There’s been a sweet voice refreshing the front of their musical galaxy stuttering, “The Heatmakerz; crack music.” It’s so addictive that people who classify as hip-hop should know when to expect and recite the crave. The productions are lit and all of a sudden, soul showers start to enhance up to a break. That is when samples sing, percussions drop, digitals explode and the crowds react indicating, Rsonist!
The Anthem was cracking when it first hit the streets of New York City. To this day, it plays like one of the street songs of praise. The Heatmakerz (Rsonist, Thriller, and Weatherman) are well recognized for the record ‘Diplomats Anthem’, which they produced in 2003 under Roc-a-fella. It was directly sampled from reggae artist, Sanchez’ 1994 hit ‘One in a Million’, and could be a tribute to Rsonist’ Jamaican roots. However, besides the Dipset, Camron and Juelz Santana, Rsonist has produced for an extensive number of hip-hop and R&B artists including Lil Wayne, Beyonce, Ludacris, Ghostface, Fat Joe, M.O.P., Nore and Capone, TI, Scarface, Lil Flip, Saigon and Brook Valentine, just to name a few. He hasn’t worked with Eminem but would like to, stating “I think him and Juelz have a similar flow and the sound fits. If you listen to the flow, the way he attacks the beat, it’s the same cadence. I think that it would be a dope change.”
Greg ‘Rosonist’ Green of the Bronx started his music career djing when he was only fourteen. “When I realized that people don’t react to anything else the way that they react to good music,” he said, “is when I fell in love with it.” From djing compositions, he followed the hip-hop instrumentalists’ path of natural progression. Eventually, Rsonist blew up becoming one of New York City’s hottest producers. The Heatmakerz have produced about sixty-five commercial songs for major record labels, another fifty for Koch records and when it comes to mixtapes, “that’s a whole ‘nother story,” he says. Overall, they’ve produced hundreds of records that can be found in stores.
Inside, past the dark foyer of his mother’s ground floor basement was the paraphernalia. “I have a studio in Jersey that’s over three thousand square feet. I’m making beats for survival when I’m down here; I can’t make the same music there that I can make here. This reminds me of when I didn’t have a dollar in my pocket,” he said. He was sitting in front of his Music Production Center (MPC). On the wall over it, a poster read “Piano Chords”, listing the circle of fifths and keyboard fingerings for major, minor, augmented and diminished scales. “If you bring anyone down here, and I’m not excluding anybody… you bring anybody down here and they’re gonna have a problem,” Rsonist said. Saturating himself with music did not start out as a job. “It’s definitely my passion,” he said. Over time, Rsonist developed a professional ear for music considering he doesn’t know how to sight read. “There was a time when you can ask anybody who was around me; I was making 5 to 6 beats a day,” said Rsonist. “Making um and moving um, it was like a factory” he added. “I believed in quantity,” he said. It’s a matter of music but, when music is your profession it’s also about getting paid. Of the 5 or 6 beats Rsonist was producing each day he says, “If I didn’t like 2 of them I would throw them away. It’s definitely quality first.”
Back in April at Push Play, he stated “I’m one of the illest producer that ever touched an MPC.” This was proven in November 2009. Rsonist won the Celebrity Beat Battle where he challenged other hit making producers for a “healthy competition”. They squared off, battling beat to beat and Amadeus, Bink and Lord Digga are some of those who were defeated by Rsonist’ compositions. “I did it just to prove a point,” he said. “They didn’t pay me but, people know The Heatmakerz so I just went in there and did what I had to do.” The Heatmakerz sounds are more than mere beats, they are works of mastery. As far as being considered the best in this game, Rsonist crowns DJ Premiere. “I’d have to give it to DJ Premiere first, before me. We’ve definitely held it but, I’d have to give it to him,” he said.
From traditional drum percussive kinetics to digital sound waves, hip-hop music has transgressed emerging energies that can currently compliment today’s resonance of music. “Sampling is more than grabbing a loop, throwing beats on it and putting it out,” he says. However, Rsonist admits that he used to get bothered by comments seen on the internet expressing that this is all that The Heatmakerz do. “If it was so easy you’d be doing it,” he says. “There is nothing lazy about it.”
Hip-hop has been sampling and electronically mixing songs since its birth in the late 1970’s. Portions of song recordings are chopped up, played as instruments and reproduced into a fresh recording. It was the dj’s on the turntables breaking loops and scratching back then. Now, it’s a matter of Music Production Centers (MPC’s) and good musicians aka producers. “People who sample care about the music! You’re reinventing something and giving it life again. Sampling has been keeping people like James Brown alive. How many times has ‘A Man’s World’ been sampled?” he asked. As a matter of fact, according to cratekingz.com James Browns ‘Funk President’ is one of the ‘King of Soul’ most sampled songs in hip-hop. It’s up there with Al Green’s ‘I’m Glad You’re Mine’, and Melvin Bliss’ ‘Synthetic Substitution’. Sampling is mosaic. It is bringing back the essence of the old and constructively blends it in with what’s new. “You have to enhance the sample. That’s where people get it mixed-up. Sampling is an art,” he said.
“To find a sample you have to first find the sample. You don’t just grab anything to sample. Most producer dig through hundreds of records to find 2 or 3 records they want to buy. Go home to chop it up until you find the right sounds. Meanwhile, to make original beats, you just plug up the keyboard and sound modules, start playing the keys, and whatever comes out of your brain is what’s gonna happen. When you sample it’s a much longer process so there’s no way its lazy. Then you get less money. At the end of the day you gotta pay anybody you’re sampling,” he says.
Rsonist has been working in the music industry since the beginning of the millennium. “This industry is full of assholes and paperwork gangstas. Why do you think Biggie said; I got lawyers watching lawyers so I don’t go broke,” says Rsonist. “You know what’s going on right now in hip-hop? You have to combine hip-hop and rap,” he states. ‘Look at What You Did’ is one of the tracks off his current project. He’s been rapping for the past couple of years and wishes that it would have manifested earlier to coexist with his life as a producer. However, it’s not too late. When asked what he’s been up to his response was “I gotta bunch of sh!t.” He is currently working on several projects besides his own including The Lox, Styles P and B.O.B. He has some beats for Ludacris and looks forward to working with Cee-Lo Green.
~Simone A. Santos
