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

My name is BP and I’m a producer out of Amityville, Long Island. I make that Boom bap style of beats. I have produced full albums for Nature (of the Firm), 9th Prince (of Killarmy), and William Cooper of (Black Market Militia). I have a new album out now titled, Timeless Music.

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

I got started in music by the environment I grew up in. In Amityville, Hip-Hop was always around me. My friends would cut class just to battle in the back of another class, or outside on the courts. For most of us, Hip-Hop is not an art form but a way of life, it’s the culture I came up in.

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

My first beat I made was with my man Good Reverend Dr J. We were childhood friends and when I decided to get into music, he steered me into buying an MP. He showed me the basics of how to construct a beat, and how the operating system worked. That first beat I produced became the second track I ever recorded in a studio. I’ve been banging away on the pads ever since.

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?

It sounds cliche, but I’ve seen and been through a lot over the years, so it wouldn’t be all good.  But seeing which actors would play the roles of all these legendary emcees I’ve worked with would be funny.

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

I sample, but I played the piano for ten years, and the sax for five. My band teacher in High School would let me cut class as long as I showed up for the concerts and parades [laughs]. When I learned the piano I had to always look at my hands, so i acquired the skill of only needing to read the sheet music just once or twice, and then I’d just focus on my hands, and I’d be able to basically reproduce the melody. As for production, I choose to sample. It’s like being a composer of bands from different eras.

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

Working with people who were your idols growing up and inspiring them to still create. Life can be surreal at times. If I could change anything it would be creating more avenues for Hip-Hop. When I grew up there was Yo! MTV Raps, Video Music Box, The Stretch and Bobbito show, Future Flavas, mixtapes with exclusives and freestyles (Clueminati was one off my favorites back in the day)…the list could keep going. It’s seems challenging to be able to access all this archived history nowadays.

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

Life: That would be the birth of my two daughters. They are my two greatest accomplishments. Nothing comes before them.

Music: I’d say working with the RZA and recording at 36 Chambers. Also, completing an album with Nature and have it released through Prodigy’s label.

What have been the biggest highlights?

Sean Price rhyming like Big Pun over one of my beats in my studio in Long Island. Also working with Prodigy before he passed. Recording at 36 Chambers and using the same equipment and pressing the same buttons that were used to create some of my favorite albums of all time. Not many people have had that privilege.

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

Time. Balancing work, family and music is difficult. You don’t overcome all challenges. You deal with them as they come. It’s like playing spades, you have to deal with the hand you’ve been dealt and make the best. Timing is everything.

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

My heroes are all Hip-Hop legends. Nas for inspiring me more than any artist. Kool G Rap for letting his skills always be his defining characteristic. Dr. Dre for showing people how to hear music through his lens. RZA for being the earth shattering force he was in Hip-Hop. Wu-Tang is FOREVER. Premo for bringing us that real Hip-Hop.

Who have been the coolest, most memorable people you’ve met along the way, and how did they make an impact on your life?

Ive been blessed to work with many of my heroes. I worked with PMD this summer and I can’t even begin to describe how much that meant to me. As a producer form Long Island, EPMD were gods to us. So when someone like that tells me that my music inspired them, I am truly humbled.

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

That i gave people that same feeling that was given to me. There have been times music felt like the soundtrack to your life. Music that you could relate to, spoke to you, and for you.

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

A Wu-Tang concert with 9th Prince and William Cooper in Connecticut. One minute you’re in a venue with thousands of people, the next you are in a backroom with just you and the Wu-Tang clan.

What has been your strangest celebrity encounter?

Bumping into Rampage (the Last Boy Scout) when I bought my first MPC [laughs].

Who would be your ideal dinner guest, living or dead, and what would you serve them?

Big L. If I could serve him anything it would be more time on this earth.

What are the greatest songs, albums, books, movies, TV shows, websites you’ve ever come across?

Most of these I could list ten or 20 deep, but right now…

• Album: Illmatic

• TV Show: True Detective (Season 1)

• Movie: Either the animated movie Heavy Metal, or The Hateful 8

• Book: Lincoln on Leadership *A good read that makes you reflect on issues that have always plagued us.

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

Current:

• Apollo Brown, Skyzoo & Joell Ortiz “A Couple of Dollars”

• Jay-Z – “4:44”

• Hall N Nash (Conway & Westside Gunn) – “Machine Gun Black”

• Skyzoo – “Doing Something”

• KXNG Crooked – “Cigar Boy Freestyle”

Classics:

• Nas – “NY State of Mind”

• GZA – “4th Chamber” (you need to see this live to truly understand the greatness of this song)

• Prodigy – “Keep it Thoro”

• Freeway (feat. Jay-Z & Beanie Sigel) – “What We Do…”

• Tragedy Khadafi (feat. Iman Thug) – “True Confessions”

What special-hero type skills are you blessed with?

Lol. Unique question, I’m heavy into Marvel and I really like fantasy movie/tv-show, but special-hero skills? If I had to pick it would probably be empathy. You have to protect the weak, and teach those who are lost. Life is difficult and it seems like society is reverting back to our darker days. The music helps channel all that into a better place.

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

• Twitter: HERE

• Instagram: HERE

• SoundCloud: HERE

Any final thoughts?

I’ll let my music speak for me…now go press play on that Timeless Music LP!