Joe Beats
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| Joe Beats | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 4, 1977 |
| Origin | Providence, Rhode Island, United States |
| Genre(s) | Hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | Producer |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Label(s) | Lex Records Bully Records Twenty Four Seven Records Strange Famous Records |
| Website | www.joeybeats.com |
Joe Beats (born October 4, 1977) is an American hip hop producer from Rhode Island. He is most known as the sole producer for the duo Non-Prophets. His production credits go by many like aliases: Joey Beats, The Joe Beats Experiment, The Joe Beats Conspiracy, The Joe Beats Trio, Joey “Nose” Beats, Joe Beats & Blak, etc.
Contents |
[edit] Background
[edit] Style
Beats’ style is very traditional; reminiscent of all early 90’s production from the east coast. His major influences include Pete Rock, Large Professor, Da Beatminerz, Buckwild, Salaam Remi, Geoff Barrow, K-def, Dj Kno, DJ Signify, etc. The foundation to most all of his music is a drum break carefully stacked on top of a loop. The groove is usually a filtered bass line, the main signature to Joe’s production. The end result is a gritty mix of melody and backbeat dipped in lo-fi.
[edit] Equipment
Joe uses SAWPro on a 333 MHz, 128MB RAM, Windows 98 computer. Attached is an original GINA soundcard/break out box. Every project he produced has been done on this machine.
The processor on the computer is so slow Beats can’t preserve the duration in any sort of time stretch. The only effects he uses are pitch control (like on a turntable), graphic equalization (for filters), center channel elimination, compression, reverse, and delay.
Beats is also proficient on the MPC-2000, SP-1200, SP-303, and SP-404. In the past he has built routines on the ASR-10, MPC-3000, and S950.
[edit] Live performance
A great number of hip hop/downtempo/trip hop instrumentalists use laptops to perform live sets. Beats is vehemently against this for the simple reason the computer screen is seen only by the performer and not the paying audience.
For live shows Joe uses twin SP-404 samplers and, sometimes, double Numark portable turntables. Each of the twelve pads on the sampler represents a different sample or layer to the beat. He triggers each sequence live by hitting the appropriate pads with his fingers. For example if eight samples come in for the chorus, eight pads are all triggered at the same time. To play more heavily layered compositions, he will methodically palm all twelve main pads or balance both samplers at the same time.
Beats prefers using the 404 because of its unique size and LED buttons. Another integral piece of Beats’ live show is he refuses to play on stage. The lit buttons of the 404 and floor placement give the audience the option to see exactly what he’s doing if they so choose.
[edit] Collaborative efforts
[edit] Non-Prophets
Non-Prophets is a pairing of lyricist Sage Francis and beatmaker Joe Beats. The duo came to attention with their first single, the "Drop Bass" b/w "Bounce" on Emerge Music in 1999. The follow up release came in 2000 as the "All Word, No Play" vinyl single. Francis’ self-released his "Sick Of" series also included some Non-Prophets material.
Their debut album, Hope was finally released on Lex Records in October 2003. The album was praised almost unanimously by critics. For example, it received a rating of a 9.2 (out of a possible 10) on the ever fickle Pitchfork Media. Hope was also nominated by Neil Strauss for the Shortlist Music Prize of 2004. In early 2004 they toured the United States on the infamous 40-city Fuck Clear Channel tour.
[edit] Joe Beats & Blak
Joe Beats & Blak came together during significant pauses in both of their former groups (Non-Prophets and One Drop). The pairing is simple: Joe on the beats and Blak on the mic. Their formula is even more straight ahead: pure hip hop music.
Despite living over 1200 miles apart (Rhode Island to Florida) the new duo have already embarked on two tours, releasing an EP in the process. Settling the score is not the name of the game, catering to no one is. Joe Beats & Blak are now in the process of creating their first LP.
[edit] Solo career
Most of Joe’s solo efforts are presented in a continuous mix; one track transitions into the next without any pauses. With the exception of Indie Rock Blues, Beats’ projects usually contain raw hip hop instrumentals originally intended for emcees to rap over. He has yet to do an all-out instrumental album in the vein of DJ Shadow's Endtroducing.
Joe doesn’t contribute much guest work or one shot beats for albums. He prefers to be the executive producer for an album. This is why his instrumentals for whatever rare guest production he has done appear compiled in the mix on his beat releases.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Album information |
|---|
Reverse Discourse
|
Hope
|
Hopestrumentals
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Indie Rock Blues
|
Diverse Recourse
|
Strategery
|
[edit] 12” singles
| Album information |
|---|
Non-Prophets Bounce
|
Non-Prophets All Word, No Play
|
Non-Prophets Damage
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Joe Beats Hellfire (Remix)
|
[edit] 7” singles
| Album information |
|---|
Love, Love, Love
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Don’t Front, I’m Yo Trophy
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Fade
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[edit] Trivia
-A vocal version of Diverse Recourse's "Friday Afternoon" is featured on Ambidex's The Great Potato Famine.
