As hip-hop went overseas over the past decade or two, kids everywhere treated it differently, adapting it to their languages or local music traditions. However, the foundation for most of these fledgling scenes remains the classic era of 90s American hip-hop, a style all but forgotten in its nation of birth.While the foreground of American hip-hop moves “forward” with hi-fi beats, kids in Germany prefer to make beats in the formats of DJ Premier and Pete Rock. Berlin’s Figub Brazlevič is one of these kids. Along with his contemporaries like Comfort Fit and Suff Daddy, Brazlevič’s sound keeps the spirit of Golden Age hip-hop alive, combining classic beat styles with samples and augmenting the format with dense synth work.His remix of Mobb Deep‘s “Shook Ones Pt. II,” released last year, serves as proof that his production fits with hip-hop’s old lyrical paradigm, and for this edition of LAYERS, we break down Brazlevič’s remix of something far newer—Scienz of Life‘s 2009 track “Break The Spell.” Brazlevič’s rendition sheds the murkiness of the original beat for a synthed out stutterer of J Dilla’s ilk. Here’s what he had to say about the track:I met John Robinson (Lil’ Sci of Scienz of Life) here in Berlin three years ago. He was in town with Gordon from Project Mooncircle (PMC) and Obba Supa. It was the time when the album Break The Spell / Leviathan came out on PMC. A few months later Gordon asked me about making some remix versions of the album because he had the full vocals. I like the original album version with its dark, gloomy and modern instrumentals, but in a way I thought about different beats and more jazzy, organic vibes. I took this project seriously even though it’s not my main project at the moment. What I like most about this one is that I can bring a different perspective to the lyrics. I tried to give new color to the topics/subjects of John Robinson and I.D. 4 Windz (the other half of Scienz of Life), their approach to modern day bullshit fed to us by social media, politics, “roots and culture,” the system, etc.Last year i dropped the first remix of this masterpiece, “The Potential,” with a classic beat with three different samples on one drum set. Every sample is a classic, well known by hip-hop fans. “Break The Spell” is my personal favorite from all my remixes of this project. I created a special vibe—boundless expanse in contrast with very groovy drums and kicking bass. The looped synth sound is a constant energy that flies upwards and keeps on its never ending journey to the top.The whole project is in the last stage of completion. I couldn’t wait any longer to drop this song so I’m doing it exclusively here and now!Drum set
I used the Addictive Drums plugin to create that certain style of drumming with the velocity and dynamics. Drums are the most important focus of my music—dirty, raw grooves loudly mixed in my arrangements.
I took the Trilian Bass from Spectrasonics. The bass is filling the empty parts of the drum set and giving it more pressure as a whole. In this song, I chose the nearly monotone groovy way on ⅛ bar.
Minimoog from Arturia. Two similar layers with a similar approach, panned half left and half right. Automations on one layer with the emphasis. Chords played by myself.
Minimoog VA Freeware Plug-In. I’m often using my so-called “synth grooves” to make the sound itself have more groove or rhythm. The chorus part consists of single notes.
Same as Synth Groove 1, but one octave up without the notes of the chorus part.
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I used the Addictive Drums plugin to create that certain style of drumming with the velocity and dynamics. Drums are the most important focus of my music—dirty, raw grooves loudly mixed in my arrangements.
Bass
I took the Trilian Bass from Spectrasonics. The bass is filling the empty parts of the drum set and giving it more pressure as a whole. In this song, I chose the nearly monotone groovy way on ⅛ bar.
Main Synth
Minimoog from Arturia. Two similar layers with a similar approach, panned half left and half right. Automations on one layer with the emphasis. Chords played by myself.
Synth Groove 1
Minimoog VA Freeware Plug-In. I’m often using my so-called “synth grooves” to make the sound itself have more groove or rhythm. The chorus part consists of single notes.
Synth Groove 2
Same as Synth Groove 1, but one octave up without the notes of the chorus part.
Here’s what you get when you put all the pieces together along with the a capella of Scienz of Life’s “Break The Spell.”Previously: LAYERS: Sahy Uhns Dismantles The Sounds Of “Ice Plant / Newly Destitute”
