Mark Deez – Three Albums, One Year2

This is going to be my first entry of many here on HipHopFiend.net – I’ll do my best to give you a bit of insight to the day-to-day operations of my career and some details on the recording of various projects and things of that nature.

Since I recently released my 3rd album, Bootstrap Theory, on November 2nd, I thought it’d be ideal to give you insight into all of my albums. Bootstrap Theory is the 3rd album of my career, and it is also the third album of mine in the year 2010.

The Cycle of Struggle:

I got the idea in my head in 2009 that I wanted to release a debut album. I had completed various mixtape projects and compilations, and figured that the time was NOW to release a full-length album. The Cycle of Struggle was originally conceptualized as a mixtape between myself and Keko (a producer from Bogota, Colombia). I linked up with Keko via myspace. I was really feeling his style of production. He uses a lot of latin samples and has that 90s basement Boom Bap quality to his production, which I found to be the perfect landscape for an album at that time in my life.

The first track we created was “Acid Aqueduct”. Which we both thought was unbelievable. Once we made this track, we decided it would be in our best interests to do an entire project. As I previously stated, it was originally planned to be a mixtape, but we expanded that because of the chemistry between us and the desire to get something out to the public apart from the numerous mixtapes I had completed over the years.

Recording began late in the summer of 2009 and I wrapped up production at the end of 2009, around the beginning of December. Throughout the recording process, we were striving to secure distribution for the project. Distribution for the project came in the form of a friendship that I’ve maintained with Dr. iLL and his label, iLL-Legit Records, which is an indie Hip Hop label based out of Aiken, SC. Doc was looking to expand his stable of artists/album catalog, and I was looking for an avenue to get my word to the public, so it was an ideal route to travel upon.

We released the project on January 31, 2010 (digitally) and a few days later on a physical basis. I consider the project to be a stepping stone of sorts for me. I had somewhat of a schizophrenic flow, which did not conform to the usual syncopation and structure of Hip Hop songs, so it made for a unique combination. Keko’s dark, brooding, and gritty production really elevated my lyricism for the project and I’m pleased with the outcome. I thought it was a solid project for my first album and that I could only go up from that position.

The Oracle: Awakening of The Third Eye:

Around the time that I was wrapping up sessions for Cycle of Struggle, I linked up with a producer from Norway, by the name of White Shadow. I reached out to him because I heard his production on AOTP’s first album, on a track called “Narrow Grave” and I was blown away by his work. Little did I know he was not only a dope producer, but also an unbelievable DJ (he is the best on the turntables I’ve ever heard), and also known as somewhat of a Hip Hop legend in his home country of Norway.

I got to work with Shadow on his producer album, Victory, and shortly thereafter, we decided that we’d like to do a full project together, to be released on his label, Uncut Productions. So immediately after I wrapped up recording for Cycle of Struggle, I got to work on The Oracle.

We did a series of tracks that I felt were a bit subpar (on my behalf) and they ended up being scrapped for the final project. Around the same time that I was recording these trashed recordings, my computer crashed, and I pretty much lost everything I was working on. So with my studio down and an album to record, I enlisted the help of Dr. iLL and his amazing studio in Aiken – iLL-Legit Records Studio.

I will vouch for anybody reading that I feel like Dr. iLL’s studio is the best studio in the CSRA (Central Savannah River Area) and its a place I can come to and get work done. Whereas other studios I’ve visited, not as much work gets completed, and engineers aren’t as competent as Doc. His quality is crisp and his hospitality is second to none, so its always a pleasure to work with Doc iLL!

I recorded 4 tracks at his studio – “You Can’t Touch My Steeze (prod by Sicknature)”, “I’m Here Now (Prod by Snowgoons)”, “The Four Seasons (Prod by White Shadow)”, and “Tell The World (Prod by Soul Theory)” – the funny thing is – only 2 of the iLL-Legit recordings appear on the album. Dr. iLL had some studio problems shortly after these sessions, so “Four Seasons” and “I’m Here Now” were lost and I ended up re-recording them at my studio once I got a new computer and back in action!!

But I appreciate Dr. iLL’s work and allowing me to come through and record these tracks. (Also during these sessions he allowed my artists Young B & Loco to record the majority of their album, My Life On A Beat at his studio, to which I’m much obliged)

Once I got my studio back, I began knocking out tracks left and right and sent them back to White Shadow for him to throw cuts on and mix/master.

But the most fun recording of the album has to be “Build & Destroy”…. it features 21 underground artists on it. The fun part for me was getting to network with all of these different artists and reaching out to them for work on the album. To which we also did a music video for the track. A LOT of work was put into this track. So thanks to Domingo for lacing such a DOPE beat and thanks to all of the artists who jumped on.

Also shoutouts to Snowgoons & Sicknature for jumping on the project, they really set it off on the production tip!!!

Of course there were a lot of heads involved in this project, and I don’t have the time to name them all, but believe me, they know my appreciation for their contributions and I am truly humbled and in your graces. Thanks everybody. This is easily my favorite album of mine, so far.

Peace to White Shadow. He is a TRUE Hip Hopper. A true artist to the core. He is not one of these guys thats been disillusioned by the industry, he has stayed true to himself and to the craft and I appreciate that more than anything. He really put me up on the game and gave me a lot of insight to the inner workings of the industry and WHY things are the way they are, since he’s been in the music industry for decades now. He is a true Hip Hop OG and I owe a lot to him as well.

I feel like at the end of the day I get a lot of credit that is due to him. He made The Oracle what it is. His cuts, his direction, even some songs that sprouted from conversations that he & I had. Its that kind of chemistry that a lot of people would take years to develop and we made it happen in a matter of months, and for the rest of my life, I’ll never forget the influence he had on my music and me as a person. Thanks WS.

Bootstrap Theory:

Around the same time I was recording The Oracle, I was also doing work on Bootstrap Theory. This was a project that was planned while I was still recording Cycle of Struggle!!!

A producer/engineer named Big G (from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) reached out to me on Myspace. At first I was a bit reluctant because I get hundreds of messages from producers/artists/etc. each and every day on Myspace and its hard to respond to every one of them, but there was something about him that spoke to me. I listened to the beats that he produced and I thought they were very different from anything I’d heard in the underground as of late, very atmospheric, a bit alternative, yet maintaining that crisp Boom Bap sound I am always striving for.

Not only was I blown away by his production, I was also intrigued by his mixing, and I employed him to engineer my 2009 mixtape, What Lies Within. This was the project that came before Cycle of Struggle, so you can see that Big G & myself were in the pre-planning stages of this project for awhile.

Things came together early 2010 and we began to work on tracks around the same time I was working on The Oracle. I really went full force on The Oracle for about a month and decided to put Bootstrap Theory on hold.

When I returned to it, I was motivated and energized to drop a dope album. To that point in my career, none of my albums had the big name features, so I wanted this one to be different. We reached out to artists to Kool G Rap, Canibus, Block McCloud, Darkskinned Assassin, Destro of Boom Bap Project, and various artists that I am friends with or aspired to work with and made the project what it is.

To me, its essentially a collaboration effort with a few solo tracks, and I’m fine with that. My goal was to showcase the underground Hip Hop scene, to showcase myself, and to showcase the chemistry between myself and other artists, Big G included. I think its my most well-rounded project to date and I’m very satisfied with the final product. We put a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and money into this project to make it what it is.

I hope to continue to do work with Big G as he branches out with the numerous projects he has in development. I really think he’s one of the best producers out there that a lot of people don’t know about. He likes to keep it low-key and I appreciate his viewpoints and stance, but this album certainly WOULD NOT have been possible without him. He was the composer, I was the conductor, putting his notes to life. Thanks homie for everything once again, it means a lot to me.

-Mark Deez

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