Meebo

Thursday 23 July 2009

Aftermath producer Dawaun Parker Interview

Parker talks about a number of things, including Dre and Detox. For full interview click the link at the bottom.

Adam Bernard: Start everyone off by taking us into the studio with you and Dre. What were your initial thoughts on Dre when you first started working with him and experienced his working style?

Dawaun Parker: That it was rigorous. You put in a lot of time. There was definitely a wow factor there when seeing the equipment and the precision and the top quality material that we were using. The first time I walked into the studio I remember being a little awe struck just by the sight of how everything looked. It was like a spaceship with all the lights and things like that. It wasn't like I was completely unfamiliar with what everything was either and we just went right to work. The day that I met him and he heard me play and heard what I could do, we started to work that day and it's pretty much been nonstop.

AB: Is Detox ever really going to come out or is it like a dragon or a unicorn, is it a mythical creature that we just keep hearing about?

DP: I've used the term unicorn because of the amount of time that people have been hearing about this project and everyone's anticipation for it. We are definitely working and all I'm able to say is that it's up to Dre to make a decision when he wants to push the button, but otherwise we've been working. It's not like an album he was working on before I met him and I think the misconception with that album is that people started talking about it and he announced the title before he even started to work on it. When he announced the title he probably didn't realize how much weight, anytime he says something how much people put on that. For years they've been hearing this thing, but you haven't heard much from him because he either wasn't working on it, or was waiting for a time period, but we're working right now and we'll see. I know we're pushing for it to be very soon.

AB: Do you have an approximation of how many tracks were made and how many were thrown away?

DP: No, I will know that when there's a track listing. When that's decided I'll know how many things, but it's not like a whole bunch of things have been thrown away. I think that we use a good amount of the material that we create.

AB: I know you have to keep most of it under wraps, but musically, how would you say it compares to the two Chronic releases?

DP: I just think that it's a forward progression. I think that there will be reflections of what's going on now, the fact that it's 2009/2010, I think that you'll hear elements that you recognize as Dre and you'll hear a crop of new artists, you'll hear some veterans and you'll hear a result of his new people, one of them being me. I think that we'll all contribute to it. It's having the Dre stamp, but being a full progressing record and we hope that we can give it some classic appeal.

AB: Give me a story or two from inside the studio during a session that was notably crazy.


DP: For me, always the best things for me is when I get to witness a musical display on a really high level. All of the Em session were great. One time I played live hi-hat and Em rapped strictly in my ear and I was improvising based on what he was doing with his vocals and the cadences and the rhythm changes that he was doing. He heard me play on some hi-hat stuff and he said "I like what you're doing there. Let me rap to you and just match it based on what you're doing, what you hear and what I'm doing." We recorded that and that was a pretty cool experience. That was like a hybrid of improvisation and Hip-Hop at its utmost. Basically, all of my first experiences were working with people that I've been big fans of, Busta Rhymes, 50, all of em just not really having a huge preconception of what their personalities were but just being like what is it gonna be. Someone like Busta, he came in full of energy and loud and everything like on his records and just seeing that personality be genuine even outside of the booth, those are the moments that I appreciate.

Source - http://musicmarketing101.blogspot.com/2009/07/artist-to-watch-producers-special.html

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