K-Murdock
Music Producer, Audio Engineer & Sound Designer
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Bio
- "I Am, I Be"I am K-Murdock and I be from that suburb right outside of NW, Washington, D.C. called Silver Spring, Maryland. I grew up during the "88-97 golden era" of hip-hop and credit my late uncle, Melvin Lindsey, with initially piquing my interest in music, even though it was my older cousins who helped me fall in love with hip-hop artist/Native Tongue members A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. Even today, after 20 years, both groups are still my perennial favs!!Inspired by the jazz and soul samples ATCQ frontman Q-Tip and producers like Dj Premier and Pete Rock were flipping in the 90s, coupled with a longtime and still unexplained predilection for all things Eastern (specifically anime and videogames), I got serious about music and sound creation during my freshman year of college at Howard University where i majored in Audio production. Now, 10 years and lotsa beats later... I have been able to forge my NEOSONIC productions using my trusty MPC 2000XL and pretty much anything I can sample from (records still being my first choice).I have been producing hip-hop for the last 7 years as 1/2 of the tandem Panacea, yet my prod credits also range from an eclectic amalgam that dabbles in "neo-soul", jazz-funk, electronica and even prog rock! I also co-host the radio show Subsoniq, which focuses on playing and promoting progressive hip-hop music.Albeit, I do a lot of different things regarding music, I've never been a fan of labels that often categorize and pigeonhole artists, so when it comes down to it, I'd rather be classified as a "MUSIC producer", who happens to be deeply rooted in the culture of HIP-HOP. Beats, Rhymes, & Life...K
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Info
- SummaryI am a producer/engineer involved in any and everything pertaining to audio. My passion and background are rooted in urban music (Hip-Hop, R&B) but I can respect any genre that pushes the art of sound creation forward. Ultimately, after I have accumulated enough experience in my own musical travels, my goal is to then teach what I have learned to the next generation of burgeoning producers & engineers, in hopes of inspiring more progression as well as a continued preservation for the art.Specialties: Music production & engineering - Audio editing - Radio imaging - Broadcast & Studio recordingExperience
- Apr 2010 - PresentOwner / Neosonic Productions LLCI produce and engineer recorded music- primarily for my own record label, however, over the last 10 years under the banner of my company, I have also lent my music production services to an assortment of both independent and major recording artists & labels, including Grammy-nominated singer Raheem Devaughn and the "legendary" Rawkus Records.
- Jun 2001 - Nov 2008Production Director / XM Satellite RadioI helped architect the imaging or audio "ear candy" for a wide array of XM's channels, including: Classic Hip-Hop ("The Rhyme"), Traditional Jazz ("Real Jazz") and Underground Dance ("The Move"). In conjunction with XM, I also produced special programming for legendary artists such as Quincy Jones, Wynton Marsalis and The Dave Matthews Band. Occasionally, I would even travel as a road producer assisting in the live broadcast of events such as: Bonnaroo, The MTV VMAs and The BET Awards.
Education-
1997 - 2001Howard UniversityBachelors in Communications (Audio Production)
Activities: WHBC 830am
Additional Information-
Websites:
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Honors:Former signed artist of the legendary Hip-hop label Rawkus Records (2006 - 2008) 2005 Red Bull Music Academy Participant (Seattle; Session #2)
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Answered
- Who provided the female vocals for Walk in the Park?Her name is Thao Nguyen, she like us at the time was a burgeoning artist from VA- a folk rock singer with a crazy voice. Don't really keep in contact now but she really made the song.Asked by Formspring Jan 28, 12
- Where'd you get the armor/hood for your skyrim ezio? :)Armor is The nights gale armor obtained thru the theives guild quests & the hood I hit from killing one of the dark brotherhood members.Asked by Formspring Jan 15, 12
- k, my beats are in need of scratches, do you know of anyone that can do scratches for me and ill pay them, i try looking locally but didnt find nothing! :/I got someone in mind, please email me through my website http://flavors.me/Neosonix and i'll set u up!Asked by Formspring Jan 12, 12
- yo k, last year you rereleased the ink is my drink album, are you stil going forward to do that to the scenic route? really want my hands on that album!!Yup, 2k12 marks the 5 year anniversary, so it'll be by spring ;)Asked by Formspring Jan 11, 12
- Who won that Neosonic Productions contestThe "What's progressive hip-hop?"-one.A guy named Donovan Harrell but it was close, s literally there was no wrong answer but his was a good balance of speaking on the importance of hip-hop's past and looking at it's future and still came off very personal as i know the phrase means something unique to us all!Asked by Formspring Jan 06, 12
- Why do not you record a track with mc of cyne (Cise star)?Working on doing more music with both Coae Starr as an individual artist & CYNE, big fan of them.Asked by Formspring Dec 23, 11
- Yo, K, got this chick coming over tomorrow. Which of your beats do you recommend to get her in the mood?LOL! Wow, now thats a question i have never gotten. But i'd say either Panacea "A Walk in the Park", the song "Love with U: off my solo project DECADEnse or the track "225 Earth Days" off The Ebony Bed side project;) Good luck!Asked by Formspring Dec 22, 11
- why does my friend vocals sound like they are just on top of a beat and not blended well into the beat, is that where mixing comes along?Yes sir, u nailed it, its all in the mix; it make world of difference to know how to make all the separate elements blend to make one uniformed song/sound ;)Asked by Formspring Dec 15, 11
- I heard that Chrono Trigger was one of your favorite games. Did you ever get a chance to play Chrono Cross? It was the sequel to it def one of my favs great storyline.Yeah man, never finished it but definitely played and saw the famous switch, what a twist! Plus i like how there were subtle allusions to other characters from the prior game like Magus.Asked by Formspring Dec 15, 11
- What's your favorite song right now?Ocean Dance by the homies @Substizzle & @marcusd bka @BopAlloy it's a gr8 summertime joint for the winter!Asked by Formspring Dec 15, 11
- are you still selling those Panacea shirts?Gonna have fresh ones in the store top of the year. Check the forever Famicom one we have ;)Asked by Formspring Nov 17, 11
- your work in panacea has completely changed my life. do you know if you will be touring in that group any time soon?Yes. Myself & @rawpoetic are currently discussing a brand new live performance setup for 2k12 to promote our next record. Looking to do some shows with the homie @Megaran too. So indeed it's on the dockets homie. ;)Asked by Formspring Nov 16, 11
- I know you listened to lots of 90's hip hop and jazz for influences, but I was wondering, do you listen to any electronica for influence as well?More classic electronic music from the 70s via Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra and Tomita.. and especially Vangelis. I ike more experiemental stuff than the genre "electronica" per say. So much hip-hop is blended with electronic style and dubstep that is become more relevant in pop music.Asked by Formspring Nov 04, 11
- When sample tracks from video games and soul music how do you deal with the copy right stuff?I tend to not sweat that stuff as much as much for what i do is so under-the-radar, however, i have gravitated toward sampling less "blatant" stuff moving forward as it can really hamstring you when u try and license music!Asked by Formspring Nov 04, 11
- What's your favorite day of the year?Christmas as its become the one time of year I can see all of my family. As I've gotten older and off on my own, being around loved ones & my younger cousins really makes that a special day!Asked by Formspring Oct 25, 11
- Have you ever thought about posting video game walkthroughs/commentary on YouTube?I barely have time to play games anymore but think I could make some entertaining commentaries on games I play, some of the crazy shit do in games like Fallout or Halo would be hilarity.Asked by Formspring Oct 22, 11
- Do you ever write any flows?Gave up writing years ago in college as I work with too many talented emcees like @rawpoetic & @megaran plus my heart is in making beats & producing.Asked by Formspring Oct 22, 11
- What is the radio host "skit" all about at the end of Orange Penicillin? Where is it from and what is it's relevance to that song specifically if any?It's my late uncle speaking at the Beginning & end of the song. it's relevant as he was the reason I got into radio which was my gateway to music. He's a true inspiration. He passed of AIDS when I was 12 and I wanted to honor his memory as the song Orange Penicillin is dedicated to fallen friends & family we loved so we have the song end with him signing off from the radio show he hosted for 9 years- yhe quiet storm was it's name which us why there's the rainy interlude segue into his outro- all to pay homage.Asked by Formspring Oct 13, 11
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- Shouts to the homie @Jojo313 for the shirt from Panama homie! I got the best fans I tell ya! http://t.co/IUR5yXKU
- Audio: http://t.co/6VPVmQJc
- Finishing the bonus tracks 4 #HeroMuzik in time 4 CD release nxt week! Includes Gogo, Umaro & Kefka's themes
- I liked a @YouTube video http://t.co/oz7wbjK1 Willie Evans Jr. | Introducin'
- Make sure u leave a "Like" on the Neosonic Productions Facebook fan page (http://t.co/SzMBNbBw)
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Posts
- Jan 31, 12Without a doubt my favorite Final Fantasy game EVER was number 6, which was actually the 3rd iteration released here in the States back in '94. I'll never forget how my grades tanked sophomore year of high school as i couldn't get enough of exploring the Worlds of Balance & Ruin and amassing a motley crew of characters in my party of heroes! So, it's really no surprise that after the homie Random dropped Black Materia last year, which was his tribute to his favorite of Square Enix's flagship RPG franchise, that i feel compelled and inspired to do the same...
I decided in an effort to re-spark my creation of instrumental projects to make this my new series where i could take the character themes from my favorite RPGs and flip remixes, and thus we have Hero Muzik! Volume 1 naturally had to be based on the aforementioned FF6, as one of the reasons i chose it to kick-off the series was because there were 14-playable characters and i figured that would make for a longer album- especially compared to every installment since where the hero totals max out after 6 (smh). And boy, was this a labor of love as some of the characters music (i. e. Terra, Shadow & Setzer) was WAY more ripe for sampling/remixing than others (e.g. Strago, Mog & Umaro), BUT i love a challenge and in the end i'm very proud of what i did, as my ultimate goal was to pay homage to Nobuo Uematsu's original score while still putting my "neosonic" touch on these classics...
If Final Fantasy-themed beats aren't your thing, all good as its an acquired taste, but you can still download a FREE song off the album HERE! Also, if you DO manage to check out the album, i'd love to hear your feedback so please drop me a line on the Neosonic Facebook Fan page. Again, special shouts to the homie Random aka Mega Ran for encouraging me to do this album and stay tuned for more Hero Muzik!
K - Jan 11, 12
Salutations party people and a belated "Happy New Year"! I been pretty dormant on my production blog, and even my production in 2k11... was so busy touring with the home Random that i had my lowest beat output in 10 years! So that was my #1 new year's resolution in terms of music- make LOTS of new beats, which subsequently means MORE projects! Already, I'm off to a nice start and felt like i should share with you loyal fans what exactly you can expect from me & Neosonic Productions in 2012, so here we go...
1. Hero Muzik Vol. 1 - I came up with an excuse to do another instrumental series as i was slacking in 2k11, and the idea behind this one is flipping the themes of the protagonists of some of my favorite RPGs; The first volume will feature the music of the 14 heroes of Final Fantasy 6 (which was 3 here in the States). The title spawned from the song myself & Ran did in 2k10 called "Hero Muzik", where i flipped Link's theme from Zelda 2; Listen & download the FREE instrumental of the song below! My fave of the FF series was #6 mainly due to it having the most playable characters of all the installments (thus far), so look out for that at the end of this month dropping alongside the remixes to Random's classic Black Materia album, which will be celebrating it's 1 year anniversary on 1/31.K-Murdock - "Hero Muzik" (Instrumental) by Neosonix 2. The "Beats From The East" EP - This FREE EP was inspired by my recent trip to Japan as part of the "More B.A.R.K. Less Bitin' Tour". It will be another instrumental project featuring me flipping songs from some of my favorite Japanese-born musicians who have influenced me and i'm releasing this in conjunction with one of my favorite music sites who is known for their promotion of dope hip-hop around the world- The Find Magazine. Look for that later this winter too ;) 3. "Net-works" - Announced last fall, "Net-works" will be another collaborative project i'm doing with yet another one of my favorite music websites- WordisBond.com. Shouts to the whole WIB staff for essentially acting as A&Rs by recruiting a glut of DOPE emcees, singers & poets which will all be featured over my production for this project that will drop top of Spring. It's similar to my album Piano-rama in that it'll showcase an array of styles, but BIGGER! The name of the project derived from the idea that the majority of indie music WORK these days is done via the interNET, plus via networking, i have been able to expand my sound globally and look forward to continue that by partnering with forward-thinking sites like WIB! 4. Panacea - Midnight Morning Africa - Yes, myself & Raw Poetic are STILL together as we are in pre-production mode for our 6th studio album after a year hiatus making music! We dropped the free track "The Prelude" (below) last fall to whet you all's appetites and also plan on hitting the road (hopefully) again in 2k12 to better promote MMA. Not much to report yet about this album as we usually keep tight-lipped but i think it'll be our best effort yet as both myself and especially Raw P have grown individually as artist, so collectively we'll be that more potent as Panacea ;) If i had to speculate however, i'd say this new album may be surfacing sometime in the summer/fall.. and on vinyl!Panacea - "The Prelude" by Neosonix 5. Mega Ran & K-Murdock - SEGA-City - Last but not least, myself & Ran will be closing out the year with the follow-up to our 2010 collaborative project Forever Famicom as we are doing a whole album flipping some of Sega's classics that range from the 8-bit master system to the Dreamcast! We will both be holding open voting on our forums this spring to see what games you would like to hear flipped on the project and we have some pretty fresh ideas for packaging the album once it's done. Admittedly, i've always been a little more partial to SEGA (as the underdog) so i anticipate this album to be epic & a solid compliment to FF. So that's it... for now. I do plan on continuing some of my other series in the future too, a la iMANGANAtion & the Mood Muzik series, so who knows, but i can say for sure that these aforementioned projects will all be 100% sureshot Neosonic releases this year! Speaking of which, I have made the Facebook fan page for Neosonic Productions the primary site for info on me & the label, BUT have some BIG plans for a more interactive site in the works... i call it my Kosmetropolis... stay tuned! K - Dec 28, 11
Hey guys & gals, here's the latest episode of SS Instros... hopefully i can try and get back on track with an episode EVERY month in 2k12... fingers crossed ;)
AND to all my fellow beat-makers/producers, please make sure to join the Soundcloud group i started- "The Instru-mentalists".K - Nov 22, 11
I'M BACK!!! Actually been back for a few weeks and trying to catch up after 8 weeks away is a mutha!@#$%, but one thing that happened while i was out on the road was my Soundcloud inbox was overflowing with new music! So naturally in an effort to "catch-up' on episodes, i am planning 3 more for the remainder of the year including this November one! As usual, you download the episode from the Subsoniq website HERE!
Also, i just stared a group for all my Soundcloud using producers to streamline the process of sharing songs for consideration for future episodes AND to build a community for my fellow beat-makers to share amongst themselves in hopes of stimulating more creativity! It's called the "Instru-mentalists" and anyone can join & share original instros! You can also share beats via the dropbox i added to this blog's sidebar--->
K - Oct 28, 11
Wassup yall, apologies on the lack of posts up here the last couple weeks! If you didn't know im on my first major tour since 2006 when Panacea toured with Brand Nubian... remind me to tell you stories about that some other time ;) Right now i'm in the midst of a 44-date tour along with the homie Random aka Mega Ran opening for Nerdcore artist/Adult swim voxover actor MC Chris in support of his "Race Wars Tour". Time to do anything but drive, perform and sleep is at a premium so excuse me if i i'm erratically posting while on the road.
In the world of production, i definitely wanted to let u know about myself & Ran's latest and final installment of our Forever Famicom DLC series. We released it digitally the day before we left for tour last Monday and are taking pre-orders for the CD copies- replete with exclusive artwork & the song's instrumentals! Find out more about it HERE!
BTW- i just posted up myself & Ran's first video blog update (above) so you can hear more about what the hell we been up to on the road the last week! Lastly, PLEASE keep the "Likes" comin' on the Neosonic Productions Facebook fan page so i can drop my next remix... remember the faster we get to 1,000 Likes, the sooner my FREE remix album Champlooed will be out!
See you in a city near you... http://neosonicprod.com/events
K - Aug 31, 11Back in 2k7, when yours truly & Panacea were signed to our first record deal on Glow in The Dark Records, we had label-mates called The Project that consisted of 3 emcees from Harlem, NY. Their first single off their debut release The Truth Today paid homage to the dance crazy that was sweeping the country at the time, The Light Feet, which is better showcased (in the video below) than me tryin' to explain it, lol...
So yeah, i dug the song and wanted to show label love by doing this remix which i dubbed the "Come on Feet" version, replete with samples from Madlib's song of the same name off the classic Quasiomoto album!The Project - The Light Feet (Come on Feet Remix) by Neosonix
Unfortunately, though both the fellas in the group & the label acknowledged they liked the remix, as with many of the remixes i have done, it just didn't merit release at the time, so here we are now with this as the 3rd free download of the "1,000 Likes" campaign we got going at Neosonic Productions. If you are curious as to what happened to The Project, the only one from the crew i could find who is still actively making music is emcee/producer Jah- C, who has found some success as solo artist. Enjoy and stay tuned for the next remix!
K - Aug 24, 11
Cast your vote for what production will be featured in the next episode HERE! K - Aug 20, 11
One cool way myself and fellow beatsmiths DN3 & Lost Perception kept sharp production-wise while on the road recently was via the competition Random dubbed "The Beat-Off"... PAUSE! lol. Basically, Ran picked out a sample, in this case it was the lesser known instro track "Let's Get Away" from the classic Beach Boys' album Pet Sounds and each of us went to work creating our own beat out of it. The time limit was 24 hours, which sometimes is not enough for me as i'm very meticulous in my production- to the point i can spend hours just milling over whether to use ONE particular sound! But i guess pressure can be a good thing as this is what i turned out...
Let's Get Away (K-Murdock Flip) by Neosonix This track came out so good, that Raw Poetic is penning a new Panacea song to it as we speak! Stay tuned for that and the other songs created using Lost & DN3's respective tracks; Those will be available when myself & Ran present the official release for "The Beat Off" Vol. 1 ;) Make sure to subscribe to The Neosonic News Feed to find out when it drops!
K
- Aug 12, 11Back in 2009 i was asked to do a tribute remix for De La Soul by the homie J. Nota at Redefintion Records to be included on a release they were planning for the end of the year! The release was in conjunction with De La celebrating 20 years making music since their first album, 3 Feet High & Rising, dropped in '89! But unfortunately things got delayed and the project was put "on ice" till NOW as ReDef along with European-based music sites The Find Magazine & Boogiedown Breda present the Salutes EP!
Not only did i get to produce the above featured song on the EP, but i was asked to do a little intro for it too! As for my contribution, it's actually dedicated to not only De La but also to the man who inspired me to pursue a career in radio/music- my uncle... the late Melvin Lindsey, who pioneered nightly radio around the world in the 70s & 80s with "The Original Quiet Storm". Ironically, the song he used to open his show with was Smokey Robinson's "Quiet Storm"...
This song gives me chills whenever i hear it as it instantly conjures up thoughts of my uncle as i grew up going to sleep every night listening to him on the radio, so the fact Prince Paul used it on "Breakadawn" made it extra special.. add in MJ's "I Can't Help It" and it was a wrap!
My story is just one that makes the release of this EP so special, as I'm sure fellow contributing producers K-Def and Astronote have their own as well. Find out more about Salutes as well as download it for FREE HERE! Props to Danny at The Find, John & Damu of ReDef and of course the legendary De La Soul!
K - Aug 23, 11
Back after a month hiatus with the latest in instrumental hip-hop! Apologies on the delay, was overseas in the UK touring for 2 weeks in July and managed to thankfully get out before the riots broke out! Anyway, i think this may be my best show yet and thanx to all the artists who submitted music; As i stated in this episode, i dont have the time anymore to post individual albums up on Strictly Beats, SO please consider whatever i include in the mix as a co-sign as i don't play it if i don't like it! ;)
Enjoy & keep the beats comin' to: soundcloud.com/Neosonix/dropbox
K
DOWNLOAD HERE - Aug 01, 11Ironically, as i write this, i sit in a hotel room in London, thus i felt like posting this up as remix #2 of my 1,000 Likes campaign since the featured song i flipped was from a UK artist. The opportunity to put the "Neosonic" touch on Homecut's "Harmony", which is a very personal song of his, came about via my homie Patrick from TheWordisBond.com; He's always hippin' me to dope overseas artists and via a recent connect he had established with Homecut himself, got me in touch with him and the rest, as they say, is history! It's important to note that this remix was made for an actual remix-project based off HC's original album No Freedom without Sacrifice, but life kinda got in the way for him and the project, last i heard, is at an indefinite standstill... yet i was encouraged to share the remix & so here it is...
Homecut - Harmony (Neosonic Remix) by Neosonix
I loved the way this song came out and again felt like the timing was too right not to drop it, especially with me being out in Homecut's area right now. I would definitely welcome another chance to collaborate with the brotha- this time on something original, so Andy if you out there & see this, hit me up! Enjoy the free remix yall and PLEASE make sure you "LIKE" the Neosonic Productions Facebook fan page so i can post the next one up!
K - Jul 13, 11Thinking about the project that is The Ebony Bed spurs a gamut of emotions in my head as YEARS went into the creation of this album's music and more time is still being spent into fleshing out the concept/story behind it visually. This album is the brainchild of myself, singer/songwriter Alona & graphic designer Aaron Hill, who have all spent over 3+ years turning an idea that started from my remixing Alona's song "The Missing" into a full-blown creative & very collaborative project. The process of creating Lucid City was so different than what i was accustomed to- mainly because the two main emcees i work with, Raw Poetic of Panacea/RPM & Random aka Mega Ran, spoil me as they write/record fast! However, this album's extensive recording really taught me patience, and though i wanted it to come out like two summers ago, i am proud of the end result and very excited about releasing the visual element to Lucid City as well later this summer/fall. We got CDs, tee shirts and more about the actual story behind The Ebony Bed concept on deck, but tide yourselves over till then by digitally purchasing the 14-track album which also features appearances from my aforementioned partner-in-rhyme (Raw P) & cuts from my favorite DJ- Damu The Fudgemunk.
K - Jul 09, 11So earlier this year, i was listening through a bunch of songs on my hard drive that i had done which were literally wandering around, trying to find a home on some kind of album or project. These songs were dope but being as though i love conceptualizing everything, i decided to make a concept out of the lack of not having one and hence the reference to the masterless samurai of feudal Japan aka the Ronin. The tracks that make up this 7 song EP were recorded over the last 3 years and each feature a unique emcee and sound- much like the rag-tag but formidable group of Ronin samurai of one of my favorite stories- Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, which was adapted a few years ago into one of my fave anime series...
Its no wander this EP has such a samurai motif as i felt like the legendary sword-maker Hattori Hanzo meticulously mixing & mastering this EP the same way he'd scrupulously craft a blade! And thus i'm happy to present my latest solo project, The Ronin, which is out now on Bandcamp digitally, and will be available shortly on iTunes, Amazon, etc. Also, i got CD copies on deck featuring exclusive artwork by artist Rodrigo Pradel as well as the album's instrumentals ;)
K - Jul 01, 11So this is the first free remix in my "1,000 Likes" campaign i'm doing to try and garner more attention for Neosonic Productions (aka my record label/music services company); Basically, for every 100 "Likes"/Fans we get over on the NEW Facebook Fan Page, i'll release a free exclusive remix i did that i've never made available (for free before). The goal I'm trying to get to is 1,000 Likes by years end which means 10 FREE REMIXES ;) Fair enough? Cool!
Anyhow, down to business about this gem which i made for a remix contest i entered 2 & 1/2 years ago. The winner was to appear on the official remix project for K-Os' Yes! album, and though i received mad props from fellow entrants, i was ultimately disqualified from winning because i had used a 2 sec snippet from the Transformers theme though we were asked to use NO samples... and that did me in :( Shouts to my bro Damu The Fudgemunk for the ill cuts. Hopefully i'll get to work with K-Os on something original in the future, he's a cool ass cat and one of my favorite progressive hip-hop artists of this generation!
K - Jul 08, 11First off, shouts to the homie Chris Flocco for the fresh NEW show artwork! This episode i fall back midway through and turn the reigns over to fellow Strictly Beats blogger Beat-ape for his amazing 40 minute "Strickly Beats" mix. Check the playlist, stream & download the episode HERE!
Stay tuned July's ep is gonna be HOT... like July ;)
K - Jun 22, 11
Been crazy busy finishing production & mixes for my forthcoming EP The Ronin as well as the 2nd DLC installment for Forever Famicom, but the thing that's most kept me away from blogging the last couple weeks is the complete overhaul i did on my company's website! And when i say i did it, i mean I DID IT myself using this very dope site called Virb.com. i dont know squat about designing anythign but sound, yet somehow it came out pretty fly... at leats to me ;)
For those who wanna check out the label aspect of Neosonic Productions, i got you and for those interested in the services i offer as producer/engineer, you can explore that aspect too. Lastly, i have a full page with all the fre downloads you could dream of- albums, features & remixes! So please click go on over to Neosonicprod.com and check out my new site... i'd appreciate if you "Liked' the page too, but no pressure.
K - Jun 11, 11
Been on the road the last week so i been slacking on posting any new productions up, but i got a joint i wanna share that was too befitting for this beautiful Saturday here in Florida- where i currently am doing shows with the homie Random.
Saturday Night (Me & Minnie) by Neosonix
The track "Saturday Night (Me & Minnie)" is from a forthcoming project i'm producing for an emcee based out of Ocean City, Maryland named Jerrod. His debut album Love Vs. Hate will be entirely produced by me as i'm concentrating on helping to shine light on up and coming talent rather than chase established ones... as that route hasn't proven to successful (yet). Jerrod requested i flip a joint from the Stevie Wonder-produced song "Take A Little Trip" off Minnie's Perfect Angel; Then i got the homie Pee from the progressive hip-hop group Animate Objects to lay a live bass, added some live keys and the Soul Train clips you hear to complete this homage to Ms. Minnie... R.I.P.
K - Jun 03, 11
Sorry for the delay on posting about this yall, been beyond busy finishing mixes for future projects, preparing for some touring with Mega Ran and completing the major & (hopefully the final) update of the Neosonic Productions website! Even with all that going on, i had to make sure i got the latest episode of SS Instros up for you all to check out if you haven't already! This month i featured the homie Bob42jh's recent compilation Fallen Skies, which you can download for FREE here! Enjoy the show & spread the word...
KDOWNLOAD EPISODE - May 24, 11
So myself & Random have once again launched a Kickstarter campaign, this time with the goal to raise funds to go perform at the UK's biggest anime convention- The London Anime Con. We soft-launched the campaign last Friday and when i woke up Saturday morning after a show with Ran, to my surprise/delight, we had, via the graciousness of a backer named "Beaker" who copped our ULTIMATE FAN PACKAGE, reached our goal! However, the plan is to take an entourage of fellow artists, namely producers of Random, to the UK and thus I'm here to tell you all about one of the really cool levels of backing available which involves 1 lucky fan receiving my very own Akai MPC 2000XL!
Yes indeed, i'm giving away my beloved MPC (pictured above) which i essentially used to produce ALL the Panacea albums as well as the Forever Famicom album! I'm gonna put a protective, customized & signed Neosonic Productions skin on the sampler too and ship it out to the lucky recipient who snags the pricey $2,000 package! Don't worry about my productivity taking a hit either as i have a couple MPCs i have amassed over the last 10 years PLUS i actually use Native Instruments amazing Maschine to produce these days ;) So for those super-fans who wanna help a good cause & get some cool memorabilia in the process, this is your opportunity...
If you really wanna get your ears on my next solo project, this is the way to do it, as pretty much all levels of backing get you an advance download and/or CD of my forthcoming EP- The Ronin. Any support is appreciated! See you in London!!
K - Jul 08, 11Due to fan demand, we recently made the instrumentals for Panacea's 12 Step Program available for purchase. I am honored that so many people requested the instros as my approach to this album, like most other Panacea albums, was definitely to create soundscapes through my arrangements and the album is pretty fun to listen to stripped down to just the music, but couldn't have been the album it was without my partner-in-rhyme Raw Poetic's vocal contriubtions. Shouts to Rodrigo Pradel for the ill artwork; Enjoy & stay tuned for the next Panacean adventure in 2012!K
- May 08, 11Was trying to find a cool song to post to show my love & appreciation to all the mothers out there today, and then it donned on me that 10 years ago i helped my homie Wes Felton pay homage to his mom (Cynthia) with the following song "Mother". So consider this my tribute to ALL the mom's out there, especially my own mom, Karen, who has been my greatest inspiration and ALWAYS encouraged me to chase my dreams... and thats why i love her! Thanx mom ;)
K - May 07, 11
It only took me 2 months to edit all the footage myself & Random accrued while on the road earlier this year, but i managed to put together a cool little music video for our song "Thank You For Listening". This marks my video directorial debut, lol, and overall i'm happy with the product and actually amped to collect more footage so i can do another one soon! I'd be remiss not to shout out the following people: Storyville aka the short dude with the headphones who is a dope producer/emcee/engineer in his own right; Larry aka "The Count" for handling the camera work and being an awesome tour manager; And of course all the people we met and kicked it with in Austin @ SxSW & Chicago @ C2E2... as well as all our fans around the world... thank YOU for listening. Enjoy!
K - May 31, 11This remix is essentially what spawned the idea to do The Ebony Bed project 3 plus years ago! Shouts to visual artist Aaron Hill for being the visionary and catalyst to get myself and singer/songwriter Alona together. Ironically, my mom and Alona's mom have been best friends/co-workers for longer than we both been alive so i think they were just as happy to see us collaborating as we were ;) My remix of "The Missing" is, to date, still one of my favorite re-workings of a song and i think really helped show that though Alona (whose background was more rock-based) and myself had different musical paths, we could both step out of our comfort zones and make some real good music! I can't wait till you all hear the whole album; Be sure and bookmark our album's release date (7.11.11) & make sure you download the sampler too!
The Missing (Panacea Remix) by Neosonix
Promo video by the aforementioned Aaron Hill coming soon...K - Apr 22, 11
So before thoughts of doing Forever Famicom with Mega Ran emerged, my first real foray into taking video game music and re-mixing/purposing it as hip-hop songs was on The American Gamer album.
This album was one of MANY remix projects based on Jay-Z's American Gangster album, which dropped a few months before. When Random, who had the album's acapellas, asked me to take part, i was hyped as i always wanted to try something as cool as this that fused two of my greatest passions, which is probably why i ended up doing the most remixes on the whole album- i was excited to see if i could do the game samples justice as well as keep the vibe & integrity of Hov's lyrics intact.
I strategically picked Sega's NiGHTS, Streets Of Rage & Final Fantasy II as the source material for my remixes as they were all personal favorites of mine and all had dope ass soundtracks that were just ripe for the sampling ;) And as a result of people's positive reactions to my remixes and the project in general, i got the idea to pursue making what eventually turned out to be Forever Famicom over 2 years later...
So props again to the homie Random for inviting me to get involved and the rest, as they say, is history...
K - Apr 19, 11
So this year marks the 5 year anniversary of Panacea's first commercial release Ink is My Drink and due to the amount of requests we got over the years from fans about the album's availability on CD, i have decided to take it upon my myself and repress the record on CD but as a special "Producer's Cut" version.
In Hollywood whenever a re-release is done of some cult classic, it's usually the Director's Cut which is the director's original vision and execution of a film even if its drastically different than the original one from the theaters... thus i applied the same approach and am restoring ALL the interludes and audio clips i used on Ink is My Drink when i turned the album in to Glow-in-the-Dark & Rawkus Records back in 2006. I also decided to remaster the record myself this go round since i been slowly but surely honing my audio engineering skills the last 3 years. Lastly, i got my go-to-guy for art Rodrigo Pradel to craft an amazing new CD art design which honestly captures the spirit of the album way more (to me) than the original art did. For those who aren't familiar with IIMD, have a listen and you can hear the progress we've made as artists since then...
The new Producer's Cut of Ink Is My Drink will be available exclusively on CD via the Neosonic Productions Merch Store beginning 4/25 aka my B-day ;)
K
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Posts
I love ninjas… and i love video games about ninjas… so its no question that i love me some Ninja Gaiden! Part 3 looks dope, and i’m just glad they finally added stealth kills- kinda ridiculous that Ryu is so much of an aggressor in most combat situations, since the ninja arts preach acting passive and stealthily most times!?! But regardless, the franchise has always been one of my favorites based on the fabled “shadow warriors”; Thus this game is indeed a “must cop situation” for me! I just wish From Software would make a new Tenchu ;)
K
Shouts to the homie Chris Flocco for doing this amazing art design for my latest solo project- Hero Muzik Vol. 1; Basically, i took Nobuo Uematsu’s themes of the 14 heroes from my personal favorite of the Final Fantasy franchise, part 6, and remixed them “neosonic” style ;) In an effort to pay homage to the game’s character designer, Yoshitaka Amano, Chris used his art as a reference but naturally adapted it to fit the theme of my project… and viola- came out too dope! If you want to actually hear the music this art was used for, go HERE!
K
New Resident Evil trailer for part 6 ! I feel old, as the first one dropped 15 years back while i was in high school; I remember playing it with one of my best friends and both geeking out when the cinematic of the first zombie munching on some brains appears! As long as Capcom doesn’t bring back the Hunters in this one, i’m good!
K
I’m late getting hip to this, but saw it on IGN’s list of “Most Anticipated Games” for PS3 this year, and was floored by the video! First off, I’m a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki & his Studio Ghibli films; 2ndly, i totally respect what Level 5 has done in their past JRPGs, so them together may just help revive the dying genre since Western role-playing games seem to have taken over and rightfully so, as they have gotten really good the last few years! Anyway, though the game looks kiddy a la some Nintendo Wii ish, i hope the story is good with the aforementioned parties involved, plus the art & animation look so dope that i’ll definitely have to throw it in the Gamefly que when it drops;)
Agent 47 in New Vegas: Closest I could get to his signature black suit, but no red tie :( (Taken with instagram)
Btw- through he may not look the part, the weaponry is spot on… Trust.
K
Assassins Creed’s Ezio Auditore in Skyrim? Oh yeah! (Taken with instagram) I’m obsessed with creating known characters in my playthroughs of games like Fallout & The Elder Scrolls so I’ll post pics of my builds up here ;)
K
The homie Mega Ran called this a “productivity killer” and boy he’s right, been playing this Abobo’s Big Adventure game the last hour and am addicted! What great nod to classic NES & 8-bit gaming; Plus- a great way to reinvent one of the cheapest bosses in gaming history, lol. If you like the trailer, go to site HERE and get nostalgic!
K
Akai debuts #2 of their 3 new MPC products and this one looks more like direct competition to new Native Instruments’ Maschine. I need to wait ti ll i see more of these new controllers i nation at NAMM but again as an avid MPC user for over 10 years, I’m happy to see Akai back in the game Anyone else thinking about copping?
K
I’m workin’ on this new instrumental series called Hero Muzik where i take the themes from the protagonists of my favorite RPGs and flip them! Vol. 1 had to be my favorite of the Final Fantasy series (thus far)- FF 6, which was titled #3 here stateside. The reason why i chose this game for the first installment of my new series was mainly for the reason it’s my fave of the FF universe- it had mad playable characters, 14 to be exact, and they all had gr8 stories OR were just cool- i.e. GoGo the Mimic! Anyway, I’m thorough on my research so i had to fire up my old Super Nintendo emulator and play a bit of the game… always loved this opening scene- so cinematic!
K
Free download featuring myself & the rest of the Subsoniq crew’s (KB, DQ & Gangsta Mittens) picks for what we think were the best albums 2011 had to offer! Peep the playlist below & please spread the word…
K
Subsoniq – Best Albums of 2011 – Play List **album names in asterisks**
- Pharoahe Monch – “Evolve” > “The Hitman” **W.A.R. (We Are Renegades)**
- Saigon – “The Greatest Story Never Told” > “Come On Baby” (f/Jay-Z,Swizz Beatz) **Greatest Story Never Told**
- Phonte – “The Good Fight” > “Everything Is Falling Down” > “Sendin My Love” **Charity Starts At Home**
- Common – “Cloth” **The Dreamer, The Believer**
- Pete Rock/Smif N Wessun – “That’s Hard” (f/Styles P, Sean Price) > “Feel Me” (f/Rock, Bun B) > “Roses” **Monumental**
- Blueprint – “Automatic” > “So Alive” > “Fly Away” **Adventures In Counter Culture**
- Statik Selektah – “Never A Dull Moment” (f/Action Bronson, Bun B, Termanology) **Population Control**
- Shabazz Palaces – “Are You..Can You..Were You (Felt)” **Black Up**
- Kendrick Lamar – “HiiiPower” > “Rigamortis” (remix f/Busta Rhymes) **Section .80**
- Gods’illa – “You Don’t Have To Be A Star” (f/Maimouna Youssef) > “Stay On” (MMM Mix f/Substantial) **CPR The Blend Tape**
- Money Making Jam Boys – “We Not Playing” > “Coming Out Hard” **The Prestige: Jam Boy Magic**
- Bop Alloy – Ocean Dance (Arrival)
- Mirandom – Wednesday
- Stalley – Lincoln Way Nights (Shop Remix f/Rick Ross)
- The Roots – “One Time” (f/Phonte, Dice Raw) > “The Other Side” (f/Bilal, Greg Porn) > “Lighthouse” (f/Dice Raw) **Undun**
- K-Def – “Escapizm” (f/Rob O) > “Night Owls” (f/Raw Poetic) > “Sparkle” **Night Shift**
- Joell Ortiz – “Battle Cry” > “Put Some Money” (f/The Lox) **Free Agent**
- Kev Brown & Kaimbr – “Army Fatigue Rap” (f/Dj Roddy Rod, Hassan Mackey) **The Alexander Green Project**
- Elzhi – “Memory Lane” > “The World Is Yours” > “Represent” **Elmatic*
Uh-Oh.. they’re BAAACCCKKKK! I’m so geeked to find out more and actually get my hands on these pads as though i love my Native Instruments Maschine, my MPC 2000xl held me down and got me where i am at as a producer for over 10 years! Bout time Akai gets back in the competition as they originated this game; I was getting nervous they had thrown in the towel and were satisfied just selling rehashes of Korg’s midi controllers ;)
K
From one of my favorite episodes of Robot Chicken on Adult Swim spoofing one of my favorite directors- M. Knight Shymalan… well, he used to be until he made that movie with the cheapest special fx in movie history, u know the one where “nature” attacked!?! He also ruined one of my favorite cartoon series with his film adaptation of The Last Airbender, but he’s still twisting… i mean trying ;)
K
Was in the mood to play some games- retro games, so I fired up the SNES emulator app on my Mac and found one i hadn’t seen/played in almost 20 years- Rushing Beat! I can’t believe i thought this game was actually dope at one point, its a blatant rip-off the classic side scrolling beat-em-ups like Final Fight & Streets Of Rage…or at least Jaleco’s failed attempt at making one of those games. Sporting horrible hit-detection, repetitious thugs to the Nth degree & a cast of characters that look like the Village People… this game was a sureshot FAIL! ROM = delete… SPAK!
K
Tell me this doesn’t look like a bunch of Final Fantasy characters escaped out a game and made a music video! Even with Kanye West on production & a featured verse, i just can’t successfully bridge the gap between east & west on this one! Plus the video really doesn’t make any since compared to the song’s subject matter… i mean what the hell are they doing, summoning an esper through interpretative dance? LOL!!!!!!
K
My girl’s parents got this for me for Xmas ;) Definitely going in the studio! (Taken with instagram)
Check this out… its pretty dope! Shouts to my lil’ bro Damu for making one of my favorite remixes ever.. and it just so happens to be for my group Panacea ;)
K
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance details, screens
Konami has now outlined the direction the upcoming action title Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and is detailing those behind it.
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