Even the most casual of Hip Hop listeners should be aware of
Ski Beatz as, at the very least, the producer of iconic Hip Hop anthems on
Jay-Z's 1996 debut,
Reasonable Doubt, and several albums for
Camp Lo, having also gone on to produce for
Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, Fat Joe and others.
15 years on and the digitally inclined will have caught last year's excitable wave of activity leading up to the release of the North Carolina hailing producer, DJ and former emcee's own album,
24 Hour Karate School, released in September 2010, which saw Ski working with a mouthwatering spread of Hip Hop talent established and new, including
Curren$y, Smoke DZA, Jean Grae, Jim Jones, Jay Electronica, Joell Ortiz, The Cool Kids, Stalley, Tabi Bonney, Ras Kass, Camp Lo and
Wiz Khalifa.
On a mission to find out more about the man behind the beatz, SoulCulture TV sat down with Ski Beatz at
Damon Dash's creative base of operations in New York,
DD172, and asked the producer about his beginnings in Hip Hop - as a rapper first.
Watch below as Ski talks us through his journey from the mic to the boards, from getting jaded by the industry and moving home to North Carolina to more recently returning to New York to work with a new breed of emcees - and how his initial passion for rapping gives him the edge when producing for top rappers.
It may be the summer holidays for many youngsters but class is once again in session thanks to the Hip Hop sensei Ski Beatz. Last summer, the seasoned producer rounded up a group of dope spitters and charismatic rhymers to cause havoc in the classroom in which he called the 24 Hour Karate School, an impressive compilation album which found newcomers and experienced lyricists slay a number of beats orchestrated by himself. After a hectic year which saw him work on projects with Curren$y, Terri Walker and even make a trip to the UK, the producer once again calls on students of the present and future stars of Hip Hop to provide the sequel to his spectacular first offering.