By Andrew Lee and Mac Taylor
It was 2:43 a.m., and empty cans of Red Bull lay scattered across the floor. An iMac G5, microphone stand and 42-inch keyboard rattled as 12-inch subwoofers blasted 1000 watts of bass into a home studio. Hours past midnight, five students sat down writing down rap lines as they grooved to their newest beat.
“This is what we do every weekend,” Michael Lee ’09 said. “We have jam sessions where we get together to record songs.” Lee and his friends, known as the AA Kings, are just one of the many hip-hop groups at school that have been recording and producing their own music.
These groups generally consist of two to five members, and there are at least 14 of them at the school. Songs from these student bands can be heard everywhere: at parties, on iPods or sung by the legions of fans around school. A song by the group Big Dolla Co. even found its way to an all-school assembly at the Middle School last year, playing a clean version of their hit song “Purple Rain.”
“It gives us a way to express ourselves,” solo artist Nick Tolson ’07 said. “It’s constructive and creative.” Most groups, like Chocolate Mochi and the Funky Hunkys, compose their own beats. The different equipment used to produce these songs is wide-ranging, but all of them use a midi-based set-up. The most common tools used are Logic Pro and the Akai MPC sampler.
A few students have professional quality studios at their house.
“I saved up to spend $5,000 on my house studio,” Lee said. While a few bands invest money in expensive studio set-ups to compose music, for some it’s as simple as a microphone and laptop.
One group, Burnt Rice, recorded songs on campus. They brought a laptop and mic to the Middle School and recorded inside the boys’ locker room and behind the Marshall Center.
“It started off as something small, but it became more important to us as time went on,” Stephen Jackson ’08 said. “We’ve felt it necessary to give the masses what they want, and that’s more Burnt Rice. We also do it to drive the ladies crazy.” The group sold official Burnt Rice t-shirts to their fans at $15 a piece.
Julian Miller ’09 and Jeff Yu ’09 shared an interest in producing instrumental hip-hop before they formed the Droids in December 2005. They record at Miller’s home studio, using a variety of samplers, keyboards and software to create their music.
“We’ll send each other our beats, work on them a little more and then start recording the vocals once they’re good enough,” Miller said. Their main musical inspirations are rapper 50 Cent and their Christian religion, Yu said.
The ACT Boyz is made up by Terry O’Neal ’07, Ryan Merkle ’08, Renaldo Woolridge ’08 and Chris Turner ’08. After discovering their talent for producing and songwriting two years ago, the ACT Boyz have been together ever since. They have also sold their albums to peers at school.
“They were really popular,” Woolridge said. “Everyone came out and bought our CDs.”
Fans can be picky when choosing their favorites, but almost every group has a solid base of devotees. Each of the different hip-hop groups has different styles that appeal to students independently.
“My favorite is the Droids,” Jack Mankiewicz ’09 said. “Their beats are definitely fresh.” Big Dolla Co. is also a fan favorite, and plans on performing at a few birthday parties later this year. The next venue the group plans on performing at is the House of Blues for a student’s Sweet 16 in January.
With so many different rap groups at school, rivalries begin to stir.
Some artists feel that there is intense competition between the quality and popularity of their songs.
“We make these songs to prove we’re the best ones out there. And we are. It’s no competition,” said Danny Rudyak ’09, also known by his rapper name ‘D Reezy.’
“There is definitely rivalry between these groups,” Chet Hanks ’09 said. “I hope it doesn’t erupt into the same sort of beef between Biggie and Pac. Much love to them.”
After the beat is laid down, the artists write their own lines before rapping and recording with a microphone. Once the track is finished, these students rely on MySpace to help spread and release their music.
“Through MySpace, I get to hear opinions on my material, and that lets me know what I can do next to improve or change in my rapping,” said Kimo Thorpe ’09, also known by his rapper name “1Pac.” Some students that partake in this hip-hop phenomenon hope to eventually work in the music industry later on.
At 5:30 a.m., Lee has just finished mixing the AA Kings’ new club banger. Struggling to keep his eyes open, he clicks “play” on the band’s MySpace page. As his finished product blares out the speakers, he smiles to himself sleepily.
“Get your swim trunks and lather up that sun block,” Lee said. “This song is gonna be the feel-good hit of the new year!”