Beat, mixing and mastering by Tapehead
Vocals and scratches from ‘We Specialize Acapella’ by Pete Rock & CL Smooth

Visuals: https://youtu.be/lpyHV7j2GqA

Original rough mix: https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/more-of-the-raw

The original upload of this track was the first time one of my remixes did well on SoundCloud, I think it got put into an algorithm and got mad likes and reposts from people all over the world. It was a crazy feeling at the time, and really got me motivated to keep going with music no matter what, cause you never know whose going to end up listening. This was still quite early on in my time producing, so all I can say is I’m too glad that happened, cause I wouldn’t be where I am now if that hadn’t inspired me to keep on making beats. I’ve always thought this remix made a lot of sense, mainly cause of the scratches in the hook, this beat definitely has a raw vibe and they both go well together. CL Smooth’s tone fits really well too, and his style is pretty rugged here too, so everything definitely goes well together. This is actually how the beat for lifestyle sounds at it’s normal pitch, so the samples a lot less distorted but still has that grimey vibe. For this version I decided to bring the lifestyle beat in for CL Smooth’s second verse, cause he really starts going for an all out hardcore vibe there (that’s actually the only verse of his that I originally remixed cause it had that real raw vibe). For the reggae vocals at the end I decided to switch the beat up again to incorporate more of a melody that would fit the tone and notes that the vocals were hitting, and I basically just experimented with a ton of beats, seeing which one would blend with the More Of The Raw beat. This beat blended the best over it by far, I’ve done a remix of Inspectah Deck’s verse from C.R.E.A.M. over it already called ‘Life Is Hectic’ ( https://soundcloud.com/tapeheadloops/life-is-hectic-thanks-for-1000-followers ) The guitar fit the vibe of the reggae vocals, and blended really well with the lifestyle sample, I think it works as a good switchup that keeps the hardcore rugged vibe, but brings some emotion into the track too, which I always like doing.

Happy to have finally reworked this idea and hopefully do it justice, always thought it was a really strong concept for a remix. Hope people enjoy it! Peace

More Of The Raw

Beatmaker / Emcee
Contact: tapeheadloops@gmail.com

<--MPC2000 Classic                     

Underground Airplay

Trying to give something back to Hip Hop - really appreciate any comments or feedback.

Peace