Thoughts on “I Don’t Make Beats Because I’m Bored” Tape

 

The idea for this project arose when I decided to leave Miami and move to San Francisco. Being raised in Miami, I knew that leaving this location would affect myself significantly and therefore affect and change the disposition of my beats. I realized that from here on out nothing I was going to make in SF would end up sounding like the stuff I was working on in Miami. I was introduced to beat scene back in the summer of 2009, and since then I had seen an exponential rise of producers/beatmakers creating tracks and albums that all seemed to blend together and had absolutely no distinction between one another. A lot of the sounds were interesting and at most times just simply dope, but when I listened to or read interviews their intentions were so uninspiring and bland. I was so disappointed to listen to such forward-thinking Hip-Hop and  know that it came from a bunch of overprivileged kids that could afford a Sampler and were just bored. So with the move to the west coast being a significant decision in my life I decided to title the mix: I Don’t Make Beats Because I’m Bored.

The concept of free art is something I had been working with and researching aside from the Beatcasso project and I always wanted to make that a huge part of the project. Free bandcamp and mediafire downloads wasn’t really cutting it for me and my previous beat tape was up for sale simply because I needed the money to pay for that since I payed for all 100 tapes to be made myself. So that right away was a huge opposition to my initial intentions. Even though the project was “successful” and the tapes sold out and I received more love than I ever had for any of my other projects I was upset that I had to sell my stuff and go down the huge list of beatmakers/producers selling tapes on bandcamp or on a label. Another thing I always keep in mind is that I make Hip-Hop, and I don’t intend to make anything else. I’m not interested in crossing genres or any of that, I just intend on working towards the advancement of Hip-Hop.  Hip-Hop music has humble beginnings and some of the best hip-hop music was made using the cheapest and ghettoest equipment around. Maad heads that get together to actually do something in Hip-hop do it out of hunger and thirst for that realness that nobody’s providing and so they just work with what they got.(what they can afford) That’s what has always inspired and initiated my contribution towards hip-hop. So I just decided to purchase a bunch of 90 minute tapes at Walgreens, record onto them myself with my $10 tape recorder, print out the J-cards myself, and ship the tapes out all at my expense. Seeing how this tape needed a b-side I started working on an exclusive mix that I chose not to upload to the internet. The b-side mix however features tracks both made in Miami and some while I’ve been here in SF, and even some that I began in Miami and then completed here in SF. I intend on no longer simply making free digital downloads, but rather make physical copies (CD’s, Tapes, Vinyl) and give them out for free. If somebody stumbles upon Beatcasso and is feeling what they hear and would like a release I want them to have it free of charge. I Don’t Make Beats Because I’m Bored, I make beats to contribute towards the expansion, development, and well being of Hip-Hop and Art.

P.S.  ”There’s two ghettos, one in the mind, the other physical” – Goretex