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www.worldofbeats.com - NEW worldofbeats, VOL-8



Volume 8: Lone Catalyzin' With J Rawls
April 28, 2000



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SOULMAN: I guess we can begin with the basics… how did you get started in hip hop and producing?
J RAWLS : I got into hip hop because it's what my boys used to listen to on the block. I started out beatboxing. Then I started rapping after hearing “La Di Da Di” by Doug E. Fresh and Ricky D. Then we discovered Kool & The Gang's “Jungle Boogie” that EPMD sampled in “You Gots To Chill”, and we went nuts….went through all my dad's records and started digging and finding loops…been makin beats ever since…

SM: Just in the last few years I've noticed that there's maaad talent in the “three river” area- Ohio, Pittsburgh Pa., etc. How difficult has it been coming out of the midwest and being able to do your thing in the whole New York indy hip hop scene?
JR: That is just the thing- there is talent everywhere, it just has to be tapped. It is very hard to do stuff if you aren't from NYC, but we are trying to break that barrier now…

SM: How did you link up with J Sands? I know from my own past experience how hard it can be to do things as a group when the members live in different cities. How do the two of you deal with that and make it all work?
JR: I met Sands through my man Buka, who we named the label after, and we discovered that we both went to the University of Cincinnati. We went to the same college but met in Columbus….! We run our business via the e-mail…and it works really well.

SM: You and Sands started B.U.K.A. Entertainment to put out your records initially and also hooked up with Seven Heads, one of the key indy labels to watch out for in the 2000's. First, how did B.U.K.A. come into existence, and also how did you get involved with Seven Heads?
JR: B.U.K.A. came into existence to put our records out and to help some of our peoples from the midwest with talent get some exposure…so we just made it happen like that. I had Wes's (Wes Jackson, owner of Seven Heads) number for a long time but never called it until I could give him some product. So when we did the “Paper Chase” 12 inch, it wasn't time. But with “Due Process” we knew we needed Wes…and then we called him. The rest is history.

SM: Other than “Thin As Paper”, the MC Lyte remake that you and Sands did, every beat I've heard from you has been real jazzy-sounding. Would you say that it's a case of you staying on a jazz vibe so that people will identify with a signature sound from J Rawls (in the way that Pete Rock made horns his signature sound, for example) or is that simply what you like to sample?
JR: I dont know if I would say that was my signature style. I think I like to make beats to what I am feeling right now. Right now I am into lounge music. That is what I have been listening to, so that will be the influence you will hear in the tracks. But by no means will I stay on a certain vibe for any reason. I always try to make stuff that will make people say “that doesn't sound like a Rawls beat”.

SM: Who are some of your favorite jazz artists (to just listen to or to sample)?
JR: Ahmad Jamal, John Klemmer, Roy Ayers, Perry Como, Bobby Hutcherson… man, the list is endless!

SM: Is your production all samples or do you get down on the keys a little bit, too?
JR: I get down on the keys… I like to play samples. That always provides an interesting sound.

SM: What samplers / sequencers do you make your tracks on? What's the whole studio set up like when you're recording your records?
JR: I go to different studios… but I make beats on the Ensoniq ASR-10.

SM: A-ight, this is The World Of Beats so you know we got to get into the record side of things. How many crates do you have right now?
JR: Word, these are the questions I was waiting on! I probably have about 5,000 records…and I still have a lot of my dad's records at his house. He is a CD man now, so I have laid claim to that vinyl, ya know!

SM: How are the spots in the Ohio area? Good records? Good prices?
JR: The spots in Ohio are cool. You can find records for a quarter or fifty cents. But there are also some spots where they will cost a little more. The digging spots are pretty much dug up. Some of the small cities in Ohio can have some hidden treasures.

SM: Do you consider digging for records to be a very important part of what you do as a producer? Are you a cat that's into the whole record collecting aspect of digging, where you're looking for all these crazy rare records not only to use for production but also to add to your collection? Or would you say it's more like, “yo, I don't care if it's rare or not, if it's hot I'm gonna flip it”?
JR: Man, diggin for records is an INTERGRAL part of what I do! If I can't sample anymore, then I ain't making beats. To me, that is the essence of hip hop. I ain't feeling these cats that don't sample. That is hip hop. Look here, hip hop began ‘cuz cats couldn’t afford instruments. That is what gives hip hop it's mystique. Do you think James Brown would be half as popular if Marley Marl hadn't took that piece of “Payback” for (Big Daddy Kane's) “Something Funky”? To me, that is hip hop and I don't ever plan on changing. I do collect records and consider myself somewhat a record collector, but I am not one of those break junkies digging for samples just because some cat used it or because it has a classic break. If I come across it, then I will buy it. Unless it is important to me, like Pete Rock and C.L.'s “T.R.O.Y. I paid $25 for that Tom Scott and would have paid more… for real, because I had to have that. And I paid nice money for the original to De La Soul's ”Ring Ring Ring“… classics like that I gotta have.

SM: I'm still astounded by the job you did on Blackstar's ”Brown Skin Lady“. We're not gonna give away the original you used for that, but every time I hear that song I can't help but wonder how you thought to chop it up and put it back together the way you did. Did you just hear the sounds and figure that you could seperate them and put them back together again? Or was it more like trial and error, just chopping it and then seeing if you could make something with it?
JR: Man, everytime I make beats I try to chop it up and imagine it sounding a different way. I really don't like to use a straight loop too much, unless it is just dope and I have to use it, ya know. That ”Brown Skin…“ beat is old. I made that in ‘95 at college. I had been trying to do that beat for a while. I actually made it and scrapped it, then made it again. Then when I met Kweli in ’97 and gave him the beat tape, I put the ”Brown Skin…“ beat on there as an interlude. Mos Def loved the changes so much, they wrote the song and called me a few months later singing it…

SM: Who are your major influences in hip hop? Who do you think is nice right now in hip hop?
JR: My major influences? Probably like Q-tip, Hi-tek, Pete Rock, Primo. Man, when Tip was making beats (like the joints he did on) Nas' first album, the Mobb Deep album, Crooklyn Dodgers)… I wish beats still sounded like that. I am from that era and those are the kinda beats I make and like to hear.

SM: What's coming up soon from J-Rawls, Lone Catalysts and B.U.K.A.?
JR: Man, too much to name:


Lone Catalysts- ”Politix“ 12 inch
Lone Catalysts- ”Superrappin" 12 inch featuring J-Live
J Sands- solo 12 inch
Makeba Mooncycle
Brothers Grimm
Camu Tao from MHz
J Rawls solo album featuring Unspoken Heard, Mass Influence, All Natural,
Apani B Fly, Mr. Complex and a bunch of others
Lone Catalysts with All Natural 12 inch
Lone Catalysts with Showtime from Atlanta 12inch
J Rawls' Top Ten Reasons Why Producers Should Sample:
10. Why not?
9. The challenge to make beats out of sounds
8. That is how hip-hop started
7. R&B samples any rap hit, so you may as well sample old R&B hits
6. ‘Cuz beats made from keyboards sound like ish
5. Nothing beats a fat snare from an old record
4. Most producers can’t play anyway
3. Listen to hip hop from 88-93, this is how its done
2. Music from the 60's & 70's is some of the best music created
1. Step 1: Watch Rap City!
Step 2: Hear the garbage!
Step 3: See that's why every producer should sample




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