Reefa

Sharif "Reefa" Slater is a producer who has produced for multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated artist. He was raised in Brownsville, Brooklyn. He currently heads a production company for emerging artists and producers called "ATM" (Addicted To Money).

Production work/involvement

Sharif "Reefa" Slater has produced for Lil Wayne, Estelle, The Game, Rick Ross, Troy Ave, Maino,Fabolous, Ludacris, Juelz Santana, French Montana, Gucci Mane, Omarion, Beanie Sigel, Red Cafe, Super Junior and The Notorious B.I.G. One of his biggest singles to date has been "It's Okay (One Blood)" by The Game. In recent years, he has been a constant fixture on the two Billboard #1 albums released by Miami Rapper, Rick Ross - those two albums being "God Forgives, I Don't" and "Mastermind."

Early career and Big break

Hailing from Brownsville, Brooklyn, he was bitten by the music bug early. One of his uncles lived on the same block as Biggie Smalls, and he saw firsthand how producers like Diddy and The Trackmasters translated their studio prowess into lucrative careers. He began spinning at local reggae parties, and soon transformed his innate ear for dope music into producing top-notch rap instrumentals. The first placement he got was for rapper Shells – a song that eventually landed on the Coach Carter movie soundtrack. That beat would garner him a little money, but it only fueled his hunger to play in the big leagues.

Audio mastering

Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master); the source from which all copies will be produced (via methods such as pressing, duplication or replication). In recent years digital masters have become usual although analog masters, such as audio tapes, are still being used by the manufacturing industry, notably by a few engineers who have chosen to specialize in analog mastering.

Mastering requires critical listening; however, software tools exist to facilitate the process. Mastering is a crucial gateway between production and consumption and, as such, it involves technical knowledge as well as specific aesthetics. Results still depend upon the accuracy of speaker monitors and the listening environment. Mastering engineers may also need to apply corrective equalization and dynamic compression in order to optimise sound translation on all playback systems. It is standard practice to make a copy of a master recording, known as a safety copy, in case the master is lost, damaged or stolen.

Spark Master Tape

Spark Master Tape is an anonymous rapper of unknown origins. He has released two mixtapes since 2012, which have garnered interest from blogs and music websites such as Mass Appeal Magazine and passionweiss.com. All of his beats are produced by Paper Platoon, which is also the name of their collective that includes visual artists and musicians.

Spark Master Tape’s latest mixtape, 2013’s The #SWOUP Serengeti, was described by Mishka NYC as, “enough bump and 808s to satisfy y’all that think Juicy J is god and enough verbal dexterity to have everyone that misses the old days of rappity rapping.” Masking his voice by pitching it down and sampling everything from 2pac to rare soul, Spark Master Tape has been described as “a gimmick, a sonic choice, or something in-between.”

Discography

References

Woodie Smalls

Woodie Smalls is a rapper/hip-hop artist born and raised in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium. He recently released his first single "Champion Sound" and his debut album "Soft Parade" was released September 18, 2015.

Background

Born and raised in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, Woodie Smalls remembers picking up the mic at an early age. In an interview he told that when he was 8 or 9, he and his cousin used to rap all the time. They just put on a random beat and started freestyling over it. He also got a lot of inspiration from his uncle, who used to make music back in the day. He saw what his uncle did and he thought it would be fun to make his own music too.

Champion Sound

With the release of his debut single and video for 'Champion Sound’, Woodie Smalls aka Woods immediately made a name for himself. His debut single created a buzz way bigger than the 19-year-old mc could've envisioned back when he started recording.

Some of Belgium's biggest radio stations, Studio Brussel and MNM, added the track to their daily rotation and FM Brussels even made it their favorite track of the week. In the Netherlands Woodie was selected as one of the 2015 Encore Freshmen. The freshmen are a small crop of up and coming talented artists handpicked by the people behind one the biggest weekly urban party in Amsterdam.