Well just my environment growing up, I grew up in a music filled household. My mom, she was a little singer, she used to do her shows and she used to do lip syncing on the road. She used to do a whole bunch of things for talent shows. Also, my brother, hes a producer. Hes older than me by like 16-17 years and growing up all I heard is music in the house. He showed me how to make beats and all that. So just watching him do his production thing, I learned just by watching and I took it from there.

What equipment did you start with?

Well the first thing I really started with was my brother's Ensoniq EPS which is an old keyboard sampler. Its the predecessor of the Ensoniq ASR-10. I watched him use it and he showed me how to use it which was very interesting to me because its like more of an analog sampler than what cats got today. Then after that, I got this Gemini 24 second DJ Sampler for my birthday one time and thats when I started using stuff on my own. I incorparated that and I used a 4 track to sequence my beats on and what I would do is since the sampler had no sequencer on it. I just manually looped em track by track and I would just hit the the trigger pad manually for each note. I just hit the hi-hat on time. I had my own metronome. I had how I wanted to do it. So each track I would just do manually. There was no sequencer, no quantis or nothing, just straight raw. Thats how I started and from then on, every two years, i would upgrade my equipment.

What did your first beats sound like?

My first beats sounded like ass because when I used to call myself making beats. I had this little Rapmaster keyboard, it had like preset sounds on there and I would play notes over it and I would record it through the microphone with my karaoke machine. Thats like what my first beat really sounded like that I did on my own. My beats sounded like ass. When I did my first beat, I was like nine years old. So you know, it was garbage.

How has your sound changed?

Well my real serious stuff, when I really started doing beats seriously. My first type of sound was real jazzy, laid back like a Tribe Called Quest type of sound. Thats when I got my own equipment back in like 98. When I started using a sampler, I was using a lot of jazz samples. My sound has changed in the sense that my sound got more agressive but I still incorparate jazz in what I do but its just real agressive but its always been grimey. The way I sample has always been the same and it will be the same. So the only thing I say that is changing my sound is the agressiveness.

What equipment do you use now?

I've been using Fruity Loops and Cool Edit Pro but I just upgraded to an MPC. So, I'm just learning the ropes on that right now. Every piece of equipment I have, I've always incorparated records and turntables always. Its always part of my setup no matter what I upgrade too.

How long does it take you to make a beat?

On average, It usually takes me 15-20 mins to make a beat. The longest it took me to make a beat is about an hour or two and if I wasnt satisified with that, I would leave it and go back a couple days later and fix what I wasnt satisified with.

How do you know when you're done with a beat?

When I like it.

How and what sounds do you look for in a sample?

Well I like a lot of spacey sounds for my samples and a lot of weird, weird stuff. I like to do my beats left field from what everyone else is doing. If its something real crazy and just out of it, I look for that type of stuff. If you notice in my beats, I look for a lot of melodic type of stuff. So I try to use a lot of melodys to incoporate in my music. At the same time, its melodic but its real like grimey and melodic at the same time which is kind of an oxymoron cause when you think of grime, you think of just just grime, I cant even explain it. Its two opposites. So, I try to use that together and incorporate the sounds in my beats.

What's the best sample you ever found?

To this day, the best sample I ever found..(pauses to think) is a cross between Personal F.O.U.L's "Initowinit" and Grafh's "Food" because both of those samples on the songs that they originally came from. No one would sample that just listening to the song because they both start off weird. While the usual producer and all these producers out here, they get the same type of records. Everybody's using sped up soul, ya know? Everybodys on that right now. So the records that I got, no one else is getting and thats the reason why my stuff sounds the way it does cause I get that crazy type of stuff. Everybodys trying to get old Bobby Womack, Aretha Franklin, and Black Ivory records which is cool because I've sampled Black Ivory before but everybody is just so fixated in 60s and 70s soul. I'm going for the 80's progessive rock and new wave type of stuff. Thats where I'm going and a lot of 70s dark jazz. I go for David Axelrod, Gentle Giant, Soft Machine and those are just to name a few but those are some of the people I listen to where I really dissect their music. Sometimes it wont even be a loop that I take, it will just be 2 seconds I take of a sound that they have in their song and I incorparate it into my beat. Them type of records is where I got those joints from like the "Food" record, thats from a rock song. "Initowinit", thats from a rock song. Its not no soul or nothing like that. So what I look for is a lot of progressive music or something really left field cause I'm all about doing something different. Sometimes, I'll do a sped up soul joint but thats like every once in a blue moon. What I'm trying to do right now is the Cyrus sound, none of that biting from other producers. I'm trying to do me right now. Those two joints define the way my beats are so those are my favorite samples.

Your 50 MC's mixtape was dope, how did you choose what MC's you wanted to put on?

Well what happened was, I always thought about people that I wanted to work with, whos album I'd like to produce on. A lot of those cats on the mixtape are people I grew up listening to and liking. A lot of those emcees I amired wether it was Royce Da 5'9" or F.T. Those are the people I grew up listening to on the real mixtapes that were coming out back then not the pause tapes that are out now. What me and my man Kas did, we just hustled and hustled. We called up as much people as possible to get cats on my mixtape. Some cats fronted and some cats came through. Some of the cats on there, we had to get on em and stay on em about their joint on the mixtape. For instance, this dude Ali Vegas, his people were throwing us some shades and we had to deal with that for a little bit and we had to deal with that with a lot of artists that didnt even make the mixtape. So, anyways we went all the way down to New York from Massachusetts which is where I'm from to meet up with Kenny J to give him a beat cd for Ali Vegas and he was like yea no doubt, i'll have the joint to you by next week. So, we didn't get that til like two months later and what happened was a week after we gave Kenny the beat cd, the dude told me that Ali Vegas had already did the freestyle. So we're like cool, send it and we're waiting for the joints to come in the mail. It didn't come at all and we're making calls and we are getting answering machines cause no one likes to pick up their phone. Then, my man Kas hits up another person representing Ali Vegas whos name is Gotti, yea Gotti. Then hes telling me Ali Vegas didnt even do the joint and this is two months after the dude told me that Ali Vegas already did the joint. We had to deal with situations like that where dudes are lying to us. We had another situation with these dudes Da Ranjahz, their washed up asses. They lied saying there was something wrong with their cd burner or something in the studio, some corny shit, just corny lies man. A lot of these primadonna ass dudes that are washed up in the game are "too good" for a mixtape. So they didnt make the mixtape for the simple fact that they were bullshitting on the track. So, Da Ranjahz got cut. A few people were bullshitting for the mixtape and that shit aint going to happen again. Then there was Shyheim, we sent him beats and his manager is saying that they already sent it and we never got it. He was supposed to be on 50 MCs and thats sad because I'm a big fan of Shyheim, I wanted him to be on it. The god, Kool G Rap was supposed to be on the mixtape but he never got back to us. There was a lot of situations where people say their package is in the mail and we dont get anything. We had to go through a lot of shit as young dudes in the game putting this mixtape out, we went through a lot of struggle. It took us 3-5 months to do and it was real frustrating but we got it done. There's a lot of situations I ran into which kind of hit home where dudes were saying they werent feeling the beats i sent em like these dudes Bang Em Smurf and Domination who were supposed to be on the mixtape. Their manager said they werent feeling the beats which is cool cause criticism is criticism. I'm all for that but the shit I hear them spit on is garbage. I havent really heard much hot shit from Bang Em Smurf and Domination to begin with. I mean everybody has their beats but the shit I sent them is better than what I heard them on. The joint they had with the video is alright but everything else I heard was just garbage. Slum Village was supposed to be on the mixtape. We sent their management the beats and their management were saying that the beats were too hard and too underground for Slum Village's sound and what they were trying to do for their new album which was Detriot Deli which dropped in June. Around the time we were doing this was in March and they said the beats were too underground and didnt fit Slum Village but I'm the biggest J Dilla fan like J Dilla is my inspiration. So, when I sent my beats out to Slum Village, I made sure that it was catering to their sound and I know the Slum Village sound. I know all about the organic soul. So of course I'm not going to send a beat that i would send to F.T or someone thats hardcore to Slum Village. So I sent some souled out shit, some organic type of stuff to them. Their people saying its too underground because they were saying something like Slum Village is trying to do numbers on this album so they wanted to be mainstream. They wanted that mainstream stuff and they were saying Slum Village wanted to do TRL and all this type of stuff. So, they couldnt do my mixtape because the label wont allow them to do something like that. So, shit like that, the label politics got involved and that Slum Village shit is killing me for the simple fact that I'm a huge fan since day one. So, that shit is killing me cause I didnt think Slum Village would go that route all talking about we want to do TRL, 106 and Park type numbers and saying the fanbase we are looking to get is not particularlly the fanbase that would be listening to your mixtape. I dont understand that cause then down the line, they didnt do no type of numbers on that album which is hard for me to believe because they had that Kanye West single "Selfish" and that shit was hot. The album was a damn good album but they didnt get any promotion and I didnt see that video on TRL once. So, that comes to show you, you cant really do that type of shit if you already have a certain fanbase. How the hell are you going to see you want a TRL fanbase and they are on their fourth album? I dont understand that. So we got backwards rappers, backwards management that dont know how to do things. This mixtape would have helped Slum Village out for the simple fact that it would have been free promotion but I guess they didnt feel like that and it would have been better for me cause I'm a big fan. All these things I had to go through and I know its pretty long what I summed up but thats what we had to go through to pick up rappers to get on this mixtape.

How important was it for you to get a drop from Tony Touch for that project?

Put it like this, if I didnt get a drop from Tony Touch, I wouldn't put out the mixtape because I wouldnt feel right. Tony Touch is the originator of the 50 MC's mixtape and the whole thing is his concept and his idea. If I didnt do it the right way, I wouldnt do it all. What I mean by doing it the right way is getting Tony Touch involved wether its a freestyle, scratch, interlude, intro, or whatever. I had to get his voice on there because Tony Touch is the man, the originator. If it wasnt for him, I wouldnt even have that idea. So I had to at least pay homage in that way to get my man Tony Touch up on there.

How did the mixtape do for you in terms of getting your name out there?

I mean the mixtape did ok for me to get my name out there. It wasnt what I expected it to do but it did alright. I had some situations which held me back such as some distributors not wanting to distribute the mixtape but you know, sometimes theres some shady business going on and some people reached out to us but there wasnt no lucrative things going on where people were talking finacially. The promotion could have been better but thats what we could do with the budget we had for the mixtape. Its picking up right now and its picking up kind slow but its gonna get better because this mixtape is a very innovative mixtape I must say. Its not no pause tape with DJ's screaming all over everything. Its 100% me, my production on every track, exclusive joints. I think its a mixtape thats worth a listen. I think its a pretty decent mixtape as far as the production goes. I did my thing, all the MC's came through and I think its pretty good, ya know?

What's good with your group?

My group is Personal F.O.U.L which consists of me Cyrus Tha Great, the DJ and the Producer and my man Spit Supreme who is the emcee. Its a duo on some Gang Starr shit, you know, you got the one producer/DJ who does all the production and you got the MC who rocks the crowd with the lyrics. Our album is coming out in March 2005. This is our second album and its called Attack 2: The Trenches. Our first album "Attack" came out in April 2003. So, this is going to be our second album but to many people, its going to be our first because not many people know of Personal F.O.U.L. Matter of fact, we're dropping two albums next year. We are dropping Attack 2 in March and Attack 3 in November ending off the trilogy kind of like how they did the Matrix dropping two movies in one year. Then, in June of 2006, we're dropping the Contra album. Our next four albums are already done because as far as being an underground group, you gotta stay on the grind as much as possible and you gotta keep your name out there constantly. We arent just going to put out anything, we already know how we are going to put it out. Everythings in order. Once you do it indepdently, its more freedom, however we want to do it, and all that good stuff. So, Personal F.O.U.L is definitely in the building. I'm holding down the beats and as much as I can on my end and Spit Supreme is holding down the lyrics and doing what he can on his end. The album that we got coming out is real crazy, for real.

You've worked with Grafh, what's that like?

Well Grafh is an extremely incredible emcee. When he did the "Food" record, I wasnt with him for the mixing process but I had went down to New York and gave him the beat and he liked it. Matter of fact, that was the first beat I played for him and he liked it a lot. I didnt know what he was going to do with it cause Grafh, I could imagine, he must get so much beats. So, I didnt know if he was going to do anything to it or nothing like that. So he called me and told me he did something to it. Bammm, I heard it and I loved it. I think that the "Food" joint is real bananas. I think thats one of his hottest joints that he ever did. Not to take away from Grafh cause I think the dude is a beast but that joint just showed me his song writing abilities, I loved the hook and the song is just banging.

You did "Food" for Grafh, how did you go about making that beat?

Well actually, I made that beat five months before I gave it to Grafh. Thats one of those joints I just made sitting in my dorm room, just chopping up records, just coming up with ideas and I just made it. Initially when I make beats, I name my beats after the rappers that would rap on that type of beat. So I called that beat, my M.O.P beat because that beat reminds me of something M.O.P would spit over. So I just made the beat, heard the sample, chopped up the sample, got the drums, throw the cymbals over there, did the bassline, threw the 808 kicks over there and it was a wrap after that. Five months later, I go to NY, show it to Grafh and the rest is history.

How do your beats compliment his style?

The type of stuff I would give to Grafh would fit perfectly for the simple fact that when I work with any emcee. I just try to give em something that would compliment their style. As far as beats for Grafh, in the past, I heard Grafh spit some amazing, amazing shit on mixtapes and stuff like that. I feel that sometimes on some of his songs, he wasnt getting the type of beats that he deserved for such an incredible emcee such as himself. I think that he needed a soundscape to compliment it. So, I figured I would do my best to get in contact with dude and just show him what I got to bring to the table cause me, i'm the type of person that feels if you cant do nothing to try and fix the situation, dont speak on it and I think that Grafh is such a nasty emcee and I'm a producer. So why not reach out to give him some of that crack? Thats what I did and thats how "Food" was born. That beat right there really complimented him very well and I plan to work with him more in the future.

How do you get people like Jean Grae to listen to your beats?

Actually, that whole thing with Jean Grae was through my man Kas whos cool with Block Mccloud and my man Kas sent out the beat CD to Block Mccloud and you know Block? Thats like fam to Jean Grae. So you know, one ear to another, thats how it went down.

What new artists are you working with now?

Well I got two beats on the Perceptionists album who is Akrobatik, Mr Lif, and Fakts One. I did their first single "Memorial Day" which is out now. Their album is coming out right around the same time the Personal F.O.U.L album is coming out. I'm working with my mans and them, GMP which is my super crew. Its like a big super crew like four producers, five emcees. Its real big and our album is already done and thats coming out in May 2005. I'm working with my man Byg Sev, hes a beast. When I say beast, I mean hes a beast. Hes got something coming out soon, so look out for that. My man Mingo, I'm doing his whole album and thats coming out next year. My man T-Max whos on the joint "Queen" with Pete Rock and A.G. from D.I.T.C which was on Soul Supreme's Saturday Nite Agenda. I'm doing a whole EP with him. Also, my man Crisis, I'm doing his album. So I'ma be a real busy man. My label, Backcourt Records that I got with Kas doing it indepdently. All these albums I just mentioned, they are all coming out on Backcourt Records except for The Perceptionists album which is coming out on Def Jux but the albums I am working on are all coming out on my label. We're dropping like eight albums next year so be on the lookout.

Who would you like to work with next?

I would love to continue to work with Grafh, thats a real talented dude. I really would like to work with a lot of the ill cats coming up on the mixtape scene like Saigon, Papoose. I'd like to work with them cats because they're hungry and I think I can bring some heat for them to the table. I like them new cats especially the new cats but a lot of cats on mixtapes are garbage but them three dudes, Grafh, Saigon, and Papoose stand out to me. I'm young, they're young and hungry and I could def. make some good music for them. I def. would like to work with them in the future.

What's the last beat you heard by another producer that amazed you?

I'd have to say The Neptunes "Drop It Like Its Hot", I think thats the hottest shit out right now.

What's coming up for you?

We got the Personal F.O.U.L album dropping March 1st, 2005. My man Byg Sev's album, T-Max's album produced entirely by me, my man Mingo's album produced entirely by me. Also, I forgot to plug earlier, my man Apathy is dropping his mixtape at the end of November. Its called "Wheres Your Album", I did the "Checkmate" joint on there which is fire. Apathy rips it. I'm also going to be doing a lot of stuff for Apathy in the future. Thats my man, so be on the lookout for that. The Crisis album coming out next year. GMP's album coming out in May and thats about it. I dont know if I'm forgetting anything because I got a lot of albums coming out next year that I'm producing entirely thats coming out under the Backcourt label. So just be on the lookout for Cyrus Tha Great, Backcourt Records, and Personal F.O.U.L. All you fake MC's that fronted on me on the 50 MC's mixtape, yall are going to be begging for beats in the future. I'm only 18 years old, I'm not even in my prime yet. So yall hating, keep hating. Yall are going to be riding the bandwagon in a couple of years.

How can heads reach out to you?

Just holla at my man Kas, (978)852-9597 or dkastal@backcourtrecords.com and the rest will be taken care of from there. Also check out http://www.backcourtrecords.com

Interview by Brian Kayser