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Dubcnn Exclusive – RythmIQ
A Dubcnn Exclusive
By: Jonathan Hay
www.myspace.com/jonathanhay ..........................................................................................

Dubcnn: You handled all the production on your upcoming album, Shut Up & Listen Vol 1, correct?

Yes, I produced the entire album.


Dubcnn: Take us behind the music and share with us some of the studios you recorded, mixed and mastered the album at, and some of the experiences with that?

Outside of my own studio in Phoenix there were only two other studios I personally worked on the project at. One was my mentor Jiggolo’s studio in Atlanta, GA where we did the final mix downs of the record. That was crazy because I flew in at midnight on Wednesday and we immediately started mixing. I barely slept or ate and never left the studio and was sleeping on Jiggolo’s floor, but it was an amazing experience. The record started to sound incredible by Sunday. Back in Phoenix, I stayed up all night until 5am that Tuesday getting the final mixes ready to master. Then 4 hours later at 9am on Wednesday, I was at SAE Mastering studios in Phoenix with Roger Seibel. Roger is an audio guru and is widely considered the best guy to go to for mastering in Phoenix he has been working with audio for the past 23 years and that is why I chose him. Working with him was an incredible experience as well since I had never mastered an album before I learned a lot. We did the mastering all in that one day and it sounds pristine!


Dubcnn: Can you name off some of the guest appearances?

Twista, Stat Quo, Crooked I, Royce Da 5’9, Jay Rock, Willy Northpole, Juice, Hot Rod and C-Thug who is signed to Fontana are some of the bigger names. Also, Dalima and D-Loc from Kansas City, Missouri who are heavily involved with Tech N9ne and his movement. West Coast Kam is also on a track called “Goblin” with the third verse.


Dubcnn: One by one, let’s break down what it was like to work with these artists and what those specific studio sessions were like…

First off, Crooked I…

Crooked I recorded his verse in California. He was the best artist to work with out of all the people I had a chance to work with. Not only was he extremely attentive responsive to everything I was telling him, but he turned around and had his verse written and completed with the studio session in my pocket in less than a day; I think it was 15 hours. He was extremely excited about the track he was on because he loved the beat and concept. It will be very apparent when you hear the music. He’s on a track called “King of my City.” After that, I followed up with a few favor calls and he delivered every time. Working with Crooked I has been a blessing and I’ve actually said to the folks on my label that if they want to get a feature for there album, Crooked I is the one I would recommend because he was the most professional and he never has a bad 16 (laughs).


Dubcnn: No doubt about that. Jay Rock…

Jay Rock has my favorite verse on my entire album (laughs). He’s awesome and because of timing, he did his in California as well. Once again, he was the second fastest. He had his verse to me within one day from the moment we first spoke about it. He’s a great guy and I think he’s heavily under rated. He’s very good. It was a big pleasure to work with him.


Dubcnn: Twista…

Twista, I had the opportunity to record him at my house in my studio, which was great. He was here for a show and his manager and I met up at his hotel for about four hours before we headed over to my studio to record the verse. I’ll be honest; I was amazed at how normal he was (laughs). I think I expected him to be just incredible and he was, not taking anything away from him. He was just like anybody else though. He was very cool and laid back; very chill and professional. He was very cool to work with because he is very talented and gifted. I didn’t breathe much when he was around because I was very nervous (laughs). I engineered the record and we have it on tape. It was about a 32-minute session that we did his verse in. It came out awesome. I’m very proud of that, to be able to work with a legend such as Twista. It was just amazing. I was just happy to be apart of it.


Dubcnn: Kam…

Kam was a great situation. I’m good friends with Kam. He visits our studio regularly. He heard that beat, he actually came, and planned to get another track which was more west coast called “Certified.” We ended up not going that route because when he heard “Goblin”, he said he wanted to be on that track. “Goblin” is actually a southern track so Kam being from the west coast, I thought that was interesting. He did that because he wanted to give people something different. Working with Kam is always a pleasure. That’s my dude and he’s a legend. He taught me a lot. He spit a lot of game to me about music in general. He’s always open arms with his connections and the networks he has. He was nice enough to share those with me. I definitely had fun working with Kam and he’s always a good time and good experience.


Dubcnn: Royce Da 5’9…

Royce is awesome. It took me a few weeks to get Royce’s verse. He was on the road doing a tour for the Slaughterhouse album. Once Crooked and I finished up, I asked him if he could link me with Royce and he delivered. Royce has been one of my favorite rappers for many years. He’s without question one of my favorites. I just ordered his new album that came out, because I’m such a big fan and I even get an autographed copy! He kept me on notice everyday because I was hounding him since we got his verse towards the end of the album. Times were tight, I needed things delivered quickly, and he delivered. His verse, I love it; it’s a great verse it’s on a song called Soldier also featuring Stat Quo and Willy Northpole.


Dubcnn: Stat Quo…

Stat Quo again was a true professional. He had to do his verse from Atlanta and it came out awesome. He is another professional who sent it to me very quickly and promptly. I got everything I needed from him. He’s also a great guy in terms of our relationship. I can call him whenever and he’ll always answer and chop it up. I don’t call people if I don’t have business to discuss but there all great guys. I haven’t had any problems with any of these guys.


Dubcnn: Willy Northpole…

Willy Northpole without letting too much out of the bag, we spoke yesterday and we have some big things popping; possibly, a project coming up here soon – more details to come on that. He’s a great guy. I go hard to the paint for Willy Northpole every time. He really does put Phoenix on his back and represents us the hardest and the best. Willy recorded his verse with me he wrote the verse in practically ten minutes. He did the verse and was in and out. I see him all the time so our relationship is awesome. We always have a good time. He’s just a talented rapper. It was great to have him on the compilation. That was the first track we had done together. There hopefully will be many more to come.


Dubcnn: Juice…

Juice was another great experience. Juice is a funny guy (laughs). He’s the type of guy that before he records, he wants to know you real well. Before we recorded together, we had a separate day where we just got tore up from the floor up; myself, Juice, and a mutual homeboy of ours named Classic, and Laro, HaveIT Music president. We all went to Kona Grill and just got completely tore up on Mojito’s and Tequila shots for a good 4-5 hours (laughs). The following week, we met up and did the verse here at my studio. He was great. He actually really enjoyed recording here and wanted to record more stuff here because I run a really good studio and I’m a really good engineer. He actually gives me a shout out that I have on my MySpace believe. He says I make him sound better than anybody (laughs). He’s very fond of my skills and I’m very fond of his. It’s always a pleasure to work with Juice.


Dubcnn: The final one I’m going to ask you about is Hot Rod…

Hot Rod had to do his verse from overseas because I believe he was in Turkey at the time. Working with him was easy as pie and a pleasure. It just wasn’t difficult at all. It was my first time working with him so we built a relationship upon me reaching out to him when I said I would like to feature him for a particular song. I sent it over and he must of liked it cause he sent it right back with a great verse! In fact it’s a great song called “The Money” and it features local Phoenix talents Trap and Tajji Sharp as well. Many people say it’s the best song on the album. It was great to work with Hot Rod. We had no issues and have a pretty good relationship now.


Dubcnn: Was there artist you reached out to or planned to have on the album, but for some reason it didn’t work out?

Yeah, truthfully, there was several, but one in particular comes to mind, which is Brotha Lynch Hung. Without getting into the hairy details about our current situation basically he didn’t like what he wrote. He tried re-writing the verse 3 times, but just didn’t like it, so he is not on the record. The record I’m speaking of is the single The Get Away ft. Twista, D-Loc and Dalima, but at that time it was going to be Twista, Brotha Lynch Hung, and Tech N9ne. It saddens me of course that it didn’t work out, but this happened many times over when dealing with a compilation of this magnitude so I pulled many audibles, which ultimately made the album that much better.


Dubcnn: We are definitely looking forward to the album! Thanks for your time…

Big shot-out to Dubcnn for holding down the West Coast!