Music

The Hiphop Tip

by Samuel L. Chesneau

Ever since Bean One (AKA Cavin Stocker) first got into graffiti writing in the early '90s, he's had a deep love for hiphop culture. But it was meeting one of this city's hiphop pioneers, Specs, and getting down with True Believers Crew in 1994 that really got him into making his own beats. "Specs put me on some stuff early," says Bean One, who started out looping tapes, bought a sampler, and "just started building from there."

Bean's first projects were producing/ beatsmithing for the groups Footprints and Double Vision, most notably on Footprints' Operation Raw in late '99 (which included the local hit "Bonfire"), and Footprints-member Proh Mic's version of the Superman theme song, "Greyhound Superman." He's also contributed songs to albums by several Northwest artists, including Source of Labor, Beyond Reality, Silent Lambs Project, Central Intelligence, and Boom Bap Project.

Bean's focus now is on dominating the competition--not just in the Northwest, but in the music industry in general. "There's not many cats doing it the way it should be done," he says. "The mode has all changed. I'm mashing as hard and fast as I can." Now that his beat CDs are circulating the country with the same force as material by notables Jake One and Vitamin D, his workload has definitely picked up.

Bean's recent productions have helped him break out of the stereotype that he always uses grimy beats designed for lo-fi speakers; he's progressed into making a much more balanced sound that can be embraced by the club scene. "I want to do the grittiest shit, as well as the polished sound," he says. "The challenge is being versatile and still having my own signature [style]. Once hiphop became so pop, that [aesthetic] was my new challenge."

This past year was a big steppingstone for Bean, who had a hand in the Sport-n-Life compilation, as well as projects with Redskin and Blockburners. He's already made songs with Krumb Snatcher (who's down with Gang Starr) and Ras Kass. Future projects on the horizon include the Field Generals (I-Self Divine from the Micranots and Buddah Tye), Musab, and the long-awaited NFlight project from Byrdie that's already created a street buzz. Aaron Angeles, NFlight co-producer, believes that Bean has been overlooked for too long. "Once the projects that he's done start coming out more and more, his name will only get bigger," Angeles says, adding, "The thing about Bean is that he can come up with that beat that's a hit the second you hear it. He's an extremely hard worker, and he helped [on the edits] on so many levels. Rather than just being cool with how things sounded, he took it to the next level and really pushed the boundaries."

Bean One's goal is to someday work with the greats who inspired him, such as Big Daddy Kane, Slick Rick, and Nas. "I like cats who know how to write well and don't just use big words for no reason," he says. "I'm on a whole other level now."

hiphop@thestranger.com

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