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Be sure to head on over to our main man DJ Lord Ron's web site www.DJLORDRON.com.  If you haven't checked out this man's tracks, click the beats up above and take a listen to some of the grimiest shit on the streets at the moment.  Lord Ron will be droppin a combination of products this year like his upcoming Remixes Vol. 2, Rap Archives Legends Vol. 1 & 2, and his very highly anticipated Classic Instrumentals Series.  We got a chance to listen to a bit of what he's cookin up and all we can say is do not sleep on what is about to come from DJ Lord Ron in 2003.  All you mc's out there who keep rockin over the same old wack beats need to hit my man up and get laced with tha realness!!

ThaFormula.com - Do you consider yourself a DJ or a producer?

DJ Lord Ron - Really, both. I spin at a lot of spots, a lot of hip-hop clubs on some underground type stuff. But my thing is makin' beats, that's my bread and butter.

ThaFormula.com - How were you introduced to hip-hop, or were you just born right into it from the get go?

DJ Lord Ron - From the beginning man, it was like the summer of '79, my younger brother Triple Ace had bought this 12" that I had never heard before, it was "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang. At first when he started playin' it for me, I didn't like it. I mean, it was somethin' new, I had never really heard anyone rap over a beat like that, I just wasn't feelin' it. Then I heard "Freedom" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 that was it, I was hooked on this shit and I've been in love with hip-hop ever since.

ThaFormula.com - What made you decide to create music as opposed to just sitting on the side and appreciating others music?

DJ Lord Ron - Well, I was always into music even as a kid. When I was like 7 or 8 years old I used to be in this crew that did Jackson 5 routines at my elementary school. One of the guys that was in the group, his name was Barry, he was in the World Class Wreckin' Cru and went by Shakespeare, so me and him go way back. I was a good dancer back then, and he was like, "If we stick with this, we can be bigger than the Jackson 5," and he really believed that. Music was also always in my home. Mom's used to have all these records, 45's, LP's and she would always play them. Everybody from Barbara Streisand to James Brown and in between. I was always into arts and music so it was a natural progression for me into hip-hop. Then when the good shit started dropping in the late 80's, like Run DMC, I wanted to be a part of that. At that point I was basically just a fan, I didn't know too much about it and didn't know anything about equipment, but eventually I wanted to get some turntables and I ended up getting some in '93. I had first bought me some Gemini's.

ThaFormula.com - Haha, I hear ya I did the same thing, my friend copped some right out the back of the source and once he moved on, I bought em off him.

DJ Lord Ron - Yeah, yeah, I paid like $89 bucks a piece for them, bought a little bullshit mixer. The mixer was a PMX-7. Then one night my cousin Warren came up on some cash and approached me like "we gonna go get the 1200's." So that's what we did. In the mean time, I had put the MPC-60 on layaway, and that's how we all got started. Eventually I got all the equipment I wanted and just started mixin' 7 days a week from then on, everyday was like Christmas. I always thought that I had the ear to this.

ThaFormula.com - So how long have you been making beats?

DJ Lord Ron - Since '94. I put the MP on layaway in '93 and got it out in January of '94. Now I've got hundreds and hundreds of beats, just stacked up man.

ThaFormula.com - What other equipment do you use?

DJ Lord Ron - I have pretty much stuck with my original setup. I got the MPC-62, my turntables and my crates of records. I've got a collection that expands over 4000 pieces of vinyl. I like to stick to diggin' for material, I really don't care for the keyboard sound, it just doesn't have that rawness that hip-hop is known for. Hip-Hop was started with nothin', just two turntables and vinyl, and vinyl was the element that made them work, so that's how I gotta keep it.

ThaFormula.com - So basically you prefer to stick to sampling from vinyl, or do you occasionally mess with the sounds that come with the MP?

DJ Lord Ron - Yeah, straight form records. This is how I do, this is my format...I'm a collector first, and when I do get into my beat mode, I'll go buy some records and on like a Sunday. I'll  just sit there and listen to the whole records. No needle skipping song to song, I listen to the entire record.

ThaFormula.com - Yeah, because there could be that little 2 or 3 second bit in there that you can build off of.

DJ Lord Ron - Yeah, and once I find that, I may just start right there and lay something around it, you know? When I turn the machine on, I really don't know what I'm gonna do. I don't look at like, "ok, today I'm gonna make a grimy track, or today I'm gonna make an uptempo track," I really don't know.

ThaFormula.com - Is there an era that you prefer to look for samples in? For example, what's the first section you hit when your at a vinyl spot?

DJ Lord Ron - I'll probably hit like the Soul/R&B section, then I'll check for the Jazz and the Blues. I look at pretty much everything, because a lot of the old Soul, I already have. Either that or it's already been used by another producer. I won't touch nothin' that somebody else has sampled. A lot of my stuff, I'll chop up. Even if it's a loop I'm pretty sure it's gonna be somethin' that nobody else has got. I think there was only one joint I heard, it was from O.C.'s first album, it had a sample from Nancy Wilson and it was the same exact loop that I had.

ThaFormula.com - On one of the beat CD's you gave us, there was a track that used the same loop that Premier used on Biggies "Kick in the Door" (see track 3).

DJ Lord Ron - (laughs) Oh yeah, that's not a loop though, I chopped it up and rearranged it different.

ThaFormula.com - Yeah, I can hear the differences, but the horns stick out.

DJ Lord Ron - That's from the cat who did "I Put a Spell on You," what's that cat's name Screamin' Jay Hawkins, that's it. You're right, I always liked that but I didn't ever have the record. The was premier did it, he took the whole loop basically. I tried to rearrange it and do it my way, it's just those signature horns that stick out that duh-duh-duh-duh, that's a dope record right there! When I first heard that on the Baka Boyz Show (former hosts of KPWR in Los Angeles "Friday Night Flavas") I already knew who that sample was, because my moms used to have those records. I was learnin' how to chop back in like '94, and I always said, if I'm gonna sample somebody's work, why not get creative with it and make so they can't even recognize it. I'm not just gonna take a whole loop like P. Diddy or whatever.

ThaFormula.com - Yeah! And now you got Irv Gotti whose takin' music that Puffy has already looped and made a "hit" record, and he's takin' the same loops and adding a bell or a whistle!

DJ Lord Ron - Exactly, I'm sick of that man. That mainstream stuff is nothin' but a clone generation. I mean nowadays everybody wanna look pretty and sure hip-hop has always been about fashion but back in the day, there was a sense of dignity and pride about your fashion.

ThaFormula.com - Back then there wasn't so much flaunting, you know what I'm sayin?

DJ Lord Ron - Yeah, it was more about showmanship.

ThaFormula.com - Yeah, it was different when Slick Rick, even Rakim rocked their chains.

DJ Lord Ron - There you go, you know the difference. To me the one thing that has messed up hip-hop is videos, believe it or not. You remember when you used to buy records not knowin' what the MC looked like? You just went by how they sounded. Everybody had their own style and their own voice. Now these kids watch these video all day long and they start emulating. Then when they start to do their thing, they sound and look just like this guy, and that sounds and acts just like the next guy, so I definitely think the video messed up the game, I really do.

ThaFormula.com - If you had to compare your style to another producer who's out there who would it be?

DJ Lord Ron - I would say a combination of DJ Premier, Diamond D and Show, guys like that. I look up to those guys. Marley Marl, Mark the 45 King, when I'm making beats I put myself in a class like that, like would they track something like this? I'm not trying to bite their style, but I just know they wouldn't put some bullshit out there. I just like to make it funky, make it soulful and make it to where MC's just wanna grab the mic and be like "let me get on this track!" I like to keep my drums out there, a lot of these days you don't here the drums out there, I gotta have my drums out there and build around that.

ThaFormula.com - You also put out some mixtapes right?

DJ Lord Ron - Yeah, I've done some underground mixtapes. A lot of stuff I have circulating on the Internet and I get on the streets and sell, and I've done pretty good. I've gotten a lot of hits and feedback from people all over the world. I keep it simple, a lot of blending and not too much cutting up over the record like a lot of the young DJ's today, I think they get carried away. They think everything has to be a DMC competition on the tapes when it really doesn't. There's a time and place for that.

ThaFormula.com - Sway and Tech gave you a shout out on one of their shows and you used that on one of your mixtapes, how did that come about?

DJ Lord Ron - I went to a DJ Competition in Santa Monica and Sway was one of the judges. So I approached him as he was leaving and introduced myself and hit him off with a tape. I reminded him that I had did some street promotion for him and his partners Disco and Dorsey Fuller and he remembered me. He said he would take a listen to the tape and that if he liked it he would give me shout out on the show. I really didn't think too much of it, I was trying to make some connections and exposure. Later on that night I tuned into their show like I faithfully did and they had Gangstarr on there, so I was straight because they're one of my favorite groups. Later in the show, it caught me off guard, and Sway gave me a shout and gave me props on the tape and he stayed true to his word. I had worked for them a couple of times back when they were promotin' shows.

ThaFormula.com - Yeah, I remember that those were some dope shows.

DJ Lord Ron - Yeah, like when Gangstarr rocked the Palladium, I was backstage there. After their set Guru broke out backstage and Premier was breakin' down his equipment on-stage. I had one more copy of The Rap Archives Volume 1 (a compilation of rare live performances from 70's through the 90's that Lord Ron compiled and released) with me, I had already hit off the Beat Junkies, and Mark Luv of Jurassic 5 with their copies so I wanted to give Premier a copy. So I approached him like, "Yo Premier, much respect, I'm Laron they call me DJ Lord Ron, I love y'all work." He was like, good lookin' thanks a lot." So I said "Yo man this is for you," and I gave him the record. He said "yooooo, I bought this already," so I was like now you got doubles, this is my shit, I hope you enjoy it, gave him a pound and broke out. Premier used that record for his "5 Deadly Venoms" mixtape. He used part of the Busy B and Kool Moe Dee battle. So me and my man Greg Moore who I put that record out with were happy, because that was our joint that he used.

ThaFormula.com - You DJ also, where do you or have you spun?

DJ Lord Ron - I used to DJ this spot in Beverly Hills until me and the owner had a little run-in over what he wanted me to play. I wanted to play just straight up hip-hop. He wanted me to play some Mary J Blige and a little bit of that, but at the same time I was tryin' to give them a little of both, but I was playin' a lot more hip-hop. So after a while I just bounced with the quickness. I've done basketball tournaments in the jungle on Crenshaw for the "Y." I just tried to bring that element to L.A. like the do in New York for the Rucker's Tournament.

ThaFormula.com - What's the one record that you always have to take that you know is just gonna make everyone cover their mouth and be like"ooooooooh!"

DJ Lord Ron - When it comes to a straight up hip hop venue, it would have to like Showbiz and AG, "The Party Groove." With the other crowds, I'll throw on some Tribe, like "Hot Sex," that seems to get em', that's a classic. Even the Volume 10 joint, "Pistol Grip Pump."

ThaFormula.com - Pistol Grip Pump! That's definitely an LA classic right there.

DJ Lord Ron - Yeah, definately.

ThaFormula.com - You're gonna be releasing some instrumental records in the future, can you tell me a little about those?

DJ Lord Ron - Yeah, the first release I got comin' up is probably gonna be in September or October. It's gonna be released on Storage Room Entertainment and that's with my man DJ Double K and DJ Charlie D, they're from Pittsburgh and I have been knowin' theses brothers since like '94. We're gonna release a 12" and DJ Double K is gonna take two tracks on side A, and I'm gonna get on two on the B-Side. I'm also gonna release my own LP/CD through my own label, String Notes and that's gonna be all instrumentals. It's gonna be on some mark the 45 King type vibe, because I got so many beats I just want to expose them. MC's are gonna want to buy it and practice over it, rock shows over it and DJ's can cut it up on mix shows or throw it on their mixtapes.

ThaFormula.com - Is your goal to keep dropping your instrumental LP's, or are you looking to start producing more?

DJ Lord Ron - I'm gonna keep dropping the instrumental LP's and hopefully they'll open up the doors to start working with some dope MC's that I would like to work with. Whether it be underground or with brothers like Nas, or M.O.P. because I've got tracks that they could definitely shine on. I'm from that generation, you know I 've been there since the beginning and I'm just tryin to preserve that era. A lot of times, I'll come up with somethin', and won't really be feelin' it, but someone once told me not throw anything out, because you never know what somebody else might be feelin'. Really I don't like to tailor make a beat for one person, I like to stay a step ahead and come with something that no one's expecting.

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