Chopping it up with PS826

by GJ

Last weekend Doc B had the Chase Center at the Wilmington Riverfront packed. There was a long line of folks outside of the venue and across the building which trickled through the General Admission and VIP ticket counters all night. Inside was an upscale extravaganza with two dance floors and a casino. Wandering into the “Old School” themed room I met up with a dapper Dwayne Coit, also known as PS826, reigning champion of the Wilmington Producer Battles. We chop it up for a bit and discuss record collecting, music production, and our local hip-hop scene.

GJ: What part of Delaware are you from?

PS826: I grew up in Coventry/Whitehall, a suburban neighborhood in New Castle.

GJ: Doc B's party is popping, why do you think its such a good turn out?

PS826: Doc B always gets the ladies out. That's why his parties are always the best in Delaware. It’s a simple formula.

GJ: I saw that it cost $75 to go through the VIP line.

PS826: Paying $75 at a party is extreme. Who would pay that? I don't think they do that in NYC. I guess some people have a lot of disposable income. No party should cost more than $15, unless you have some sort of feature.

GJ: Where did the inspiration for your name “PS826” come from?

PS826: It’s from Psalm 82 verse 6 “I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you are children of the most High.”

GJ: How long have you been making beats?

PS826: I've been making beats for about 8 years. I actually owned a Casio SK-1 back in the late 80's but that doesn't really count. Currently I have an Akai MPC2000XL, Korg Triton LE and an ASR-X Pro. I also have Reasons and Fruity Loops Studio, but I don't use them much. I'm a hardware guy. A trick I've been doing more and more of is stacking (layering) drums.

GJ: Tell us about your experience with the local Beat Battles?

PS826: I won and maintained the Eargazm Crown through two really tough competitions. The first competition was against some really good producers, Lapo, Philly Flames, and Heartbeat. I think I won that one because of the remix round in which I made a remix of Biggie Smalls "Kick in the Door". The second was against another good round of producers, Grand G, DJ Trubb and Spida Keys. All of the fore mentioned competitors are great producers who make great music.

GJ: What’s your opinion of Delaware Hop-hop’s history and future?

PS826: The Project X album was probably the first hip-hop I heard from Delaware. Riverside Bucket 2-6 was an anthem in Wilmington. I think Delaware has a lot of talent and could blow up just as well as any other area. All it takes is a little local support, a few good singles, next thing you know we on the map. I think we need a crew of artists to come out. Crews like the Crazy 88's and the First Reps are keeping hip-hop alive in Delaware. I think hip-hop is missing B-boying and Graffiti, both of which I love.

GJ: You know there’s a grip of famous folks hiding out in Delaware?

PS826: I saw Jazzy Jeff at the grocery store once.

GJ: What projects are you working on currently?

PS826: Right now I mainly work with a nasty MC by the name of Do Dirt, a Delaware artist, but I have a much larger family of artist in which I contribute beats to, including Gemini, Black Barbie, Fox Fire, Mars Co Op, Cipha Borne and Jay Bezel. I am also a member of the super hip-hop crew called The Action Figures. Action Figures is a multi-talented hip hop crew that consists of 5 members; myself (PS826), Joey Dreadknots, 9 Gram, Menace and JB. We make underground hip hop, usually full of samples and voice clips from movies, cartoons and anime. We've all been friends and making music for over ten years.

GJ: As a producer who works with samples, how do you store and care for your records?

PS826: Unfortunately I have more records than space. Currently they are stored in large plastic containers throughout the house. I personally love vinyl for many reasons. First of all, it’s usually cheaper than cd's and downloading. Second, some older albums are only available on vinyl; Third, and probably most important, is the analog sound that vinyl provides. You can't beat it. I don't actually know if vinyl is a practical or viable format anymore because most DJ's do their sets with a laptop. Who can blame them though, which would you prefer to carry, a 4 lb. laptop or ten crates of records?

GJ: How did your Dipset connection come about?

PS826: I don't really consider it an outright "Dipset" connect. I was in a studio in Philly with my partner Do Dirt working on some tracks; I threw up a beat and Jay Bezel, who was also in the studio with my other homie Cypha Borne, decided to make an appearance on the track (which should be available soon on The Most Slept On Volume 1 under the Tali Up Boyz label). I gave J Bezel a beat cd a little later. He got back at me late one night and I sent him a few of the beats via email. Next day he had a completed song featuring Juelz Santana. The beat titled "Daily News" was co-produced by my partner Do Dirt and is currently unreleased, hopefully it will see the light of day. I still provide J Bezel beats from time to time; I believe he has used 2 more of my tracks as well.

GJ: Did you see the DSU versus UD game?

PS826: I actually attended the UD vs. DSU game. As a proud DSU alumnus, I wanted Del State to destroy UD, but unfortunately things turned out quite the opposite. We got brutally punished.

GJ: Do you listen to the local radio or read the newspaper?

PS826: I listen to the radio occasionally, but not for good music. All radio stations play the same songs over and over again. I don't really read the newspaper much because the internet is so resourceful. I'm a big fan of Veoh, Youtube, CNN, Cnet and Myspace. I didn't know Allhiphop.com had a column in the News Journal. That's pretty cool. I'll have to subscribe now.

You can reach PS826 at www.myspace.com/ps826