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Walking through the corridors of the Arts West music production hall, you’ll hear the muffled vibrations of creativity through the supposedly sound-proof doors. A remix of Ed Sheeran’s, Shape of You, acoustic guitar, acapella–all these being worked on within. But one room bumps particularly louder than the others. A comforting rumble could be felt on the bottom of your feet, stronger and stronger, the closer you approach. Inside, Connor Smith works on his latest project. An old-school hip-hop beat with an eerie violin plays in the background. “This is from my latest project I’m about to drop, be on the lookout,” he says, while hunched over the computer. He gives a quick tour of the fully-equipped recording studio. A 6-foot soundboard, massive speakers, multiple boxes with endless flashing buttons, and Smith knows how to use every single one. Attached to the room through a sliding door is a sound-proof area with microphones and instruments. We sit down with one of his songs softly playing in the background. Connor Smith, or his rap name, Casper, is a senior music production and recording arts major. He works in the recording studio, but it’s more of a sanctuary to him. “I’ll be in here late at night, and the lights in the hallway will go off. Once that happens, hours will go by and I won’t even realize. I’m just making music.” Smith is a North Carolina native, raised in Chapel Hill, and now at Elon. His goal, like many young rappers, simply make it big and get your name on the map. Being from NC however, his chances are slim. North Carolina doesn’t boast a large roster of big-name rappers. Their most famous being J.Cole, the mid-2000s group Little Brother, and their producer, 9th Wonder who now teaches down the highway at Duke University. Elon University’s hip-hop culture reflects North Carolina’s. Non-existent for a long time, but slowly on the rise. Down the hall, past a massive chalk mural of a band, and to the left is another recording studio. In it, Will Henderson, or Komodo; who’s at the forefront of the hip-hop movement with Smith. They’ve known each other since freshman year, in passing really, but recently began working together. Henderson comes from Durham, North Carolina, or “Durm”, as he likes it. The son of a pastor, he began recording church services in high school. This evolved into recording his friends in his bedroom closet to home-made beats. Now he works alongside Smith. Both literally in the recording studios, and through their music. They began collaborating more when they found out they were going on the Elon in LA trip together. They became roommates, got an internship together, and started making music in their downtime. Their time interning at ES Audio was life-changing. A relaxed work environment gave them free reign to create in their down time, while gaining experience recording local talent. Other notable artists also came through the studio in their time including Amine and Trinidad James. Their success inspired them to work even harder. Now back at Elon, they’re taking charge of leading an up and coming wave of hip-hop artists that have joined the music production major. “A lot of these young guys have the lyrics, they just need someone to mix or record them. That’s what we do,” says Smith. “I can make a beat, record, mix it, get a camera and take the album art, you’ve gotta be versatile,” Henderson explains. Spending so much time in the studios has made it easy for Henderson and Smith to get involved with the growing hip-hop culture at Elon. Most rappers on campus have had a session with one of them. As Smith said, the voice is out there, they just need someone to put it together, which is why these two are so crucial to expanding hip-hop on campus. Join Will and Connor in the studio as they tell their story, and discuss the current state of Elon hip-hop. You can check out some of Smith’s tracks from his upcoming LP here:
Smith and Henderson will also be releasing a music video for their song ‘Just Watch’ Saturday, Nov. 12th. Listen here:
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October 2017
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