Moteleola Talks About Sample Based Production & Drum Sequencing

Where does Moteleola reside?

I'm a 21 year old producer who grew up in South London, UK.

Describe your production style.

I am very sample heavy, I love taking records, breaking them down and then reconstructing them beyond recognition. Whether that be playing out reversed sample chops over my own reinterpretation, or completely flipping the hell out of a record, to taking the most obscure section and turning it into the main portion of my beat.

I remember back in 2012 I had a studio session once with Tigger Da Author and the studio engineer Morgan Darby. I played them a few beats and they really liked my sampling but they gave me their honest opinion; this information led to a massive improvement in my drum selection and programming that would take my production to the next level. During that session a hook was laid out and we revamped the drums together.

Because of the experience, I've heavily invested in my drum library, purchasing tons of drum kits from the likes of Illmind, Jake One, Beat Butcha plus more, and acquired thousands of drum breaks along the way. I take a lot of time tweaking and layering drum sounds in my beats now. Making sure the final snare drum is sharp and snappy, the kick thumps as violent and heavy as correctly possible, and any other percussion adds a unique texture to the beat. I think my upcoming project Oasis Black showcases this best. Months have been spent revisiting session files constantly making sure they sound as incredible as possible.



What inspires you to make beats?

I simply love Hip Hop. It's taught me more than any teacher, it's motivated me more than any speech and comforted me more than any friend. I listen to hip hop as much as I can, through my 9 to 5 day job, even whilst i'm time stretching samples or organizing session files. Haha although I've stopped listening to music whilst i'm getting ready for work in the morning, it's ended up making me late because I always let the song finish. Which really isn't helpful when Kendrick Lamar - "Sing About Me" comes on or Kanye West - "Runaway". Hip Hop inspires me to make beats.

Currently you are working on a project called OASIS BLACK. What is the inspiration behind the title and the project?

I watch the world drown and burn
Everyday without fail
And like a drunken phoenix
You groggily rise from the ashes

Not courageously or willingly
But because you are working for yourself
You have no one

Not a single soul to guard you while you sleep
No one keeps an eye out for you
I have the ghosts of the city
The Ghouls watch my back

You listen to your ****
You buy your ****
You work for a piece of paper

And you think I’m the one who’s out of place

Society wants me to title this - by Tim Shay

Who will be featured on the project?

A lot of familiar faces I constantly create with plus a handful of new additions. So far my younger brother Taunts, Olivia Louise, Has-Lo, Cheer Dolor, Lafayette Stokely, J. ManifestO, Big Rooz, Melodious Mike, Signif, Chaundon, Sene, Tre Dejean, Chakkra Tarra, Jeff Spec, SoulThePoet, Allen Poe, Ozay Moore and I'm hopefully a few more. Just waiting for a few more verses to be turned in *coughs Praverb* and then I can fully wrap up Oasis Black as complete and put out a release date, I really want it to come out late August of early Winter.