Author: Calvin R. Evans
Published: November 16, 2005
Tool: [ email ]
Manhunt: Yo what's up man?
Bellamy: Yo what's going on?
Manhunt: Yo thanks for the interview.
Bellamy: Yo no problem man, I appreciate it.
Manhunt: The first thing that I wanted to ask you is what projects to you have out right now and what are you currently working on?
Bellamy: Right now I am working on the East Flatbush Project, which features two artists, Stress and Docks. Right now we got something that's gonna spin off called Who I'm is and the other song is called Head to Head 2005.
Manhunt: Ok.
Bellamy: And it's been circulating on some mixtapes and on the internet as well on different sites.
Manhunt: Ok.
Bellamy: So at this point I'm just pushing it to college radio DJ's.
Manhunt: Ok. So how is that going?
Bellamy: Well we just started mailing them out this week.
Manhunt: Oh ok.
Bellamy: We haven't even gone for charting position yet.
Manhunt: Cool.
Bellamy: We are very early in the game to see where it's going to go. So we got that going and I am getting ready to finish the album.
Manhunt: Straight man. So how are the tracks coming together so far for the album?
Bellamy: Oh, it's pretty good. I'm almost done.
Manhunt: All right straight. Cool, cool. Now let us know what websites have the mixtapes you are featured on and the names of the mixtapes.
Bellamy: DJ Mix Boogie, Hustle and Snow mix CD, Kool Kev Nationwide Respect, another Kool Kev called Ridin' Music. There's another dude out of Cleveland by the name of DJ G-Spot, it was on one of his mixtapes but I don't remember the name of it but it was hosted by Ray-J.
Manhunt: Cool.
Bellamy: And it was on a couple of sites. The two largest ones were Hip Hop Game and All Hip Hop.
Manhunt: Cool. Well you are definitely all over man you definitely doing all right.
Bellamy: I'm trying man. It's still in the embryonic stage still and I've leaked it, but I haven't really gotten it to everybody that I can possibly get it to.
Manhunt: Right.
Bellamy: So, the reason why I'm taking my time because the beauty of having an indie label is that you can work a record for as long as you want.
Manhunt: That's true. That's definitely true, you're right man.
Bellamy: So mind you, I've been leaking this stuff like the Head to Head joint since February and the response has been pretty good. And what I started off doing, I was just testing the waters emailing different DJ's throughout the country and getting some feedback on it. So a couple of dudes started playing it on their shows but it wasn't a point where I really serviced the DJ's. So now that I'm dropping Who I'm Is which is the actual single, Head to Head is going to be on the B-Side, so for the people that didn't catch Head To Head the first go around they'll definitely catch it now because it's going to be on our album and on the 12" as well.
Manhunt: Good deal. Now let me ask you this, what is the hardest part of being a producer?
Bellamy: The hardest part of being a producer? It's a couple of things, one is trying to stay consistent with your craft and, you know my biggest fear is that one day I'm going to burn out.
Oh yeah really?
Yeah.
Well that can definitely happen. I mean it can happen. I think sometimes I don't know if that will happen to you completely because I think that when you are gifted in a craft there's times when you burn out to a point where the ideas aren't really flowin' for you like they would normally come as fast as they would normally come. But usually, if you take a break if you take a step back and get a chance to regroup, then you can come back hard again. So I don't think you would ever burn out completely but it could happen where you get a little burnt out. So I feel what you're saying.
Bellamy: Yeah and I know that a lot of producers tend to do that. I guess once they start making a name for themselves and everybody starts to holla at them and they start making all this money, they'll just take it because they feel like they don't know when all of this is going to run out. Well some people like myself, I like to work with unknowns and build them up.
Manhunt: Yeah, to me that's hot.
Bellamy: Then I have a right to be selective and then let's just think about the props that you get when you bring in somebody out of nowhere.
Manhunt: No doubt.
Bellamy: So I've done at both ends where I've submitted tracks to labels and artists and what not, and I've also put out records of my own. And both ends are political, especially when you are trying to get something played on the radio, but eventually some way some how if your song is hot it's going to leak and your going to create that fan base. I prefer doing it this way because you have complete control over what you are doing. As a producer, you don't even get to build a song with an artist because most of the time the artist isn't even there. So it's just like, alright they'll take the beat from you and you don't know what they are going to do to it.
Manhunt: Right.
Bellamy: So definitely it's a grind.
Manhunt: Yeah. So what does an up and coming producer do to get noticed in the game?
Bellamy: One, have your own sound. Two, try to come up with artists that will fit your sound. If you look at the history of the biggest producers you think about...I take it all the way back to Def Jam. When Def Jam started Rick Rubin had LL Cool J, Premier came from Gangstarr, The Bomb Squad was Public Enemy, Dre was NWA, Snoop, Eminem and himself. The RZA had Wu-Tang, Swizz Beats had Ruff Ryders, Pete Rock had CL Smooth, Muggs had Cypress Hill. All of those dudes were top-notch producers and they all came from...that was like the launching pad, and that's how they got in.
Manhunt: So basically just find the right artist that has a good blend with your sound and just work with them.
Bellamy: Yup.
Manhunt: Ok, cool. Now if you had to name one artist that you would like to work with, who would it be and why?
Bellamy: I would say Jay-Z, but I fortunate to work with him.
Manhunt: Ok.
Bellamy: I would like to work with him again, but I always said that I would like to work with Ghost Face.
Manhunt: (Laughs) Why is that?
Bellamy: Man, I just like his style.
Manhunt: He's got that crazy flow.
Bellamy: Yeah. He reminds me of the dude that used to come to the block party back in the days and say, "Yo, let me get on the mic"
Manhunt: And then rip (laughs).
Bellamy: Yeah, and then leave right after that.
Manhunt: No doubt. No my final question for you is, if you could say one thing to an aspiring producer, what advice would you give them as far as training to do this thing?
Bellamy: You mean as a producer?
Manhunt: Yeah.
Bellamy: Learn the music from the past.
Manhunt: Ok.
Bellamy: Then listen to how other producer brought their records. And not even so much with only hip-hop, because if you want to be a producer, you want to be an all-around producer.
Manhunt: Right.
Bellamy: Yo I listen to Norman Whitfield
Manhunt: Yeah, old Motown.
Bellamy: He was crazy. He brought that whole psychedelic sound to the Temptations. That was crazy.
Manhunt: Right.
Bellamy: I even listen to The Beatles stuff.
Manhunt: Yeah!
Bellamy: I listen to Quincy Jones and how he arranges his songs. I listen to the great hip-hop producers of course Primo, Dre, Rick Rubin, Rza. I listen to their stuff. Then you try to find your niche, what's gonna work for you.
Manhunt: Yeah that's important.
Bellamy: Yeah that's also important.
Manhunt: It's a lot easier to copy; it's a lot harder to come up with your own sound, but your sound is yours. Your originality will make a way for you. No doubt.
Bellamy: Yeah.
Manhunt: Well all right man. I appreciate you taking time out to talk to us today. 1030 Uproar label right?
Bellamy: Yeah man.
Manhunt: Yo, you got any release dates for us?
Bellamy: We don't have any dates yet but just look out for the album called First Born and it'll be out sometime next year, like Spring 2006.
Manhunt: All right man, yo we appreciate you man.
Bellamy: All right man, peace.
Manhunt: Peace.
