I started out rapping and I didn't like the beats that people were giving me so I started making them myself.

What equipment did you start with?

MPC 60, Roland 2080. Whatever I could get my hands on or was in the studio.

How did your first beats sound?

Like trash. But I made a beat or two every day until they started to sound like something.

How did you improve?

I would hang out with my big bro Ralph Role who is a drummer and all his musician friends. They taught me a lot.

What equipment do you use now?

MPC 60 and Roland 2080.

When you sample, what type of sample do you look for?

I try not to sample, but when I do it's mostly sounds. Kicks, snares, hi hats and abstract sounds to build tracks around.

What's the first thing you do when you make a beat?

I start with picking the drum sounds or play around with a sound i found in a keyboard. when it sound like somerthing hot i play the drums around it

How do you make sure the drums fit the beat?

If it feels good and sound good then I keep them. If not, I change them till they sound right to me.

How do you know when a beat is finished?

When my head is rockin' even when the beat is low on the speakers

What songs have you done that people will know?

"Just Chill" for Flipmode Squad, "She Loves the Club" for O'ryan, the entire MC Lyte last album, "Underground Heat Volume One," and the title track for NBA Live 2005

You've worked with MC Lyte, what's that like?

Lyte is very easy to work with. She's a vet so all you really have to do is play a beat and she's gonna come up with something hot. People sleep on Lyte because they say she's "old school." What they forget is Lyte is not that much older than Jay-Z or Puffy. She came out when she was 15. So she as much on her game now as any of the other rappers.

You were up for a Grammy with that, how did it feel?

It was crazy, because we had no clue it was coming. To be at the Grammy's and talking to Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the Neptunes, and R Kelly, and they telling us they loved our sound was a good feeling.

What have you done with M.O.P?

We did their new single "Whoa."

What's a studio session with them like?

We didn't go to the studio with them, we didn't know the vocals was done until we heard it on DJ Kay Slay's show radio show.

What have you done with Fabolous?

We did "Never Duplicated" on the "Street Dreams" album and "Church" on the "Real talk album"

You worked with Jamie Foxx too? How was that?

Jamie is crazy. We did MC Lyte's last album in his studio at his house. He kept telling us jokes and singing funny songs to us the whole time. He's a really dope piano player and can sing his ass off. We did a song with him on Lyte's album called "Where Home Is" on the "Underground Heat Volume One" album, he sang on the hook. This was before he worked with Twista and Kanye.

Can you talk about your artist R.O. also?

R.O. is from Vegas, via Compton.

What made you want to work with him?

He has a really fly style. He sounds like a cross between Mase and 50 Cent. We was introduced to him my boy Pitt Boss who's workin on the album also.

What's up with that Hip Hop cartoon I've been hearing about?

It's called Da Jammies. Its comin out on DVD this summer then going to network TV. it was created two brothers from Cali named Novelist and Dolla. There's a lot of recording artist in Da Jammies (Lala from MTV, Mario, MC Lyte, Yo Yo, DJ Clue, Genuwine) I also play a character in the cartoon name Harlem Gee. Da Jammies is for all the kids who watch 106 and Park, MTV, VH1. Its a 2005 Fame. kids and adults can watch it together. Watch out for Da Jammies mixtape comin out for the kids. you can also go to www.dajammies.com to see the trailer.

What's the craziest studio session you've been in?

I was in a session and ODB (R.I.P.) when he was with Elektra records. He started playing me and my friend his album. Three songs into it another rapper came in the studio and turned off ODB's CD to play us his new music. All of a sudden chairs started flying, people started running. Let's just say that rapper knows that WU TANG CLAN AINT NOTHIN TO F_CK WIT!

Who is the nicest MC coming out in your opinon right now?

The new cats I'm feeling are Stimuli, T-Rex, Hot Dyse, and R.O.

What artists would you give free beats to?

Jay-Z, 50 cent, Eminem, Biggie, and 2Pac, as long as I get all of my publishing.

What do you think about the production game now?

There's a lot of beat makers out there but not a lot of producers.

There's a lot of stories out there about artists stealing beats, labels stealing beats…how do you make sure you don't get played?

Copyright everything before u give anybody a CD. There's a lot of snakes out there, but if u have a good lawyer and a good manager (and we do) you will get what you're owed.

What producers do you respect in the game?

Timbaland, Jazzy Pha, Just Blaze, Dr. Dre, George Clinton, stave Wonder, Quincy Jones, Rodney Jerkins and Armando Colon.

A lot of people say that beat-making computer programs are messing up the game because now anyone can be a producer, how do you feel about that?

That's when you only do rap beats. Anybody can sample a record, loop it and throw some drums behind it. That don't make you a producer to me. Our tracks are non samples 99% of the time. We also so do R&B tracks, so we have to produce the vocals too which a lot of beat makers don't know how to do because they don't know what key the sample is in.

What's the best part about being MAAD PHUNK?

Working with artist who love to make hot joints.

What's in the works for you?

Da Jammies Soundtrack, Mario, Rufus Blaq, a young girl by the name of Zshatwa from Cali. Hot Dyse from Harlem, R.O. from Compton & a singer songwriter by the name of Kimmi from Compton . She's like a cross between Lauryn Hill and Beyonce.

How can MC's get beats off you?

They can call our manager Billy Clark 310 402-7606, that's Arketekt Management.

Shout Outs:

Shout out to all the artist who we had a chance to rock with. Fab, mc.lyte, M.O.P., Flip mode, lil j,Hot dyse, Kimmi, R.O. kansacali, are manager big bill clark, Troy paterson, lenny.s, polo gounds 155st 8th ave, big fuzz, double O, kienji & jeje, big ced, my sister jerri, jadea a for all those who dont know MAAD PHUNK GOT BEATZ!!!

By Brian Kayser