Josylvio, he is insane and he works really quickly, as well.
He's like: 'Give me some music and I'll go in and just rhyme.'
He reminds me of Tupac.
Sevn, he's ill. I'm like: Oh shit, what the hell have we been doing?
Poke and Tone form The Track Masters, they're legendary producers from New York.
They're responsible for Biggie's song 'Juicy'
and many hits for people like Nas, 2pac, Destiny's child and 50 cent.
After some bad deals, they lost the motivation to make music.
but now they're working hard on some new tracks.
In Amsterdam they start their collaboration with Sevn Alias and Josylvio on some new music
So we're here in Amsterdam to check out the scene.
Work with Dutch artists, European artists and you know...
we've always worked in the States.
Just open up the doors and create opportunities.
And ride some bikes.
This guy's fascinated with bikes and shit.
They worked on Juicy. That says enough, there is nothing left to say.
And the list just goes on: Mary J. Blige. Just amazing shit.
I have to say, it is the music I grew up with.
But I didn't personally know that they produced it, you know?
I only found out after they gave me a list of everything they've produced.
Then I thought: Yes, man, insane.
Let me listen to my voice one more time. I need to tape it again anyway.
I think they're very all-round if I had to describe their sound.
I heard a kind of Tab-like shit so they're moving with the times.
They're into raw hip-hop, but their greatest tracks weren't raw hip-hop.
So that goes to show they have a wide range. Whatever you want, they've got it.
I remember having a conversation when we started doing Nas and LL.
And Foxy, so Tone and I were like: You know what?
We need to make records that reminisce to how the DJs used to spin in the parks.
And blend records and get that whole feeling.
That's when we started grabbing all these different loops and breaks.
And using breakbeats to make records. That's, I guess, the signature sound.
Ultimate Breakbeats, this is where we got our sounds from.
We'd chop these sounds, take our kicks and snares from breakbeats like this...
and make them our own.
We didn't really understand what we were doing...
in terms of the success factor and the celebrity factor.
We hung out, but we didn't hang out to the point where we did red carpets...
and all of that stuff. We weren't doing that stuff.
We were in the studio all the time.
Arcade, studio, video games, that's it. That's all we did.
Hearing a song on the radio was validation enough for me.
Oh, shit. Our shit is on the radio.
It was a competition thing. I just wanted to make a hotter record...
than the producers I was aligned with. -Who had the most placs.
Plac build-up, that was all then.
Look at that. Nas, Freestyle and the TrackMasters.
When we did It Was Written I remember getting a call.
You know how many records Nas sold the first week?
My heart started pounding. He was like: 'He did 275.' I was like what?
Back then 275 for a rap artist in the first week...
was crazy. -It was just non-existent.
So when he did that number, I was like: 'Oh, my God.'
I just sat there for a while thinking:
Jesus Christ, how did we ever get to the top? That's insane.
The phone calls were coming in, but it went to another level.
When you get the Foxy Browns and the LLs and the Nases of the world...
all competing at the same time and all that are our projects as well.
It was all happening simultaneously.
We were like, you know... I guess it was almost like...
a basketball streak: when you get hot, you're in the zone. That happened to us.
How is it going? -Good, I was at a writer's camp for a week.
Really? -I just came back.
Almost done. -How many tracks did you get in?
40. -40? Wow. Not playing around.
I'm not nervous. No, not at all.
It's just another session, you know. With legends, but still...
It's just a session and I'm going to do my best.
I think there's a difference between the older and younger generations of producers.
But I don't think it's hard to adjust to a certain era.
If you listen to a lot of the old school music...
you can adjust.
And the same goes the other way around. If you grow along as a producer...
and you keep up with the new sound, you should be okay.
Years ago, it all went sour.
For me, it was just... I'm just sick of industry people and the bullshit they do.
And how, if something goes wrong it affects the creative process, so...
It wasn't anything that we expected because we came in to make records.
That was the whole thing. We're in a record company, make records.
That's the product that the business is putting out.
But it was nothing about records.
It had to do with bottom line, it had to do with numbers.
We were like: Where is the artistry? What are we doing? What is this?
That's when we got the unbelievable education about what the music business is.
It was night and day to where we were coming from.
We were kids, 21, 22, getting into a business...
and shortly thereafter being successful. If you're 25 and have all this success...
you try to surround yourself with the right people to make the right deals.
It's a learning curve, but it does make you stronger and smarter.
You know what kind of people you should and shouldn't be doing business with.
In retrospect, when you fast-forward and look back at the deals artists signed...
in the '90s, those days were bullshit. They were bad deals, but it's a new day.
I want to roll alone these days people want to eat but are never happy
with what they've got my life has been a race
It's just about surviving and I will do everything for the cake
I think the magic in this beat is about the bass they're using.
And the clap is old school, even if it follows new school.
That's the coolest tricks about scoring a hit these days.
A lot people don't get that you need the old school elements...
to create new stuff.
Their beats do that.
Josylvio, he is insane. He super talented and he works really quickly, as well.
'Give me some music and I'll just go in and rhyme.'
He reminds me of Tupac. Pac used to go in and rhyme on everything.
50 used to go in and rhyme on everything. It doesn't matter what it is.
We ran out of beats and he was like: Give me high-hats, I'm going.
Josylvio is the same kind of artist.
Sevn just played us his new album that's coming.
He's ill, like. You know, great melodies, his flow is ridiculous.
So, I'm pleasantly surprised that there are Dutch artists...
that have the caliber of what they're doing in America. Oh, shit.
What the hell have we been doing? He's dope.
I don't know if I'm proud of myself but I'm happy...
that we were able to do something for an artist.
And they've found success...
with a song they've gotten from the TrackMasters
That always felt good, you know?
The fact that they're in the Netherlands...
shows that they're on their grind. If you have this legacy.
That's wicked.
If you stay on your grind you can always have a voice in a new music generation.
It's awesome that we're being recognized by great producers from abroad.
That shows how far we've come in recent years.
The fact that they can make cash off us...
says enough about how well we're doing, right?
My advice for young artists would be: Don't treat your music like a hustle.
Do it for the love and definitely try to be different, try to sound different.