A much needed Black Music thread.

eddie kerr · Apr 23, 2024

K Douglas said:
One of The Whispers signature tunes. These cats were something special. God Bless them!
"And the Beat Goes On"

Will Smith took the beat for his track "Miami". Kinda ruined it for me but the video is dope. Peep Eva Mendes at 1:08.

The Whispers were not a well known band but they were terrific. Still have their first album in my library.

K Douglas said:
That duet was fabulous. I heard that a lot growing up as it was played often on CHFI which my mom listened to and kept on the kitchen radio 24/7.
Over the years I have become a big Steely Dan fan and yes McDonald collaborated with them on several occasions. "Peg" being the most notable.

Yes, great band, Donald Fagen. terrific musician. I still have the Album AJA and Peg is my favorite.

K Douglas said:
That duet was fabulous. I heard that a lot growing up as it was played often on CHFI which my mom listened to and kept on the kitchen radio 24/7.
Over the years I have become a big Steely Dan fan and yes McDonald collaborated with them on several occasions. "Peg" being the most notable.

K Douglas · Apr 24, 2024

Next up in my black music producer series is Rashad Smith, a hip hop and r&b producer from the 1990's. He started off early in his teens producing beats for Main Source, A Tribe Called Quest and Eric B. & Rakim. However none of those beats were used on an official record. He was then recruited to Uptown Records by Andre Harrell and worked on early Mary J. Blige and Jodeci albums, although not earning any official production credits. He did a lot of drum programming and also did some songwriting. It was when Sean "Puffy" Combs recruited him to Bad Bay Records as a member of the Hitmen (production team) that he got his break. He produced "Can't You See" for the girl group Total and "Making Moves With Puff" for Craig Mack's debut album.
He also started his own production company with session keyboardist Avon Marshall called Tumblin' Dice Productions. They ended up doing a lot of remixes to songs. He also produced two tracks for LL Cool |J's Mr. Smith LP in 1995 that both became chart hits - "Loungin" and "Doin It"
Here are my personal favorite productions for Rashad Smith

"The Hop" by A Tribe Called Quest (1996)

"Curious" by LSG (1997). Yes a sample of Midnight Star's classic

"One More Chance (remix") by Notorious BIG (1994). Great sample of DeBarge's "Stay With Me"

"Twisted (Tumblin Dice Street Mix)" by Keith Sweat (1996). I consider this to be one of the best remixes of the decade. Took the song to another level.