9.05.2006
Scram Jones - "You Better Ask Somebody" Part III
The music industry is ever evolving and always bringing out new faces. The new face that we want bring to your attention is 28 year old Scram Jones from New York. Scram is among the new breed of producer/MCs’ who are bringing a whole new feel into the studio. The man has been making music his entire life and has a resume to prove it too. So sit back and watch Scram produce another great hit, but this time it’s not some hot beat. Ladies and gentleman, may we present The Mr. "Scram Jones" Interview:When did you first get involved with music?
Young. I played piano, collected records and cassettes. I started to DJ at 15, and I moved onto producing, so basically been doing music my whole life.
Are you a rapper that produces or a producer who raps?
At first I was a rapper that produced but then winded up being a producer who raps. The biggest scale people know me on is for my beats, but when I was coming out as a rapper in early 2000 to 2001 people knew me for rapping. I produced my own beats and all that, but then I started selling beats as my full time hustle, so people started to knowing me as a producer who raps. But I was a rapper first.
When was your first big break?
“No, No, No” with Jae Millz was the one that got most radio play. I mean, before that my first official project was with Havoc, but the “No, No, No” joint was the one that got me the most attention.
How did you hook up working with N.O.R.E?
I hooked up working with Nore through Nature. Me and Nature worked together for years, I mean this was like 3 years ago. I’d go with Nature to his new studio he was opening up on Madison Ave. He didn’t have an engineer or nothing so me and my man Vin the Chin would go by the studio and help out. I met a lot of people through Nore’s studio and still do. I met Beanie Sigel, Busta, Mariah, a lot of people.
How was it working with Mariah Carey, being she’s an R&B singer and you mainly work with rappers? I wasn’’t even there when she recorded the song; she was over in Spain or France. At Nore’s studio she was real cool and humbled herself around everyone. Me and her people hooked up and started talking to get things going. I didn’t get to spend the amount of time with her in the studio as I wanted. R&B is definitely different; it’s a more tedious process, just because you got so much to do a track, when it’s a rapper they might bang it out in 15 minutes. When it comes to singers it just gets more meticulous but at the same time it’s more lucrative, too.
How often do people hate on you because your a white MC?
All day! But at the same time I ain’t gonna get on some p*ssy, over-sensitive stuff; it just goes with the territory. I’m a minority in this business. Some think being white is a good thing, but that’s not the case in this industry. People see me and they automatically think some sh*t, but I couldn’t care less what people think about me. It really comes down to the music, and I’’ve been doing that my whole life. You can just check my resume and see what I’ve done,. Now if someone is frontin’, they’re just straight hating.
What is the process of getting a beat made? Take us through your creative routine.
Most of the time I just go to the studio and get started off just hitting a key or drum pattern. Sometimes I’ll use a sample and already know where I want to go with it. I usually light an L and get in my zone. I’m trying to make like 5 to 10 beats at night. I’ll make the skeleton of the beats, throw them into the pro tools and come back later to handle the technical stuff. I come back and put those sprinkles on top of the cake. I don’t like to sit there for a minute messing with the technical stuff on a beat; it can really mess with your creative mood.
How do you personally define success?
For me it’s when hard work pays off. I work all day, I get about two hours of sleep at night. In my profession you have to juggle your whole life, personal and all, around this. You’re not promised a check every week. I can work for weeks without ever getting a check, so you’ve got to be persistent and have that drive to keep going. And when it does pay off it feels that much better. It’s also good when you start to get recognized, even though there are people behind the scenes no one knows, but they don’t care because they’re millionaires.
What have been the biggest challenges for you to reach the level you’re on now? Cat and mouse chase with trying to get to the artist, dealing with the politics of the business, and having to go through 3 and 4 middle men who all got their own opinions. The goal is to get in the studio with the artist, that way they can hear the music for themselves.Where do you see yourself in five years?
Getting my label Beast Music going strong. I work with a lot of underground artist, getting them signed and dropping albums. You know the whole label thing. Also trying to get my album out, but that might actually happen in a year or so. And of course being a millionaire wouldn’t hurt.
What advice would you give some just starting out in this business?
Network, network, network. You’ve gotta always be connecting with people, you never know who knows who. At the same time stay humble and don’t sleep on anyone. Never get to Hollywood and remember a favor returns a favor.
What do you feel is the key to you current success?
Well, everything I just said. Staying on my grind and keeping in the studio.
Keep your eyes and ears open because Scram is definitely going to be making his way straight to top of this game.
A PimpWiz Exclusive By, Mr. Xclusive
