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.

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.