Head honcho of Serious Knock Entertainment is the latest producer who offered his remix version of American Gangster (info). In this interview Pocket explains why he doesnt feel other remix projects and what the future holds for him.
Why did you decide to remix American Gangster?
Well, I started out doing just 2 remixes for the hell of it (Pray and American Dreamin‘) and I Let a couple of my peoples check them out. They were real big on the joints and said I need to remix the whole LP. I still wasn’t convinced I should put in the time because so many people had already remixed it and I didn’t want to seem like I was jumping on the band wagon. So, my man Little Clayway sent me an interview that Jay-Z did with Charlie Rose and after I saw that interview it made me want to remix the whole LP.
There are many remix albums of American Gangster. What sets your album apart?
I think mine stands alone because with my remix LP I tried to keep the original essence of the project and maintain the original backdrop that Jay-Z intended for his original version. In his interview with Charlie Rose he talked about how he wanted to use soul samples and music he heard his parents playing at home while he was coming up. As far as other American Gangster remix LP’s I feel that there where some good one’s but for the most part it seems like producers were trying to hard to separate themselves and do something so different that they missed the mark. I feel like a lot of the tracks produced didn’t really fit Jay’s lyrics or his flow. In a nutshell, for most of the other American Gangster remix LP’s I didn’t feel the marriage between the lyrics and the tracks.
How long did it take to remix it?
It took me about 2 weeks to remix the LP and another week to mix and master it.
What´s your opinion on the album anyway?
I love the album! See, I’m a Jay-Z fan so I like just about everything he does, but I thought this record was a good follow up to is last one. You can hear a lot of emotion in this record and I like how he walks us through his life. One of his lines he says "close your eyes and you can pretend you’re me". I believe he painted the picture of his life so vividly that you get a good sense of who Jay-Z the hustler, rapper and CEO are and you get to hear and visualize his lifestyle and also his views on certain things.
What´s next for Serious Knock Entertainment?
Lets see…I am finishing up an album on both SKE artists S.T.I.N.K. (album is untitled) and Shaun Sluggs debut LP. Also, we worked out a deal with my favorite rap group since Wu Tang…Binkis Recs!!! SKE will be distributing their records digitally so look for their catalogue hitting the download sites this summer. We will also be distributing for my man and Hip-Hop veteran, from the classic group Poor Righteous Teachers, Culture Freedom a.k.a. Cult Free! This is BIG because Cult Free is coming with a message for the world! Make sure you stay in tune with SKE by subscribing to our newsletter at www.seriousknockent.com. We are still pushing the remix album because the response has been crazy! I want to thank everyone for forwarding the links around and please continue to do so. Lastly, I’ve been asked to produce some tracks for a couple of mainstream acts on the strength of the production on the American Gangster remix LP so I’ll be working on tracks real heavy over the next couple months. I’m also working with my man Count Bass D on some cutting edge sh!t so keep your ears open! We just grinding hard so we can create our own lane in this insane industry (laughs).
