DMV emcee Sean Born is unveiling his debut album Behind The Scale. The project is unique amongst Mello Music Group releases because of its gritty vision reflective of the streets. The album is not for the faint of heart. As Sean describes it, “It’s that Low Budget soul; it’s what we do; it’s my chance to make the older gods proud.” And proud he should be. Behind The Scale is one of the most unapologetically street-driven albums Hip Hop has seen in awhile. “We wanted to make a sample-based score with each track creating a certain mood, having a certain texture.” His blueprint is simple: hard beats and hard rhymes. Allow Sean to guide you on a journey through his world, as seen through his eyes.

Kev Brown produced the bulk of the project. Can you give us a little insight into how he produces?

Kev is the man -producer, engineer, he does everything…background vocalist (laughs). He has a way to make digital sound analog. I think most of the production he did was done on the [MPC] 2000XL.

You also brought on some of your crew to do production including Oddisee, Dunc (of DTMD), Quartermaine, and Kenwood. What was it they brought to the sound that you wanted to compliment the foundation Kev laid?

Originally, it was gonna be all Brown. But as we started recording, more people got involved. So I would pick what I thought fit the album or pick something I felt I needed. Kenwood came through with a double beat tape that was crazy. It jumped off from there and then I got a couple of Quartermaine beats, Oddisee and Dunc gave me a couple, too. I even got a beat from Grap Luva; we couldn’t use the song for this project though.

The current trend for street albums over the past decade has been computer and keyboard beats. What do you feel was lost when a lot of these supposedly rough records went over to using bright, at times, overproduced sounds?  Why did you want to take it back in terms of production?

Personally, I try to make the music I wanna hear. I wanna hear the type of sh-t I grew up on. So, my music is an evolution of that ’91-’97 sound.  There’s nothing wrong with synth beats if it’s done right. But if you do that, I feel like you’re cutting the thread that connects you to the OG’s, not just in Hip Hop, but in soul music. That’s what you lose.

Behind The Scale has a dark, gritty appeal to it in part because of the methodology used in creating the music. How do you think the mechanics of recording and producing this record helped illustrate the narrative of the album? 

Everything was done naturally and organically. Like I said, it’s a snapshot of where both Kev and I were at the time and you should be able to feel it on record

Explain the influence of Scarface, Raekwon, and Biggie, for example, on Behind The Scale. What other records were a big part of your vision for BTS?

Nas was big, especially in terms of the length of the album and the freshness he bought to Hip-hop based off Illmatic. The visual, cinematic style that Raekwon and Biggie bring I tried to incorporate. I think the best artists make you see what they are talking about: Nas, Rae, Ghost, Big, Scarface, Jay. They all have that. I try to tap into that instead of just saying clever sh-t. Biggie’s wordplay is crazy, too.

Behind The Scale is reminiscent of how the above mentioned artists crafted gritty rhymes over sample-based production to create a sound not often heard today. How did you build off a format originally laid down by them? 

Me and Kev had to find chemistry together, but nobody had to alter the style of production. I wouldn’t have felt it if they did. I chose from a batch of beats Oddisee already made and then I adjusted to the production. Kev used the same style of production he used on the Alexander Green project with Kaimbr.

As an emcee, you often write lyrics based on your own life experiences. How personal is Behind The Scale?

I’m the author, so a lot of it is pulled from personal experiences. But I pull from everywhere and change it up ‘cause I’m not just writing for me; I’m a voice for everybody who walked a similar path. I feel it’s my responsibility to paint with broad strokes while still being able to zoom in up close.

Your rhymes are what Grap Luva called “reality rap.” Many people refer to the album as a “street album” because of its content. But in terms of message, where does your album take listeners from beginning to end? 

My album is what it is. I don’t label it as street, or trap or whatever. It’s just experiences and circumstances people go through everyday all over the world. It’s no message; music is personal. Whatever you take from it may be totally different from what the next man hears or how I intended it to be. I wanted to lay out the good, bad, ugly and indifferent, plus the emotions and thoughts that go along with it.

Can “street” Hip Hop still make a conscious statement now as it did in years prior? Is it still relevant?

Street music should serve as a look behind the curtain. Instead of others telling our story, you get it from the source. I aim to bring balance to what others put out. We talk that real sh-t, too, but we check the dumb sh-t at the door.

How will a fan of Young Jeezy or Yo Gotti and other artists who make “street” records react to Sean Born?

I quote/shout out Yo Gotti on “Queen Anne:” “Started from a zone/ got on like Gotti say.” We might make different music, but I feel everything he’s saying. So fans of their music might hear me and feel the same way.

A lot of musicians fall into the trap of creating the same record over and over again. For your next record, where do you plan to take it sonically and lyrically? What other chambers are you looking to explore?

We just wanna do dope sh-t. I’m always lookin’ for angles to stay fresh and we’re already experimenting with different sounds. As far as the subject matter, when doing an album we choose a theme and rock with it, make another audio screenplay.

Here are a few words from Mike Tolle (Director of Operations at Mello Music Group) about marketing Sean Born and Behind The Scale:

When it comes to marketing something like Sean Born Behind The Scale to Mello Music Group’s (MMG) fanbase, it essentially requires being upfront with fans about what they will experience. A lot of MMG fans have gotten used to the avant-garde sound of Oddisee, or the classic boom bap of Apollo Brown. Behind The Scale is the same production-wise, so listeners’ ears are ready for it. The change up will be the lyrical topics and message. MMG has very few records that detail street life from this close up. But it fits the ethos of MMG perfectly -it’s all about raw lyrics from an intensely personal standpoint. Music listeners want to hear something unique and they want it to be genuine. Behind the Scale is that unfiltered raw sh-t on tape. It’s like watching Goodfellas or Casino, so when marketing it the key is to approach people with that. Hip-Hop fans are ready for this. They’ve been around it their whole lives, so the key is putting into their headphones to catch the vibe and see if it’s for them. This requires reaching out to the entire camp’s fanbase and personally asking many people we know to listen, and if their feeling it to spread the word. We live in a time when Middle Eastern revolutions can be augmented by Twitter and Facebook. Likewise, truly ill music can be as well, but it takes a facilitator to get the ball rolling on the social media sites and that’s what we do.

Be sure to check for Sean Born’s Behind The Scale available now and Mello Music Group has provided a song below from the project for your listening enjoyment.

Sean Born – Pluck Em Off (prod. by Oddisee

iTunes Album Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/behind-the-scale/id490911442

Thanks to Sean Born and Mike Tolle for all of their time and effort in helping put this interview together. Many blessings and much success to them. GOD BLESS

Chris Moss

Related posts: