LIVE.LOVE.A$AP

LIVE.LOVE.A$AP is A$AP Rocky's breakout mixtape. It's an amazing project, every song has something to offer. There's 5 songs on the album produced by Clams Casino. Clams Casino has a distinct production style built around chopping samples into unimaginable loops. Today I'm gonna write about 3 songs from LIVE.LOVE.A$AP.

Bass

Bass follows a simple 2 bar loop for the verse. It samples the song Just For Now by Imogen Heap, and creates a mesmerizing melody that is unrecognizable. During the 2nd bar of the loop, it sounds like a synth is layered with the sample. The first bar, the hi hats count quarter notes, 1 2 3 4. The 2nd bar the drums play a classic rhythm. 1 2 a3 + 4, boom bap b-boom boom bap. When the hook comes in, the drums cut out for a beat and then land on the snare. The hi hats play 16th notes and are a higher pitch. The kick also has more bass to it. I love the way the song transitions at 1:57

Wassup

Wassup makes use of a hypnotizing delay on the loop. It's samples the song Fire and Roses by Mimi Goese, and again creates a dreamy melody by putting together chopped sections of the song. I love the bass that plays at 0:13, and how it builds up into the different melody for the verse at 0:27. The delay is also on the percussion. You can hear it in the white noise and shaker in the very beginning, on the hi hat at 0:13, and on the open hi hat at 0:55. At 0:25 you can hear a crash cymbal build into the next bar by rising in volume, a crescendo.

Demons

Demons samples two songs to create a melody that is completely unheard of. Clams Casino samples Just For Now by Imogen Heap, and also samples Sleep (Solarstone's Afterhours Mix) by Conjure One. There is so much going on in the melody. The beginning sounds like a section of Just For Now revered, with Sleep layered in the background. It seems to go through different variations all across the piece. My favorite part of the song comes at 0:40, when the reversed melody begins. Throughout the verse there is a hi hat buried in the mix, to keep the song moving but not overwhelm the melody. During the hook a ride cymbal plays on the upbeats to give it bounce.

Those are 3 of the songs Clams Casino produced on LIVE.LOVE.A$AP, he also produced Leaf and Palace. Clams Casino has great songs with other artists, like Angels (When She Shut Her Eyes) and Youforia by Mac Miller. His production is a big inspiration of mine, and makes me want to make better music.