Before the internet had any influence on mixtapes, and DJs still used vinyl, Hip-Hop was in its purest form. We’re talking New York, in the mid-90s when the urban music scene wasn’t over-saturated with MCs, DJs, and producers, like it is in the present day. It consisted of more fans, and people who loved and respected the culture. A young, Devon Reale was indeed, one of them.
Hailing from the City of Poughkeepsie (Dutchess County, NY) Devon developed a passion for hip-hop music at age 10, listening to acts such as Black Sheep, Das EFX, Wu-Tang Clan, and Tribe Called Quest to name a few. At 14, his family moved him to a new school district on the outskirts of Poughkeepsie, where all he did was listen to his music and play basketball. It was at this time where he started taking up an interest for the art of DJing. The following Christmas he was given a Gemini DJ Starter Package and wasted no time in recording his own mixtapes, under the moniker “DJ Reality.” Every week he made trips to the local record stores and spent his entire paycheck on the newest and unreleased vinyl. The new kid in school started making a name for himself with his tapes and began catching his peers’ attention.
In 1998, one of his fellow classmates, known by the alias of “Catch Phrase” impressed him with his microphone skills. He started making appearances on DJ Reality mixtapes and the two eventually formed a group called “United Front.” This marked the beginning of his production career. Reality started composing beats with a few beginner software programs. Upon graduating high school, United Front continued to make music despite Catch Phrase studying down south in college. They kept in touch, e-mailing beats back and forth with each other and developing concepts for songs. During vacations, they would reunite to record a few demos which were leaked out locally and on the internet. It was during this time that Reality purchased an MPC 2000 and Roland XP-50 and started to notice his beat making abilities were becoming more of a second nature. He focused solely on producing tracks and decided to leave DJing alone for a while.
Starting in 2002, he began networking and landed a few different internships with some local recording studios and sharpened his mixing and engineering skills. He did away with the name “DJ Reality” and started going by the alias of “Don Notz,” a name in which he felt symbolized a point of maturing in his career. Soon after, the United Front movement began losing steam and Catch Phrase moved down to Atlanta. This did not stop Don Notz from making beats and getting his work out there.
In 2004, Charley Brown, a local who had just returned from college himself, had taken notice to the work being crafted by Don Notz and grew interested in managing him. This marked the birth of “Pop-Off Productions,” a production company owned by the two of them. The company started releasing promotional mixtapes, and Don Notz returned to the art of DJing along with long-time friend DJ Kingpin. They started developing a reputation in there hometown for having high-profile artists host their mixtapes, something no one in the area had ever done before. Charley Brown was making connects and developing good relationships with artists and record company executives. This opened the doors for Don Notz to get his production heard by the right people which would eventually pay off.
Early in 2006, Pop-Off Productions started working with local MC Intense, and organized his entire debut mixtape, “The Calm Before The Storm” in which Don Notz was credited executive producer. The mixtape received great reviews from critics and a lot of the songs were featured on websites such as hiphopgame.com and hiphopdx.com to name a few. The individual tracks off this release were also featured on a countless number of mixtapes both nationally and internationally.
To date, Don Notz has produced tracks for the likes of “The Originator” Jaz-O, Tek (of Smif-n-Wessun), Capone (of CNN), Sha Stimuli, and Illa Ghee. He has also done mixtapes which were hosted by artists such as Chamillionaire, LeToya Luckett, Styles P, AZ, Trife Da God, Stat Quo, Joell Ortiz, Grafh, Little Brother, Prodigy, Skyzoo, and many more.
are you excited for addy to move?i wasnt for keifer but i guess yesterday he went to go visit and refused to back to the 2s and stayed with sharen the hole day! i think addy will do fine because she is very sassy so the bigger kids wont pick on her:)she moves monday? you gonna be able to help her out? did you ever start on them online survey things i told you about? i hope you did, i just another check, this was for $237 from 2 weeks ago. if you didn't yet, pshhh, get on it; i guess you'll have to type the link into internet explorer or whatever, but here it is again:
whats up ??? Happy 4th and my new beat mixtape is up on my page. Check it out, it's a free download, and i promise it has some super dope tunes on it!!!! Let me know whatcha think...
Dj Mystery & Y.g.c Presents "Street Exclusives Volume 1"
01 Slaughterhouse ft M.O.P - Woodstock 02 Joe Budden - Dj Green Lantern Freestyle 03 Joell Ortiz & Royce Da 5-9 - Dj Enjy Freestyle (Dj Mystery Mix) 04 Nas - Film 05 Raekwon ft N.O.R.E & Joell Ortiz - Beauty 06 50 Cent - Talking in Codes 07 The Game - N.B.A 2K10 08 Ya Boy - Different Girls Rmx (Verse) 09 Chamillionaire - Gucci Fendi 10 T.I - Make You Sweat 11 Maino - Kill You 12 Nas ft Swizz Beatz - Be Worried 13 Jadakiss ft J The S - The Last Party (Verse) 14 Dj kay Slay ft Styles P,Sheek louch & Ray-J - You Heard of Us 15 50 Cent - Better Come on Your A Game 16 Young Buck - Overcharge Me 17 Young Jeezy - 24 23 18 Chamillionaire ft Z-Ro - Denzel Washington 19 Ace Hood ft Ludacris - Born an OG 20 Emperor Chi ft Red Cafe & Maino -Datz You 21 Jugganot ft Jim Jones & Maino - Neva Stop (Rmx) 22 Grafh ft Raekwon & Mr Probz - Cold Blackhand 23 Grafh ft Cassidy - So Easy 24 Trife Diesel ft B.O.B & Inspektah Deck - Speed of Life 25 Ghostface,Rza & Havoc - Evil Deeds 26 Termanology - Wild Purto Ricans (Verse) 27 Soul Assasians ft Planet Asia - Like That Yall
KEEP IT WEST RADIO IS BACK AGAIN WITH ANOTHER HOOD CLASSIC FROM WEST KAVI WITH HIS STREET ALBUM " TAKING IT PERSONAL" REPRESENTING LONG BEACH, CA THIS ARTIST/PRODUCER IS NOT PLAYING IN THE 09 WITH PRODUCTION AND FEATURES FROM HIS COUSIN GOLDY LOC{THA EASTSIDAZ},YOUNG DRAZTIC,YOUNG'N AND MINYON THIS ALBUM IS SURE TO MAKE NOIZE SO CLICK ON THE COVER A GET YOUR COPY KEEP IT WEST.
NEW UPDATES : Just checking in to show some love & to let you know my 1st mixtape is coming out soon show some love & support by visiting www.babyboyslick.com and dropping a comment and if you have soundclick visit www.soundclick.com/babyboyslick listen to keep it true and give it 5 stars
Lynwood's Kila Krock is back! Its been a little while since he's been on the solo tip, but he's got a new project in the works titled "You Got Me F'd Up". Its set to be hosted by Problem and mixed by KEEP IT WEST RADIO.The mixtape featureS Problem, Aktive, Krys Ivory, Marleik and Sequel with production by Dem Jointz, Dae One, J Steez & Kila Krock himself.So download your copy and take a listen KEEP IT WEST.
I’m not sure how to say this without it sounding like another one of those advertisements that get put on your page, but here it goes. I want to thank you for being a friend, fan and supporter of me and everything I do. Now it’s time to repay you the favor. On June 12, the Shifted2u TV Show goes global by launching, Shifted2u.com. I’d love for you to be part of the celebration, stop by the site, swing by my page and show me your Shifted Swagg!
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