My
music career started off on an opposite note. A completely different path. As a
child I inherited a gift passed down from my biological father. A gift to do
draw. This i was able to do by the nature in me. I can draw anything you put in
front of me. At the age of 4 I completely drew a picture of Mickey mouse from
the cartoon section in the Sunday newspaper and at that point it was my destiny.
As i got older and more advanced, i joined art clubs with all sorts of nerds that could draw their ass off, but i was on another level. My art skill were far advanced. I went to art competitions, sold drawings and paintings. One even sold for $1,500. I was just 17.
As normal with most artist you have one of those times where your creativity is not there and you can make a painting or drawing for nothing. Every idea I had wasn't good enough. Balls of scratch paper all over the place. Unfinished project ect. During those times I would tap my pen and pencil on the desk when my mind was blank to the rhythm of a beat in my head, or i would mimic a beat on the radio.
I actually started this back in my early teenage years where I would bang my fist on old junk cars and vans that my grandpa had to a beat in my head. My friends would come over to kick it and i would start doing it and we start bobbing our heads and freestyling. The beat was knocking, especially since I was banging on the hollow but sturdy part of the car. It gave it that sound I incorporate now in to my beats.
Even that originated from my mother, who is a song writer and would beat box and make rhythms with her mouth to hymns and songs she would create. She also banged on coffee tables and made her beats as i did, but my uncle was the one. He did everything with them turntables. He and some of his friends formed a hardcore rap group called "The Head Huntaz". They did shows, sold cd's. They even had me do some art work for the album cover they needed. That inspired me, but to a certain degree. So I went back to my art, what I knew best.
I remember I did my first rap skit over the beat from Genuwine's "Pony". It was a school project and I used a radio/cassette player to record my jingle for buying a fishing pole...Wack as hell. But during high school I got around some guys that were really influential. A lot of wanna-be rappers! They would draw crowds around them and they would rap battle each other. Each one with their own rapping style. As usual you had the man making the beat on the vending machine, with the beat knocking and drawing peoples attention.
He was getting tired of banging on the vending machine as the rappers kept going, but he could not stop, or it will jackup the flow of the rap battle. Looking among the crowd, I said I can do that, and i did for a little while. I met guys in school that use two pencils or pens as drum sticks and would make phat beats! The most popular beat to create was "Aaliyah's " One In A Million". I began to master that technique as i ran through lots of broken pens and pencils trying to mimic every tight beat I heard on the radio, just so I can do it in class.
Toward the end of the year, close to graduation, there was a guy who's name I can't remember anymore, that brought some beats he had made and burned on a cd. The teacher was trying to be lenient since it was the end of the school year and let him play the cd. As long as there was no profanity. As I was drawing I listened to his music. A lot of his beat were really good, and at the time I didn't pay it no mind, but i was rocking to his beat while drawing. His shit was knocking! I didn't bother to ask how he made the beats or anything cuz i was trying to be the best artist in the world.
Yet again sticking to my natural born craft. As school let out and boring summer began, I was on my computer downloading all the free hip hop music I can find using Kazaa and Napster. Viruses everywhere. One late night I thought about the guy at school who made all those dope beats, and I began to search beat making programs in Kazaa. I stumbled on Fruity Loops 3. It took three days to download a full version of the program since we had dial up. Don't laugh! Once it was finished i jumped right in with no experience at all and started making my first beat in less than two hours. I woke my sister out of bed and told her about the treasure I found, while trying to keep me and the music quiet so pop's wont wake up and start swanging on us with the belt.
From then on I perfected my craft and got better, using my basis for creating music on beat boxing and banging on things to get my sound with the Fruity Loops sounds. Doing it on my own with no videos tutorials, or any help from anyone or anything. One on one with me against Fruity Loops. One day My Uncle came over to visit the family and i showed him what i have been doing and the music i created, and he saw the talent i had from the start. The next day he came back with a better copy of Fruity Loops and Acid Pro 3.0. I was being integrated into the world of music software and i didnt even know it. Acid Pro was a challenge. It was more of a sequencing and recording program. Much different from Fruity Loops. As i mastered that, i found out how to sample with it. Using its cutting and chopping effects to manipulate another song to create a brand new one. I sampled my fist beat from a Patty Labelle song.
Later I began Chopping and Screwing songs and making a Chopped and Screwed cd. That was the thing in Houston since i was in the neighboring city of San Antonio. DJ Screw! I finally got a job and i purchased my own copy of FL Studio 6 and from there i took off. My music skill improved so dramatically! I thought i was Timbaland or something. Until I found out that Rocbattle exist. I met producers all over the world younger than me and older than me with unimaginable skills with beat making and producing. I still had some what of a big head, so i jumped right into the site. I started off as a basic member making a name for myself as one of the wackest beat makers.
Loss after loss i grew angry and fed up with beat making and wanted to persue something completly different. Especially after learning of how producers thought of me and my music. That only made me more eager to improve. As i studied other producers and battled through wins and losses, beat making had became my passion. Not only to win on that website, but to prove my self as a up and coming producer, and that i can bang with the best.
As i got better and better and winning more battles, my family noticed i was improving. My sample game was getting better, my sound selection and melodies was improving. I was making quality music. Even my uncle was asking how did i make these beats, and hes a producer himself. But i really got influenced when I decided not to chase beat making soley for the battle sake, but for the money that can be made. I started to make beats that were artist friendly, with hooks, verses all the works. Then i made my first sale. Ten dollars on rocbattle from a guy named Philly Chase. I told everyone and their moma about the sale and it didn't stop there. I sold more and more, I found other sites to sell on and before i knew it i was selling hundreds of dollars worth of beats online to all kinds of people all over the world.
I started to incorporate new styles with my own swagger and steelo. I started making my own hooks on beats and networking with all producers i came in contact with. One in general was SteadPace. After the beating i went through as a beginner producer, he told me not to stop and to keep going. I did. I got the big picture and found what i wanted to do in my life, and what my passion is. Music. It was amazing! So i can up with a name...Amazinj Muzik.
-Amazinj-
