DJ Scratch: That track, I was hoping that cats both producers and especially rappers would follow suit. Because Pharrell and what The Neptunes did, they totally smashed that beat which is what I am trying to bring this sh!t back to; you know some one, two Hip-Hop sh!t, no samples like Run-DMC. It was a record for DJ’s also and I am not sure if it was made with DJs in mind but it was a record you could cut and it was pure Hip-Hop.
You know no samples just drums and a lot of people they should get back on it and I thought that record would start a new trend and bring it back to what it was supposed to be but unfortunately it didn’t but we are right there with you Neptunes, but we just gotta convince these rappers that they don’t need a sample. A lot of rappers like to hide behind loops and keyboards and all of that and try to keep the MC’s out. That was a beat strictly for MC’s. When that came out I was like “yes”.
Amadeus : Straight club banger, an anthem! When I first heard it, it was like shocking as it was so simple. It was pretty much straight drums, the sound effects and he did the little pop pop pop thing. I really had to respect it. At first, I am not going to front; I couldn’t believe it really was that simple. I expected more, a huge break or something melodic to come in and it didn’t happen; but at the end of the day when you got in the club and that joint was on, it was really over.
The fact that it was so simple, allowed The Clipse to really do their thing lyrically on it. It gave them room to captivate their audience and have us tuned into what they were really saying as they really had some dope lyrics on there. I think that track being as different as it was and bringing them on it made it crazy, and of course when you have Pharrell on a hook, it is like a no-brainer. Great records man.
Double O : I forgot the DJ, but he used to play the record at the end of his DJ show; just the instrumental. So I would here these drums like what the f*** is this? I didn’t have a triton so I wasn’t familiar with the drum patch. It sounded so unfinished yet still sonically full. I was well into production at this point so I paid close attention to it trying to pick it apart. Then when the record finally came out The Clipse just blew me away. Coke rap never sounded so poetic (laughing). I think this record was good and bad for Hip-Hop.
It ushered in the minimalist production era. People trying to replicate The Neptunes sound made these really sparse, hollow tracks. But no one could replicate the way The Neptunes did it. So it sounded cheap and unfinished. As The Neptunes defined and redefined their sound people didn’t get that these other beats were one hit wonder-esque Neptunes wannabees. It created the era of disposable production. Grindin’ is a classic, but all the duplicate beats are cheap attempts at that.
*nobodysmiling.com