Hip Hop N More Interviews Platinum Recording Engineer Steve Baughman

HHNM: And I assume he has recorded tons of new music over the past year or so?

Steve Baughman: Yeah, he’s always working and thinking of new ideas but he hasn’t been too satisfied with things at Interscope. Last few years, there have been changing of the guard over there with a lot of people coming in and going out. So it’s been a little difficult to work the system for him this time and he’s waiting for the re-worked structure over there to settle a bit. And I’m not trying to bash on Interscope, they have released some of the greatest Hip-Hop albums of all time but I can understand how frustrating it can be for an artist in these situations.

HHNM: I think he’s also been a lil unlucky. I thought ‘My Life’ and ‘We Up’ were solid singles but they just didn’t stick after the initial hype died down.

Steve Baughman: Yeah, it goes to show you how important that major infrastructure is to have, especially for bigger artists. Smaller artists can survive without it but when you are at the level of 50 Cent, anything less than his potential, he will see it as a failure. The major infrastructure is needed for bigger artists to sustain their brand. It’s a rough business.

HHNM: How was the experience of working on his first two albums, ‘Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ and ‘The Massacre’? Those are two of the biggest selling albums from the last decade.

Steve Baughman: Oh yeah. The first album, when I worked on that, that was my introduction to 50. At that time, I was working with Dre and that’s also when I met Sha Money. He’s been a a big influence on my career. So working on ‘Get Rich’ was a turning point for me because even though I had worked on big albums, I had never worked on an album that sold 10 million plus. The first two albums were.. jeez, amazing. The buzz for 50 during that time was so big, it was a like a fever.

HHNM: How was the experience of recording ‘In Da Club’?

Steve Baughman: You know, I still remember the time when we were mixing ‘In Da Club’. It was a song which originally went to D12 but it wasn’t fitting the way Dre wanted it. When Dre had a backup on the board over at Encore (studios), 50 heard the beat and came up with that little catchy intro “Go shorty, it’s your birthday” right there on the spot. When Dre heard it, he was instantaneously like ‘that’s it, get him in the booth’. I was in the room and Mauricio Irragori recorded the song and it became what it became rather quickly. It was just some great energy on that song which only 50 could bring. Just one of those magic moments where everything came together at the perfect time.

HHNM: Did you record and mix the entire two albums?

Steve Baughman: No, actually the first album, I recorded the entire thing but mixed only a couple of songs. Dre did the majority of the mixing on that one. The following albums, I did the majority of the mixing. And of course, every one of 50’s albums were mastered by Bryan Gardner. Mastering for me is relatively a new thing. I’m actually starting a mastering company along with my partner Mauricio Iragorri, who is Dr. Dre’s engineer which we hope to launch officially by the end of this year. It’s called Next Level Mastering.

HHNM: I also read something really fascinating on your website — you are working with the one and only Prince?

Steve Baughman: Oh yeah, I have worked with him back in the 90s at the Westlake Studios in California. There were usual recording sessions. Price was there just recording ideas. There were multiple projects going on at once so I won’t be able to tell you what exact album it was for.

HHNM: Do you get nervous when you’re working with artists of such stature?

Steve Baughman: I don’t get nervous since I’m confident about what I do. What of course, there’s always that feeling when you’re working with artists like these. But when you hit the studio, everyone becomes a normal person, you know. Most of these guys are just joy to work with.

HHNM: Tell us about some of the artists that you’re currently working with.

Steve Baughman: Right now, I’ve been working on developing a lot of producers. One of them that I really love is this kid named Dem Jointz. He’s going to have some stuff on Sevyn Streeter’s album. I also have a joint venture going with The Underdogs, they are developing a girl group. Then I have the mastering company for which I’ve been working really hard. Getting the gear and stuff ready for that. We have another producer, Dirk Pate who’s actually had placements with Game, Lloyd Banks and other big artists. And of course, still doing stuff with 50.

HHNM: Okay. By the way, have you recorded with Banks?

Steve Baughman: You know what, I haven’t recorded with Banks in a long time. He definitely has music in the process. He remains out of New York a lot now. G-Unit is now looking at the future and how to maximize the talent of their artists. Hopefully Banks will come out soon but Kidd Kidd and Precious (Paris) are poised to do some great music.

HHNM: Explain to us what your venture MixCraft is.

Steve Baughman: Oh yeah. So I go to a few schools around locally and outside to educate people wanting to learn about studio life like engineering, mixing, producing etc. Reason is, that coming out in the early 90s, I was blessed to have a opportunity. It’s harder to get access to studios now and a lot of work is done in private studios. So I created an educational program to tell them how I do my job. I independently book out institutions and have talks and classes.

HHNM: That’s nice to know. Thanks a lot for taking out the time to talk to me today. We wish all the best for your future endeavors.

Steve Baughman: Thanks a lot man. It was my pleasure.