the song onto Myspace & Soundclick, he had no idea that it would get such major attention. But that wasn’t David’s big break because his mom turned the deal down. She wanted her son to finish school, but that didn’t stop David from doing all the footwork to make his dream work. He later moved to the Bronx—the birthplace of hip hop—so that he could makes things happen for his career. These days every hip hop artist seeks authenticity. So that means David is competing against all types of hip hop. Wanting to make sure he stood out, while staying true to himself, David taught himself to play the guitar & hopes that his hip hop will be as embraced as Kid Cudi, Drake & all the other members of the freshman class of hip hop that have since graduated into mainstream. Boasting credits as a producer, rapper & guitarist, I don’t think David’s going to have a problem breaking the mainstream barrier. The multitasking up & comer took time from his overbooked schedule to chat with Chronic about his new album, Souljah Boy & this brand new musical genre that he places himself in. Get acquainted folks because this guitar-playing hip hop artist ain’t going nowhere!

-Danielle Young

What are you working on right now?

At this moment, I’m trying to practice. I don’t have too much time to practice guitar. Overall, I am promoting my new album that’s coming out this month called Exit. It has a song called, “Over Here” on it. A guy from France directed the video. That’s what I’ve been working on. I am prepping another freestyle mixtape because I love rap so much. I want to rap all day.

What made you decide to produce Exit all on your own?

Because I’m a producer. [laughs] I was always a rapper first, but a lot of people don’t know that I started out battle rapping at school. The whole production thing came out of necessity. People sucked at making beats, so I decided to make my own beats. I produced all my projects in the lab, which was just freestyle over industry beats. Usually 90% of what you hear me on, I’ve produced. I’m playing guitar throughout the album; essentially, it’s on some new-new. There’s a lot of hot tracks on it. It’s a concept album, telling a story from the first song to the last.

What about your freestyle mixtape?

People keep getting me confused. They’re always saying I make beats & they always come at me as a producer. I’m like, “the beat’s for me. I made it for myself.” I made a freestyle mixtape just to show people that I can actually rap as well. Plus, I had a lot of freestyles & beats hanging around from a year ago. I figured I might as well put it to use.

So you’re a producer because you’re self sufficient, basically.

Pretty much. I’ve been living on my own since I was 17. I’m kind of like on some “Independent Woman” shit, except I’m a man. The guitar came in because I was interested in it & I was always into playing an instrument. I took music theory in college & I was playing piano a little bit. I’m still not that great at piano playing; I play when I’m in the house. I don’t perform with trying to play the piano. I wanted to be on stage rocking out with my cock out & all of that. I copped a guitar & had it sitting on the wall for a year. It’s kind of hard at first, then after a while, I was interested again & went hard on it. I practiced three or four hours a day for everyday for a few years. Now, I’m at the point I can go off on stage & do solos. [sings a guitar riff]

Being that you are so multitalented, what do you consider yourself first—rapper, producer?

I don’t know. I see myself as both. That’s like asking a mom which child she likes the most. [laughs] It’s equal.

What do you think your sound is?

My sound is dope son, that’s all you need to know. [laughs] I coined a term for it. It’s called New Vogue.—V-O-G-U-E. I put Drake & Kid Cudi in this category too because what we’re doing is not just rapping anymore. Hip hop is evolving into a more musical thing. It’s not enough to have a beat with a lot of chops in it or to have some crazy underground sound [beatboxes]. They’re looking for something more musical. I don’t know if you noticed, but if you read the credits in Kid Cudi’s album, but that whole album was scored by an orchestra. I went to the secret listening & I was looking through the track listing & listening & I was like, ‘Yo! That shit sounds crazy!’ I looked through the credits & the whole album, instead of “Make Her Say” & “Day & Night” were scored by an orchestra. That just goes to show you why his album is doing well right now.

Since you created this new category & there are other artists in it, do you feel there is a return to real instruments & music?

Yes! [laughs] My mentor told me way before I started playing guitar, the reason that I will be big is because my music sounds so live. There is so much emotion in it. Even if it is sampled or if I program a song, it sounds like I have a real drummer. I’ve had people ask me who my drummer is, but 90% of my beats are sampled anyway. I don’t know I think music—even pop music—if you listen to it, pop music is amazingly musical nowadays. If you go to Japan & Europe, music is crazy. If you go overseas, their pop music is crazy. I think America is catching up to what the rest of the world is doing with musicality in their music.

I feel like the music industry is one of those things that lives up to the cliché that there is nothing new under the sun because things gets sampled, recycled & reused. What do you feel like it is that you’re able to bring to the industry that’s going to be fresh & new?

Even me, I’m not bringing anything new. I play blues, so blues isn’t anything new. A black guy playing the guitar is definitely not new because black people are the ones that created blues & jazz. At the end of the day, I’m not really bringing anything new, but I am bringing something new to hip hop. I’m bringing an instrument to hip hop. It’s hard to explain, but the industry is all about familiarity. They want the artists that they sign to be familiar. They don’t want to risk a lot of money because rappers are very expensive to sign & promote because rap is the biggest market in the world. Signing a rap act is not like signing a rock & roll act where you can market that rock & roll act to that niche. Signing a rap act, you have to market it to the world. That takes millions of dollars & that’s why they’re not really trying to sign any experimental rap groups or acts like that. You’ve really got to go out there & prove that your stuff is a hit before they’ll even take a chance on you. That’s why they tend to put out the same things because they know what to expect when they put out that type of act.

Are you signed now?

No, I’m trying to get signed, that’s how I know all of this.

Are there any solid leads or are you still shopping?

I am. I’ve been talking to a few labels. I am looking for a recording studio. The one thing—the one criticism I keep hearing is that my mix is not radio-ready. I already have rotations & I am already on the radio, but in order to get on Hot97 & the bigger broadcasts, my music needs to be mixed & mastered. In order for me to get on that next level, I need to get my sound game right. If that was together, you’d be interviewing a signed artist right now.

These days it doesn’t seem to matter because there’s so much buzz & hype you can create on your own on Twitter, Myspace & all the other promotional sites…

Pretty much. I mean, I have one of the greatest gifts in the music industry & it’s called publicity. [laughs] Publicity is very important. I just got the HipHopDX.com’s Next Big Thing. I was on the front page of HipHopDX.com. I’m on XXL.com. I’m everywhere! You don’t have to be signed to do things.

I know you’re from the DC area. When I think about DC & music, I think about go-go music. I know Wale is from that area & he incorporates a lot of that go-go sound into his music. Do you?

Actually on Exit, there is one go-go track—the second track. Just one. I don’t really do go-go like that. Growing up, I liked it, but Wale is already riding with it. I don’t want to be looked at like a Wale wannabe. [laughs] He’s doing his thing with the go-go. Everybody & I mean everybody was doing go-go tracks after that. Not me. I want to stand out. All my friends were on go-go tracks. Everybody came to me asking me to hook them up with go-go beats.

As a young producer, who do you look up to musically, since you go across genres & have so many talents—rapper, guitarist, producer?

I look up to everybody, literally because at the end of the day, people always talking about their “Top Five Dead or Alive,” I feel like in music it’s impossible to have a Top 5. Tastes always change. One minute someone is going to be rapping harder or hotter than the next person. I feel you can learn things from anybody—Soulja Boy—there’s a reason why people like him. Instead of hating on him, you need to figure out why does everyone like him, what is he doing? He’s doing something right that I’m not doing, so I need to study what he’s doing.

If that’s the type of career you want. Souljah Boy is typically known as a ringtone rapper & often thought of as corny…

That’s true. I’m not talking about copying his swag, but what is he doing that’s better than me? Basically, the whole concept behind it, is something that I’d employ even with making beats. At the end of the day when I was learning to make beats, I didn’t just single people out; I studied the masters & the losers. You need to find out why they’re losing. Now, I know what not to do. [laughs] Look at Kanye West—he shows you what to do & what not to do; how to act & how not to act. Every person has flaws, but there’s a reason why people are on top & you have to find out that reason.

To be on top in music, most times you have to compromise yourself in order to make sure you’re marketable & able to be played on the radio…

One thing I learned about that on my way up is that me seeing these guys try to make a hit—it never works. The best thing you could possibly do is never compromise yourself. I learned that in New York City. It’s the kind of place that will make you do all kinds of things to get what you want, until you realize that the only thing you had to do was just be you, you know? You would have gotten there no problem. The way that I am—me & my team—we go hard on everybody. At the end of the day, I’m a hip hop artist that plays guitar. A lot of people don’t want that in their shows because they’re not too sure how it’ll turn out. We go hard on it. I can’t put the guitar & crazy beats away & break out some crunk beats & do what everyone wants me to do. That’s not me. The industry will love you—just like Soulja Boy—he never compromised who he was. He didn’t go in the studio & try to be gangsta. He stuck to his guns & kept making [corny] hits. [laughs] At the end of the day, he’s a millionaire & I’m not. [laughs] That’s why he’s on top because is Souljah Boy. He isn’t anybody else; he didn’t pull a Bow Wow, he didn’t copy anyone or take anyone’s swag. Soulja Boy is Soulja Boy & everybody who hated on him is now coming back to him apologizing & fucking with him. You got to show people that you’re you.

In your quest to prove yourself in the industry, what challenges have you faced thus far?

Just basically people who work at labels—A&R & so-called secretaries that like to pose as A&R at meetings, they love to tell me that I’m not marketable, look too much like Kid Cudi, I should do something more like 50 Cent, blah blah blah. I’ve been told a lot of things. If that’s true indications, there would have never been a Kanye. If that’s truly the case, Kid Cudi wouldn’t have a hit right now. If you’re telling me that I’m not hot, you’re telling me that Drake’s not hot. These are people that I resemble. If you think of me, you think of these folks—I am in kind of in their lane. I know I have crazy hits. At the end of the day, that’s the only problem I’ve seen. These hip hop guys are trying to tell me that I’m not hip hop or rap. Yet, all the white folks tell me I’m awesome & great & invite me to shows. Am I hip hop at the end of the day? I don’t know. I do know I have hits.

Who have you gotten a chance to work with in your career?

As of now, I’ve worked with Lyricist out of DC; he just got signed to Inner Loop Records—a local label down in DC. He’s about to go on tour with XO—Wale’s boy & some other folks. I produced on the mixtape that got him signed, called The Day Job. I got two beats on that. I used to do work with my boy Phil Ade. He just got signed to Raheem DeVaughn’s label. He’s famous in New York. I produced him until he got signed to Raheem DeVaughn’s label & we’ve been out of touch because he’s been traveling crazy. Other than that, I have a credit on Ryder MC; he’s signed to Strange Music—that’s Judah’s music label. He’s a major, super producer down there in DC. That’s about it so far. Those are my biggest placements. Everything else is local folks in DC.

Who do you want to work with?

Any & everybody. I’m not picky. I’d love to work with everybody; people that I think are crazy & dope. I’m always trying to collab & do stuff with folks. That’s about it, you know? I just got off the phone with my homie Da Illz & I’m trying to lock down a track with him. I’m supposed to be doing a track for Khalil Kash.

What do you see your music going?

Platinum. [laughs] That’s it.

Is there anything you feel you didn’t get to say or wanted to let people know? Did I miss anything?

I’m about to put the single, “Over Here” on iTunes. The video is out. Check out www.DavidEBeats.com, www.Twitter.com/DavidEBeats. I have a group on Facebook called David E Beats Blvd that you can join, have fun, talk about me, get all the pictures of me & celebrities. That’s it.