Bill Beats

Bill Beats (the production third of Seattle, WA nerdcore trio Death*Star) rocks the vote with his debut producer compilation. Bill places heavy emphasis on his Emerald Empire homies. Klopfenpop introduces Bill with "You Can Call Him Bill," describing Bill's skills behind the boards over a minimal beat built from banging drums and synth stabs, with cuts added to the mix for the chorus. Death*Star rappers MC-3PO and C0splay debate the quality of TV over a chaotic combination of heavy drums and the bass and guitar from the "Barney Miller Theme," while bad-ass blonde Asian Shubzilla celebrates life by bragging about it over an epic, upbeat production, the hook playing throughout most of the song. Ex-EE-er Sketch, a rougher-edged rapper relative to the rest of the nerds on this album, expresses his love for woman on two songs: the freaky, funky "The Night," with Mettik, and the smoother "Love of the Drums," on which music ultimately wins out over women. The remaining vocal track is Rook the Rhymer's celebration of alcohol, "Buy Me A Drink," which is a jazzy jam anchored by an awesome sample of a drunk singer on the hook. This song is bookended by two decent instrumentals: the relaxing "Intermission" and the Bollywood-inspired "Indian Food," while the album itself is bookended by a short intro and outro. Bill Beats For President Vol. 1 is a great introduction to Bill's eclectic production style and thrift store record collection. While the regular version is likely enough for most, rappers in need of beats for ciphers may find the deluxe version a good investment, as it comes with the instrumentals for all of the vocal songs except "Love of the Drums."