Logic Pro

No music today. Waiting for some new tools from Apple, to import into Logic. I've been having my share fo a fun time with logic, I ust say I find it easier to use that Pro Tools, and it has more features that Cubase, but the learning curve is fairly ridiculous, and there are a lot of non user friendly features. Not to mention the core audio and inputs are always getting messed up. All in all I can't resist it, especially with the student discount I got a few years ago when I bought it (from my on campus store it was $300!). As a tool to make beats it's very good, the instruments offer an array of options, and apple has great plug ins, which to me is random, but I'm thankful for.

Shake

Shake. A more recent track. I made the beat sampling a Captain Planet funk mix, 9th Wonder flipped this beat for Buckshot's Chemistry album but he didn't do it very well, and so I took it to the house. Tzu Hef flips the first two verses, doing his version of Pusherman and D. Krause comes in and absolutely kills the guest verse. I used some reverbs and panning to make his voice sound ill on the bridge, a solid promo track for Tzu's upcoming Coup De Tat album. Took the promo flick in my Tempe backyard.

Download Shake

Gotta Get Mines

I'd been working with an mc N.O.S.E. for a while, mostly doing photography, such as his album cover below. We'd done a few tracks, but nothing thrilling. In the mean time I'd been working with his man Tzu on a whole album, so he would be in the studio and we would be steadily getting work done. I passed him this beat, originally with a horn sample that we later took out to let it run straight (he doesn't like to adjust his flow) and he brought in R&B kid, a relative novice but with a damn good voice and we made it all happen. This was the single on his 2006 mixtape Oppression Music, got us a lot of love and a little radio. One of my favorite beats, was one of my best until the recent batches. NOSE's voice works well, everything about this is solid. Download Here

Jimmy Swagga

I hooked up with rapper Tzu Hefner through a mutual acquaintance NOSE who I shot photos for. We did a collab with four mc's and then came Jimmy Swagga, one of my favorite beats of that era that I made, lets just say the samples are crazy and from extremely different sources. This turned into one of the tracks on the collaboration album we did entitled Tzunami. Most of the songs we do together end up chorus driven, but this one I tossed in a quote from Ghost Dog and we kept it straight hip hop. This is pre-studio, so this the worst quality sound on the album, but I thinks something can be said for the rawness. Tzu came to America from Nigeria, so his end shout out on the track seems to say it all.Download Jimmy Swagga Here


This is the online album promo, photos and design by yours truly

Bring Me Sunshine

Reaching back to last year again today. This track is one of my beats from the reggae era, before I dropped my freshman release Chubby Dub and rapper D. Krause jumped all over the beat. I put down my styling on the hook, which he wrote. I remember being in the studio and jokingingly asking "Could you write that down for me?" and he handed me a sheet that said
"If you make that money,
put your hands up for me,
and if you stay dressed fly,
put them hands up high.
Repeat"

Whatever, it sounds good...

Bring Me Sunshine Download it.




D. Krause depicted here, as usual if you like the photos check out my photo blog. More D. Krause can be found at my myspace he's in my top people, just click on the blinged out white rapper... His album Cake Mix, which i contributed most of the beats too and recorded 90% of is set to be released soon, should be a solid release that might do some things for Las Vegas where he represents.

Soul Survivor

What's good, it's Axis. I make beats (lots) and rhyme (a little) with the Southwest rap conglomerate The Frequency, and I'm gonna keep this blog up with various beats, collaborations and tracks from the artists we work with. Just good, innovative hip hop, chronicling our steps to greatness.

This first track was recorded last year in the den I lived in in a Scottsdale condo on a MXL60 condenser mic through Garageband, this is the pre-Logic, pre studio days. The beat was made by me two years ago, and the artist is the one and only Werdperfect (pictured below), who at the time was working at Ihop with my poetry partner Jason. Now he's in LA, cleaning toilets for Epitaph and occassionally opening for the likes of Lyrics Born and Aesop Rock. Track is called Soul Survivor, download it here

Photo by yours truly, for more photo work check out my photo blog.