I had no idea who the artists were or anything. To find things to sample, I used to just type a random word- like 'blue' or 'cold'- into LimeWire or BearShare and download the first 10 results. Like, my beat 'Realist Alive' samples the song 'Hometown Glory' by Adele- it's not a weird source, but I just make it sound weird. 'I just do it for a hobby,' he told me in a recent phone interview. After making beats in his spare time in high school, he started messaging MCs on MySpace in 2007 and simply 'sent beats to whomever answered.' He's currently interning at a hospital full-time and doesn't have any big rap-producer dreams. It's an intoxicating sound that recalls singer-producer How to Dress Well's Xanex'd approach to R&B (though Volpe has never heard HTDW's music).Ĭurrently residing in Nutley, New Jersey, Volpe is the son of a musician father and started playing drums at six. The recent mixtape highlights his signature style, which combines thick, East Coast snare and bass hits with blurry, almost-new-age-y samples.
But he's been chopping drums for about 10 years, first for fun and then for an increasingly high-profile group of rappers including web sensation Lil B and Soulja Boy. Hip-hop producer Clams Casino- aka 23-year-old physical therapy student Mike Volpe- just released his first beats tape for free online.
