Straight outta Compton he's not, but Enfield. NS rapper Classified has never shied away from his Maritime., roots One of the most prolific hip-hop artists to come out of Canada, Classified is currently on the road supporting hip-hop artists have stayed as true to their roots' and kept,'everything so close to home.
Growing up in a town where country music and classic rock dominate the ears of the locals, Classified thrived on the novelty of being one of the only high school kids listening to hip-hop. "It was me and maybe two other dudes that rapped or even listened to hip-hop in our school," recalls, the man whose family and friends know as Luke Boyd. "Around grade 10 or 11, I'd get up at every school dance and rap " over the end of (Naughty by Nature's) 'Hip-Hop Hooray.' Any songtthat had an instrumental at the end, I'd get up and rap at that." Classified says the spontaneous. displays of his rhyming skills earned him the moniker "rap guy" at school - and he loved it. He adds that support from his friends and family are what gave him the belief that he could make a career in hip-hop.
At 21, Classified turned down a $45,000-a-year job, as a computer support worker to pursue hip-hop. "I hated doing computer support. It was goodnmoney, 'don't get me wrong, but I was like, I can'tbe doing this shit for 30 or 40 years, so let's try the music thing?' The music thing stuck, and through a series of selfproduced albums, all recorded in his home studios over the years, he's grown from a local to a national star.
Classified moved to Halifax in the mid-'90s to immerse himself in the city's emerging hip-hop scenesi the Nova Scotia capital, he learned to produce, but more importantly, he learned that hip-hop is about staying true to who you are and where you come from. "'Keep it real' was that thing that everybody said. No matter what. you're doing or how you're doing it, keep it real," he recounts. He laments the increasing dishonesty he sees in today's hip-hop world, noting that the old ethos of "keeping it real" has been lost." That's what hip-hop is about and somewhere over the years, that line got faded, and now it's: 'Fake it 'til you make it.' But where I come from, it's: 'Be who you are, and be proud of where you come from.'"
He's now on tour in support of Handshakes and Middle Fingers, his 1 2"1 studio album and second on a major label. After being on an independent label for over a decade, Classified signed with Sony Music Canada in 2008. "Creatively, it hasn't changed a thing," he says of working with a major label. "The way I made my albums before is in a home studio, doing it myself, and that's the same way I do it now. That's the one thing we talked about with Sony; I said: 'Look, I want to have full creative control on what I'm making because that's what I've been doing and it's been working for me.'"
He says the ability to record and produce as he pleases is essential to his work. In turn, his home studios have become increasingly more elaborate over time. "I started with an in-the-closet-type studio. Then we bought our first house three or four years ago and I ended up building a shed in the backyard and turned that into a studio," he explains over the phone from his new Enfield home, his two children audibly playing in the background. "With this house, I wanted to make sure I had a legit studio."
When he was constructing his current recording space, there were a few specifics he kept in mind. "I knew I wanted to have a room for live drums, and I wanted the room to have a piano in there," he shares. "Just having the live drums in there gives me more options when I'm working on songs."
For classified, the most important piece of equipment isn't the largest. The Akai MPC2500 drum machine is where it begins and ends for him. "That's still the everything "he says, emphasizing the MPCs importance in his wok. "That's what sequences everything. If I have a live guitar player laying something down, he'll play it, I'll take it, and put it into drum machine and sequence it up. I'd definitely say the MPC is my main tool.
Having the luxury of a home studio has made Classified allergic to the idea of recording elsewhere. "I've tried to go into a recording studio ana record in new places and hated it." He says the creative freedom that having his own studio affords him can't be replicated when. producers are watching and every second spent at the mie costs more money. "You have 10 people sitting in the studio watching you record. I find it hard to just let go and try different things because you don't want to look like a fool in-front of everybody." He adds: "When I'm by myself, I do the stupidest shit. You know, 90 per cent of it is garbage, but then that 10 per cent is like, .'Oh, that was cool.' But I never would've come across it if it weren't for experimenting on my own."
Though building a home studio is a costly endeavour, it can also mean cost savings when the builder is a perfectionist and studio junkie. "I can sit there and fuck with two vocals or two lines for eight hours at my studio - I could care less. If it comes out sounding ,good, then it's worth it," he says. "If I'm in a big studio, it's going to cost me $2,000 to do that; it'll be in my head."
Being able to record at home also means the album becomes a family affair. His two brothers, for example, both contributed to Handshakes and Middle Fingers, one of whom also serves as Classified's touring guitarist. Additionally, his father, who was in^a band his wh*ole life, occasionally drops by to lend a hand. "My dad plays every instrument and lives just down the road, so if it's something crazy I need, I just call up the dad and say, 'Come on over; I got something I need you to do right quick.' I'm pretty lucky to have that." His dad can even be seen playing the singing janitor in his son's video to the 2009 single "Up All Night." "He's been living that one up for a couple of years now," laughs the emcee.
Though all 12 of his albums are self-produced, Classified says he enjoys the collaboration that is part of producing other people's work. "It's good to have somebody else's opinion," he says of producing for artists like recent JUNO winner Shad. "A lot of times, when you're working on something for eight hours, you kind of lose track on what's good and what's not. That's my biggest problem when I'm working on my own stuff."
At 33-years-old with a wife and two kids at home, Classified says there's going to be more studio time and less travel in the future. "For the next couple of years, it's going to be a lot>of world touring and going all over the place. Then, I want to sit back and produce - really work out of my studio and record and develop young artists."
In the meantime, Classified will continue to work in his own space on his own terms. He refuses to have it any other way.
[Sidebar]
Keeping It Classy:
Key Pieces Of Gear From Classif ied's Home Studio
* Akai Professional MPC2500 Beat Production Station
* Technics Turntables (x2)
* Digidesign CI24 Control Surface
* Digidesign 003 Rack+
* Roland Fantom-XR Synthesizer/Sampler
* KRK 10" Monitors (with subwoofer)
* Great River Electronics Preamp
* FMR Audio RNC1773 Compressor
* Pro Tools 9
* Propel lerhead Reason 5
* Neumann U 87 Microphone
* PLUS: Other keyboards, a drum kit, percussion instruments, and an old upright piano
[Author Affiliation]
Mike Raine is a freelance writer living in Oakville, ON.
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