THE BREED : California Dreamin'
It’s amazing how The BREED’s music can sound so modern, yet emanate so much love for vintage hip hop. The producer just released The Art of Chilling, an album which gathers 12 singles he released in 2019, one for every month of the year. It follows Dippin’ another stellar album released recently, that one in collaboration with Shuko. Both LPs are filled with reverence to the golden era of G-funk, radiating like the California sun, and crackling with a modern lo-fi twist. I had a chat with The BREED to talk about his new release, we talked about his origins, his influences and his collaborative spirit.
The BREED is a mysterious alter-ego, but I know you’ve been in the beatmaking game for some time. What can you tell us about you?
Yes, The BREED is an anonymous project. But what I can say is that I am from Germany and have been producing music for some time already. I do this instrumental stuff, but I’ve also produced for a lot of popular german rappers.
Where are you living currently?
I live in a lovely city in eastern Germany. I have been living somewhere else for a couple of years, but moved back to my hometown four years ago. A lot of my friends live here.. I guess that’s the best part of being back here. The musical scene is kind of small, but you always find some people to work with.
This year, you produced the album Dippin’ in collaboration with Shuko. How did you approach the making of this album?
We clicked from the first second. It was crazy. We never had any discussions about which way to go with the tracks… If Shuko did something, I loved it, and vice versa. We even came up with the same tracks we wanted to listen to for inspiration, that was almost frightening… Haha! Not only the music sessions were killer, but I also found a real friend in Shuko. He is such a cool and humble dude and he has achieved so much already. The music business can be a bitch sometimes, but every time we talk, the world looks nice again.
Working with people is always more satisfying since you can share the result with someone and the process is much more fun.
What’s your favorite piece of gear or creative tool at the moment?
Anything I can reproduce a Rhodes sound with. I love the Neo-Soul Keys software, I also use the Clavia Nord Stage. I guess Rhodes and Wurlitzer sounds are at the base of my music, even if it’s not in the final songs, I mostly start with that.
You have a marked West Coast influence. What does the California sound represent for you? And who are your favorite West Coast artists?
It's this kind of positive bouncy vibe, but without being cheesy at all. It’s probably the usual suspects. Dre, Battlecat, Warren G, DJ Quik.
Speaking of California, your song Life in Los Angeles features Benny Sings, as well as King Tee and MC Eiht. How did this collaboration come about?
To be honest, the whole work was already done when I came to the song. Shuko had already recorded all of the vocals, but he wasn’t 100% happy with the beat. So I did a kind of remix of the song, changed the drums, added a new bassline and some sparkle here and there. Then I added another Talkbox part and we were good to go. So, for me, it was quite easy...
Is there an artist you’ve discovered recently that truly inspires you?
MXXWLL, he is a genius when it comes to groove and chords.
Anything to plug? What’s coming up for you in the future?
My new record is coming out right now. It’s called The Art of Chilling, it’s the physical vinyl edition of all the singles I released in 2019. In 2020 plans are to release a little bit more stuff with vocalists. Some stuff is already done, but I don’t know yet when it will come out.
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