DJ Rhettmatic - Excerpts From The SP1200 Volume 1

To this old Hip-Hop head there will always be certain tools of the trade that are undeniably thee best of all-time.. The E-MU SP1200 sampling drum machine is one of said tools and will forever hold a special place in the hearts of many a beat fiend and head... that unmistakable, 12 bit crunch that it used to interpret so many of the game's illest samples and drums is just, simply unmatched...

DJ Rhettmatic, a legend in the DJing and production world in his own right has un-earthed some of his earliest SP1200 gems for all of us to hear.. below is his rundown of what this free serving is all about..

 I remember when i first got my SP back in 1991, when they reissued the SP1200 with the black finish. The original version had grey finish; i bought mine for $2000…..that was a lot of me back in the day. This machine was made popular by producers such as Marley Marl, Dr. Dre, Dj Muggs, Large Professor, Q-Tip, Madlib, & of course Pete Rock….i was inspired to get one because all of my favorite producers during the late 80's & early 90's were using this to make all the classic Hip Hop songs that we all know & loved so well. My first official SP1200 beat on wax was the Key-Kool & Rhettmatic's "E=MC5" song with Ras Kass, LMNO, Meen Green, & Voodoo…..  

So now, what you hear right now is some of old stash of SP1200 Beats that were made from 1994-1998. I actually recorded the beats straight from the SP1200, without any additional mixing…..just straight arrangement, & added scratches & sound effects to keep a little things interesting. What you hear is straight, raw, gritty, 12-bit texture, mono SP1200 beats with the ringy tone samples & smacking drum sounds. I hope you enjoy listening to them (& hopefully you're not making fun of them) while walking down memory lane with me. Who knows, if the response is positive, i might put out more beats to listen….& maybeactually make some new ones too!