SAY CHEEZE!, the full length album by producer GIT BEATS dropped yesterday Jan. 6th, 2009 on Used Wax featuring RAEKWON of Wu-tang Clan, LADYBUG of Digable Planets, ROCK of Heltah Skeltah, PRINCE PO of Organized Konfusion, and more…
In 1992, the year the Wu-Tang Clan shocked the world with Enter The 36 Chambers, Git Beats was huddled in a corner of the Staten Island Ferry with his boombox, bumping his beat creations for the RZA, Ghostface and U-God. His encounters as a Staten Island youngster with the figures that put the “forgotten borough” on the rap map comprise just one more note in an accomplished career that has taken him from the birthplace of hip-hop in its heyday through park jams, battles, block parties, record deals, mixtapes and more vinyl than you ever thought existed. This path has led him all the way to where you’re most likely to find him today: behind the mixing board at his studio, with some of the genre’s most respected emcees behind the mic. Remember the tale of the tortoise that beat the hare? Think of that story when you think of Git Beats.
As a kid working summers in his uncle’s store in the South Bronx, Git (pronounced ‘jit’, after the original name for ‘b-boy’) knew early on that hip-hop was going to transform his life. But he didn’t know it was going to take the globe over until 1983, when the movie Flashdance cracked the breakdancing craze wide open. That was the year Git bought his first record, Afrika Bambaataa’s “Renegades Of Funk”, scrounged the cash to buy a friend’s turntable setup, and began his DJ career, a logical transition for a kid who was drumming at age nine. “I spend hours on my drums,” says Git. “Drums are everything to me.” His love of drums set the foundation for his sound: driving, percussion-heavy productions anchored in traditional hip-hop, with an experimental streak. Indeed, after several years of working with his Staten Island click The Street Preachers and trying his luck with different labels – including a stint on Payday, the imprint behind classic releases from Jeru Tha Damaja, O.C. and Medina Green, before it was forced to cease operations – Git finally struck a chord in 2000 with the “Saxxy” 12-inch, a self-released white-label that some maintain is the first example of what has come to be known as the ‘broken-beat’ genre.
“Saxxy” proved to be a turning point in Git’s career. In 2002, Git and renowned producer Alchemist collaborated on the “Just Be Good To Me” b/w “Raised In The Slums” 12-inch for NYC underground crew T-Weaponz, a group Git would go on to score big with with the “Dem Boyz” single, which hit number 6 on the Billboard charts in 2006, staying in the top 15 for over three months. Things started snowballing in 2005 when he performed in Central Park alongside DJ Z-Trip at the request of Nike, who featured the performance in the “Keep On Pushin’” commercial. Beat duties on “Step Up Wise”, a song on Digable Planets femcee Ladybug Mecca’s comeback solo album Trip The Light Fantastic, as well as 2006’s Problem Solving Mixtape Vol. 1 both set the stage for 2007’s “Just One Of Those Days” 12-inch with Ice Water and Raekwon of Wu-Tang Clan. Git turned heads in 2005 In 2007 Git ventured into movie scoring, providing music for 2008’s Sundance Grand Jury prize winner Sangre De Mi Sangre, and Staten Island, slated for a 2009 release. One of the world’s foremost vinyl collectors, he can also be seen sharing his knowledge in the 2004 documentary Deep Crates. As his number continues to rise, Git remains true to the ethics the South Bronx taught him, always putting quality and substance first, no matter who’s on the track and what may be up for grabs. “I try to make concepts with any artist I work with,” he says. “If the person I’m working with has a name, that’s all good, and I’m happy to be able to work with them. “But at the end of the day I have to be proud of the music I make.”
