Winner of March '09 Beat Battle Is...

[Sa'id]

KrazyFingaz- "Treat Me Bad"

Gotta get straight to the breakdown for this month's battle, cuz I've had MAAADDD things happening over the past several weeks, which has had me real pressed for time...

KrazyFingaz...
Like the feel, it's like the beat is criminal minded, straight gutter... There's a chaotic discipline to this track. I listened to your beat more than any beat in the battle this month. On the first two listens, it was an Honorable Mention, but it just kept working it's way up.... Man, I just would have liked the drums to play more.

2nd Place:
Widluk - "Heavy Rains"

Impressed with your drumwork, shit sounds automatic... This beat 'breathes' well, notable room for rappers. In fact, it's a relatively clean (non-busy) canvas that would appeal to true lyricists. Point is, a beat should be judged by what it is, but more importantly by what it can be...

3rd Place:
SCbeatz - "Destiny of a Son"
You're dope with chord progressions, it's one of your strong suits and I know you know that. With your last several beats, I recommended that you focus on the gut and heart of the beat rather than orchestral development. I think with this beat you had that in mind, and the results were more beat-like than film score-like! This is a very versatile beat that I could see Jadakiss or Nas on... I could also see a female vocalist on it, too...

SPECIAL AWARDS
Segundo Award for Consistency and Contribution

Jegie - "Hell Yea"
The sound of this joint just airs shit out! In concept, this joint is simple -- but it's hard, and that speaks louder to rappers AND, incidentally, to drunk girls dancing in a club...real talk! This beat has a hungry feel to it that makes people wanna move. Good work, Jegie, your consistency shows throughout your work.

Get Paid With Heart Award for the #1 Crossover Joint that Still Pays Homage to the Beatmaking Craft

Mikel J - "I'll Keep You Warm"
This beat had me listening closely...more closely then you might think. Mikel, I don't know if it was your intention, but this is a dope pop cut. The synth work was light and engaging, and the hook was catchy. I could really see this as a successful ring tone. Yet, with all of that, I appreciated the detail you had for our craft...

Honorable Mentions:

DC - "Dream Again"
Shit, I could've used your own description for this joint, ha... But yo, for real though, this is a dope lounge music, background mood beat. It's really clear that you're interested in all of the many artistic aesthetics of beatmaking. I respect that. And perhaps more importantly, we need that in the beatmaking trade.

Sound Machine - "Want It All"
Moves very well, nice feel to it.

Last Ritez - "Looking Back"
This beat is proof that there is a special strength in simplicity. This beat made me think that you went for feeling and vibe, first and foremost. This track is a true lyricist's dream...

Castro Beats - "Smoke and Mirrors"
Sounds like you went back to one of your strong spots: the chop! Drums on this hit hard, especially that crashing snare -- real ill... Precise beatwork.

Don Productionsbeatz - "March Tips"
Some rap-ballad shit, could picture LL Cool J in his prime. Dig the harmony line that appears around the :48 mark. Decent joint...

The Beat Pharmacy - "3-30-09"
Solid slow joint -- very hard to pull off. Very ill artistic stroke... Overall well-balanced beat with a definite mood...

Notes.

Anomaly - "Aviso Remix"
Good job. Much more simple, relaxed and straight forward than your previous beatwork.

Boss - "Concrete"
Well-known songs by iconic recording artists can often be pitfall. However, your chops of "Concrete Jungle" are to be admired here. Just one thing: when using a well known song, don't tip off what the song is in the intro of your beat!

dkelloway - "Old Minds"
This shit has excellent swing! DK, I like the smooth side of your skills that you demonstrate here. Your drums are in effect, and everything meshes well; nothing is forced -- a charactersitic that has tended to show up in a number of your previous beats. I think this beat will serve as a new turning point for you...

KrazyFingaz - "Treat Me Bad"
This beat is too much beat for 'beat's sake', not enough beat for rapper's sake. Remember, the best beats are those that you can immediately 'hear' (imagine) someone rapping over. Because of that, beats should at least have some level of rhythmic steadiness and stability -- something a rapper can anchor off of.


Final thoughts.

Very encouraged by several members, in that, they were acutely focused on taking their style to a new level of artistic and disciplined development. Overall, decent work, but yo, a couple of people seem to have taken a break this month, real talk! Here, I want to mention that I expect the Beat Pharmacy to break out with something crazy for next month's battle...

Congratulations to KrazyFingaz
KrazyFingaz, hit me with a PM, include your full name and complete address for your prize money. Also, include a pic so I can feature you, on the home page of BeatTips.com.

And yo... if you didn't catch my post explaining my brief absence, here it is:

Yo, Peace...
Hope everybody's good...

Dig it... For the last several weeks I've been making some intense moves to expand our community, as well as get in a position to put out an album produced exclusively by beatmakers from our community! Also, I made some changes to the site (a lot of back end stuff); hopefully, some of the changes will cut down on the spam...
Finally, and more importantly, as some of you already know, the 5th Edition of the BeatTips Manual will be available within the next couple of months or so... This edition is HUGE! It will be no less than 400 pages! Needless to say, I've been making MAAAAAADDDD moves, (editing, transcribing new interviews, finalizing manuscript for publication, etc.) which has not allowed me to be up on the forums as much as usual...
But tomorrow I'll be back on the clock...

Thanks to everybody who's kept our community rockin' in my brief absence.

-Sa'id
---

Far as the April Beat Battle, that starts Monday the 20th (tomorrow). Entries can be submitted up until the 31st, and I will have results no later than the 3rd of May... I'm back on the clock, and yo, things are looking real good for our community... Got a few surprises coming through for us!

-Sa'id

[widluk]

Congrats KrazyFingaz. That was one crazy beat, good work man. It's good to have you back Sa'id. I appreciate all of the hard work you put in to this community. I'm really looking forward to that 5th edition!

[CuonG]

Congrats to KrazyFingaz on your win man...

[Jegie]

props krazyfingaz you earned it

[Zulfiqar361°]

big up to the winner and the others in the ranking and honorable mentions
peace

[sc_beatz]

Wow I'm 3rd!

Congratulation Krazyfingaz that was really a solid joint!

Thanks Sa'id for the big work, the time that you give us and for your review on the last month's beat, it really helped me.

This month is going to be spectacular!