Friday, November 5, 2010
Music Swizz Beatz Named NYU Producer-in-Residence: a Five-Track Syllabus
Posted by Benjamin Sutton on Fri, Nov 5, 2010 at 3:23 PM
Memphis Bleek, "Memphis Bleek Is..." (1999): Remember Jay-Z's once-promising protege? His break-out hit, with Meatpacking District music video, was a Swizzy affair, which, listening to it now, totally makes sense.
DMX, "Party Up" (2000): Back when DMX and his Ruff Ryders label really mattered at the height of millennial gangsta rap, Swizzy was the in-house producer, churning out more than a few clunkers and some of the era's defining hits, such as this one.
Styles P, "Good Times" (2002): A little uncharacteristic for the prominent nostalgic soul sample, but the abruptly chopped up bass line and squeaky sound effects are pure Swizz Beatz. What an amazing song.
Jay-Z, "Stop" (2003): He's had a long and fruitful professional relationship with Jigga, which has certainly produced more well-known jams than this obscure bonus track from the shortened version of Blueprint 2 (like, say, "On to the Next One"), but the fact that it has remained so under the radar makes it all the more compelling.
T.I., "Bring Em Out" (2004): The horn sample is a little unusual, but the bouncing drums and jarring Jay-Z sample is classic Swizzy.
You're now qualified to enroll in Swizz Beatz 101.
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