While appearing on a panel with other producers Tuesday (August 18), DJ Battlecat explained his beat-making process.
“My beats are melody-driven,” DJ Battlecat says. “For me, I’m a melody guy and I’m driven by that because I do understand that you need a song the whole world can sing. You have a song like [Kurupt’s] ‘We Can Freak It,’ it’s inspired by a record from a legend Ray Parker Jr. My thing was to embody the melody and the rest is history. I’ve been a single guy as far as doing a majority of my music by myself to really make a name for my credibility for what I chose, so I embody live percussions, turn tables and the art of pop locking.”
DJ Battlecat was addressing a capacity crowd in Hollywood’s Ivar Theater as part of the “I Produce Musicology Showcase.” The event, hosted by Brittney Boston of Supreme Republic Entertainment and the Los Angeles Film School, featured panel discussions and a live performance.
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Battlecat took time to discuss the creation of the G-Funk sound.
“It’s really the greatness of positive energy,” DJ Battlecat says. “Funk comes in different mood swings and constructions…It’s universal language to bring people in the same room to say I dig you. You just take a little bit of what that is to communicate.”
Micah Powell, who co-wrote Omarion’s “Post To Be,” tells the audience that encountering the proper vibe is vital.
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“Just understand that nothing that you do is completely original,” Powell says. “Everyone steals. The thing is to steal and make it your own. Don’t underestimate vibe. Vibe is very important. People that aren’t creative don’t understand that you come in the room and need it a certain way. Fuck ‘em. They are gonna fuck up your vibe.”
Also at the event, Grammy-winning Aftermath producer Focus discusses working with Dr. Dre.
“These last two years I’ve been working with Dre,” Focus says. “[Working on Compton] was amazing. It was nerve-wracking. It was tireless. It was happiness. It was terrifying…You already know what Detox was about, when the world set the expectations so high. This was Dre’s final bow out. When you are trying to make a record and they already set the bar, how are you supposed to measure up? Dre when he puts out an album he sets the standard and nobody gave him that chance…He started hating the project. Compton happened in less than a year. We didn’t let anybody know what we were doing. We didn’t let anybody take away from what we were doing.”
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DJ Battlecat photograph by James “Jb Smooth” Bridges
