Kurt Cobane Interview!!

[Darksider]

Sometimes a man has to go through shit to figure out & end up where he needs to be. Sometimes a man has to be behind the scenes, behind the hits & six feet deep in it to be able to breath. As a producer who exploded onto the scene for Death Row Records on their 'Chronic 2000' compilation, Kurt 'Kobane' Couthon looked like the man behind the boards who was going to lead Tha Row back to the top. In this EXCLUSIVE & FIRST EVER media interview, we talk to Kurt about his time at Tha Row, the industry as it is now, & his plans going forward for his Aftershockk Music Group imprint .....

HOODSTARS.NET: Alot of 'west coast' producers would say their style is steeped in music like Kurtis Blo, Curtis Mayfield, Roger Troutman & even Gospel music. Who influenced you & what was really the first song that made you wanna hit keys & make music?

KURT KOBANE: Songs that influenced me were 70s, pop, rock & R&B. Just songs & music from that era! The first song that made me catch the music bug was Jackson Five's 'ABC'.When it comes to most of these westcoast producers like Kre8tor & them they jokes to me!!! I will challenge them beat for beat.. Battlecat too! I don't respect none of them!!! Step to the table with me, I'll smash 'em in less than 15 mins!!!! Thats real! I do beats & give 'em away for free. The shit they sell? Fuck em! They hate on me. Now I'm out to destroy em! Cuz they have no real soul. They music is fake! Do something without sampling George Clinton or Roger Troutman!!! We can go beat for beat ...anytime any place...Dre too! I feel I can get him. Right now I know all his shit too!! And he knows I do .... ask him!!! His wife best friend knows too. She told me. Damn I can get with Dre. It's no disrespect, but challenge me on level playing fields & I'll destroy Dr. Dre! I know all his secrets. It's his age. He know shit from movies, TV & life. Thats his secret. It's really R&B! He knows what I'm talking bout!


I'm a student of the game,& you always have to be ready to reinvent yourself
- Kurt Kobane
 
 

HOODSTARS.NET: People really would have first heard of your name having checked the credits of Death Row's Chronic 2000 compilation & in particluar tracks for Tha Realest, how did you first hook up with Death Row & was that really your first piece of big exposure?

KURT KOBANE: In the fall of 1995, I met Suge Kight,in a mall near Compton, the Lakewood Mall. I had just left a meeting with a Warner Brothers.A&R who overlooked my beat demo. In the mall I walked up to Suge gave him my tape, told him I was from chicago area, next thing you know,one of Suge’s boys came & got me,took me back to Suge. He told me to come to the Death Row studio, & I was down with em, just like that! He told me I was a part of the family, & go to the office & get my paper work done, so I can get some money to be comfortable. The Chronic 2000 was the cd that I got credited for the most, but I had produced a song for Michel'le on the Death Row Greatest Hits back in 1996, & I had writer credits on the Gang Related Soundtrack in 1997. I had produced M.O.B for Pac’s ALL EYEZ ON ME,cd but, I missed the mix deadline. Shit, I fucked with Jodeci.. me & Devante did a song called 'bad boy killa' in 96! Not only that, KC & JoJo fucked with me on a strong basis, they hooked me up with Jay Brown when he was with Quest Records in 97! I owe them niggaz!!!! I want to produce Jodeci too, on some real shit!!

HOODSTARS.NET: You've done alot of work during your time on Tha Row including work for 2pac, YGD Tha Topp Dogg, Tha Realest & some others. Are there any artists right now you feel you want to work with. I know you're looking to hook back up with ex-inmate SKG to do some work?

KURT KOBANE: Artists I would like to work with are too many to name but i'll try. 50, Game, DMX, Jigga, B.G, T.I. ... I feel I need to work with artist that can bring a track to life, go into the track & find the emotion behind the track, & not just write a rhyme to a beat.

HOODSTARS.NET: There's been talk of while Suge was away alot of shady shit was goin down on Tha Row & before you've briefly touched on the fact some people (no names) were robbin Suge blind. Is this part of the reason Tha Row just haven't been able to get their act together over the last few years, Suge bein locked down, people not having his business interests at heart?

KURT KOBANE: Suge ain't surrounded by real niggaz who got his business in their best interest. 'Yes men' are worse than hoes. I always tried to keep it straight up gutta real with Suge even if he got mad at me. I told him when shit was wack. I also told him he needs to let me be that one nigga that can tell him like it is, so he can know I have no reason to lie. I wasn't scared to piss him off, as long as I was tellin the truth! His flunkie 'yes men' feared me, cuz they was telling him lies, so they could rob the company blind, so thats why I bounced in 2001. That's the reason Tha Row went in the wrong direction, signing the wrong acts & shit, Suge was misinformed.

HOODSTARS.NET: Once you got off Death Row, you seemed to just 'disappear'. Jevon (Tha Realest) said he hasn't worked with you in some time - have you been laying low trying to redefine your style, or have you just been waiting, watching & seeing where the game is at right now?

KURT KOBANE: I layed low for a minute, just to get my vibe back. See I'm really a midwest nigga, but I had been in California since 1992, gangbanging rollin 20s blood, then m.o.b piru. So I was deep into the Cali lifestyle, it was like I had to rehab my mind, get back to my roots. Cuz the midwest was running the biz by 2001,& marketing wise the midwest is where you need to sell at. It's made up of at least 23 states; thats a big base. My beat style had got too westcoast, so had to find a balance sound. I was never straight westcoast.. 'EASY BEING A SOILDER' was a perfect balance. It was westcoast & midwest & south & east. That was the beats track, but it wasn't the best I did for Death Row & I had to fight to get that put out!!! The funny twist is,there was a group I had from Milwaukee, called THA FEW. I tried to bring them over to Tha Row. They hated on the group, so I took em to UNIVERSAL, along with the music & got them a million dollar deal. We did a song with Juvenile. Next thing you know,the whole damn Universal black music department was fired!!! So tired of record company bullshit, I just went into the studio & started perfecting all the production tricks I picked up from Dre, Quik, Devante from Jodeci, Daz & Soopafly.


Suge ain't surrounded by real niggaz who got his business in their best interest
- Kurt Kobane
 
 

HOODSTARS.NET: The west coast seems to be just learning to walk again after being tanked for some time; Tha Dogg Pound reforming, Westside Connection coming back together for an album, The Game blowing up worldwide & the independant hustle out west coming back into focus & starting to reach out more on a world-wide level. Throughout this there's alot of producers out west seeming to join the likes of Battlecat, DJ Quik, Fredwreck, Focus & Dr Dre, where do you feel you fit in or are you trying not to limit yourself just to the Westcoast, because from your work I've heard with Death Row artists, you've a very distinct sound that really carries alot of the best of 'east to west'.

KURT KOBANE: What is westcoast sound? I mean P-Funk was originated in Detroit, the midwest. I fit in more with Dr.Dre than anybody out there & he doesn't limit his sound to just a Roger Troutman snare clap. He got stong east coast drums. Likewise I'm not limiting myself to just a westcoast sound. I learned a lot of stuff & secret stuff from Dr.Dre’s engineers. I'm a student of the game,& you always have to be ready to reinvent yourself.

HOODSTARS.NET: You've said before you were Kanye before Kanye, Timbaland before Timbaland & Scott Storch before Scott Storch & I know you've said that there's alot of over-played & over-used beats out there. Do you feel "creatively" hiphop, when it comes to beats has stagnated somewhat & people are just "happy to roll with the flow & stay in a comfortable rut" production wise?

KURT KOBANE: It's radio that has brought the level of music down. You can't tell me 'laughy taffy' is a good song!!! Everybody hates it, but it's known cuz it's so stupid it stands out. I could make a 'laughy taffy', but i'll end my career doing it (laughs). You can't take them niggaz serious now. Get ya money Playa, but damn!!!! I just wish real good songs & music got the same play on radio. There will always be a clown ass song of the year by somebody who ain't got no talent. That happens every year. And, how many top rappers feel they need a track from Kanye, Pharrell, Cool & Dre, Timbo, Just Blaze, all on the project to make it work. That's what I like bout 50 cent. He picks song like Pac, not by the producer name, but by if he like that track or not.

HOODSTARS.NET: Alot of artists now are starting to lean back towards having one producer handle their entire album, for example Canibus' recent joint is done entirely by Mark Sparxx. Do you feel this is part of hiphop artists just keeping the status-quo, or a time for when some fresh new sounds & ideas can start coming out?

KURT KOBANE: It's time for fresh ideas. Thats why the whole industry is waiting on D.E.T.O.X (laughs).


Suge is a big influence on me business wise. He always told me never fatten up the frog for the snakes
- Kurt Kobane
 
 

HOODSTARS.NET: Right now there seems to be a handful of producers keeping the charts on lock & alot of people are starting to become bored with what is seen as corporate hiphop. Some people would say that times like this are golden opportunities for the resurrection of labels like No Limit Records, Death Row Records & others & a good chance for smaller independant labels to start making an impact, has hiphop become over-commercialised?

KURT KOBANE: Corporations run hiphop right now. The streets gotta create a new avenue for the new breed to be heard so they can make money. Without the corporations, cuz the new breed ain't gonna go to Nike for a sponsorship, they gonna do it without 'em & keep all the profits!

HOODSTARS.NET: Right now, I know you departed Death Row Records on good terms but what is your relationship with Suge right now - can we expect to see you dropping any beats on Petey Pablo's album or on Squeek's album?

KURT KOBANE: Suge is a big influence on me business wise. He always told me never fatten up the frog for the snakes. Meaning keep it all in house; be a boss. Don't let nobody come & make money off what you built if possible. We cool, as two grown men can be, anything he needs from me is cool; no charge. A hit track? No charge. I honored his contracts 'til they expired in 2003. That's another reason why I layed low 'til my contracts was up, Now thats respect for him giving me a shot. We was friends, I visited him up at prison. I remember one time we got him drunk up in the pen off Remi I snuck in (laughs). We chopped it up, played checkers .... real shit outside of music. So I'll always be cool with dude, but not the 'yes men' if they still around!

HOODSTARS.NET: Some producers have signature sounds or "phrases" in their sounds like Fredwreck (mini-moog), does Kurt Kobane have that signature sound & if so, can you describe it?

KURT KOBANE: My sound .... I use a roland 2080 alone! Mmy style uses a lot of percussions. Small percussions & since I understand how to play 'em live, I play them like a live player. And the part of my beats where the hook is, most of the time has a cinematic feel, like a movie. Cuz I use strings for the emotion of what the hook should feel like when you say it!

HOODSTARS.NET: What's next for Kurt Kobane - projects wise? Anything people should be keepin eyes on the streets for?

KURT KOBANE: Aftershockk Music Group is my label, management & production group. I got a lot of secret weapons coming out in 2006. A CD called 'SHOCK TREATMENT', that's gonna be recorded in 5.1 surround sound. The first of its kind. I got top enginneers working on crafting the sound such as Mick Guzowski (25 no.1 platinum album credits) & Rick Clifford (all eyez on me/Doggfood). So you can imagine the sound. It's Dr. Dre meets Steven Spelbeirg! & folks can get at me for serious track & beat paying clients!!!

[michael jackson]

my homie kobane

[nibs]

other than "they wanna be like us" i can't think of any kurt kobane tracks that were hot.  what are some heaters that kobane is behind?

he thinks he can take out bc powdah???  that's absurd...

[Davizz]

He's a looser, he talks just like Crooked I "I'm the best" but he ain't done shit!
Fuck'd up mentality.

Thanks for the interview.

[Okka]

He has made a few bangin tracks, but 

[J Bananas]

YEAH WHATUP ADIDAS LOCCSTA OG LOCC G-O O-G, CEEP IT CRIPPIN FOOL, I SEE YOUR HOMIES THERE IN UR SIG MUCH LUV 2 THA SETT. STAY BEIN A REAL CRIP

[nibs]

He's a looser, he talks just like Crooked I "I'm the best" but he ain't done shit!
Fuck'd up mentality.

Thanks for the interview.

crooked i has done enough to lay claim to "the best" title.  there's atleast an album and a half, maybe two of crook songs and verses out there.  i'm not saying crook is the best, i'm saying he can claim it if he wants.  most of the kobane tracks that i've heard were wack. 

[MOB]

head doctor was one of the tighest death row beat!

[hempside]

YEAH WHATUP ADIDAS LOCCSTA OG LOCC G-O O-G, CEEP IT CRIPPIN FOOL, I SEE YOUR HOMIES THERE IN UR SIG MUCH LUV 2 THA SETT. STAY BEIN A REAL CRIP

stay with the topic busta..............nobody ask for that loose chang, you just threw on the table.

[kellyboy]

dope interview yo. i wanna hear that kurt/devante produced track.