In this edition of Word Is Bond Meets, We sit down with a seminal producer, K-Def. Who was behind groups like Monie Love, El da Sensei, Lords of the underground etc. In this brief but in depth tete-a-tete he gives us an insight into some of his technical skills, his experience with working with Diddy and much more.

SIt back and enjoy the chat

Check our Archives for more on K-Def and our official partner ReDefinition Records

For the benefit of anyone who’s been living in an underground bunker for the past few years…who on earth are you?

DJ/Producer K-DEF from Passaic, NJ. I’ve been into Hip Hop since 1978 (BIO).

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How did you get started in music, and what drives you to continue?

Listening to Jerry Bloodrock, Awesome 2 and Africa Islam radio shows got me interested. Marley Marl and 45 King made me really wanna make beats. Wanting to be the greatest to ever do it drives me to the present.

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Do you remember the first beat you ever made? How did you go about it?

The first beat that I made in the studio was a track called “Can We Do It Again.” I was a James Brown fanatic. I used a Tascam 4 track and a Casio SK-1. Looping in at 3 times the speed, then slowing it down was the process (Note: because the SK-1 sampler only offered 1.25 seconds of sampling time)

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If a movie about your life in music was to be made, what interesting/strange moments and stories would you share to make the movie cool?

When you’re becoming the center of attention in your area, you need to watch out for those who are jealous of where you are headed. This can can be detrimental to whether you are ‘going places’ or ‘going under.’ Early on in my career when I started to make my name I got jumped by some locals who didn’t want to see me succeed. After that I knew who my friends were, and that I had to work even harder to succeed.

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Are there any other interesting facts about you that hardly anyone else knows?

I’ve been isolating 2-track masters for the last 8 years. I’m the one who created the infamous “Mardi Gras without the bells” that some might have heard. (link to examples: The Crusaders , Isaac Hayes – The Look of Love and James Brown – Isolating

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What is the greatest thing about working in the music industry? And what would you change if you had the opportunity?

Creativity is first. Working with great people and learning theory is the best. I would change the sample laws. Let’s give the producer a fair share for his hard work especially when bringing back a tune that was lost or great.

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Looking back, what have been the most important moments in your life so far?

It was special when Dr. Dre sampled a song that I produced. He sampled my Real Live Shit production for his Aftermath album. Another one was when Notorious B.I.G used a sample from Chief Rocka which was another song I produced, on Ready To Die’s Machine Gun Funk. Being able to still do what I love to do, despite the ups and downs of this music industry.

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What have been the biggest highlights?

In the studio working with P. Diddy and starting a new level of music with Redefinition Records

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What has been your biggest challenge…and how did you overcome it?

Getting to a point in your life when you ask yourself “Should I quit or keep going?” Around that time, I took a chance and did a remix album for Jay-Z’s American Gangster and the response was overwhelming. I kept going …

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Who are your heroes? Why do they rock your world?

Dr. Dre: He’s a pure genius in putting together legendary tunes. To this day, he is by far better than most.

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When you’re sitting on the porch age 97 what would you like to look back on and smile having achieved?

I’ll be happy having a discography of over 200 records and the memories of enjoying the experiences that came with them.

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What has been your most memorable or inspirational gig and why?

DJing at a club called MK’s in NYC comes to mind. There were a whole lot of entertainment industry folks in the building. I was cutting Hard to Handle by Otis Redding on 45, before there was bootlegs. Mr. Cee and Primo were watching and were very impressed, so that was inspiring to me.

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What has been your strangest celebrity encounter?

Meeting the great Issac Hayes and him telling me that he was feeling what I did to his song Ike’s Mood when I sampled it for Tragedy. He signed my Live at the Sahara Tahoe lp.

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Name 5 albums (yours excluded) that we would expect to find on your iPod or Music Player

  1. Snoop Dogg – “Doggy Dogg World
  2. Dr. Dre – Chronic 2001
  3. Nas – Illmatic
  4. ATCQ – Midnight Marauders
  5. Pete Rock & CL Smooth – The Main Ingredient

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What special-hero type skills are you blessed with?

ISOLATING 101…Extracting music instruments that were previously considered impossible to isolate / extract from a 2 track sample.

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Where can everyone reading this interview keep up with your adventures?

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Any final thoughts?

Thank you to all my fans, supporters, friends and family. I feel blessed to be here.

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