No Ideas Original

"There's nothing new under the sun, it's never what you do but how it's done..."


and the music industry is not the best place to go if you're looking for that. Why? Well...it's an industry...

I grew up listening to the radio like anyone else, it was the source for all the new music. One of my favorite shows was DJ B who would actually scratch and mix new records instead of just shouting. He made it exciting and I still have tapes of his show and would still enjoy them today.

After graduating high school, around the time of Napster, I guess the music industry was slowly becoming asphyxiated because it seemed to give light on alot of shallow, incredibly basic music. I still remember my last day of radio...when they were breaking a new record on 92Q:

Chicken Noodle Soup - Webstar Feat. Yung B

I thought it was I was being Punk'd.

So I made a conscious decision to stop listening to the radio. But even now when I try to check on what's in the top 10, or what's hot, it always seems to sound familiar...either like the same hit from last summer, or something that I made and deleted because I was ashamed of it.

But I really wonder, do music fans ever feel like they're being ripped off when you hear the same song over and over? Let's check this out real quick...

This is 2005-2008:

Yeah...that's the music industry...

so if you think that was too analytical...well... I actually do that alot, and i have tons of other examples. But at the same time it motivates me to not make the same mistakes...

and it's not so much that they are mistakes, because all of those records did great, but the thing is, those records were NOT risky at all....because those music heads KNEW that song sold last summer, and it can sell again as long as people don't care about originality...

I'd rather take those risks with my music, and if people don't like it, it's cool, i still do it because I love it.

"Alien Blues" (Instrumental)

http://www.zshare.net/audio/6173442287f3ca6e/

Gentle Giant + Jeph "I Lost My Head"
http://www.zshare.net/audio/617348452e850174/

bring it back, bring it bring it back, if you
seen my head rollin by you--bring it back to the/
rightful owner to everyone's bright idea
it always sounds familiar everytime i hear ya track/
that's the truth, you can't tell me that aint true
whatever they call new, i'm feelin the deja vu, on some.../
"i can't quite place this but i,
think i made this a couple years ago and then erased it"/
no offense--all you rappers no offense
for spittin them sick rhymes
i can trace the origins of.../
where you got the style
(the influenza)
don't make me map it out now you remember/
lemme stop, lemme lemme stop
hip hop: you my peoples
i don't mean no friendly fi-re/
but can we raise the bar a little higher?
higher? (higher?) higher?
hold it-- right there./

Attempts to be...(3)

(1)

Original Version


My Version


Respect goes out to 9th...it's not too hard to mimic, but i could not figure out the method to his madness.

(2)



Original


My Version


this one was a little easier. I made it very quickly. still, sample ends in a weird way, so i respect Alc's style

(3)


Original



Mine....

Click here to listen to Jeph - Attempts to be Kanye2.mp3

Alright...honestly now...i made that mimic version in 2004...cut me some slack lol

Once again, imitation = flattery + good practice.

balance that with No Ideas' Original and you're good.

but...sometimes, it can go terribly wrong

this is a beat i started to make, and then stopped in the middle, because it sounded like someone else's...

Click here to listen to problearipoff.mp3

let's see if anyone can figure out what this is a rip off of...

My Lost Tapes

[my old room/studio in bmore. 2003. 17 year old Jeph]

I just found alot of my old stuff, and wow...

turns out I lied on the 88.9 interview, because my first beats date back to 2002, not 2004

I sh!t you not, I even made my own breakdancing game.

"Dance Pheeva (2003)".exe
http://www.zshare.net/download/589508845656afaa/



Looking back, I'm realizing that even my old stuff was experimental and somewhat complex. Yes, the beats aren't compressed and don't have the greatest mixing of elements (alot of times missing bass lines), but they were never regular drum patterns or rhymes, it was my own brand of weird...here is one of my first recorded songs:

Jeph "MiniXL" (2004).mp3
http://www.zshare.net/audio/589509566cffcd92/

Anyone who's heard The Album (2007) might feel like they've heard that verse before, and I did that on purpose. If you couldn't tell yet, I reflect on the past very often. I think about how good something was, how stupid I was, how much I might miss it, and always how much I've grown. I've always believed in the importance of knowing your origins in order to progress in the present and future. The intro really said that more concisely, as my very first words were:

"...uh!...before you see where I'm goin....I want you to see where I came from..."

So I won't get overly reminiscent, but it's always good to take a quick walk down memory lane.

J to the efficient

I recently mentioned on the WEAA interview that the equipment I was working with was 'modest', but really...I've come a long way.

Ahk said I didn't have to get into details over the air, but Ima get into a few now.

I started out making beats in 2004 on a computer with a Pentium 2 processor, and it couldn't have been more than 1GB of ram. I even wrote a few bars about the experience:

"and I make beats on a pentium 2/
if you got an MPC, I envy you/
because when I lay the hi hats and want to add a crash/
before the cymbal splash, my damn computer crash/"

Part of my style of making beats is that I like to layer alot. I can't just settle for one kick and snare, I have to pan atleast a couple in order to get it to sound right. So I would be layering alot in these beats, and when I play it back after arranging notes and stuff, when it got to the crash, the computer would actually hiccup and therefore fduck up my producer playback experience.

So I was able to get a slightly better computer, but that was around the time I started using higher quality instruments via VST plugins, so it was another burden that exacerbated this lag problem I was having. Even after using the M-Audio MobilePre, the computer would glitch up after a few minutes. I was able to cope with it for a while, until I started making beats a little differently.

I've always been drawn to behind the scene type videos, so when I saw this video, I was amazed.

I obviousely am used to software based productions, alot of clicking and very minimal preformance aspect. But when I saw how efficient other people were doing it through keyboard sequencers, I wanted to be able to do that. So alot of newer beats in which you hear a drums, a piano or other melody in it, most of the time was recorded live...sortof like the above video. It was just 10x more fun and efficient this way.

Heh...

I still remember chilling with Asterisk one day and we decided to collab on a beat, he's directing me to add shaker tracks and stuff like that. At one point he's trying to describe something and I didn't get it, so he's like "aight holdon gimme the keyboard, lemme show you what I mean".

LMAO

Because of the lag on my computer, it made him look like dude had NO rythym whatsoever. It was pretty unfair, but it definitely reminded me that what I had been used to...was not how making beats was SUPPOSED to be at ALL. [because I'd become accustomed to this lag, and my playing style had already been naturally offset to account for it].

I really needed to upgrade my stuff...

So when I said on the radio that my equipment was 'modest'...that's what I meant...It's not really up to par.

Now FINALLY, there is hope!!!


It might not seem like much in the pic, but thanks to VelvetHog's guidance, I've been able to get some decent computer parts over the past 5 months.

It's ending up being like around $650...but once again I bought it over the course of 5 months, so it's not really setting me back...

(Time + Money saved)

And people might ask "Jeph, why don't you just save up for an MPC1000 instead???"

Well...for that matter, why don't I buy an XBOX 360 too?

because I knew I could satisfy both needs and way more? It's a no-brainer when you think about it for the long-term.

So I've come along way equipment-wise...It used to take a huge burden just to make a simple beat.

So basically...this new computer is gonna help me make beats alot more efficiently...and I'm trying to make that word my middle name.

J to the efficient...

J to the effortless...

Now i'm off to bmore to celebrate my 23rd birthday, newer and improved Jeph coming soon!!!


---


PS -- Who's idea was it to make Earth Day on MY birthday??? Jeeeeezzz....

88.9FM Strictly Hip Hop Interview w/ Jeph

My first interview...I was nervous straight for the entire 3 days prior to "on-air" time.

Jeph Interview - Strictly Hip Hop

That first one might have cut out too early...check out the bottom link if it does

http://www.zshare.net/download/57110085f1d3d353/

And by the time I was in front of the mic, I'd calmed down alot...so IMAGINE how nervous i was BEFORE the interview, if I was still kinda nervous DURING.

But Big Ahk is a cool guy, I wish I had a video of his facial expressions, i don't know why, it was real animated and kinda funny. I think he was just trying to get me to calm down.

And shoutouts to Lyricist aka Jewel there too. She's supported me from the jump. This interview wouldn't have been possible without her reminding me to submit my stuff in. I think we have a very compatible music taste as well, so I'll be checking what she's listening to more often.

So close to getting this new computer set up, once it's on...it's gonna mean I can make beats ALOT more efficiently. And I have so many ideas...

Real Quick... (a few beats)

1/29/2008


more updates zune

sike hehe...i wouldn't do that to you

Games Playing Roles

Listen to this as you read...

I love music.

But before I fell, I was actually addicted to something else: Video Games. It started as far back as I can remember, and got really crazy in middle school in the N64 days. I was really attached, probably a little mentally dependent on that type of stimulation it provided. I can still remember turning down opportunities to go out with some friends (including a girl I had a crush on) to finish Final Fantasy VII...

I think the timer had me at like 140 hours when I beat the game...

whoa...

So it got real deep throughout High School...that's all I really wanted to do. And little did I know that since hearing games like Chrono Trigger, I was already beginning my transition out of the addiction.

My fixation on games must have peaked when GTA: San Andreas came out...because I had been following all previews and news on it 6 months before it even came out, and when I picked up my reserved copy and brought that joint home...it was everything I'd expected...

and I put in alot of time in it....




...and kept spending more time playing it....

...and remember this was the first year after I graduated from High School, and I can still remember that winter being extremely dark for me...actually...not to get too personal...but at one point might've believed in atheism...I wasn't lying when i said:

"I gotta be the laziest/ ...you can be a hustla, but i'm so laid back that i might be an atheist/ maybe it's the basement that i reside in, life down here's like Gilligan's Island/" -"Whick Whack"

This was around the time when I really developed my new identity, because I was sick of myself. I felt like I wasted so much...regretted so much... invested all these years in video games, and I felt like i didn't really have much to show for it. Unintentionally, I was getting into this cheesy beat making program called Fruity Loops, and it was way more fun than any video game...and it just felt good overall.

So this new identity had to be me, but not the same me...if that makes any sense. It had to represent who i wanted to be, and the best parts of who i really am simultaneously. I was tired of regretting things, I needed to be more productive....so I became Jeph. Originally it was this:

Jeff
Embracing
Productive
Habits

It worked in every way imaginable. This was my artist name. Anytime I do something creative, It's by Jeph. It's sortof like my alter-ego, who I am, and who I want to be.

See me/hear me

Different/same

This identity suited my non-categorical ass...I'm not always what I seem to be...don't get me started on that tho...

So believe me when I say, it was a conscious decision as an 18-year-old, to put down the game controller to pick up the midi controller. But as I transitioned into making beats and then music, I remembered all the Video Game soundtracks that were inspiring to me, and I didn't even know it would remain bookmarked in my audiological memory. Some of the most memorable:

• Bomberman (N64)
• Final Fantasy VII & VIII (PSX)
• Chrono Trigger (SNES)

I never owned a Sega, we had Nintendo, but GotdioN did some remixes and reminded me that Sonic the Hedgehog had a pretty damn good soundtrack as well. Later on, I noticed Charles Hamilton sampling the game, which is awesome too.

but Chrono Trigger's OST is amazing. I never even played the whole game myself, I'd just watch my brother Mike play it, and it was like a movie to me. The soundtrack was very moving, and you gotta remember...dude programmed all this stuff in MIDI!!! That is possibly the most insane part. It sounds so great, and they used those cheesy low-quality midi sounds.

I feel like it's only right that I pay homage to video game music...seeing as though it was very memorable in my childhood. So here's my version of "Secret of the Forest" from the Chrono Trigger soundtrack, adapted from the midi, with my selection of instruments, new drums, and a couple other changes. I just wanted to do a lil justice to it past the cheesy midi...

cuz damn...Secret of the Forest?

...this composition by Yasunori Mitsuda is damn near "The Soundtrack to Everything"

iono, it seems to fit in any type of situation in a movie

Yasunori Mitsuda - "Secret of the Forest" (Jeph Remix)

and since i've been gone for awhile, here's another video game sampled beat...

Jeph - Paq Man (instrumental)

(originally made 1-1/2 years ago for MD rapper "Paq Man"...but he didn't have the money to pay for it...so...if he reads this blog, he's basically gonna get it for free. lol)

SFS MIXTAPE UPDATE
-working on doing something with a Gentle Giant track
-more Hall and Oates lol
-"Balance"...gotta get the other people to record...my verse is done
-"Baesikz" might go on here, i hope to have more than just the chorus, maybe Pit?
-tons of ideas i just need to make happpapapapaeeennn

SFS ALBUM
-i've worked more on it...but...i need to find my niche...so it's moving faster than a snail
-"Trix" is gonna be a slick track...can't WAIT to write/record
-I'm taking such a long time, i gotta make this timeless, otherwise just put it out now

OTHER
-"SupaDupa" instrumental was on a local radio show as part of their segment for critiquing submitted beats...unfortunately i was asleep...but I'm gonna try to find a recording.

RANDOM SHEEIT
sometimes i get obsessed with other artist's music temporarily, but i realized...i get obsessed with my stuff too...

if this is the cycle? i'ma keep it goin like a cypher.