Recording
Recording sessions for the album took place during June to October 1989 at Greene St. Recording in New York City, The Music Palace in West Hempstead, and Spectrum City Studios in Long Island. It was produced entirely by The Bomb Squad, which included Chuck D, Eric "Vietnam" Sadler, and brothers Hank and Keith Shocklee. The album's recording marked the first time that Keith Shocklee was credited as a member of the team; he played a significant role in composing the main tracks and music for the album. Hank Shocklee was their director and was referred to by Chuck D as "the Phil Spector of hip-hop". For Fear of a Black Planet, they sought to expand on the dense, sample-layered "wall of noise" sound of It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.
Having worked out an elaborate method that involved the members assembling different types of sounds in the studio, the Bomb Squad reconfigured and recontextualized musical fragments from various sources into their own compositions. Each member brought a different philosophy to making music, arranging sounds, and working with technology, with material appropriated from singles, LP albums, and radio, among other sources. Hank Shocklee viewed the group as "a production assembly line where each person had their own particular specialty." According to him, he came "from a DJ's perspective. Eric is coming from a musician’s perspective. So together, you know, we started working out different ideas." Sadler advocated a more traditional, structured approach to songwriting, while Shocklee's approach was less conventional. As the group's main lyricist, Chuck D wanted to recontextualize the sampled material into his lyrics and create a theme for the album.
For the track "Burn Hollywood Burn", Chuck D dealt with clearance issues from different record labels in order to collaborate with rappers Big Daddy Kane and Ice Cube, who had been pursuing the Bomb Squad to produce his debut album. The recording marked one of the first times in which MCs from different rap crews collaborated, and it led to the Bomb Squad working with Ice Cube on his 1990 debut album AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted.
Read more about this topic: Fear Of A Black Planet
Famous quotes containing the word recording:
“Self-expression is not enough; experiment is not enough; the recording of special moments or cases is not enough. All of the arts have broken faith or lost connection with their origin and function. They have ceased to be concerned with the legitimate and permanent material of art.”
—Jane Heap (c. 1880–1964)
“Too many photographers try too hard. They try to lift photography into the realm of Art, because they have an inferiority complex about their Craft. You and I would see more interesting photography if they would stop worrying, and instead, apply horse-sense to the problem of recording the look and feel of their own era.”
—Jessie Tarbox Beals (1870–1942)
“He shall not die, by G—, cried my uncle Toby.
MThe ACCUSING SPIRIT which flew up to heaven’s chancery with the oath, blush’d as he gave it in;—and the RECORDING ANGEL as he wrote it down, dropp’d a tear upon the word, and blotted it out for ever.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)