First off, this Master Class had been in the making for nearly 2 1/2 months. Coordinating Sadat's schedule (big ups to Joanne his manager for all of her help!), securing a studio, coordinating a delegation of 18 Germans, making sure that UAP youth were well represented (during their Spring Break) and making sure that all the youth were prepped for the day was a bit of an undertaking that had me wound up like ball...So, yesterday morning when I had to hop in car service with snacks, cases of water and 20 extra chairs in toe, and only 2 of the 15 Urban Arts students had shown up to the office, I was a bit stressed. I shot up town to Stadium Red Studios with a student to help me out, and left Clevins, a former UAP student, in charge of the crew. Guess I just had to have faith that everything would work out...
Upon our arrival, we we're greeted by a glass case of Grammys and a wall of Platinum Records (Jay Z, Mya, Usher, T.I.--the list goes on, and though I'm sure each youth there would be able to tell you who else, I really had no time to get sidetracked). The GangwayBeatz crew from Berlin were already there, chillin' in the artist lounge. We had had a long-night the previous evening, so it was great to see them all there early. I set-up the snacks and water, set-up the chairs and touched base with Joe, our engineer for the day. Sadat showed up right on time, and I had him wait in the artist lounge, while the Berlin crew took a tour of Studio A--our studio for the day...
At this point, it probably makes sense for me to describe the studio...actually...let me just show you. Let's start with the control room:
Studio A was originally designed by Alan Firestein of Acousticog and recently renovated under the consultation of Frank Comentale (World famous studio designer known for designing The Hit Factory, Chung King, Daddy's House, etc). It includes granite encased monitors, the world famous SSL G+ Console originally from Baseline Studios (owned by Just Blaze and originally owned by Jay-Z), a Pro-Tools HD8 Accel expanded system, racks of outboard gear--and who can forget the leather couch! Needless to say, the youth were overwhelmed (OK...so was I lol).
After checking out the control room, we walked through the 200 sq/ft vocal recording booth (leather couch included) into Stadium Red's 1000 sq/ft live room (Steinway Grand Piano included). Check it out:
At this point my UAP kids showed up (10 total!) and they took the mini tour. Funny how things work out, since I had a feeling that kids were going to flake, I spent the morning calling the Singer 109 crew--that is the NYC youth who went to Berlin back in September to celebrate the release of the GangwayBeatz compilation. With less than an hour notice, each one of them committed to coming. Thank God they did! I would have hated for them to miss out on what was about to ensue...
Once everyone was settled, I introduced Sadat X and he began to record a new song. Some students observed the process from the live room (which Joe had hooked up with live-monitoring of Sadat's mic and the control room talk-back mic) and the control room. I wish I could describe it more thoroughly, but it kinda happened all so quickly. 20 minutes after starting, he was done! Chorus, 3 verses and an outro like that! Ultimately, I felt that if the youth could just observe a Master Emcee in mid-process that they could learn a great deal and apply it to their work. By the end of our session, I knew that it had worked...
The next 30 minutes were spent on a pretty dope Q & A. I'm always worried about Q & A sessions with youth. They can either be extremely illuminating or horrendously painful. Ha! Not sure why I was worried though. Both the Berlin crew and the NYC youth a) love Hip Hop and writing, b) were properly prepped to engage Sadat and c) were extremely excited about the entire experience. Subjects ranged from Sadat's childhood, his experience with the 5% Nation, his perspective on how Hip Hop has changed over the years and advice that he would give to young people who wanted to make a career in music. The questions were well though-out and critical! And Sadat's answers...well, let's just say the passion with which he spoke overcame any language barriers that existed in the room. He definitely dropped some knowledge, understanding and wisdom!
Now normally, the Master Class would end here, but I had set it up so that we would have a little over 2 hours left in the studio. And though I wish I could take credit for how everything turned out over those 2 hours, I really can't. 2 hours later, we had a beat made from scratch (big ups to Phil and Mando from 4XSample) and 15+ English and German verses not only recorded, but written on the spot--as well as one chorus from yours truly (there was no way that I was gonna set this all up and not get in on the session--lol). I thought we were only gonna have enough time to record 3 - 5 youth and that there would be so many more who would not get to record on a mic once owned by Jay-Z. But because of the overall energy in that room and the intensity with which everyone approached the booth, every youth that wanted to record got to do so. Amazing is an understatement! There is no doubt in my mind that Sadat had set the tone for the session. There is no way that we could thank him enough for his generosity of spirit, not only allowing us to peek directly into his creative process, but also for hanging out for a couple of hours afterwards, building with the kids, encouraging them throughout the recording process. The youth absorbed the lessons and delivered with flying colors!
We literally finished our session with 2 minutes of studio time left. We cleaned up, stacked up chairs, gathered our belongings and I had to literally push kids out the door (for the exception of 2 who really wanted to get their shoes signed by Just Blaze, who had been working in another room the entire previous night and who periodically peeked into our studio to see what was going on). Waiting on 125th St. for the car service to show up (I still had to deliver 20 chairs back to Chinatown), all of the youth continued to talk and build. It's as if no one wanted the day to end...
Slowly everyone went there separate ways, and Ty, the student who had originally helped me uptown, and I headed back to the UAP office. After 15 minutes of exhausted silence, Ty spoke up, "I literally almost cried a few times throughout the day." "Why?" I asked. He replied, "That was my dream! It's always been my dream. Next time I want it to be for my solo album..." His phone rang and he preceded to recount the entire experience to one of his best friends. I stared out the taxi at the East River, overwhelmed with emotion. It was a Good Friday indeed! Now I can't wait to mix that track--ha!
* A world of gratitude is owed to Anna Strout for getting UAP behind this, for locking down Sadat X and for the snacks--they really were needed 2 hours into the entire thing, to Clevins Browne and Zanetta King for all of your help--real youth mentors no doubt, to Martha Diaz, Abran Maldonado and NYU's Hip Hop Education Center for connecting me with Stadium Red and for their financial support in making this happen. And finally, a big thanks is owed to the Stadium Red staff (especially Juliet and Joe)! You guys embraced us for the few hours that we were there; It is an experience that these kids will never forget. You guys rock!
