Beatbox Studios 2 (1996 MPC 60ii), by Hi-Tek

Beatbox Studios 2 (1996 MPC 60ii)

by Hi-Tek

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$9.99 USD or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
White colored vinyl, exclusive to Hi-Tek's bandcamp

Includes unlimited streaming of Beatbox Studios 2 (1996 MPC 60ii) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 4 days

$26.98 USD or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Includes unlimited streaming of Beatbox Studios 2 (1996 MPC 60ii) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 4 days

$24.98 USD or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
"Beatbox Studios", "Beatbox Studios 2," and "Werk Road" LPs, all on colored vinyl exclusive to Hi-Tek's bandcamp.

Includes unlimited streaming of Beatbox Studios 2 (1996 MPC 60ii) via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 4 days

6 remaining

$64.99 USD or more

1.	Broken Down 03:03	buy track
2.	Flowers 02:51	buy track
3.	513 Soldier 03:28	buy track
4.	Summer Nights 03:23	buy track
5.	The Next Level 03:09	buy track
6.	Level Check 02:24	buy track
7.	Same Old Song 02:42	buy track
8.	Roll Call 03:01	buy track
9.	New Birth 02:45	buy track
10.	Big Drum Drip 03:27	buy track

about

After 25 years of living his dream as one of hip hop’s most respected producers, Hi-Tek is digging back into his roots with a brand new trio of instrumental vinyl LPs. “Beatbox Studios 2 (1996 MPC 60II)” is the second volume of the series, each featuring a selection of restored and remastered beats, carefully chosen from an archive of DAT tapes. These LPs manage to both provide a window into Tek’s development and to shine light on the work of an already enormously-talented musician whose beats would’ve sounded right at home on classic releases from the mid-1990s.

Building on the styles showcased on the first “Beatbox Studios” LP, Hi-Tek was clearly developing his own personal style on the studio’s in-house Akai MPC 60II sampler. The drums were swinging more; the grooves were deeper; the bass thumped harder. Even when choosing familiar samples, he was chopping them in fresh and unexpected ways, which would eventually help shape his signature sound.

As his reputation was becoming cemented in the local Cincinnati scene, his relationship with the rap group Mood was helping to catalyze more regular visits to New York City. The beats collected for “Beatbox Studios 2” were the ones that would stick in the auto-reverse tape deck for those road trips, as were the demo tapes he crafted with Mood, which would eventually earn them a record deal with Blunt Records in 1996—the same label and year where he would land his first major placement on Royal Flush’s “Ghetto Millionaire” album. It was also on one of those 1996 journeys to NYC that he would meet a young Brooklyn emcee named Talib Kweli—with whom he would form one of the most iconic duos of the indie-rap boom of the late-nineties.

“Beatbox Studios 2 (1996 MPC 60II)” showcases Hi-Tek as a hungry young talent on the rise, and his continued elevation would lead him to a career as one of the few producers who can claim to have worked with such a broad range of legendary artists; from superstars like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, and Anderson .Paak, to underground heroes like Mos Def, Common, and J Dilla.