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AUSTRALIAN BEATMAKER INVITATIONAL
As part of the upcoming Kev Brown Sydney show, which is taking place at Civic Underground on Saturday September 7th, Joint Adventure and Grindin’ present the very first Australian Beatmaker Invitational. Entry is open to Hip Hop producers who are ready to show off their skills and gain the valuable exposure needed to take their career to the next level.
The hand selected challengers will be showcasing their finest beats to a live audience, plus acclaimed local and international judges, and will be competing for a stack of prizes from sponsors including Akai, 567King, Capsule, Feit and Grindin’.
For your chance to enter, simply submit 3 of your finest beats to sam@grindin.net by Friday 30th August and 4 competitors will be chosen to perform on the night
** Please include your name, stage name, and phone number in the email **
Australian Beatmaker Invitational Rules
– Each Producer gets 3 minutes to showcase and perform their original beats in the qualifying round
– The top 2 producers on the night will compete in a head to head finals, which will consist of 2x 3 minute rounds
– Each Producer is to supply their own sound equipment
– Approved sound equipment includes drum machines, samplers, keyboards, sequencers, guitar peddles, and laptops.
– All equipment must be approved 48 hours prior to the battle
– Producers will be judged on their originality, sound quality, live performance and crowd reaction
– The Battle will be judged by a minimum of 3 established judges
– All competitors agree to have photos and video taken of their performance, which may be used in future at the organisers discretion
KEV BROWN
Kev Brown’s soulful style of production has earned him comparisons to revered producers such as Pete Rock, who incidentally helped Brown’s career gain some momentum after being introduced to him through Grap Luva.(Petes brother) The pair then went on to collaborate on “What Ruling Means”, from Marley Marl’s BBE Beat Generation installment Re-Entry (2001). His appearance alongside Grap Luva left an impression on the underground and he subsequently contributed a track to De La Soul’s AOI: Bionix later that year.
Kev Brown continued to build his resume with contributions to DJ Jazzy Jeff’s “The Magnificent” (2002). As a then-member of Jazzy Jeff’s production-for-hire unit A Touch Of Jazz, Brown contributed no less than 7 tracks to the project yet it wasn’t until his remix of Jay-Z’s The Black Album, aptly titled “The Brown Album” was released in January, 2004 that he began to receive recognition. As the first producer to do so (to date there are more than 100 submitted remixes of the project), Brown made use of Jay-Z’s starpower and commercial appeal.
After numerous productions and collaborations with artists throughout 2003 and 2004, Brown made his debut in 2005 with “I Do What I Do” through the independent Up Above imprint. The single, “Life’s A Gamble”, followed in early 2006. Among current projects is “Random Joints”(re-released in 2012 with extra bonus material), 2012 also marks the beginning of the Low Budget Records imprint with a partnership with ReDefinition Records.
Brown’s style as a producer is recognizable for its subtle undertones and strong variety of musical influences. Noted for his complex sample chopping style, bass lines and authentic sounding percussion, he is often mentioned alongside like-minded producers Pete Rock and J Dilla, and has named the former as one of his main musical inspirations. Brown’s own style is likable to, and may show some influence, in the work of fellow Low Budget producers Oddisee and DJ Roddy Rod.
As with most “classic” Hip-hop producers, Brown often employs the use of samples, mixed with his own instrumentation such as horns, bells, rhodes, and guitar plucks. His beats may range from the simpler 4-bar loops, to more intricate arrangements that include several layers, and in the case of his R&B tracks, bridge sections.
As mentioned before, the most frequently noted aspect of Brown’s musicality is his basslines, which he attributes to his study of producers such as Pete Rock, DJ Scratch and J Dilla. Like those producers Brown shows a jazz-minded sensibility, and uses his basslines to create space and nuances within a beat.