#StoriesAboutSongs

With Interest by RedefineHipHop

This song was made using a mixture of improv and detailed editing, a style I call Random Planning. It’s a fun technique that I do from time to time, mainly as a writing exercise when I’m trying to get inspired to write, but I wanted to do one with the specific intention of sharing the process, hence the title, “Trusting Instincts”.

At the time when I originally wrote this, a year ago, I had UTFO on my mind. I’ve always been a big fan of the group since 1985, but also feel like they are one of the most under-appreciated groups in Hip Hop history. People talk a lot about “Roxanne, Roxanne”, but don’t mention their skills and other elements that made them great. So because of that I try to honor them whenever I can. So, at this time last year, Kangol Kid announced he had cancer, and just a year or so before that I was in Brooklyn for a while and I was trying to find Kangol for an interview but never made contact. So, when he made that post and I was working on a mixtape, I decided to do this song as a dedication.

I recorded that original version to an August Fanon beat that I got from his soundcloud, because he’s one of my favorite producers today. But since that project was all beats I used without permission, I only did it for free on Bandcamp and didn’t really push it.

So I decided to remix this one around the one year anniversary, and even dig deeper into the concept. To challenge myself, I did the rhymes, beats and cuts on this remix. The lyrics are the same, which like I said is a mix of improv and editing. As for the beat, I had just got the Roland AIRA Compacts, which is the T-8 drum machine, J-8 synth, and E-4 voice tweaker, and they are all awesome! They are only $200 each, and are probably my favorite production tools in my setup, at least in many regards. . It really helped when I accidentally learned I could trigger samples and drum kits from Ableton, which should have been obvious but it simply didn’t occur to me. This beat was made using those compacts and an Ableton drum kit, with some UTFO easter egg sounds chopped and spliced in.

The cuts are done in a style that I call Scratch Meditation, where I just zone out and do whatever comes to mind, but also the end scratch in the background is honoring Mix Master Ice who is the first person I heard cut up that sound which became the most popular scratch sound of all-time. Of course, my scratching is nowhere near his excellence, hence it being more in the background.

I also added a dialogue to the end, talking about why I’m a huge fan of UTFO, and also list my favorite songs by the group! This was just a fun experiment, and I wanted to share.

Written & Performed by 7X3=21

Scratch Meditations by DJ Nikoless

Mixed & Mastered By Therma

This is dedicated to UTFO. R.I.P to The Educated Rapper and Kangol Kid.

Shout Out: 3D Crew, Fort Riley Breaking Patrol, Skate Junction in Junction City, KS, DJ Red Alert on 98.7 Kiss tapes, the House Rockers Nation, T.T.T, and Champagne.

This song was made using a mixture of improv and detailed editing, a style I call Random Planning. It’s a fun technique that I do from time to time, mainly as a writing exercise when I’m trying to get inspired to write, but I wanted to do one with the specific intention of sharing the process, hence the title, “Trusting Instincts”.

At the time when I originally wrote this, a year ago, I had UTFO on my mind. I’ve always been a big fan of the group since 1985, but also feel like they are one of the most under-appreciated groups in Hip Hop history. People talk a lot about “Roxanne, Roxanne”, but don’t mention their skills and other elements that made them great. So because of that I try to honor them whenever I can. So, at this time last year, Kangol Kid announced he had cancer, and just a year or so before that I was in Brooklyn for a while and I was trying to find Kangol for an interview but never made contact. So, when he made that post and I was working on a mixtape, I decided to do this song as a dedication.

I recorded that original version to an August Fanon beat that I got from his soundcloud, because he’s one of my favorite producers today. But since that project was all beats I used without permission, I only did it for free on Bandcamp and didn’t really push it.

So I decided to remix this one around the one year anniversary, and even dig deeper into the concept. To challenge myself, I did the rhymes, beats and cuts on this remix. The lyrics are the same, which like I said is a mix of improv and editing. As for the beat, I had just got the Roland AIRA Compacts, which is the T-8 drum machine, J-8 synth, and E-4 voice tweaker, and they are all awesome! They are only $200 each, and are probably my favorite production tools in my setup, at least in many regards. . It really helped when I accidentally learned I could trigger samples and drum kits from Ableton, which should have been obvious but it simply didn’t occur to me. This beat was made using those compacts and an Ableton drum kit, with some UTFO easter egg sounds chopped and spliced in.

The cuts are done in a style that I call Scratch Meditation, where I just zone out and do whatever comes to mind, but also the end scratch in the background is honoring Mix Master Ice who is the first person I heard cut up that sound which became the most popular scratch sound of all-time. Of course, my scratching is nowhere near his excellence, hence it being more in the background.

I also added a dialogue to the end, talking about why I’m a huge fan of UTFO, and also list my favorite songs by the group! This was just a fun experiment, and I wanted to share.

Written & Performed by 7X3=21

Scratch Meditations by DJ Nikoless

Mixed & Mastered By Therma

This is dedicated to UTFO. R.I.P to The Educated Rapper and Kangol Kid.

Shout Out: 3D Crew, Fort Riley Breaking Patrol, Skate Junction in Junction City, KS, DJ Red Alert on 98.7 Kiss tapes, the House Rockers Nation, T.T.T, and Champagne.

This song was made using a mixture of improv and detailed editing, a style I call Random Planning. It’s a fun technique that I do from time to time, mainly as a writing exercise when I’m trying to get inspired to write, but I wanted to do one with the specific intention of sharing the process, hence the title, “Trusting Instincts”.

At the time when I originally wrote this, a year ago, I had UTFO on my mind. I’ve always been a big fan of the group since 1985, but also feel like they are one of the most under-appreciated groups in Hip Hop history. People talk a lot about “Roxanne, Roxanne”, but don’t mention their skills and other elements that made them great. So because of that I try to honor them whenever I can. So, at this time last year, Kangol Kid announced he had cancer, and just a year or so before that I was in Brooklyn for a while and I was trying to find Kangol for an interview but never made contact. So, when he made that post and I was working on a mixtape, I decided to do this song as a dedication.

I recorded that original version to an August Fanon beat that I got from his soundcloud, because he’s one of my favorite producers today. But since that project was all beats I used without permission, I only did it for free on Bandcamp and didn’t really push it.

So I decided to remix this one around the one year anniversary, and even dig deeper into the concept. To challenge myself, I did the rhymes, beats and cuts on this remix. The lyrics are the same, which like I said is a mix of improv and editing. As for the beat, I had just got the Roland AIRA Compacts, which is the T-8 drum machine, J-8 synth, and E-4 voice tweaker, and they are all awesome! They are only $200 each, and are probably my favorite production tools in my setup, at least in many regards. . It really helped when I accidentally learned I could trigger samples and drum kits from Ableton, which should have been obvious but it simply didn’t occur to me. This beat was made using those compacts and an Ableton drum kit, with some UTFO easter egg sounds chopped and spliced in.

The cuts are done in a style that I call Scratch Meditation, where I just zone out and do whatever comes to mind, but also the end scratch in the background is honoring Mix Master Ice who is the first person I heard cut up that sound which became the most popular scratch sound of all-time. Of course, my scratching is nowhere near his excellence, hence it being more in the background.

I also added a dialogue to the end, talking about why I’m a huge fan of UTFO, and also list my favorite songs by the group! This was just a fun experiment, and I wanted to share.

Written & Performed by 7X3=21

Scratch Meditations by DJ Nikoless

Mixed & Mastered By Therma

This is dedicated to UTFO. R.I.P to The Educated Rapper and Kangol Kid.

Shout Out: 3D Crew, Fort Riley Breaking Patrol, Skate Junction in Junction City, KS, DJ Red Alert on 98.7 Kiss tapes, the House Rockers Nation, T.T.T, and Champagne.

Murmur Instrumental by RedefineHipHop

Weight of a Feather Instrumental by RedefineHipHop

Don't Matter (Emotional Price Range) Instrumental by RedefineHipHop

Welcoming Ceremony Instrumental by RedefineHipHop

Who does the mirror see? I’m not asking that curiously

Thats me talking to my future self fearlessly

Apparently people treat your kindness so carelessly

So carefully I separate the favors from the charity

Inherently, I’m on the verge of some clarity

Change life’s rules, like Nea said, until it’s fair to me

Prepared to be different than all things that’s been compared me

And currently trying to trade some effort for some currency

A courtesy of a verse from me that’s more than cursory

Cause personally, I enjoy the symmetry like Percee P

Now mercy me, please don’t let no MC think of merc-ing me

I left all my failures in my past, like adversity

Now certainly, I’m not saying there’s no means of hurting me

I’m saying, mastering my moves is a certainty

I turn the key, let the lock release and set my art free

And stay in tune with my heartbeat

I turn the key, let the lock release and set my art free

And stay in tune with my heartbeat

I turn the key, let the lock release and set my art free

And stay in tune with my heartbeat

I turn the key, let the lock release and set my art free

And stay in tune with my heartbeat

This is mood music…the dawn of renewed muses

He who chooses to make excuses often loses

That’s not exclusive, no one is that elusive

Clouded or lucid, I never let my mind be muted

Express my thoughts, but yet I may stay secluded

Some days I lose it, humankind remains a nuisance

which pain you choosing? Seclusion or the same illusion?

My aim is prudence, still I remain a student

Ever-learning, and try to keep some fun Included

Plus better earning, I guess you could say I’m determined

To make certain, I’m satisfied…close of the curtain

I’m more than my burdens, but recognize they ain’t inadvertent 
it’s part of a purpose, to make our most impassioned feel worthless

Become numb or succumb to cash’s curses

Birth to casket, we learn about the past we purchase

A vast emergence of methods of mass diversions

My path divergent, preparing for my last excursion

Passionate person, sometimes I might laugh when nervous

Life’s a circus, good times come fast as tortoise

Get my cash in order, start passing borders

And focus less time on what’s not as important

I turn the key, let the lock release and set my art free

And stay in tune with my heartbeat

I turn the key, let the lock release and set my art free

And stay in tune with my heartbeat

I turn the key, let the lock release and set my art free

And stay in tune with my heartbeat

I turn the key, let the lock release and set my art free

And stay in tune with my heartbeat

Weight of a Feather by RedefineHipHop