Nujabes - whats your thoughts
Grafwritah
4,184 Posts
Been listening to some Nujabes beats and some other chill hop lately. I like most of it, but backtracking the samples I've found most of his and others beats are nothing more than a piano loop with a drum beat overtop. For someone who was lauded as a producer extraordinaire, that was disappointing to find. Many of the samples aren't even particularly obscure.
Still good, but for someone with such a great reputation I would expect a little more to it. He seemed to have a great reputation before he passed, so I don't think his passing is what is making the reputation.
What do you think? Am I being to harsh in my critique?
Still good, but for someone with such a great reputation I would expect a little more to it. He seemed to have a great reputation before he passed, so I don't think his passing is what is making the reputation.
What do you think? Am I being to harsh in my critique?
Comments
Im unfamiliar with most of Nujabes sampling sources and perhaps its better that way.
Out of all the back packer/ instrumental hip hop genre. Nujabes is probably the only one that i continue to listen to. His production can be haunting and beautiful at the same time. And compared to a lot of other Japanese producers who are making similar sounds. His drums always hit harder and had more of a hip hop feel. Whilst the others felt more like easy listening albums.
He managed to get legends like Terry Callier on his tracks so he must have been doing something right.
Whaaaat. 2 bar loops and that's it? Haiiil naw.
I started to appreciate Nujabes when I needed some more mellow stuff to listen to while at work.
I think some credit has to be given to a producer for having a good ear for a sample, no matter how simple the loop. [em]The credit of discovery[/em] sounds pretentious, but you know what I mean - if it sounded dope before you knew the source, should it suddenly be lame because the producer didn't need to alter the sample much? Obviously skillful chopping is even better.
One of the most difficult things in any art is to be simple and great at the same time.
I'd say I'm relatively familiar with Nujabes and concur its the art of being simple and great. I don't hail Nujabes over a lot of other producers/beat makers but I think there's still some goodness there.
When I really started looking at it he's not doing anything different than Puff Daddy did, which is egregiously lifting large sections of songs as samples and upping the bassline or tossing on some synth drums. Puff made millions doing that but was panned for having shitty, lazy beats and Nujabes is the opposite on both counts.
Color of Autumn that was posted above is an excellent example. Do I like it? Sure. But what really went into that beat? Not much.