Life Is DanK

Lets start off with some Free Stuff

#RoundHouseKickToTheHaters what’s good? The move to the West Coast has been interesting. Currently residing in LA. Been working working on getting into the film and getting some production work done. Both are going slow despite stayin mostly focused. That being said, I’m getting gigs and making beats, so it’s all good. Currently chillen, playin some Cyhi, trying to get things that needed to be done along time ago done…  Shit..

Well anyway this is the blog re-launch in tumblr form. A better platform I think.

But ya’ll should rejoice cuz you’re about to get some free shit. It’s not a big secret I produce , I make many beats but few songs, and have stuff to share. This small first pack consisting of a bassline dub starter kit, some rare/weird FX, and some loops. All in WAV format and ACID-ized ready for whatever DAW. 

(Old) Blog Launch post

Some thoughts I can’t compress to tweet size. Some post are too complicated for facebook. Somewhere in that sliding scale of relevance lies the blog. So everything not inebriated/immediate/compressable and or cut/dry/official I’ll have this blog for myself and my fans. I’m aiming here to share various thoughts, pictures, n shits I come across in the very magical  world of Dat D.A.N.K, purveyor and connoisseur of crack music.

A Chronic Legacy (archive)

 What good fam? It’s been a long road to Chron Legacy. Not the actual work in making it, but a long year since I plugged that dynamic mic in sometime in the spring of 2010 and began the framework for the future. Along the way there’s been more tumult than anyone not around me would know about, and more than once I questioned whether or not this music would or even could go anywhere. I find myself nexus of community college classes I know are helping my future but I can hardly bring myself to care about, and this music that means so much to me but has (had) yet to yield anything tangible. The life of an indie musician is one still including tiring jobs for almost no money, equipment you need but can’t afford, and the will to shine regardless of how impractical the things you love might be.
  In a years time its gone from the basement and not having any idea whats going on to touring around state colleges doing house & apartment parties to booking venues with artists. The production has gone from fucking around with pre-packed loops on entry-level music software in sophomore year to the satisfying knowledge that I’m one of illist producers I’ve actually met. Not knowing anybody in the industry and being from a place with hardly any music scene at all has forced me to learn how to make my own beats, engineer/mix my own sounds, do my own promotion/pr on top of just trying to become a better rapper.

  It’s been a pain in the ass let me tell ya.

  But at the end of the day, which I guess is right now, I’ve realized I have a diverse most artists don’t posses. Whether or not I ever get picked up by a major label, no one can stop me from doing what I do at the level of quality I already do it at. That being said, it’s safe to say, almost obvious, that I’m not going back. I can’t unless they find some way to suck knowledge out of my head.

  So as I’m sitting in my upgraded, but still cramped as fuck basement sound room until 4:43 AM, failing my public speaking class as I’m preparing to rap in front of a hundred people, I want you all to know if you didn’t already that I’m here, I’m thankful for the fans I’ve earned so far, and I’m dedicated to put in the work to earn more without leaving the ones I already have.

   Thank you, more or less.

“Life Is Still Dank, But Now It’s Chron”

Lessons I Learned Early (archive)

Well as the history goes, my first actual “album” (not a mixtape) I made when I was a sophomore in highschool. It didn’t start with the idea of setting out and being some hotshit. I originally made some beats with the watered down version of Sonar called “Music Creator 3.” I saw that shit up in Staples, bought it, and stayed up all night messing with the concept of “loops” until I (sorta)understood it. Anyway I assembled some reasonably hot drum breaks over a classical loop and spent the day after I created it showing my friends. I thought it was just cool that I made something resembling music, but my various homies suggested I give the tracks some vocals. I had never ever rapped before, but fuck it. My first recorded track ever was “The Return Of NinjaBlack.” Where I had gone to be doing any type of returning I don’t know, I made the thing. After some positive feedback I made more tracks with more vocals until I had ten or so songs.

   The real crime here is that I had straight up zero practical knowledge about recording, eq, compression, and generally things you need to know if you don’t want something to sound awful. Listening to it now, jesus it sucks. But at the time in highschool I felt like the man because I had just made some type of anything. I did all my recording on conference microphone. Like the type you would use for skype of some shit. Terrible plan.

  The real success here is that I learned how to make some form of music on my own. Because no one is going to help you unless you come out the gates rapping like Jay-Z, even Sean Carter wasn’t Jay-Z when he first started. Being that there was no hiphop scene at all during the day, and that I was 15 living in Northern Virginia, it’s not like there were producers, engineers and managers falling over each other like you might find in New York. I made my own beats that very ugly microphone and a mouse (that’s it), did my own recording, designed my own graphics even for the damn disk, and then sold kids said disk in hallways between classes. I remember I made over a hundred dollars selling the disks for 5 dollars a pop. While I’m sure I wasn’t the first kid to record some verses in my area, as far I’m concerned that first album of mind got in motion the whole ‘garage rap’ scene in the area. Often it resulted in mostly noise like any respectable garage band of the 90’s, but I think the main thing is that people just got out there and recorded something. Anything. You are your only obstacle.