"Represent"

“Represent” is the seventh – and thus, very special – track of this series, building on the same themes as the previous few weeks. Take a listen:

The way it went

Unlike the previous few tracks, I started with a scratch in mind, and the project grew out of that idea. Then it was straight to XLN Audio’s Addictive Keys to establish the themes, and I spent some time just building elements from the low end of the piano to the high accents, and these tracks became the basis of the project.

The first pieces of “Represent,” played on several layers of piano

It’s obvious to anyone following the project that piano, horns, and heavy drums are the bedrock of this series, so “the band” is ready to go once the vibe is clear.

In this case, as always, I tried to allow in the South Florida feeling, which is, to me, 808 and a clap with a heavy reverb, anywhere above 115 or so beats per minute (this one came in at 117) and the intro segment definitely aimed to establish that vibe.

It became clear pretty quickly that a certain disco classic was influencing this project, and even though “Represent” shuffles into its own unique vibe, the shadow of “Got to Be Real” by the legend Cheryl Lynn is evident.

As I keep trying to incorporate the turntable as a key instrument, I thought I overdid the scratching, and I made some changes to volume going into one of the “verse” segments. Ultimately, things seemed to fall into place, with the scratch tracks almost serving as the vocal component throughout the song.

The scratch comes from a years-old verse inspired by a Friday night jam at Catalyst West Palm Beach – BIG shoutout to Will Stylez and the entire Catalyst family in Miami and West Palm – written in first person from a bboy’s perspective, coming into the jam ready to set it off:

Footwork, power to the toprock rounds,
Many, many hours of the bboy sounds,
Style represent for my cities and towns,
Steppin' in the place like I came to get down.

Me on the wheels at Catalyst West Palm Beach in 2017 for the “Gorilla Warfare” jam, playing the classic “Snake Bite,” produced by Germany’s DJ Just-A-Kid and me. Bboys are N’ergy and Chief Rocka vs Shock and Tunes. Video by Fresco Esco.

Naming the track was a back-and-forth process, knowing that the entire series of tracks has been named based on their unique scratch components, and “Represent” was the obvious candidate, with its clear homage to the Nas classic.

Once the title was settled, artwork ideas were plentiful, eventually settling on a local street sign edited to include “Represent” instead of “Ramp only,” with “Dj Chief” tagged (digitally) onto the sign.

Stay tuned to my Soundcloud and Bandcamp pages for new tracks in this series, mixtapes, and whatever else happens. Check out more “Behind the Beats” here.