1.Whats
good family, I wanted to thank you for blessing me with this interview,
Now ive known u since 08 and I know you are dope beyond dope at your
craft hoo those who may not know who you are feel free to introduce
yourself?
2.Who are some of your infulences and what have you absorbed from their styles into your own style?
Man....where
do i start... Well, my Bro Chris Price!!!!! you Nate OG the hardest
working producer i know! no question!!! Jimi Hendrix!!! J Dilla and
Madlib ofcourse!!!!! 9th Wonder, I just started really started messing
with Kev Brown and Early read! Also became new to Watkinz da General!
Yes! The RZA, DJ House Shoes. King Coz a production duo out of houston!
Robert Glasper, Chris Dave,Derrick Hodge, Casey Benjamin, Jon Jon Webb,
Josh Webb(R.I.P) , Mint Condition,Thaddeus Tribbet, Cloud from brooklyn
has been a huge influence. ?uestlove!!! Pete Rock!! Timberland. Dr. Dre.
Nottz. Kanye up until 808's and Heartbreaks... Alchemist. MF Doom. Daru
Jones, Damu the Fudgemunk, Dana Hawkins, Shuggie Otis, Black Milk,
Flying Lotus, Tyler the Creater,
Left Brain, Q Tip, Ali Shaheed, Isaiah Sharkey, D'angelo, Pino
Palladino, Isaac Hayes, Mandrill, Steve Wonder(My parents named me after
him), James Brown... Man i can keep going all day... lol NickNoxx from
my city! Loving his work! And also my boy Demi Daygo! Met him in high
school and we been good since! Amazing artist. He helped me out alot
with getting started. Also my sister A.R.E. aka Goddess who got me in to
alot of good hip hop growing up and she the reason i started rapping.
And The 4MaT coming out of Chicago! Super Ill emcee im currently working
with. He forced me to expand as a producer. I'll leave it there for now
lol
3.The name Rekonize, how did the name come about and does it hold a special meaning?
The
name ReKoNiZe or ReK for short came about as i was heavy into rapping
in high school. I was going by Africaz Blackist Child at first but I
used the word Recognize quite often when i end a song... Like you know
how the song fading out and emcees say a couple last words. I use to
always be like... "uh huh yeah, recognize"... So i eventually started
calling my self recognize. Then one homie of mine from high school was
like instead of spelling it "Recognize, spell it Rekonize". So there it
is but i soon realized that there are alot of people going by this name
so i had to change it to ReKLisT. But most people still know me first as
Rekonize which is cool with me.
4.How long have you been a Producer/Musician not to show age but what year did you start?
I started playing drums in 1992 (i was 4 lol), self taught. I started
emceeing with my sister in middle school. i started making beats in
2004. And i taught myself guitar in 2006.
5.What was the moment or event that you decided to pursue this craft?
Like alot of producers i know, I was a
rapper first. But I needed beats. Couldnt buy none and I was tired of
taking other peoples beats so i just bought me Magix Music Maker and
started making my own beats for myself and my sister. I think when I met
Chris Price back in 07 thats when i started taking producing and being a
musician serious.
6.What is the local scene like where you reside?
7.Does the local scene affect your creative process at all?
The negative things use to effect me but i dont let it now. I try to
stay positive and create and have faith that sooner or later, this work
will pay off!
8.What is your creative process like, I am a producer as well but love hearing about the creative process?
Man... I mostly like to be alone... New vinyl or dope samples i find
online always get me motivated. i also like to have random videos on
youtube playing. Any kind of videos. Especially funny ones or dope beat
making vidz. Or a good movie or show. I do most of my work at night when
the wife and kid is sleep.
9.Wanted
to congratulate you on releaseing a dope beat tape titled "2Late" what
was your creative process for putting this and any of your releases
together and what does the title mean?
Thank
you Fam! Uh... 2Late is actually the first of a series of maybe 3 or 4
beat tapes im putting out. This first tape was basically a handful of
beats that i had been sitting on. Some beats i may have submitted to
artist that were not used and others were just beats i weren't planning
on doing anything with. I finally said, I need to just get these beats
out because i have so much work i've been sitting on. I want to get
this out and start off on a fresh new journey. The name "Too Late" is
kind've a subliminal message simply stating by the time people start to
recognize who i am in this music, it might be "too late". I may be gone.
As far as all other releases past and future... the process always
changes.
10.What are some of your current projects and where can the readers find them?
Solo Work
Find alot of beats and music at https://soundcloud.com/
Beat Hop Vol. 1 (FL,RSN Edition) '07 - 09' http://rekonizereklist.
Beat Hop SP Edition Vol. 29hunnid http://rekonize.bandcamp.com/
Forever Late Then Never (2006 - 2008) (AfricazBlackistChild) http://africazblackistchild.
Also have some beat videos and music on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/
Collaboration with Chris Price as TrUsTeD SoUnDz
Beat tapes titled Honey Bunches of Notes, #BeyondStraiteIll and more beats can be found at http://trustedsoundzmusic.
And we also have videos on youtube at http://youtube.com/
You can see some old vidz of me playing guitar http://youtube.com/
And you can see me playing drums with the ZZajj Band http://youtube.com/zzajjband
11.What are some of your future projects and which ones are you looking forward to most?
One
project im looking forward to the most is a TrUsTeD SoUnDz EP that
Chris Price and I are currently working on. Hoping to release that in
the next couple weeks.Gonna get started on A.R.E.'s project soon. Also
looking forward to The 4MaT's new Album which i have some production on.
Said to be released by the end of this year or early next year. I have
an album in the works with INF coming out of Dallas. And ofcourse, the
Too Late series of beat tapes will continue. I may put the next tape out
this week. Also, You Nate OG and I definitely have some work to do!
Also just met and talked to a Daygo Native MaxtheOne about possibly
working on some joints. Trying to
get with my Daygo fam Demi Daygo, Von Dreaam and KDoh in the future
also. So far thats all i can remember at the moment.
12.Do you represent any companies or labels if so how log have you been affiliated with them?
SmashMouthFm recently invited me in to there family! Much love to DJ
TSoul. I work with PBC(Pitch Black Creation) which include the Whole
9(The 4MaT, The 4mula, JusOne) Been workin with them since 2008.
Ofcourse Trusted Soundz Music (production duo which consist of myself
and Chris Price, officially since 2011). And ZZajj Band(a funk jazz
style band located here in San Diego, Ca. Im currently the drummer. I
joined the band back in 2008 as a back up guitarist). Hope this answers
the question lol
13.Tell us more about Trusted Sounds how did the concept come about for the brand and when was it established?
Trusted Soundz.... LoL... This goes back to 2007. My dad brought me
around his buddies funk jazz style band after i taught myself to play
guitar because he figured, with the skill i had already gained, it might
be best to expose me to other musicians And he was right. Anyways,
apart of this band was my now best friend or bro, Chris Price. We both
played drums and we both played guitar. I learned alot from him over the
years as far as general
musicianship. Over a short period of time we started realizing, we were
both in to just about the same things musically and even outside music.
J Dilla, MadLib, and Mint Condition along with alot of other dope
artist was a big connection for us seeing we were both already huge
fanatics before we even met. So from there i started sharing him music
I've made. He would introduce me to all these crazy musicians and we
just kept connecting over the years. Drum battles every week, goin out
and eatin at different spots, playing music... Over the years he would
always admire what i did with my beats the way i admired his skills as a
musician so i figured since he helped me so much, I'd encourage him to
start making beats. I knew with his interest he expressed for REAL hip
hop, and his talents with live instruments, he'd be a dope producer. So
basically I told him, "man, you needa start making beats"... He'd always
be like "na...." or like "I'll think about
it..". Lol i was determined to get him going so i bugged him and bugged
him and BUGGED HIM everytime i got the chance till finally he was like
"IGHT MAN! DAMN!!!" And from there he started doing his thing... And we
eventually decided since we was always working together with this
music, we mightest well start a duo. So from 2011, we made it official.
TrUsTeD SoUnDz was created! Been going hard ever since. And this is only
a brief history of Trusted Soundz lol.
14.What is your take on the Vinyl vs E- Digging debate?
I quote a wise man that said "If the end result is dope..no one will question it!" I couldn't agree more. Vinyl or internet, just make it touch the soul.
15.what does your lab set up consists of and how has it changed since you first started?
Ah
man, well i
started off with Magix Music Maker... it got the job done lol Then i
upgraded to Fruity Loops and Reason which is what i made Beat Hop Vol 1
with. In 2010 i picked up a Boss SP 303(such a dope machine if you use
it right). Now im mainly using my MPC 2000 OG which i copped in 2012. i
go back and fourth between Reason, the 303 and the 2k all depending on
what im doing. like when im looking to do the cleaner beats im using the
software. The 303 is more like my mess around/practice machine. Then
the 2K is like the experiment with samples type of machine. There is a
few more machines i want to get in the future once my money get up.
16.Do you have any jewels for aspiring producer and musicians?
If you got love for music, don't let no one or no situation take that
away from you. Dont let anything destroy your faith. I've fallen victim
to this many times over the years because i always would be looking for a
faster more positive response or recognition for my art. But I had to
come to realize, everything happens in due time. So now i just make my
own goals and pray to my God that i succeed. Also, no matter how
successful you get, Stay Real.
17.Do you have any special shout outs or thank yous if so feel free to do so here?
just thank God for making opportunity for me. Thank you again Nate OG
for the opportunity and thank you for being a great inspiration and
example to me. Keep up the Good work brutha! Shout to Chris Price. All
my family and friends... Im not gonna start a list cuz yall will be hear
reading for another hour lol so love everybody lol oh DJ TSoul another
man giving us huge opportunity. Thank you Brutha... ight im done LoL
18.Any final thoughts for the readers?
uh... Hip Hop aint
dead, Im Right here.... and uh... Chris... Quit Work, Make Music LOL.... Deuces!!!!
