Highlights of CTR2, Part 3: HNL & Seth Chaos

Check The Recipe 2 is my latest mixtape which features 18 musical talents from the 781 area and beyond. I'll be giving some background info on two of the people involved in CTR2 in this entry. Sit back and take in some insight on the Recipe.

Seth Chaos is a major name in the underground music scene in the Boston area. You've heard of the Six Degrees of Separation theory, right? Well, it'd be very rare for you to find someone in the Boston underground hip-hop scene who hasn't heard of Chaos. He's been working on music since the 90s and is involved in nearly all aspects of music peoduction. Rapping, vocals, DJing, filming - Seth Chaos is a man that wears many hats.

HNL has been under the learning tree of music production for years, honing his craft and coming up many different R&B beats. His earliest beat that has been released can be heard on the One Night Stand album on the track, "Comfortable". Since then, the quick study that is HNL has also lent a hand in producing the Intro track for CTR2 and single-handedly composed the beat for "Take A Walk" from the Morning After album, featuring the voices of Runna, G. Jonz and J-Dub.

One Year Ago Today

One year ago today, this happened:

July 16, 2011 - A Night Out With Sunspot:

Since then, we released The Morning After and now, we're getting ready for the next evolution in G. Jonz production. A new mixtape compilation: Check The Recipe 2.

We're bringing hip-hop. We're bringing R&B. We're bringing pop. We're bringing new material from artists like The Right Hook, Runna, P.O.E.S. and The In$idaz. We're bringing artists that are working with Sunspot for the first time such as Balán Braxton and Mara Bettencourt.
Also, we got surprises... PLENTY OF SURPRISES!!

Tuesday, July 31st is the date - GET READY FOR A HOTTER SUMMER!!

Some Music Insight and Reflection

As I prep the finishing touches to Check The Recipe 2, I was listening to songs from the Morning After album. It's always a fun challenge producing songs. This is especially the case with R&B and pop. The artists, writers and producers must pay attention to differing cadences, levels for all singers, finding the right keys for harmonies and layers... It's a lot to juggle.

Let me be clear, this is NOT me complaining about the song-creation process. As challenging as it is to make all the elements work in a song, it's also one of the best parts. When deciding what to add/not to add to a song, certain thoughts float around:

"Will the audience understand the point I'm making when they hear this line?"

"Ooh! I can't wait until they get to THIS point of the song! They're gonna be ROCKIN to that!"

"When [insert a specific person in your audience] hears this, she's never gonna think about Oreos the same way! Ha!"

Creative juices are pumping from the moment the first kick drum is inserted into a project file to make a beat, to the writing, to the recording, all the way to the final listen of the song. It's an adrenaline rush!

Check The Recipe 2 is going to be amazing. I promise you that! A promo vid will be up shortly, but for now, listen to the song that inspired me to write this blog: "Milky Way" from 2011's The Morning After by Runna & Right Hook.

Sneak Peek Beat 2

Sneak Peek Beats are exclusive clips of music that I will occasionally "leak" just because I find something unique about them. They could be beats, they could be incomplete songs. Check the backstory to find out what they're all about... Also, the music that's posted will be up for a limiited amount of time. The post will remain on the blog, however.

The backstory:
I've always wanted to sample, but I'm not very good at it (yet). At the same time, I LOVE the Resident Evil video game series, RE2 in particular. No, I don't own every iteration of the series, but I do think RE2 is a classic.

The music, in particular, has a unique way of adding to the story. The Save Room theme, especially, had an uncommon quality about it where it would be calming because you knew your character was safe. At the same time, the dark piano chords would be played in such a way that it reminded the player that, eventually, you'd have to leave the safety of that room, and go back out into the nightmarish world of Raccoon City.

The Save Room Theme
In order to sample this theme, I asked Seth Chaos for help. It wasn't long before I got a cool loop of the song. I added drums to complete the beat... After we listened to it a few times, Chaos got the wild idea to add the acapella from a Craig David song... Yes, THAT Craig David... As in "7 Days" Craig David.

Ladies and gentlemen, take some time and listen to the Resident Evil remix of "Fill Me In," produced by Seth Chaos and G. Jonz!

Hold up. Hold up. Whoa dere... What happened to Sneak Peek Beat 1?
The first Sneak Peek Beat was released exclusively on the G. Jonz Facebook Page. Like it and be a part of the fun and see sexy pictures... of me. LAWL.

Favorite Summer Jams

I hope everyone reading this is having a great summer! Enjoy a few of my all-time favorite summer jams! (in no particular order)

Aaliyah - Back and Forth
Even though this list is randomized, I HAD to put this track first. Every time I think of summer, I think of those initial squealing guitar sounds that kick that song off before "Let me see ya go back!" Aaliyah's first single always brings me back to the great summers of the 90s.



Lauren Hill - Doo Wop (That Thing)


Justin Timberlake - Last Night


J. Holiday - Be With Me
This should've been one of the summer smashes of 2006. Unfortunately, it didn't even make a blip on the Billboard Top 100 charts. Odds are, you probably don't know this song and think that Holiday's first single was "Bed." It's still a cool, laid-back jam, though.



Janet Jackson - All For You


New Edition - Hot Tonite

(They need to come out with another album.)

Jagged Edge - Where the Party At

Both the original and remix videos are fun to watch. I couldn't decide which one to post, so I decided on neither :)


2011 has a good start with Chris Brown's "She Ain't You," Beyonce's "Run the World," "Give Me Everything" with Pitbull & Ne-Yo and "Dirty Dancer" with Enrique Iglesias, Usher and Lil Wayne. What are your favorite summer jams?



Fresh Prince DJ Jazzy Jeff - Summertime by oublierleracismeskyblog
You didn't think the list would end without this, did you?

A Taste of My Past Concoctions

"Huntin For The Game" is one of my favorite tracks, performed by P.O.E.S., J-Dub & Blak C. I produced this for my debut mixtape album, Check The Recipe.


I believe this is Sunspot's first music video. Bounce Back by C.Luk - produced by me.