My Top 5: FLIP

Through his musical creations FLIP has given us insight into his musical influences that began in the 80's with groups like Public Enemy or EPMD into the 90's era with sounds ranging from Native Tongue territory to a DJ Premier or Pete Rock or the DITC producers, when he started making beats on his own for his rap group Texta. You can hear links to other production wizards like J Dilla, Hi-Tec or Madlib that changed the sampling techniques post 2000 with albums like Donuts, Hi-Teknology or Madvillain. Enough talking... Check out FLIP's top 5 and more.

Your Favorite 5 Producers:

Marley Marl. Primo. Pete Rock. Dilla. Q-Tip

Favorite Beat They Produced:

Marley Marl: MC Shan „The Bridge“ 
Primo: Nas „NY State of Mind“ 
Pete Rock: Pete Rock & CL Smooth „Straighten It Out“ 
Dilla: Slum Village „Fall In Love“
 Q-Tip: Crooklyn Dodgers „Crooklyn“

Why or What do you like about their skills behind the boards?

They all were groundbreaking in their prime, soundwise, how they used samples, how they programmed the drums, what samples they discovered.

How have they influenced or inspired you?

I have been listening to Hip-Hop since 1983 and i produce since 1993. So they all had influence how i approach a beat, how i like my drums to sound, which sample sources i might grab or they made me discover.

Which producer would you like to collabo with?

I definitely would like to check how the producers oft he golden era work nowadays, how they approach a beat, how they react to an MC rhyming on their music and compare that tot he way i do it.

What inspires you to create a music?

Sometimes I let a sample lead me, sometimes drums, sometimes i create samples myself an get inspired by textures and sounds. Life itself inspires more the Rapper in me.

How would you describe your music?

Multilayered, jazzy, soulful, drumheavy Hip-Hop full of musicality with the necessary grit.

What are your thoughts regarding the use of samples in music?

I have an will forever use samples cause to me ist in the DNA of this art form. Hip-Hop was the first postmodern musical art form using techniqes of collage, bricolage and mixing old and new technologies.

What are your thoughts on the Europe's contribution to Hip Hop's global influence?

45 years into this culture, Europe has created its own forms and styles, though we still always keep an eye towards USA,which remains the foundation of the art form.

How do you come up with the concept for creating your beats / instrumental albums?

The concept oft he album took some time until it materialized as I don´t have that signature sound but use different vibes and sounds. So I had to bring it down to a certain essence that I wanted to achieve, which was what I call retrofuturism, meaning the mix of old and new technology, sounds and techniques.

Any final words or thoughts?

No matter how much the sound of Hip-Hop will evolve and change i think the essence should always be originality, dopeness and a funky attitude.

Latest Project:

Below is FLIP's latest release "Experiences", a simple look back into the golden era but more a retro-futuristic approach that Flip tried to execute within those sixteen compositions.

Additional scratches and vocal chops add more flavor to the tracks and as one song flows with ease into the next one, this makes "Experiences" an experience for the listener, too. While a lot of Hip-Hop instrumental albums just let some loops run for two minutes, FLIP took a more ambitious approach where continued listening to the album will reveal new details and musical ideas every time.

Another fact that won ́t go unnoticed is the heavy punch of the drums which is due to the usage of old samplers like the legendary SP-1200, the ASR-10 or the MPC2000XL that FLIP is still using, blending it though with the power of modern soft and hardware.

So put your headphones on take a trip through FLIP's musical mind.