Stealf Interview
As one of the leading producers in the UK, Stealf gets ready to drop his debut album this year. We interviewed him to get the lowdown…
Firstly thanks for taking time to do this exclusive interview for www.HipHop4Days.com. Let’s start at the beginning. How did you get into making music and when would you say your career started?
I got in to making hip hop about 2004. I used to mess about on my brother decks, then I got my own. I started to do mixtapes for friends and I just ended up getting more interested in how the music was made. That interest made me go and get my first sampler, and from then on I haven’t looked back. I would say my production career probably only started about 2007, before then I was purely treating it as a hobby. But I started getting some positive feedback, and started making my own moves and networking and its evolved from a hobby in to a career.
From when you started to now, what do you consider to be your biggest tracks or releases?
There’s a bunch of them on my album, and picking a few from there would be impossible, but seeing as the album isn’t out yet, I would have to say the lead single from it, “Rain Bring Pain’ which features Nu JerZey Devil. I remember sending him a bunch of beats, and I didn’t hear anything for probably about a month, and then I was out shopping and I got an email from him saying he really loved the beat and he wanted to do a track, and Rain Bring Pain is the result.
“Respect Me” featuring 40 Glocc, Bo Roc, Dap C & R H Bless is also big track for me. That was my first experience dealing with established artists too. That track came about through Havoc of Mobb Deep messaging me on Myspace and saying he liked my work and he wanted to make something happen, and literally within 2 weeks, it was a wrap. I would’ve really liked him on there, but his prices were a bit out of my budget at the time lol
How would you describe the music that you make?
I make real rap. I don’t make commercial/radio friendly hip POP, and I pride myself on that. I do get tracks played on radio though so I guess my style still appeals enough to some mainstream audiences. My influences are people like Dilla, Premier, Jake One, Pete Rock etc, so I like to think my sound is cut from that sort of cloth.
What was your most memorable recording experience?
That would have to be the first time I got a rapper in my studio and recorded to one of my beats. I don’t remember the exact date, but it was 2006, and I had found this rapper called Parv from Portsmouth. We sent emails back and forth and eventually got something set in stone, he came up to my house and we recorded a track to the first beat I ever made called “Gun Law”. I don’t think that feeling you get when you hear your first track come together will ever get forgotten.
Hip-Hop is changing all the time. How do you feel about Hip-Hop in 2011, who are you feeling and how is the game treating you?
It’s a bit early to say right now, but I know hip hop last year was getting real good, especially towards the end of the year. You had Kanye’s album come out which was incredible, Premier dropped the All Year Round album which was insane and Ghostface’s Apollo Kids album topped it all off for me. Ideally I would love to see more “golden age” hip hop come back, more old school Wu, D.I.T.C etc, but I think, compared to this time last year, hip hop is a lot better.
It’s treating me pretty well too, I had one of the best years so far in 2010, and 2011 should be an improvement again with my album coming out, my label getting up and running and a number of other projects I’m working on too.
Tell me about the label you’re with, even if it’s your own label. Tell us who is involved and how many people behind the scenes are helping you?
My label is called De Facto Entertainment. I started building it last year and getting a few things in place. The roster boast 3 very skilled UK rappers and all will be dropping at least one project this year, as well as featuring on other artists work too. Dap C helps me run the label. He’s the A&R Head, so he scouts the talent and puts the feelers out there, but with his experience of running his own label for many years, his expertise will go beyond the A&R role.
I have a number of other people working behind the scenes on PR, manufacturing, distribution and sales too, so with all the right people in place, there should’nt be any reason why we can’t get things really moving in 2011.
The music industry is changing from CD’s & Vinyl over to MP3, stores are getting closed and on-line shops are starting up. Do you think CD’s are dead or do you think it depends on the genre & artist?
CD’s wont die. There are genres and artists that will still need that physical retail network in order to survive. Classical music for example, the average age of listener in that genre falls well outside of iTunes key demographic. Territory plays a part too I think. Some foreign markets still have a stronger physical retail network than digital. Stores maybe shutting down and CD sales falling, but an artist can’t live off digital sales alone yet, so I feel CD and physical media still has a fair amount of life left in it, but the way they’re sold at the moment might not.
So where are you from exactly and have you ever done any local gigs or DJ spots?
I live in Basingstoke, Hampshire. Been here about 2 years now, before that I lived in Reading. I haven’t done any local gigs or DJing really, I used to DJ alot, but it was mainly mixtapes and the odd private party.
Hip-Hop is sometime viewed as negative music and in the media often gets a raw deal. Do you think that Hip-Hop should be more positive and that artists have a responsibility to the youth?
Artists do have a responsibility, and especially to the youth, but I don’t think hip hop needs to be more positive. The whole deal with hip hop is that it’s real, and unfortunately, that mostly involves negativity. Artists, mostly, are playing the role of a reporter. Their songs report on things happening around them and the things they see. The trouble is, this get glorified and misunderstood, and instead of the artist telling a story, it gets twisted in to the artist promoting a certain lifestyle. The artist and the listener have to be more responsible I feel. But, I would also say that it’s wrong for the media to put all the focus to be on rap music and the hip hop lifestyle.
Can I get all your website links, facebook, myspace, reverb nation, twitter, etc.
www.stealftheproducer.com
www.reverbnation.com/stealf
www.twitter.com/stealf
www.facebook.com/stealftheproducer
www.myspace.com/avoidingradardetection
www.last.fm/music/Stealf
www.goldmic.com/ard
www.stealftheproducer.wordpress.com
www.youtube.com/ardbeats
www.soundcloud.com/stealf
www.stealftheproducer.bandcamp.com
info@ard-beats.com
stealf@ard-beats.com
stealf@stealftheproducer.com
Interview by Stuart Patterson
www.HipHop4Days.com
