I brought that beat up again, and it was a different environment and a different vibe. We then went to Portland to work with Portugal. I really want him on this, but maybe this isn’t the right time for that.” So a couple beats that I may have played, he didn’t react to, and I was like, “OK, I know what I’m going to do. When we first started… we’re figuring out our chemistry. I will just play and look at reactions in the room. And the way that I usually produce is, if I’m either making it or if I have something already, I will not ask if you like it or not. I played a beat for him that I had, and he didn’t react. You’re pushing him, but you’re still keeping him in a creative space that’s true to that person.Ĭan you give some examples of what that looks like? Are you throwing out topics? With a veteran artist that has been around for a long time, you have to kind of find that thing that maybe he hasn’t said before, or the flow that he hasn’t done before or that beat that he may not have rapped on before. If it’s a new artist, you’ve got to dig in deep with that person and find what they’re about, and what they should be talking about that fits their personality. Something that has not been heard before if it’s a veteran artist. And having that chemistry with the artist, and even with musicians, that’s what my job is, and that’s what a producer’s job is - to create the environment that is going to bring out the best in the artist. Yeah, I would…That’s what a producer does. I mean, you didn’t say this word, but would you describe it as coaching? That’s something that has always been important to me. I’m very in-tune with cadences, and lyrics, and just the content of what the song’s about, and the cohesiveness of an album. One of my strongest points is being in the studio with the artist. He pushed me and I wanted to push him, as well. I had the responsibility of holding it down, and working with one of the best rappers of all time. He’s a lyrical beast he can spit with the best of them. I wanted to kind of have a lot more of ‘Riq’s personal information on the songs, where we could learn a lot more about him on records. It was like, “Yo, let’s get in and try to knock a project out.” So you record “Thought Vs Everybody.” What happens next? “So, creatively, that opened my eyes up to a lot of things that, of course, you hear about in school, but… It’s not in mainstream media as much as African Americans’ plight.” “These guys are very much activists for indigenous, native people,” Sean C said. And he claims flying out to Portland and working with the group in the studio was an eye-opening experience.
Sean C was the one who brought the band on board. The Man, a Portland-based indie band who bring pop sensibilities to three of the EP’s records, even when Black Thought is rapping material that is grim or introspective. But a good portion of the album is driven by Portugal. Cane & Able features appearances from Black Thought rap contemporaries, like Pusha-T and Killer Mike. His influence is also felt in another crucial way. You can hear their influence, with Sean C crafting songs with fast cuts, abrupt interludes, and disarraying noises. Sean C said he was inspired by the chaotic, complicated noise of Public Enemy’s production group, the Bomb Squad. The album was mostly recorded two years ago - way before the spread of COVID-19 and the protests that erupted after the deaths of Floyd and Breonna Taylor - but there is a real tense, suffocated nature to the album that makes it appropriate for the times. “They had their knee on his neck… You hear him say, ‘I can’t breathe!'” “ were harassing a young man on the Upper West Side of New York They had him on the floor… exactly the same kind of thing they did to Floyd,” Sean C said over a Zoom conversation in late September. And the incident occurred in January 2019 after he saw a young Black man get stopped by the NYPD in Manhattan. The voice responding to the officers is veteran producer Sean C.
Police officers are cursing and yelling and you can hear a man responding, “I’m standing right here… I am standing still.” It comes at the end of the EP’s intro, “I’m Not Crazy (First Contact).” The intro features a Black Thought verse chopped and screwed interwoven with a speech from Native American activist John Trudell. 3: Cane & Able, is an altercation with the police. One of the first things you hear on Black Thought’s new EP, Streams of Thought, Vol. 3: Cane & Able with Black Thought, Bomb Squad’s influence on the EP, and why the formula of one producer and one rapper works so well. Cole We spoke with Sean C about recording Streams of Thought, Vol.
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