M.T! Behind The Music

I've been questioned about the music techniques used on the M.I.C album. If you dissect the original music used as the album's soundtrack, you might call Made In Cincinnati, Most Intelligent Concept or Musically Inclined Chaps. So let's give credit where credit is due....

1. Intro- (Contains a sample of Natalie Cole "I Can't Break Away")

This sample was also used by Jay-Z on The Blueprint for "All I Need". Don't get me wrong, Just Blaze did it justice, I just like the way I flipped the song better. I sampled the intro of the song for the intro of ours and then I used a brief breakdown in the song for the verse and switched it up with a note riff. The ending of our song paid homage to the Jay-Z song, it used the same sample he rapped on, I felt it should've been used to end it.

2. Cashmere Status (Contains samples of Lou Rawls "You've Made Me So Very Happy" and the voice of Jimmy Walker)

I remember when I did this beat, it was originally for Ace for his solo album. As the album started to come together, I plucked this joint from Ace, but we didn't have a name for it. Ghrim came up with "Cashmere Status" and it was born. I basically loop the intro of the song for the verse the entire way through. Nothing special, it just sounds good.

3. Million Dollar Dream(Contains samples from The Stylistics)
On the grounds of me not having my music computer handy, I couldn't tell you which Stylistics song I sampled the loop from. I can tell you about what we did with it. Stuntman, before he got kicked out the house laid down the chorus to this song, his words were a little inaudible so I took it upon myself to revamp the hook.

4. Gucci Wallet( Contains samples of Diana Ross "My Gun Is My Hero")

With a chorus inspired by Ace and put together by me and Stuntman, Gucci Wallet has to be our hottest song on the album. EVERYONE likes this beat. Nas used this song too for "Pussy Killz", but he didn't use the sample I took.

5.Mr.Everything-Ya-Thought(Contains samples of Stereolab "Emergency Hisses")
I couldn't find an example of this song, but all I did was speed up the sample and loop it the ENITRE song. Ace did this song by himself originally, and I plucked it from his Wally West EP to make it an album joint.

6.Shots Ring Out(Contains samples of Bob Dylan"Hurricane", Empathy ft. Yung Thug "Bombing The Motherland", Yung Thug "I'm Thuggin' " and Yung Thug ad-libs)

Technically Ace produced this one, he chopped up Bob Dylan saying "Shots ring out" and then I added drums to it. I also added a vocal sample of Stuntman, then rapping under Yung Thug, saying, "Pull that gun out" and "No to retreat". At the end of the song, you can hear a small conversation I had recorded, when Stuntman was discussing showing people the significance of beef. I came up with the hook to this one and it was a (w)rap.

7. Stay With Me(Contains samples of Jimmy James and The Vagabonds "Stay With Me")
I couldn't find an example of this song either, but I looped some funky parts for the verse and the chorus is the same chorus used in the original song.

8. Third World Domination(Contains samples of 5th Dimension"Aquarius")

The story with this one, I almost didn't keep this beat, I didn't feel it at the time. I left it up to Ace and he added in some breakdowns, so we kept it and murdered it. Me and Ace came up with the hook, one bored Sunday morning, but to a MUCH different beat.

9. Daytona 513(Contains samples of Bob James "Nautilius", Yung Thug "I'm Thuggin' ", Empathy ft. Yung Thug "Bombing The Motherland", M.T. Bag "Intro", Ace Boogie "Promises", J.Lokz "Who Do Dat?", J.Lokz "Reigning Champion", and Empathy "Cincinnatus")

I used the same sample as The RZA for Ghostface Killah's "Daytona 500" and brought the group along to revive Hip-Hop some. I think our version is pretty dope.

10. Better Luck Next Time(Contains samples of The Miracles "Give Me Just One More")
I couldn't find an example of this one either, but if you know Young Jeezy's "Mr.17.5", that's the sample I used. I think I did it better. I used a riff that plays in the beginning of "Mr.17.5" as the verse and this cool breakdown as the hook. I came up with the anthem-esque hook and we were ready to go.

11. Third World Order(Contains a sample from a video game, either Chrono Chross, Chrono Trigger, or Saga Frontier)
I don't even remember the name of the song or where it came from. See, I had downloaded a bunch of video game soundtracks and me and Stuntman were just running through them. He came across one he couldn't make work, so me being me, I stepped in and made something out of it. He renamed the samples he took from the song, what for? I don't know, I just know, my sample reads "hb"...shit! I sped up the sample. Ghrim and Ace came up with the hook, though Ace at times will hog up all the credit.

So, if you ever wondered what it takes to make your own album, here are the basics: A recording program, a digital sequencer, a mic, a computer, a lady friend named Mary, a lot of pizza, late night van rides to the hood, paychecks to make your weekend/wardrobe fun, white girls, Nos and Absolut, no sleep and a lot of free time. These are the makings of M.I.C, results may vary if you try it, you might end up getting thrown in jail attempting to be like M.T. Bag.

Being like M.T. Bag is a no-no, if you scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, we warn you, "The unauthorized duplication or reproduction of any material posted on this blog will result in an ass beating and/or a lawsuit." We mean that...

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