The comments made by Curtis Jackson (a.k.a 50 Cent) preceding the release of his latest album, “Curtis,” indicate that he’s stressed out. His big talk about halting recording if Kanye West beat him in sales just shows that America’s favorite Candy Shop gangster feels threatened by his “non-confrontational” teddy bear friend.
One look at the album photograph gives the impression that he’s been pulling all-nighters for months working on a dissertation in hip-hop dominance. Is this a plea for sympathy? Yes, probably.
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Last year, the Yale hip-hop scene was defined by the over-the-top lyrics and antics of rap group 108 Tongues, whose song “Fuck Harvard” generated massive backlash across the Ivy League community, leading some to conclude that
hip-hop simply could not be done at Yale. As the new school year begins, however, two members of the class of 2010 are quietly pursuing careers in the hip-hop industry. Ben Ogilvy, of Boston, and Ben Flores, of Idaho, draw from similar artistic influences and have both dealt with the awkward problems that
come with being white middle-class males making music that is deeply rooted in African-American culture. scene&heard sat down with Ogilvy and Flores to discuss their creative processes, the lackluster Yale music scene, and the transition from being a hip-hop fan to being a hip-hop musician.
Sophomore Ben Flores, hailing from Moscow, Idaho, may have only been seriously interested in hip-hop for four years, but in that time he has turned from casual fan to serious listener to self-made MC/producer. His beats are made from far-ranging samples: he’s drawn inspiration from Modest Mouse, nursery rhymes (”Mary Had a Big Old Motherfuckin’ Beat”) and public service announcements. He collaborates with other Yale musicians and is looking to release an album sometime this year. He talked to scene&heard about the jump from listening to hip-hop to making it, the lackluster Yale music scene and the “Fuck Harvard” controversy.
S&H: When did you first get turned onto hip-hop?
Flores: I was first turned onto hip-hop when I heard DJ Dangermouse’s “Grey Album,”…so when I was in tenth grade. I listened to hip-hop before that but strictly what was played on the radio. It wasn’t one of my favorite genres. I really liked the Beastie Boys before that, but I didn’t really have any interest in creating [hip-hop]. I’ve been in a couple bands before, so I got into it as a joke…with a couple friends, and I made a beat entirely out of loops on Garage Band and we wrote a song, the three of us fancying ourselves after the Beastie Boys. It was ridiculous. We made a video for it, my friend was wearing my fur jacket, I had basketball clothing on, my other friend was wearing a clock around his neck. We called ourselves Thug Conspiracy — just a mockery you know? As we started to do more songs which I created the beats for and did all the writing for…we started to get more creative with our patterns and what not. I was genuinely interested in the form as opposed to seeing it as an easy way to channel comedy. I started to treat it seriously.
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Scene&Heard: What is Ghost Notes?
Ogilvy: We’re a production team. Basically, we make beats for rappers. We officially began in the summer of 2005, but before then my cousin and I had played music together for a long time. He’s about to finish his masters in piano performance at Wesleyan, and I’ve drummed for jazz and rock combos for most of my life. So far, we’ve made beats for local rappers and some people on the LA underground hip-hop scene. Of Mexican Descent used one of our beats for their song “All Turn Native.” It’s on our MySpace.
S&H: What kind of music do you make?
O: We make hip-hop. We aim for classic-sounding, jazzy, worn-in, gritty hip-hop, and we work only with samples. Only by sampling old records can you get the crackly, old funk sound that we want. Records have their own character and you cannot mimic it. You have to let the things age. Basically, we sit down at a computer and turntables. We go to a stack of records, pick one out, put the needle down until we find something we like, either texturally or melodically, and then we record it into a computer. That’s sampling. Slowly we layer and build-up these sounds into a beat. We make hip-hop from a jazz and soul grounding. We make driving beats. We sample because we want it to sound as if the dust has settled on the records.
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