Letter C

Recently iStandard held their year end \’Beast of The Beats\’ II producer grand finals, at Club Touch in the heart of NYC, where all the showcase winners from June of 2007 to June of 2008 flexed their beatmaking skill to compete for a massive prize package sponsored by Roland, Ableton, IK Multimedia and Remix Magazine. The Big guns were on hand- Dave Lighty (SR VP of A&R JIVE Records), The Legendary Pete Rock , DMC from Run DMC and a host of many others. The \’Beast\’ was a young dude from BK , introducing- Letter C

What\’s poppin champ?

Nothing much man. Just out here grinding as usual. Trying to get used to my new equipment and make something happen you know.

Beast of The Beats II was crazy, with all that talent did you think you were gonna win?

Weeks before the event I didn\’t think I was going to win. I really was just trying to make top 3. As it got closer to the date I started developing new ideas for my set up. It made me more confident, and I just really felt that I was bringing something refreshing for people to hear. I even made sure to keep my CD in a Ziploc bag until I gave it to the DJ. I just did the best I could do. Before the battle, I told my friends that whoever beats me is nasty! I heard a few other cats at the showcase who gave me a run for my money, but I was able to pull it off in the end.

How did it feel to play your tracks in front of 700 plus all the industry heads in the house?

Man I love hearing dope music just knocking, and being played on big speakers. That\’s the only way I want people to hear my music. Sometimes I feel that if someone didn\’t like a track, maybe they didn\’t hear it loud enough on good speakers lol. Maybe they should listen to it louder lol. Plus I never really know how my joints are going to sound because I do everything in my headphones. But when I see everybody\’s head nodding, I know that I did my job.

What kind of feedback did Pete Rock and Dave Lighty give you?

I didn\’t know what they were going to think. I knew that my diversity was going to make me or break me. Pete said he was feeling the originality, marketability and that it was hot. I didn\’t expect for him to give me an A+. In high school you couldn\’t do better than that so I felt like I was up there with the frontrunners to take the title. Dave just co-signed Pete and was telling me I better have the right manager to get those track placed lol. 

I heard that Just Blaze came in just before winners were announced, did you guys speak at all?

I didn\’t really get a chance to speak to him. I have to say thanks to him for picking me though. It came down to him to break the tie and he chose me. I\’m grateful that he did. He\’s one of the best producers to do it, and i look up to him so it\’s an honor.

Discuss your opinions and experiences about the whole iStandard movement and what its done for you so far in your career.

You know it took me a while to get into a showcase. The first time that I ever went to a showcase it was at the Remote Lounge. Ironically I had met The Apple Juice Kid that same day. I met him through Mazzi of Soul Purpose. We all went and the event was dope. Easy Mo Bee was one of the judges. After I heard the winner got some meetings with A&R\’s, I was trying to enter in the battle. I\’m glad that it took a while to get in, because my skills have gotten much better then they were at that time. Rocking these iStandard showcases has definitely gotten my buzz up. People really feel that I\’m official now. Much thanks to Hatch and Don. I got that stamp of approval that I can do this.  

Heard your gonna meet with like 7 different A&Rs! What\’s the heat level gonna be like in the office speakers when you put in your cd?

Man I\’m ready. I\’ve been making tracks and have just been trying to stack as many hot joints as possible. I\’ve just been waiting for my turn. lol heat level? That\’s funny. I can\’t even say. Hopefully I\’ll set off some smoke alarms though lol.

Any projects your looking to get involved in or currently working on?

Yeah every project that\’s coming out, or whoever is cutting checks lol. Let\’s go!! But seriously speaking, I wanna show that I\’m really a producer. I didn\’t just make beats to battle with, I played songs that had bridges on them as well. I make music. I got joints for Ciara, Wale, Jada, Cassie, Luda, Iupe, Andre 3000, 50,  I\’ll stop there because I\’m just going to name everybody. Anybody who wants hot tracks and also stay within their budget should holla at me lol.

Where can people inquire about your beats and hear some of your music?

Anybody that wants to hear new, dope, fresh good music, or just want to know who the The Letter \”C\” is, you can go  to my istandard producers page, www.istandardproducers.com/the_letter_c and also hit me on myspace at www.mypsace.com/cyoungpo

Any shout outs?

Big ups to everybody that helped and supported my movement, my friends and fam, all the doubters, and anybody out there that\’s trying to bring good music back to the forefront. Rochester is finally in the building!!!!!!