Swizz Beatz was once rumored to have been sued by Casio for the 1999 Ruff Ryders track “Down Bottom” featuring Drag-On and Juvenile. But according to the man himself, the rumor is just that. In an interview with Complex.com where he breaks down his classic records, Swizzy explained that he never used a Casio keyboard or faced a lawsuit by the electronics company.
“The sound module comes with sounds programmed in it already, so I was just looping the sound modules. Then, of course, people spun it out of control like I got sued by Casio. I was like, ‘What the fuck?’ I’ve never used a Casio in my life. That was a myth. I was using the Trinities, these silver keyboards. The Triton hadn’t come out yet,” he said. “Today—because of that story—people think I made all of that shit from a fucking Casio. I’m like, ‘How can you make those beats from a Casio?’ No disrespect, but the only Casio I’d ever seen was little. I’ve never seen a Casio that had those types of horns or that could make the type of shit I was making.”
Swizz also spoke on the equipment he used back in his Ruff Ryders days, cataloging his stock list of hardware to make beats. “My equipment list started from two BD10 Gemini turntables with a wood-grain Gemini mixer—the small one. Then I graduated to the Technic 1200’s and I got the other Gemini mixers. I always liked the Gemini mixers,” he continued. “On the production side I started out with a Dr. Rhythm drum machine, I had an old TR-808. Then my cousin’s boyfriend—who was Bobby Brown’s brother—gave me an MP60, which was my first MP. I remember hooking all that up to my turntables and that was that.”
Read the full feature over at Complex.com.
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