Plus: hitmakers Sean C. and LV, in Mixtape Daily.

Behind the Beats: Sean C. and LV

Sometimes it’s just easy for producers Sean C. and LV, a.k.a. Grind Music Inc. — play the beat, let the artist rap over it, done. Classic.

“We had that Michael Jackson sample. L went up there to Yonkers and played them the beat,” Sean C. said of Jadakiss’ new street jam, “One More Step.” “It’s pretty simple, straightforward.”

“Soon as he heard it,” LV added. “I played, like, 20 seconds and he was like, ‘I already know what that is. Don’t even worry about that.’ ”

“It was a blessing they got it on some ‘We Gon Make It’-type vibe,” C., a former A&R rep at Loud Records, added.

Sean C. and LV have incredible credentials and have worked with the best of the best.

“This is a plaque I got for Reasonable [Doubt],” Sean said, holding up his reminder from his early work with Jay-Z. C. co-produced “Can’t Knock the Hustle.”

It was on Jay-Z’s last album that the two friends — who grew up in the same neighborhood but didn’t start working together until 2002 — proved themselves as one of hip-hop’s most viable production teams. Working with Diddy, they handled six songs off 2007′s American Gangster, including the sonically combustible theme “Roc Boys.”

After that, the phone rang off the hook. The two did work on Busta Rhymes’ “Don’t Touch Me,” Ghostface’s “Barrel Brothers” and Fat Joe’s “I Won’t Tell,” among others.

“We wanna just keep putting good music out,” said L, who came up as Big Pun’s DJ. “You just wanna stay relevant and stay hot. So that’s what we got to prove to ourselves. We know we could do it. You always talk about, ‘I’m nice, I’m nice’ — now it’s time to show it. Anything you need, come down. It’s like Home Depot — Beat Depot.”

“It works different ways for different joints,” Sean C. said about how the two work in the lab. “It might be a day when L would have an ill sample, then he’ll start f—ing with it and I might find some drums for it … or a vocal sample to go on top of it. We just make good music. That’s what it’s about.”

“Every beat is different,” L insisted. “We just do it.”

Next Wave of Flav

On Ghostface Killah: “We cooking that up right now. The last three Ghost albums we been on. The last one we had five [tracks]. … The chemistry with Ghost is very good. It’s mostly an automatic thing. He’ll have a beat CD for a minute and when he’s ready, he’s like, ‘I want this one this one and this one.’ It just happens.” – Sean C.

On Clipse: “We got three on [their next album]. I’m exited about that. They spit your head off. It’s hard, straightforward, aggressive. They do what they do.” – Sean C.

“The beats don’t sound like us. One of them does, but the others don’t.” – LV

On Slaughterhouse: “We’re really in the beginning stages of it. We’re trying to scope a sound for Slaughter House so it’s their sound, not somebody else’s. We’re sending them joints, they got a bunch of joints they picked.” – Sean C.

On Wale: “I think he sounds real good. I definitely like the record we did. I like the Cool & Dre record. We went in a few times with him. The joint we did got Travis Barker on the drums. Wale got that done while he was is in L.A. The beat was done, then Travis played over it, then we played on top of what Travis did.” – LV

“It’s called ‘OG.’ He’s talking about how OGs schooled him to the game and how they was when they were young and how he listens to them. It’s not a street OG thing, but he touches on how things were different at that time.” – Sean C.

Five-Star Stellar Hits (Separately and Together)

» Jay-Z – “Can’t Knock The Hustle”
» Jay-Z – “Roc Boys”
» Busta Rhymes – “Don’t Touch Me (Throw the Water on Them)”
» Jadakiss (featuring Styles P) – “One More Step”
» Fat Joe – “I Won’t Tell”
» Big Punisher – “100 Percent”
» Remy Ma (featuring Ne-Yo) – “Feels So Good”

The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From the Underground

Recently on BET’s “106 & Park,” 50 Cent spoke on how he, Eminem and Dr. Dre are probably the most powerful crew of artists in the music business today. Dre’s a legend, Eminem is rolling — his Relapse went #1 last week — and Fif has been very successful as well. But since 50 and Em are so tight, will we ever see the two of them make an entire LP together? DJ Whoo Kid says the project has been talked about, but he isn’t holding his breath waiting for it to happen.

“They been talking about that sh– for years,” Whoo Kid said. “We even talked about it in the mixtape format. It’s an incredible situation [that] I hope one day goes down. Who wouldn’t want to see that? I don’t know what they gonna call that. I remember Em joked about that, ‘Let’s call it Ebony and Ivory.’ Society is gonna have to force these guys to do it … the scheduling, Em’s album, 50′s album — it’s all scheduling. We’ve talked about it the last three, four years. You would want to see it, right?”

Of course — just like we would love to see the Jay-Z and Nas album, the Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre album or even that T-Wayne LP. But, like Whoo Kid, we’ll believe it when we see it.

“I don’t think Em and 50 will ever get it together to do an album,” journalist Elliott Wilson said. “I know there was talk of [a joint album] when 50 first blew up and it was gonna be called Black and White. I personally love that title,” the founder and CEO of RapRadar.com continued. “I’m sure there are plenty of unreleased records they’ve done and some kinda compilation could be released one day. But as far as a full-fledged album recorded together, that’s doubtful. Then again, this is hip-hop, so what the f— do we know?”

DJ Whoo Kid added that when 50 and Em are in the studio, they bring out the best in each other.

“The element of Dre being there, too, brings their bars up,” Whoo Kid said. “They’re both excited, crazy. They’re already excited with each other. You see the verses are way up there, the creativity is way up there. 50 is influenced by [Em's] creativity where he crosses the line. The only time you see 50 buggin’ out is when they’re together. Whereas when 50′s solo, he’s creative too, but into the gangsta world, the thug sh–. Em showed him there’s other lines out there you can f— with.

“In the beginning it was business,” he continued about 50 and Em’s relationship. “They naturally grew into a family-type bond. 50 hangs more with Eminem and he’s more connected with Eminem than Dre. Not to say 50 and Dre don’t get along — they’re really cool, they’re friends and everything, but it’s mostly business. But 50′s gonna go to Eminem’s wedding, 50′s gonna go to Eminem’s barbecue, they’re gonna go on vacation together. They’re more into the family sh–.”

“Although I’ve never been around Eminem and 50 together,” Wilson told us, “I believe that their friendship is built on loyalty and trust. I think 50 is Em’s biggest fan and supporter who always shows his appreciation to Marshall for enabling him to build an incredible life. He doesn’t even know how to not show that gratitude. And 50′s probably one of the few people in this world Em can truly confide in.”