Shawn Setaro
[The innovative producer DJ Dahi (“Money Trees,” “Worst Behavior,” “Hell of a Night”) recently sat down with hip-hop personality and SOHH Correspondent Shawn Setaro on his popular “The Cipher” podcast. Listen to the full interview and check out five gems Dahi dropped during the Q&A.]
On the influence of Jay Z’s The Blueprint:
“The Blueprint was one of the first albums that I was really enamored with and in awe of the production. That album got me into knowing about producers.”
On his musical tastes as a teenager:
“I really fell in love with a lot of the 90s one hit wonder rock bands, and a lot of the British pop bands too, like The Verve, Oasis, and Blur. I was the black kid who hung out with the Mexican kids or the skater kids who loved that kind of music.”
On his rules for sampling:
“One rule I always have is, if I can’t make the sample a little bit better, then I won’t mess with it. For my own creative process, I really needed to chop and change something in the beat.”
On using trap hi-hats in other styles:
“The way I equate it is, it really has to do with what’s going on in society. I think of music as all about timing. This wouldn’t probably work ten years ago, because our ears are different. I look at it from a standpoint of: What’s going on now, and how can I fit it into what I want to make? If trap is in right now, how can I take something that’s trap and bring it into something that’s a little bit more organic or musical?
On working with Dr. Dre on Compton:
“The whole Dre thing, I really feel like it hasn’t happened. To this day, I feel like I didn’t work with Dre. Overall, it was just dope. I can’t explain other than to say I appreciate the opportunity, and I appreciate the fact that Dre really said, ‘You’ve got some dope stuff. Come mess with us.’”
