Tag Archives: music production

My Music

Xavier Remixes Dr. Dre

Dr. Dre is one of the most prominent figures in the music industry after recently surpassing P Diddy as the “Richest Man in Hip-Hop,” after Apple bought his company Beats by Dre for $3 billion. He has not only made a name for himself in the Hip-Hop realm, but he has also shinned in the business world as the CEO of Beats Electronics and Aftermath Entertainment. He was previously signed to Death Row Records as an artist and co-founder. He has been instrumental to the success of various notable rappers such as Eminem, The Game, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, and Kendrick Lamar. He is also credited with the popularization of the West Coast G-funk rap style that is characterized by synthesizers with heavy, slow beats.

Dr. Dre became famous with the notable rap group N.W.A, alongside Eazy-E, MC Ren, Ice Cube, and DJ Yella. He debuted his first solo album, The Chronic, in 1992 which became one of the best-selling rap albums in 1993, and lead him to his first grammy for his song, “Let Me Ride.” In 1996, he left Death Row Records in the pursuit of creating his own record label, Aftermath Entertainment. After 2000, he primarily focused on producing tracks for other artists. In 1998, Dr. Dre signed Eminem to Aftermath Entertainment and in 2002, he signed 50 Cent.

One of Dr. Dre and Eminem’s most popular song is called, I Need a Doctor, and features vocals from Skylar Grey. The singer songwriter known as Skylar Grey began her music career when she was 17 years old under her real name Holly Brook. She was under contract with Linkin Park’sWarner Bros. She is most well known for her vocals on Fort Minor’s “Where’d You Go,” T.I.’s “New National Anthem,” Dr. Dre’s “I Need a Doctor,” and P. Diddy’s “I’m coming home.” View Xavier Capdepon’s new remix using Skylar Grey’s vocals from the popular single, “I Need a Doctor” by Dr. Dre featuring Eminem.

Xavier Capdepon – I Need a Doctor (Remix)

Dr. Dre – I need A Doctor (Xavier Capdepon Remix) from Xavier Capdepon on Vimeo.

 

My Music

Australian Singer/Songwriter, Vance Joy

Xavier Capdepon Vance JoyVance Joy is an Australian songwriter and singer who creates indie pop music and alternative rock. Vance Joy’s real name is James Keogh, and he is under a five-album contract with Atlantic Records. His debut EP, God Loves You When You’re Dancing cam out in March of 2013, and one of the songs on the EP, Riptide, was the number one song on Triple J Hottest 100 in 2013. Vance Joy recently released his debut studio album, Dream Your Life Away, in September of 2014.

James Keogh was also a professional football player in the Victorian Football League. He played for the Coburg Football Club and won the rookie of the year award in 2008. He obviously decided to give up his football career to peruse his passion for music.

Vance Joy’s pride and joy, Riptide reached triple platinum, and has taken part in multiple commercials including one for GoPro. The song peaked at the #6 slot the Australian Record Industry Association charts. Dimitri Basil directed the music video.

A book called Bliss inspired the name Vance Joy. The protagonist in the story had a crazy grandfather, Vance Joy, who was an exceptional storyteller.

Vance Joy dropped his first studio album, Dream Your Life Away, late last year. “Mess Is Mine” was the most popular song on the album, peaking at #37 on the Australian music charts. Vance Joy discusses his album early in 2014, talking about how he thought that there would be an eclectic mix of songs and songwriting that all tie in together.

Take a look at Xavier Capdepon’s remix of Vance Joy’s popular hit, Riptide, as Xavier has taken different acapellas and turned the song into an indie electro remix along with a music video using stock footage from the Internet.

Xavier Capdepon’s Riptide Remix:

My Music

Profile of Schoolboy Q and DJ 20syl

Schoolboy Q:
Schoolboy Q, aka Quincy Hanley, is the California hip hop artist best known for his Oxymoron album release in 2012. Even though he’s only been rapping professionally since 2006, Schoolboy Q was able to secure a recording contract with Interscope Records in 2011/2012 alongside labelmates like Eminem and Kendrick Lamar.

Q started his career with Top Dawg Entertainment, an independent record label that began to take him under his wing at the tender age of 21. Jay Rock and Ab-Soul of Top Dawg liked what they heard and continued to invite Q back until they eventually signed him in 2009. The generally positive reception to his mixtapes in 2008 and 2009 helped him start touring and getting material for his first independent album, Setbacks, in early 2011.

Setbacks was hardly a setback for Schoolboy Q; it brought critical acclaim, plenty of attention, and a large fan following. Building off that momentum, Q released Habits & Contradictions in 2012 and eventually announced his major label debut on Interscope Records. His various releases have shown just how flexible Schoolboy is with his rapping technique and rhyme style. Though he cites Jay-Z as a major influence, Schoolboy Q pulls some aggression from 50 cent and lyrical strength from the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Macklemore.

20syl
20syl (pronounced “vin-sil”) is a producer, producer, and DJ extraordinaire from Nantes, France. He’s earned a solid reputation for his jazz, funk, and soul influences and for his collaborations with the likes of The Procussions and Thomas Lawrence.

Aside from his own blossoming solo career, 20syl has actually been a part of the musical landscape for over a decade thanks to collaborative projects with DMC World Team winners C2C and the acoustic hip-hop/jazz group, Hocus Pocus.

Where the magic happens:
If you haven’t already heard 20syl’s remix of the Schoolboy Q Rapfix Cypher, then you need to check it out pronto. It’s a masterfully smooth and professionally mixed recording of a Schoolboy Q freestyle. 20syl somehow takes a cypher full of pauses and stutters and turns it into a fresh and polished mix absolutely brimming with feeling and soul. Check out the song below!

Also, check out Xavier Capdepon’s dubstep remix of 20syl’s remix below!

My Music

Who is Clean Bandit?

Xavier Capdepon Clean BanditClean Bandit is an electronic group from Cambridge, England founded in 2009. The group consists of four members: Jack Patterson on the bass guitar, keyboard and vocals; Luke Patterson on the drums; Grace Chatto on the cello and vocals; and Milan Neil Amin-Smith on the violin. In January of 2014, they released their first single to hit the number one spot on the UK Singles Chart, “Rather Be.” In the United States, “Rather Be” reached the number 12 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

They music style of Clean Bandit can be described as a mix of electronic/deep-house music with elements of classical music. The music that they make uses elements from classical compositions from Dvorak, Beethoven, and Mozart. They released their single “Mozart’s House” in 2013 and the song reached  #17 on the UK Singles Chart. A lot of their music can be considered humorous at times as many record labels refused to sign the band because they thought that they were a comedy band.

In a world where a lot of electronic artists these days are hiring production interns to produce their own music, Clean Bandit actually produces their own music. Jack, Chatto and Amin-Smith all met while attending Jesus College at the University of Cambridge. Chatto and Amin-Smith were leads in a string quartet. Chatto was Jack’s girlfriend while at college, and he would record remixes to Chatto’s vocals from time to time. One of their songs, Motzar’s House, eventually materialized and thus began the journey to becoming an electronic band.

Their band name comes from the minds of Chatto and Jack Patterson. They both lived in Russia for a bit, so “Clean Bandit” is a direct translation that from Russian to English that is used to mean “complete bastard” or “utter rascal” in British terminology.

The other night Xavier Capdepon completed his remix of Clean Bandits’s most famous song, “Rather Be” with vocals from Jess Glynne. Check the song out below!