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Multi-platinum recording engineer Steve Baughman Recording engineers live a crazy life. These people are literally the first people to ever hear a song when it is being created in the studio and are privy to some incredible amount of information that never comes out in general public. Most of the times, they are not even allowed to speak on the sessions they had with artists to maintain the sanctity of their relationships. A few days ago, I had the chance to talk to multi-platinum recording engineer and mixer Steve Baughman who has worked with artists like Michael Jackson, Prince, Eminem, 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Usher, Destiny's Child and countless more. Just a brief look at his discography will blow your mind. Mind you, it's not easy to take out information from people of this profession but I did manage to talk intimately on a lot of topics including studio sessions with the artists named above. We also discussed the magic moment when he recorded 'In Da Club' with 50 and Dre in the studio, why there is a delay in release of Street King Immortal, his future endeavors and more. HHNM: It’s my pleasure to speak to you today. I’m always intrigued by life of recording engineers since they play such an important role in outcome of a song and are privy to so much info that we never come to know. How are you doing today? Steve Baughman: I’m doing good, thank you. I’m excited about this interview. HHNM: For those who may not know your name, please introduce yourself to our readers. Steve Baughman: Sure. I’m Steve Baughman, a professional recording engineer and mixer who has worked with some of your favorite artists like Michael Jackson, 50 Cent, Eminem, 2Pac, Dr. Dre and many more. HHNM: I was going through your discography and man, it’s pretty incredible. If you had to pick one artist who you loved working with the most, who would that be? Steve Baughman: Damn, it’s hard to pick one but if I can pick two, it would be Michael Jackson and 2Pac. Those studio sessions were incredible and the most memorable for me. HHNM: You worked on a couple of albums by late Michael Jackson and I assume you were in the studio with him as well. How was that experience and how does it feel having worked with one of the greatest artists the world has ever seen? Steve Baughman: Yeah you know as I said, working with Michael was one of those unique and one of a kind experiences. You could only use a certain kind of mic because it would overload otherwise. His voice was that powerful. Growing up listening to his music, I always knew that he was a talented guy but I understood the depth of his talent and how involved he was in his music once I started recording with him in the studio. HHNM: I know it’s not going to be easy for you answer this but I’m gonna throw some names that you have worked with and I would like you to say a few words about their habits in the studio, work ethic, their recording process etc. Steve Baughman: Eminem Sarcastic (laughs). Probably top 5 most talented guys I have ever met. Great sense of humor and he’s always aiming to do his best work. Every time he’s recording something, he’s always looking to give the world a piece of him. 50 Cent He is the essential business man. Beyond being talented, he’s got the knack of understanding how the business world works and how to be a great entrepreneur. I have learned a lot from his entrepreneurship and his ability to start up companies and be competitive in that. Usher He’s a singing phenom. His ability to make a song come to life always amazed me. There were a lot of times when I heard songs which others sang and was like eh, that’s alright. But when I heard Usher sing the same songs, it used to be whole another story. He was just great at that. Dr. Dre Dre is the conductor, like a conductor of an orchestra. That man is so talented musically that he is also able to orchestrate these compositions. When he hits the studio, he brings in 3-4 other guys who are constantly doing their own ideas. He’s able to string all those ideas into a piece and make everything sound right. He’s really a perfectionist, a really hard worker. Snoop Dogg He’s probably one of the most underrated lyricists ever. He’s a great student of the game and crazy with the pen. He can do so many styles that I think he’s probably the world’s most versatile rapper. HHNM: You handled those well. You’re closely associated with 50 Cent and as far as I know, you’ve worked a lot on his recent stuff as well. Can you share anything with us regarding his long delayed album Street King Immortal and when we can expect it? Steve Baughman: To be honest with you, right now, 50 is just holding back a little bit and a lot of it has to do with politics over at Interscope. I know that he’s creating more because he wasn’t completely in a place where he thought the album is where it should be. So he’s re-thinking a little bit on how he wants his album to be. And the tragedy of losing his manager Chris Lighty really struck him hard. It’s been hard couple of years for him. As a businessman and as a perfectionist, he is trying to make sure his album is where he wants it to be as a product. continued on page 2.. 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. Follow Steve on Twitter | Check out Next Level Mastering

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