EXCLUSIVES

RJD2 ­ Loops and Pro Tools
Words by Erez Reuveni
July 2004

Back in 1998, while mainstream radio was sleeping, RJD2, an up and coming DJ, was setting it off in his native Columbus, Ohio. In 2000, after playing shows throughout the Midwest and East Coast, RJD2 piqued the interest of Def Jux's label-head El-P, who signed the DJ-cum-producer to his label. RJD2's debut album, Dead Ringer, turned heads in the underground community, but also caught attention from music industry heavyweights like Radiohead and The Roots.

Heralded by the indie press as DJ Shadow's successor, RJD2's first album didn't disappoint. Fusing funk, soul, blues, and even some good old fashioned psychedelia, Ringer served as the jump-off for instrumental hip hop at the start of the millennium. At once orchestral, but also grimy, RJD2's sound evokes just as many sentiments of other genres as is does of classic hip hop beat making. The fact that RJD2's music can't be properly classified as hip hop is evident on his latest release, ????????. On the record, RJD2 takes his production to a new level, not just mixing and sampling, but arranging and even writing lyrics. We spoke with the DJ recently about the new record and the state oh hip hop

MD: Your new record seems to involve elements of folk and rock. Are you moving away from hip hop?

RJ: I wasn't shooting to be any less hip hop. I don't have a lot of experience writing traditional folk songs. But I listen to folk music, and I like it, and it's something I'd like to get into. [I've] been listening to people like Avery Johnson, Rich Harrison, Queens of the Stone Age, Nick Drake, Radiohead, and Donny Hathaway, for example, and take influence from anything that's a good song.

MD: So how do you put together a song?

RJ: A lot of trial and error. I'm in a constant state of collecting things. I'll be going through records or noodling on the keyboard and come up or hear melodies and chord progressions, and just work with it. I've got all these lying around-basslines and drum breaks-and when it comes time to make a song, I just try to figure out how to make things work together. Although I will say I'm terrible at writing lyrics[,] I'm trying to get the point where I care about lyrics. Melodies and arrangements and chords are what make a song emotional to me.

MD: How do you put a song together technically?

RJ: Well, I have an MPC 2000 XL, and 99 percent of the new album was done on that. I also use keyboards, guitars, and turntables. I [bought] Pro Tools a few months ago and still don't know too much [about it], but I used it for all the mix downs on the album. I just dump the mixes by individual track in there. It's saved me a huge amount of time doing the mixes digitally. But to be honest, I fell more comfortable working on my MPC than dragging and clicking with a mouse.

MD: Dead Ringer received amazing press. Have any of the major labels come knocking?

RJ: Nothing major. Some things have been knocked around. Working with A&Rs can be weird. Dealing with managers or artists, you know what's going on, but with the label people you just don't know. I almost feel like a kid with a demo trying to get his foot in the door with the majors. A lot of these people don't know who I am. And that's fine, as that's the way the major labels work. Ultimately I just want to make music with people and artists I like. If some are major and some are underground, then that's fine. But if I want to do a track for Common, for example, I'd go the traditional route and look him up in the phone book.

MD: You mention not being well known. Are you a proponent of what's going on with music and the Internet?

RJ: I think it's great[-]the readily available climate of music. It's going to make the cream rise to the top and eliminate a lot of the industry bullshit. All these kids being told what's good and what's hot are now getting on the [I]nternet and finding out for themselves. More [access] is a good thing.

MD: But what about piracy?

RJ: I can't tell if [it] does more good or harm. But I don't mind downloading. I can't blame the kids. I don't understand the motivation behind uploading though[;] what benefit[s] the uploaders...?

MD: Is there credence to the notion that a non-mainstream artist like you can benefit from Internet distribution, legal or not?

RJ: Definitely. A lot of kids tell me that they didn't know who I was until they downloaded me from the Internet. It's like, if you download some songs and then buy a CD, that's great. And if you download some songs and don't buy a CD, that's fine too- you weren't going to buy it anyway, so your downloading is no skin of my back.