WORDS BY KHALID STRICKLAND a.k.a. BLACK PACINO
Rap jingles are burning up the airwaves right now but most of them will hold no weight in a decade. Meanwhile, timeless records from Hip-Hop’s golden eras are still moving crowds worldwide. Many of these classics, such as “Warning” by The Notorious B.I.G. and “Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz & Benz” by The Lost Boyz, were produced by the legendary Easy Mo Bee. Respected for his beat-making prowess and multi-platinum catalog, Easy Mo Bee is a decorated veteran. Enlisted by a fledgling Bad Boy Records in the early 90’s, Mo Bee produced a sizeable portion of B.I.G.’s 1993 debut album, “Ready To Die.” He also created the beat for the smash-hit single “Flava In Your Ear,” by Bad Boy’s first artist, Craig Mack. Mo Bee’s achievements are not limited to Hip-Hop; collaborating with the late, great Jazz icon Miles Davis is also a jewel in the producer’s crown.
Mo Bee caught his first break with two beats on Big Daddy Kane’s sophomore album, It’s A Big Daddy Thing, in 1989. He has since worked with Alicia Keys, Tupac, Busta Rhymes, Mos Def, Termanology and Wu-Tang Clan. Presently, Mo Bee is working with the perennially popular Cormega and Mr. Cheeks of Lost Boyz. Not only is Mo Bee a co-owner of digital record label, Platinum Ice; he also signed R&B/Hip-Hop artist Noelle to his own Easy Mo Records.
In an interview with Black Pacino, Easy Mo Bee explained why he’s still active in the game after all he’s accomplished.
“What keeps me hungry for more is looking at a lot of the new, young artists and producers that are still out there,” said Mo Bee from his Manhattan studio; where he once recorded both B.I.G. and Tupac during the same session. “I look at them and it kind of reminds me of when I first came into the game. And I was really hungry, man. I was at the point where I would’ve did anything for somebody, for an artist, to get on. I remember being real young and real hungry and not being afraid. I would walk up to anybody; any music mogul, any artist, any producer that I looked up to like Marley Marl. I would walk right up and introduce myself. I was hungry and I wanted to get on. I see a lot of that nowadays. Also what keeps me hungry is the music. I constantly still buy records; yes, I still deal with vinyl (laughs). I’m still diggin’… big shout-out to my man Jarrett over there at Big City Records, formerly The Sound Library. Me, Q-Tip, Showbiz… we always bump into each other over there. DJ Premier… you’re talking about sound experts, man. A couple of the people that I just mentioned, they’re comrades too, man. My man Large Pro’, Pete Rock… I’m not stingy, man, I give it up. People do their interviews (and) they don’t give it up to me, but I gives it up, man. Those are my folks right there, man; I got mad love and respect for them.”
Computers and upgraded music software have made recording songs easier. By e-mailing digital tracks to one another, rappers and producers no longer have to meet in-person to collaborate. But Easy Mo Bee feels that although this new way of recording is convenient, the music loses its soul in the process. The seasoned hit-maker prefers a hands-on approach when creating great songs.
“I’m so glad you asked me that. Yo, I hate that,” Mo Bee states emphatically. “I don’t care if you print it; I hate that. Where it’s convenient, is say… if it’s an artist that’s real far from you or they’re busy; they’re on tour, whatever… you can still get a chance to work with this person but you just can’t be there, that’s something I can live with. But if live in Brooklyn and you’re right over in Manhattan and you want to email me beats, that’s lazy, man. I’m from the school where… I lived in L.G., Lafayette Gardens in Brooklyn. The record companies were all in midtown Manhattan. Man, we got in the car. Before we even had a car, get on the train. Go to the office, sit and wait for an hour for the A&R to finish with the meetings and the other people he’s dealing with, then go in and sit down and play beats. But at least it’s face-to-face; you know what I’m sayin’? I want to look you in the eye. I want to see if you’re noddin’. That’s real important to me. I’m glad that you mentioned that because with all the technological advancements and innovations and upgrades we got going on; amongst all of that, what has happened is we created what I call ‘impersonal relationships’ with each other. And it’s affecting the music. It’s impersonal. I slap you a beat over the wire, you slap me some lyrics back and a lot of records feel like that. That’s why a lot of the stuff I did with Pac, with B.I.G. (sounds so good). Take Busta Rhymes’ (song) ‘Everything Remains Raw.’ You could almost feel the energy between me and him in the studio. And then, Busta is a real animated, detailed person. He’s real animated with his emotions and all of that. He’ll bring things out of you. See, if we wasn’t together, we wouldn’t have been able to do that”
Easy Mo Bee worked with both Tupac and Biggie separately and on a track the two artists did together. Knowing both rappers personally, Moe Bee explained how he felt when things went sour between them.
“As soon as that right there started, I already saw it way ahead of time,” Mo Bee recalls. “I was like, ‘Aw, shit. Here we go. It’s about to be East vs. West.’ I knew it. And that’s exactly what it turned into when it unfolded. Yeah, you’re right. We were just in the studio. Right now, I’m in one of the rooms where I recorded Pac for Me Against The World. Unique Recording Studios… you had Studios A, B, C and D up in here. A and B was up on the 8th floor; I got Studio B right now ‘cause Unique shut down and building management asked me if I’d like to keep a room going. So I kept Studio B going. But we did ‘Running From The Police,’ as it was called back then, in Studio C. Yo, it was me and half of my damn projects in there (laughs). Half of (Lafayette Gardens) was in there. I’m working with Big and Pac so they wanted to come by the studio. B.I.G. is up in there with Junior Mafia; the whole Fulton Street is up in there… he got all his homies up in there. Pac, he’s up in there with Mopreme and Thug Life and all of his boys. Yo, it was one of the most packed, filled, drink-flowin’ sessions I’ve ever been in (laughs). I remember my engineer, he had to actually squeeze and lean forward on the board just to get things done. It was so packed in there people was on his back… my man E. Eric Lynch, I’m still with him today. And like what you was saying, that’s the last thing I remember. And then you look and you see them at odds with each other, for whatever reason. Whatever reason they’re at odds about, I don’t got no clue to it; I ain’t around. So of course that’s got me like, ‘What’s happening? We was just in the studio having fun and all of that.’ Then after that, that’s when all haywire set in, man.
I analyzed it earlier on in my mind. ‘Okay, the west coast already got their version of us. And some of us already got our version of them. All you need is one of the most major figures from over there to become embroiled in a battle with one of the most major figures over here. Here we go.’ That’s what I saw. I saw a coast jumping on his back and being with him and the same thing over here. It’s a sad thing, especially the way it turned out to be. And I’ll tell you what I also saw way ahead of time. In my mind I was saying, ‘This is about to be dangerous.’ That’s what I’m saying in my head. Because some of the insults, and the way they were being traded, it was just real different for me, man. I remember seeing MC Shan and KRS-ONE. I remember going to Queensbridge in the middle of that KRS-ONE and MC Shan battle. I went over there and they had some jams out there and everything and you heard the disses and stuff like that. We thought that stuff like that was dangerous. Ice Cube and Common… there’s been many battles in the past. But this one here, I don’t know, it just felt eerily dangerous. I felt like something could be brewing.”
Read the entire interview in the upcoming issue of RAP FANATIC magazine.
Links of interest:
Hey K!!
You got really good interview!!
Doumo arigatou gozaimasu,
Kansya shimasu.
I really know exactly waht you are sayin’ E.M.B. !!
Doitashimaste.
Glad you like it.
Yes, Easy Mo Bee is also a vinyl junkie. Ya’all can relate.
Mr. Mo Bee would love Odoriya.
http://www.odoriyarecords.com/index.html
Khalid that was a great interview. Like most folks I have my own recollections about the conflict but the perspective you offered here was:
1. Very informative
2. Unique
3. Well written.
Continued success…
If you like it I luv it, familia.
That type of feedback makes the wacky world of journalism worth the headache, heartache & wallet-ache.
Easy was one of the first to make me wanna make beats. Me Against The World and Ready To Die was his best works.
Yeah, not many producers have 2 classic albums under their belts and classics by BIG & Pac at that. Rap is the only music with a disregard for it’s past, but it’s good to pay homage like Rock n Roll. There’s inspiration to be found with the Grandmasters.
Plus the man still has heat. Wish the joint he did for Termanology was a full-length joint & not just a lil’ intro, the beat was dope.
I gotta hear some of your tracks, by the way. Call me the fire inspector a.k.a. heat-seeker.
Spizz, I tip my hat to you.
EMB = a damn legend. Less than 2 weeks ago, I was trying to put one of this lil youngns on his work(pause).
Dope invu. Keep keepin on homie.
Thanx, fam-o.
Good to hear you were schoolin’ the young’uns like an OG should. All these lil’ niggaz need to know EMB, same way the adults hipped us to good music when we wuz kidz. That’s how I found out about Peter Tosh, Parliment/Funkadelic & gang of other shit.
Nowadays, adults wanna be kids.
this article was pure excellence, you rocked this…. i love his beats since back in the days….. as a hip hop historian you have shed more light on easy mo bee and he still looks right…..he sounds very humble and intelligent you lucky to have the time to pick his brain
cool beans, ruby. i’m glad you can appreciate this post.
so i guess these pics of easy mo bee qualify as eye candy, eh? great.
as the leader of the thirst mobettes, are you satisfied? will you put down the picket signs now? LOL
XOXO
Great Interview, very informative!!
gracias, hombre.