As a rapper and producer, Mobb Deep’s Havoc created a critically acclaimed career. Now, Hav is sharing some of what helped his musical status grow with his “The Infamous Producer Kit,” which contains more than 200 sounds used on Mobb Deep’s albums, including Hell On Earth and The Infamous.
The Kit, which is available for pre-order via Nature Sounds, includes drum sounds that Havoc has used on several tracks. In a statement to HipHopDX, Havoc explained how he became infatuated with the drum sounds he has become known for.
“Most of my drum sounds come from vinyl,” Havoc said. “My father’s old records from back in the days. His stash that he had. A stash that my grandmother had at her crib. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but when I was listening to music I knew the elements that I needed to grab. So when I hear certain drum breaks on a records, I just grab it from the vinyl, I found in my father’s stash or my grandmother’s stash.”
The vinyl-pulled drums provide Havoc with a particular sound he is fond of, he said.
AD LOADING...
“I look for that gritty sound,” Havoc said. “I don’t want nothing too clean, too sharp and perfect. When music started evolving, people started getting more towards a cleaner, more digital sound. It always boggled me, I was like, ‘You like that? That crispy clean sound?’ It just bothered me. It still seems weird to me. I try to go with the flow, but I don’t know, it just don’t got that sound to me. I just like my drums to sound grimy and hard.”
The grimy sound came from New York, according to Havoc, who said he discovered his sound by looking around and looking within.
“I asked myself, ‘What do I like? what do we like?'” Havoc said. “It ain’t nothing bright and happy, party and bullshit. It’s that dark, grimy sound, walking to the store to get a 40 [ounce bottle of beer]. I just put that into music. The description of those cold winter days, being broke, a shootout happening next to me and I almost got hit. I just put that into the music, the sound. It just happened. It wasn’t something I planned. I just translated my surroundings into music.”
Havoc recently previewed the kit in a video for Nature Sounds.
RELATED: Havoc Recalls Almost Losing Notorious B.I.G.’s “Last Day,” Explains His “13” Album
