Searching 4 Beats

"Searching 4 Beats" is a YouTube video by American rapper Lupe Fiasco. It was livestreamed on May 21, 2020, where he was working on Samurai. Snippets included the beats for "Samurai" and "Outside.""Searching 4 Beats". YouTube. May 21, 2020.
== Transcript ==
Lupe Fiasco	Hola, hola. I am... searching for beats. Looking for beats. I am, maybe seven… how many songs am I deep in this? Let me see something. I am five songs deep into… deep into Samurai. I took a little break to work on something else, and now that that's done, I am going back to this Samurai project. Tentatively titled the Samurai project and looking for beats. So. Well, I'm actually looking for a very specific beat as a transition between one song or one context in one of the songs to go into another song. Or like a bridge record, and it kind of needs to be… up-tempo? Well this is a decision I need to make. Is it: do I keep it like in the same vibe as the song, that's prior, or do I go somewhere else because there's a mood shift that's happening, too? So I think I found one. Soundtrakk is doing all of the beats for Samurai, so I got like a big, big bunch of folders full of big Soundtrakk beats and thus far I have five keepers and now I'm on the hunt for number six.
Lupe Fiasco	I think I got one. I sent him one to change the chorus on, which he's supposed to have back to me today. And today is the… what's today? Oh, it's Thursday, May 21st. And there's another one that he had. Oh, that's beautiful, such a beautiful beat. Soundtrakk always gives me, I always say Soundtrakk makes flowers if I had to describe his beats. Like when he has his really beautiful beats, they're flowers, it's like he gives me these flowers. I'm like oh, thank you Soundtrakk for these flowers. It's like a bouquet of roses.
Lupe Fiasco	Did I move that beat in here? I did not, let me do that. So putting things from different folders into one working folder. So it's like different folders with different beats and so I'm putting beats from a non-working folder they're just basically like a collection folder into a very specific work folder. So it's all in the same place, and then I kind of. Not necessarily arranged how they'll be on the sequence, but they're there. But it's just so I don't have to like jump from different folders. Found a beat, so I'll put them on, the same place, and then it like matches the mood.
Lupe Fiasco	Somebody asked is Soundtrakk my main producer. Yeah, Soundtrakk's my main producer. Him and of course just quantity-wise is definitely Trakk and then after that is Wiz from The Buchanans. And Wiz is like, he'll always have like one or two or one or four kind of joints that are just like pttt. So Wiz did "Mural," you know, so it's kind of like The Buchanans, Wiz did "Mural," so it's kind of like Wiz will have a crown jewel every now and again for me specifically. He has incredible music, but my main go-to guy's Soundtrakk and then after that it's S1 and Vohn Beatz and it leans towards Vohn, to his son. They're a father and son pair that leans more towards Vohn. So those are my main go-to's. I rarely go outside of that, I went outside of that recently for a project, but normally I stick with that little group. And if I do pull joints, it'll probably be from me—maybe a random person over here, or a producer kind of over here. But it's not normally my go-to. And when I was with Atlantic, they were just sending beats from people from everywhere. But since I'm not on a major label anymore, I just focus on my homies. It keeps things clean and easy, they give me everything I need. And then I can always, if I really, really want something specific, I can have them make it for me, so that's cool. It's good to have a nice—'cause I'm not interested in making beats. I'm interested in playing jazz, but I'm not interested in making beats, making music. So I'll leave that to the professionals so I can just focus on creating the raps. That's all I really care about.
 	
Lupe Fiasco	This was good, because contextually it goes in—I don't know if y'all can hear it. It's good for my purposes because it contextually ties this one section to this other section and then what the content shift that needs to occur, going into this next piece, and then it has like this really happy chorus part. Yeah, it's like super… So it's like a feeling. Yeah, so it's super. This may be the one, and if this plugs in, it'll be like okay one, two, three, boom, four, five, six. It could work, we'll see.
Lupe Fiasco	Somebody asked if I'll ever collab with T.I. I collabed with T.I. before, I've done a song with T.I. before. He's on the "Superstar Remix." It's me, T.I, and Jeezy. "Superstar Remix."
Lupe Fiasco	That might work, it's a little too crazy. There probably won't be any uh. To be honest, there probably won't be any Lupe collabs. There's a lot, there's a bunch of folks asking about collabs. There probably won't be any Lupe collabs. I'm slowly kind of getting into a space where I've kind of done all the collabs I want to do. There is one—there's two people that I have to do collabs for, they know who they are. And when the time comes, they'll ask, and then I'm like "okay." Other than that, there's only like maybe one or two things that I want to do, collab-wise, with another rapper. Collab-wise. Beats, I don't necessarily need beats. There's nobody really that I really want to get a beat from this late in the game. When I was like 20, or like 30, yeah, but now that I'm getting up in my in my older ages, I'm actually pretty comfortable with the setup that I have. And today is, actually on that note. Well, not actually on that note, on a different note, I'm getting new studio equipment today. Well, I think. Yeah, I'm supposed to be getting my full new set up for vocals today. So I got the mic stand yesterday, and I got. My basic setup is this, this is my basic setup. It's that little Audio-Technica mic and then my laptop and then GarageBand. And that's all I need to get what I need to do. So now I'm upgrading viciously to, uh. Well, not viciously. I'm upgrading in protest to at least my home setup for these times. To a different mic, a different mic stand. I will hope the pop filter works for the new mic interface and one of those shields. Those shields to dampen, I guess, the sound. To dampen the room sound, and that'll be my new setup so if that comes today, I'll probably build all that today. Where the mic is supposed to come today, so if that comes today, then I'll have a new setup. Then I'll probably finish recording the projects that I have already started on this particular set up so that the tone is the same. And then I'll start recording new projects with the new setup, so I start off. Fortunately, I haven't. Well no, fortunately there are some. What do I have to do? Fortunately there's already been some recording done on Skulls, but the bulk of it is not done. So my plan is to finish the Amy Winehouse project on this setup, because this is where I started it. And then to start recording Skulls on the new setup. So that's kind of like the program, and then everything after that I'll start to do on the—or whatever recording needs to happen, I'll do on a new setup. But I really like this Audio-Technica setup. It's like super easy and efficient. And what I think I'm gonna do is get a, just build like an actual portable set up of and get an iPad Pro. That's what my hands have been shaking about, about a iPad Pro. So I need an iPad pro with one terabyte of hard drive space, Wi-Fi and cellular. And I need the newest version, right? So, I'm looking for one of those. Well all of the the USB hub components, and stuff like that. So if you know where I can find one of those for cheaply, shoot me a DM in my Instagram. Shoot me a link. Now I'll procure that. So that's what I think I'm gonna do, I think I'm gonna like have this set up as my portable setup that I can take with me on the road 'cause it's just super easy. But I'll still need like an interface, that's just like ugh. Or will I? Yeah, I will. So I had to found like a really basic interface. Yeah, so anyway, that'll be the move.
Lupe Fiasco	I actually have a very large, well Chill, me and Chill have a very massive studio in Chicago with like multiple rooms and big boards and stuff like that. That I never, ever use. So I'm always a home, always at the crib.
Lupe Fiasco	What kind of pants are these? Somebody asked what kind of pants these are. I got these at… I think I got these at Ross or like Marshalls. It's either Marshalls or Ross, that's what I've been shopping the past like well, long time. All my recent clothes are from like Marshalls or Ross. And these are like Wu-wear pants, there's like Wu-Tang pants. I think they're pretty cool, they're like real, tree camo Wu-Tang pants. Great for a stealthy, killer bee action and Shaolin, you know? So yeah. Blending in with nature, that part. So anyway, back to the program. So yeah. How many I got? I got one, two, what is this? So I may use this, I may not.
Lupe Fiasco	Yeah, I only really shop at Marshalls and Ross. I haven't, there's one store that I shop out in Boston, which is like super expensive. Shout-out to the Riccardi family. Ricardo d'lai and Ricardo d'lai jr., and then the whole fam fam. That's probably the only store I shop at. Well, I actually go get something. But then my friends send me stuff, so I don't wanna like play it light. And then I'll make stuff for myself. So I'll make t-shirts, and hats, and stuff for myself and then my homies who got clothing lines will send me stuff from time to time, so that's cool. So I don't have any want for clothes and if I did, I would go to Marshalls and spend like eighty bucks. I give myself like a $100 limit or something—not a $100 limit, I really don't budget myself on going to Marshalls but I do go to Marshalls and I'm like yo, I'm finna get like five things for $80. I get like some pants and some shirts, underwear, and stuff like that.
Lupe Fiasco	Yeah, I mean. I think people try and like. I don't know if they try and like shame you for shopping at Marshalls. Or Ross. Ross, Marshalls, those are really the only two. TJ Maxx, not really. But like Marshalls and Ross. I think TJ Maxx owns Ross or I looked it up, one time, and it was something like that. But anyway, yeah. I hit Marshalls up wherever I go, whenever I'm on tour, if there's a Marshalls, I'm going. Like let's hit Marshalls, see what they got. They might have some. You might mess around and get some Jordans in there. I've got Jordans and Marshalls, or Jumpmans, but I mean they're still legit. Yeah for sure. Unashamedly to either, like you go spend like you go spend 300 bucks on some Nikes, I'm going to Marshalls and I'm spending $25 on a pair of Nikes, for sure. Absolutely. Putting money into other places, like save your money.
Lupe Fiasco	I don't really shop at UPS? Is that U? I don't really shop at thrift stores, though. I can't like, that I'm not really comfortable with, like there's maybe a couple pieces that come up and then but I don't really do thrift stores. I'll do thrift stores in Japan because the stuff you'll find is ridiculous, but in the States, not really. I don't really do thrift stores or second-hand shops. There's a couple cool ones, like Round Two is cool and uh. There's a couple in New York that are pretty cool, where it's like secondhand streetwear and yeah, in Japan, again, there's secondhand streetwear shops like I just won't go into a random store looking for like a man blouse. So it has to be like Japanese streetwear. I think vintage, but not thrift. I can't do a thrift store, go in there and get like a puzzle or something. Like some VHS tapes, a VCR.
Lupe Fiasco	What time is it? 10… alright, what are we doing? What are we doing? That, maybe. Like this one's good, it has a really good chorus, but I think the front end is too, uh. It's too… the vibe is too down. It's too mellow, but the chorus is really like… it's this really good like synth pads, almost feel like a sample synth pad, but looks like it's real. Like this lush, and it's the second eight, so it's not the chorus, it's the second eight. Chorus is this guitar thing. Yeah. But the baseline is really good, has like this real step. Balance of the vibes is right. I dunno if y'all can hear those, but you probably shouldn't hear them. That's coming through my headphones, my speakers on my computer are blown, unfortunately. So I have to do everything to do the cans, as they say.
Lupe Fiasco	Yeah, the point is for you not to hear it because uh. People be doing too much. People be doing too much on the Internet, when you give them. I would have to do like a fake project and pretend like it's real, and then like play it so people be like yo-yo! But it's fake, and it's like "oh, yo, your new joint" and then the real project is something else so I wouldn't be worried about people stealing it, and throwing it up online, throwing it up on YouTube pages trying to be first. Like I'm first, I got that new Lupe, I'm first. I mean, which is cool, but no.
Lupe Fiasco	Alright, that's all I really want. This is just a tease. A little bit of the shenanigan rinse. Uh, make a Twitch. I have a Twitch, the Lupe Fiasco on Twitch, but I don't have like the software to run the cameras and stuff. Is "Crack" ever gonna get released? Probably not. I have OBS, but I don't have. What the issue, the problem is. Here's the problem with Twitch and me, is my laptop is somewhat old, so the software that I have on my laptop needs to be upgraded to run the current version of OBS and in order to do that, I need to download the latest software for a Mac. And in order to do that, I have to dump everything off my computer into a drive and then reboot it and then put everything back and I do not want to do that. So, I don't wanna roll those dice. So, at least not yet. When I finished some of these projects that are on here then yeah, I would feel comfortable doing that, but I don't want to do all that just to go on Twitch which I'll probably never. I mean I don't wanna say I probably wouldn't be on there, but I don't want to do that. I don't want to like potentially jeopardize stuff that I got on data that I have on here, just to upload this one program to work on this one platform. So I'm waiting for alternative ways, or thinking about alternative solutions to do that. And I'll just wait for Twitch you know. and maybe when I actually get PS5 or something I'll do it. That way I could just really actually play actual games, and not just be on there just like "hey guys it's me welcome to my twitch page. Subscribe, thanks for the subscription." You know like I don't want to be like that guy. I'd rather like actually add some value. So anyway that's what I had, so I have OBS but I don't have a. I have to get new software to upload the latest version.
Lupe Fiasco	You never came out with a clothing line. Yeah, I came out with some. Why we talking about this? The Trilly, yeah I really came out clothing lines. Now all my clothing lines, I make for myself. I don't really make them for the public, which sounds weird, but I mean it feels good to be able to just make something that you like and wear it. You know? There's no like pressure, no need to kind of fit in or make somebody else happy. So, I do that from now. I get a idea and make some t-shirts or. I wanna make this hoodie, so I might do that. But yeah and when I feel like there's a really good idea to give to the public, then I'll do something. And then when I don't, I don't. But I still do stuff, I did Cobra. Cobra Deportes Electrónarcos for a little while. People kind of vibed with that a little bit and then the merchandise. But yeah, clothing lines are expensive. It's a roll of the dice.
Lupe Fiasco	Where are we? Ten-thirty, alright, cool. Appreciate y'all hanging out, got a little insight into my workflow and when I get the new, hopefully I get the mic today. I will maybe show you the process of setting up my new setup—at least my new home set up—and then I'm gonna try and hunt down and rebuild my portable setup. Hm-mm, that might be the plans so I'll keep you posted. Make sure that you like and subscribe to the page and tell a friend, you know? And as we get closer to. I'm able to show you more, and new music and stuff like that, we'll be able to talk about more. I'll be able to let you get sneak peeks and stuff like that, but right now I just can't do it. It's too early in the game but soon will be happening. So stay tuned and like and subscribe and set up your. Click the bell thing to get the notifications. That way, you know, when we jump on and stuff like that. And who knows when I'm gonna jump on in the middle of the night playing you some of that new fire that we've been cooking up on this side. So, be cool, and I will see y'all next time. Lupe Fiasco out. Peace, much love to you. Yoink.
== References ==
Category:2020 videos
Category:Videos