“The big light bulb went off in my headthe first time I bought a sampler,” says the producer. “I vividly remember thefirst time I made a beat and having this rude awakening that I had only usedfive sounds in the memory bank of this machine, when the machine held 64sounds. I realized that I could either keep making beats that only take fivesounds, and make a hundred of them, or I could do one quote-unquote beatinstead of a hundred and cram as many sounds into that one beat.”
It was that approach that yieldedRJD2’s 2002 album Deadringer, aninstant classic in independent hip-hop circles that drew acclaim for itsintricate use of unlikely samples.
Deadringerwasn’t entirely without precedent. Producer Prince Paul had been creating wildpastiches of sound since the first De La Soul records, and by the late-’90sartists like Cut Chemist, DJ Shadow and producers with Ninja Tune records hadestablished instrumental hip-hop as its own art form. RJD2, however, came froma less radical perspective than those producers.
“In the mid- to late-’90s, you hadthese labels like Mo’ Wax and Ninja Tune releasing this music that was actuallycoming from a perspective of looking down on hip-hop,” RJD2 says. “That was acommon discussion at the time, that hip-hop had become too simple and toolimited, but it wasn’t something I necessarily agreed with. I never felt like Iwas making music the right way, and that it was me versus the Large Professorsor DJ Premiers or the world, the guys doing more simplified rap production, becauseI love that stuff, too.
“So much of that highbrow type of musicset out to provide an alternative to a Biggie record,” he continues. “But Ialways wanted to do both styles, and that’s why on Deadringer there are also songs that are just simple, in-your-faceloops, songs that I didn’t take to the nth degree. That simpler form ofproduction is easy to look down on until you attempt it. Everybody thinks Diddylooping a Diana Ross record is somehow a lesser form of production, but if youreally try to do that, it’s a lot harder than it seems. Finding one passage tosample that can hold your attention for an entire song is difficult.”
RJD2 also separated himself with hissense of pop composition. Even when working with the most exotic, cinematicsounds, RJD2 modeled his songs after classic pop and soul singles, followingthe Motown template of packing as much drama as possible into a song whilestriking a balance between earned payoffs and instant gratification. Deadringer’s defining track,“Ghostwriter,” for instance, follows a haunting sample of Elliott Smith’s “IDidn’t Understand” as it builds and erupts into fits of triumphant brass.
RJD2 moved away from samples toward amore live sound on his 2004 follow-up, SinceWe Last Spoke, then threw a total curveball with 2007’s The Third Hand, a singer-songwriterrecord that confounded fans and critics. His latest record, The Colossus, is a return to form,though, fusing Deadringer-styledsamples with live instruments and guest singers. As with Deadringer, RJD2 crafted its songs with no obvious goal in mind,piecing together sounds and samples until finding a composition that works.
“The whole process is totally trial anderror, and that’s what’s so fun about it; each song is like its own littleexploration,” he says. “The process dictates how each song ends up coming out.It’s a fascinating and really fun way to make music. I’ve heard writers talk ofthis experience how once they start writing, it will feel like the story isunfolding through them and they have this sensation of being along for theride. I’ve had similar feelings making music.”
RJD2plays an 8 p.m. show at The Rave on Sunday, March 14, with openers Happy Chichester and KingHellBastard.
