Right off of the western coast of the beautiful Mediterranean Sea lies a gorgeous and historical city named, Valencia, which is the third largest city in Spain. Located on the Eastern tip of Spain, Valencia is known for the tourists who flock to the city’s primarily gothic styled cathedrals from the 13th to the 15th century. But there is a peculiar group that seems to be quaking the streets, squares, and boulevards of Valencia. This phenomenon is the producing and DJ’ing trio known as Cookin’ Soul, and they’ve now taken their producing skills states side by producing for several Rap and Hip Hop artist.
RH’s, Ashydakid, caught up with Cookin’ Soul in advance of their new mixtape, 1:00 am and Rising presented by Nah Right. Big Size, Milton, and Zock chat about the musical influences of Spain, the transition from producing in Spain to producing in the United States, getting paid, building a brand and much more. Get the full in depth First Look with the guys called Cookin’ Soul right below.
RubyHornet: So Cookin’ Soul is a trio of producers and DJ’s from Valencia, Spain. What drew you guys together to create the group?
Cookin’ Soul: Initially, Cookin’ Soul was Big Size & Milton and after dropping the first mixtape we told Zock he should join the group and he was down…So, we’re here making some history! Lol…And Valencia is about the same population as San Francisco so we all know each other.
RubyHornet: Being from Spain I’m sure you guys have had other influences than those of Hip Hop. What other forms of music that might be indigenous to Spain may we find in your production?
Cookin’ Soul: As kids growing up in Spain, the music we could hear on TV or Radio was very different than what U.S. kids listened to. Fortunately in our case our parents or older brothers used to rock black music at home, so that was cool. Also, Hip Hop music is not so much about what samples you use, but how do you use those samples. We don’t think you can actually sense “Spain’s touch” in our music. We’ve been doing lately some remixes and mash ups using Spain’s musical icons such as: “El Fary”, “Manolo Escobar” or Flamenco’s God “Camaron de la Isla” that you can check on our youtube channel. But some well known US producers have already been sampling Spain’s music for some tunes that most of you may be familiar with (do your digging!).
RubyHornet: Who are some of the artists or producers that you would say you mostly pattern your style after? That being old school or new school?
Cookin’ Soul: We’ve always listened to all sorts of music and different producers. Back in the days we used to be fans of Primo, Pete Rock, Diamond D, Showbiz, Buckwild, Eric Sermon, you know… and more “recently” Swizz Beats, Just Blaze, Pharrell, Timbaland,….You always get influenced by what you hear when you like it. But we try to have our own style.
RubyHornet: Being from Spain, I am sure that the internet was a major instrument in getting your music out to the world. What website do you think played the biggest role in you guys being able to contact artist, DJ’s, and other producers in order to collaborate on projects?
Cookin’ Soul: Most definitely without the net we wouldn’t be where we are nowadays especially coming from Spain. Since day one we got mad love from bloggers and website admins worldwide, so this should be a long list! We cannot forget Nahright and New music cartel, Thisis50.com,… so many, and they know who they are. Of course Myspace.com and our own website have been real important.
RubyHornet: When you guys first began to put your music out in Valencia and other Spanish countries, how receptive to it were the citizens of the community?
Cookin’ Soul: We were very lucky to catch the attention of Spain’s main artists very quickly. The first week we had our website on “Nach” one of Spain’s top Hip Hop artists got in touch with us. Since then we’ve worked with the majority of who is who amongst Spanish speaking artists, which obviously helps getting positive feedback from listeners.
RubyHornet: So you won the Method Man & Redman Def Jam Official Remix Contest for the track “Dangerous Mcees”. Can you explain the process and idea cultivation to come up with the concept of the beat?
Cookin’ Soul: We definitely wanted the track to have a different vibe from the original, so once we did the Redman part we thought it would be cool to have Method Man over a different beat so the remix actually has 2 different beats. We thought the remix was dope so we put it out on the net, youtube and all that, and it got so much love we decided to join the contest lol and we won! Shouts out to illroots.com and Buckwild.
RubyHornet: The Cookin Soul and Nahright album called 1:00 a.m. and Rising is set to drop really soon. How did the communication between you guys and Nahright start and where did the collaboration for the album come from, did you have to convince Eskay at first?
Cookin’ Soul: Eskay was really easy to convince, lol…He just said, ‘let’s do it’. We wanted to make an album/mixtape collabo. He started posting our stuff on nahright.com and after we became cool friends, chating on gmail and stuff, the project started some months ago but it was hard to find some type of concept until we got in touch with Flud watches and decided to make a collaboration thing. The album includes 12 original tracks with more than 20 different original features.
RubyHornet: You guys produce a wide array of beats for a wide array of artists from Soulja Boy to CL Smooth. How important do you guys think it is for a producer to be able to work with several different types of artist and still keep your work within a brand that listeners can expect to hear certain things from all the time?
Cookin’ Soul: We’ve been reaching out to as many people and artists as possible. All artists that we respect, and when they get back to you in positive way, it is a honor. We can be versatile and we are proving it. The “brand” is sometimes difficult. Some people may label you as an “underground” producer and love you and then hate you to death when you work for a commercial artist. We don’t put ourselves in no trench or barriers. We have a very-very open minded attitude with our music.
RubyHornet: What artists have you guys always wanted to work with but the offer hasn’t come across the table yet?
Cookin’ Soul: Jay-Z, Nas, 50 Cent, Andre 3000, Q-Tip,… so many!!
RubyHornet: How do you balance taking advantage of opportunities to work with artists vs. getting paid for your time/effort. Are there certain artists you don’t charge because the collaboration in itself is more valuable than $?
Cookin’ Soul: If there’s money to be made: Album, advertisement, etc… we always take our % whoever the artist/label is. This is very important advice to young producers to always get your piece of the cake, which is only fair! We always charge per beat but sometimes you have to make exceptions and take into consideration the exposure/who the artist is/skills/… Right now we get over a 100 emails per month asking for beats. It’s crazy! Get @ cookinsoul@gmail.com if you are looking for the perfect beat.
RubyHornet: What can listeners keep a look out for on top of the new album that is about to drop?
Cookin’ Soul: We can’t think of anyone with a harder grind than us. We’re on this 24/7. Anyone who’s been following us for the last 2 years knows we are dropping new stuff almost every week. And this is non-stop! Last week when MJ passed away we were in the studio and we stayed there all night and presented our own tribute the next day (50,000 downloads in 48 hours). So there’s not a fixed program or schedule of upcoming projects. We are working on big things but can’t say no names so far. We are also working on our live set so we should come to a city near you soon!
RubyHornet: Seeing that you guys are under the First Look Microscope this week, tell our readers 3 reason why they should follow up on you guys and continue to support your work?
Cookin’ Soul: Cookin’ Soul is: Quality, Perseverance and Originality…Follow us on: www.cookinsoul.com, twitter, myspace, facebook,…
