This week&#39;s Spotlight Artist is LX BEATS, born Lauri Pihlman, coming to us all the way from Finland. He is seen on the #RAP50 countdown with last week&#39;s Spotlight, Akrobatik, on their collaborative track &ldquo;Migrate&rdquo; featuring M-Dot. LX Beats took the time to sit down to talk about his experience in producing and working with Akrobatik, and making their album&nbsp;Antihero&nbsp;together. They make one dope collaboration and with his beats, Akrobatik couldn&#39;t pass up working someone who is putting in as much work as LX Beats is.

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RAPstation (Kianna Woods): How did you get into production?

LX Beats: My childhood friends played me AMG - Bitch Betta Have My Money and Enter The Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers albums in the 90&#39;s. That&#39;s pretty much how I got into hip-hop. I used to take piano lessons, and my&nbsp;teacher happened to be one of the greatest jazz pianists in the world, Grammy Award winner Marian Petrescu. He taught me that it&#39;s ok to improvise and encouraged me to do so, so that&#39;s how I eventually started to compose my own songs with the piano and later on the computer after my cousin introduced me to the legendary Scream Tracker software.

Tell me about Skill Street Entertainment.

Skill Street Entertainment was a small record label founded by me in 2008. We released 10 albums in 4 years and it was a fun experience, although it wasn&#39;t too profitable, and we had to shut it down in 2012. However, in 2013 we founded KPC Records, that is not an official company, but more of a collective of the most talented rappers and producers from my hometown. &nbsp;

Being from Finland, would you say it&rsquo;s harder or easier to pursue your career as a producer?&nbsp;

I don&#39;t think it matters where you&#39;re from, it depends on how you sound and who you work with.&nbsp;

If you could pick one project that you have completed as your favorite, which one would it be and why?

Since we decided to extend &#39;Antihero&#39; to a&nbsp;full-length album that&#39;s not 100% finished yet, I guess I can&#39;t pick that one. Then I would have to pick &quot;Music Vol.1&quot;, a&nbsp;record that I released in 2004. It was my first producer album, 21 tracks, featuring MC&#39;s from the US and Canada. That was my first international collaboration project that I completed, and I&#39;m still proud that I could put it all together at such young age.&nbsp;

Tell me about how you and Akrobatik met?

I&#39;ve been a&nbsp;fan of Ak since I first heard his &#39;Remind My Soul&#39; joint, that&#39;s a classic. I remember sending my first beat pack to Ak in 2011. However, it took some time until we met and started working together. Akro, Edo G, Termanology and REKS were touring last year and Ak hit me up asking if I can help them to book a show in Finland. We booked it into my hometown Jyv&auml;skyl&auml;, and the day after the show the guys came to my crib and we went through some of my beats and that&#39;s pretty much the moment when we came up with the idea of making an EP together.&nbsp;

&ldquo;Migrate,&rdquo; from your Collaborative EP&nbsp;Antihero, to be released soon, is on the #RAP50 countdown ft. M-Dot. What about that song made you want to release it before the whole EP?

I&#39;ve worked with Michael (M-Dot) for a long time, and it was obvious from the beginning that we wanted him to be on the album. I didn&#39;t really consider that beat as an option for a single track until I heard their verses on it, which were both amazing and they made the beat sound a lot better.&nbsp;

Can you remember anything significant about recording together on&nbsp;Antihero?

For me, the most significant recording session was last year at &#39;On The Grid&#39; studios in Boston&nbsp;when we recorded our single &#39;Shotgun&#39;. It felt really special because it was our first track together, and the experience just to be in the studio with an artist who you look up to was just crazy. &nbsp;

Where do you hope to take your music career?

I hope I can keep my production up at&nbsp;the level where I&#39;m able to work on more projects with Akro and other artists that I listen to.&nbsp;

Lastly, any shoutouts you may have?

Shoutouts to Chuck D, DJ Flatline of Hip Hop Gods and the entire RAPstation team, I truly appreciate the love and support we have received from you!&nbsp;Salute to my crew and family, KPC ! Without them it&#39;d be highly unlikely I&#39;d be here answering these questions. Shoutouts to my brother M-Dot, EMS crew, Amadeus The Stampede, REKS, and everyone in Finland who came through to watch us when we toured with Akrobatik and KPC. Peace!

This week&#39;s Spotlight Artist is LX BEATS, born Lauri Pihlman, coming to us all the way from Finland. He is seen on the #RAP50 countdown with last week&#39;s Spotlight, Akrobatik, on their collaborative track &ldquo;Migrate&rdquo; featuring M-Dot. LX Beats took the time to sit down to talk about...

LX BEATS: SPOTLIGHT ARTIST/ EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

During the second night of this year&#39;s OVO Fest in Toronto, Drake brought out Kanye West as a special guest. The two proceeded to perform &ldquo;Pop Style&rdquo; for the cheering crowd, however, Kanye West made an interesting announcement afterwards.

&ldquo;Toronto, I got one question for you,&rdquo; Kanye West said after they wrapped up the performance. &ldquo;Is you all ready for this album? I&#39;m not talking about&nbsp;Pablo. I&#39;m not talking about&nbsp;VIEWS. I want to ask y&#39;all, y&#39;all ready for this album.&rdquo;

Drake then echoed Kanye&#39;s sentiment, saying &ldquo;What my brother was asking before was, are you ready if we make an album? That&#39;s what he was asking.&rdquo; As of right now, we have no more details about this project, but it goes without saying that an album featuring two of hip hop&#39;s biggest superstars would be a pretty monumental event.

After releasing&nbsp;The Life of Pablo,&nbsp;Kanye went on Twitter to thank Drake for his contributions to the album, while also promising to make more music with him in the future.&nbsp; Kanye West and Jay-Z were also both featured on the initial version of Drake&#39;s &ldquo;Pop Style,&rdquo; however, the album version of the song cut their verses in favor of another Drake verse. 
 
By Ryan Donberg for RAPstation.com

During the second night of this year&#39;s OVO Fest in Toronto, Drake brought out Kanye West as a special guest. The two proceeded to perform &ldquo;Pop Style&rdquo; for the cheering crowd, however, Kanye West made an interesting announcement afterwards.

&ldquo;Toronto, I got one question for you...

Kanye West Announces Potential Album with Drake

Grandmaster Melle Mel is&nbsp;the&nbsp;original hip hop MC, and is rightfully celebrated as one of the pioneers of rap. Rap Mind, a site focused on socially conscious rap, was recently given the rare opportunity to speak with Melle Mel, and the Grandmaster gave his opinions on everything from Donald Trump to what he thinks is the true essence of hip hop.

&ldquo;Love. That was the true essence of hip-hop and that might have been the sixth element.&nbsp; None of it started with money.&nbsp; If you were a b-boy you did it because you loved it.&nbsp; If you were a graffiti artist, you weren&rsquo;t going to be famous.&nbsp; If you deejayed, you did it because you loved it,&quot; Melle Mel said. &nbsp;&quot;When you hit the mic, you did it because you loved what you were doing.&nbsp; You didn&rsquo;t do it thinking, I&rsquo;m going to be dope.&nbsp; You did it because you loved it and everything came into fruition after that.&nbsp; And that might be the sixth element; love.&quot;

Grandmaster Melle Mel was the first rapper to carry the title of &quot;MC,&quot; and is best known for writing and rapping &quot;The Message,&quot; one of the most important tracks in hip hop history. &quot;The Message&quot; was one of the first rap songs to become a mainstream success, and its thoughtful, socially conscious lyrics inspired a generation of politically active rappers, including Public Enemy and N.W.A., who themselves would go on to inspire further generations of artists. Needless to say, Grandmaster Melle Mel&#39;s contributions to music history cannot be overstated.

<a href="http://www.rapmind.com/grandmaster-melle-mel-prophesies-in-dark-times/">You can read all of Rap Mind&#39;s interview, which includes more of Melle Mel&#39;s thoughts on politics, society, and his plans for the future, over at Chuck D&#39;s Rap Mind.&nbsp;</a> 
 
By Michael Lacerna for RAPstation.com

Grandmaster Melle Mel is&nbsp;the&nbsp;original hip hop MC, and is rightfully celebrated as one of the pioneers of rap. Rap Mind, a site focused on socially conscious rap, was recently given the rare opportunity to speak with Melle Mel, and the Grandmaster gave his opinions on everything from Donald...

Grandmaster Melle Mel comments on BLM, Trump, and hip hop's purpose

Legendary emcee Rakim recently teamed up with&nbsp;Stephen &ldquo;Ragga&rdquo; Marley&rsquo;s&nbsp;on&nbsp;Revelation Pt. II: The Fruit of Life&nbsp;album, dropping a slew of knowledge and wisdom on the song &ldquo;So Unjust,&rdquo;&nbsp;which also features Canadian MC&nbsp;Kardinal Offishall.

While demonstrating his extraordinary lyrical prowess, Rakim rhymes about the current&nbsp;cultural&nbsp;climate&nbsp;with lines like,&nbsp;&ldquo;Since history, it&rsquo;s been depression and misery, racism, greed, deception and bigotry/They make you choose/You a prisoner or a soldier, but once you fall victim to the system/then you over.&rdquo;

It&rsquo;s not the first time one of Bob Marley&rsquo;s sons has collaborated with a legendary hip hop artist. Stephen&rsquo;s brother Damien Marley teamed up with Nas for 2010&rsquo;s&nbsp;Distant Relatives,&nbsp;while his older brother, Ziggy Marley, has worked with KRS-One.&nbsp; 
 
By Kyle Eustice for RAPstation.com

<center><iframe src="http://www.rapstation.com/videos/embed/137" width="670" height="400" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" ></iframe></center>

Legendary emcee Rakim recently teamed up with&nbsp;Stephen &ldquo;Ragga&rdquo; Marley&rsquo;s&nbsp;on&nbsp;Revelation Pt. II: The Fruit of Life&nbsp;album, dropping a slew of knowledge and wisdom on the song &ldquo;So Unjust,&rdquo;&nbsp;which also features Canadian MC&nbsp;Kardinal Offishall.

Wh...

Legendary Emcee Rakim teams up with Stephen “Ragga” Marley

Today is the 56th birthday of not one, but two members of Public Enemy: both Chuck D and Professor Griff are celebrating their birthdays today. The two Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees were instrumental in giving PE it&#39;s distinct sound and message.

Public Enemy&#39;s socially conscious rap and innovative production style have made them one of the most important and influential hip hop groups in history, inspiring a future generation of artists, ranging all the way from Kanye West to Nirvana to Bjork. A big part of the band&#39;s appeal came from Chuck D, with his booming voice and his smart, witty lyrics, and the band&#39;s Minister of Information, Professor Griff, who fueled Public Enemy&#39;s political activism. The combined effort of the two have ensured that Public Enemy songs like &quot;Fight the Power&quot; continue to be prescient and are still the go-to anthems for political discourse and protest.

Despite being born on the same day in 1960 and growing up in the same area, Chuck D and Professor Griff didn&#39;t meet until the 80&#39;s, when the two met through their mutual connection to Hank Shocklee&#39;s Spectrum City DJ crew. <a href="http://www.publicenemy.com/news/444/happy-birthday-to-chuck-d-and-professor-griff.html">You can read more about both Chuck and Griff&#39;s early history, including a story from Griff about how they met, over on Public Enemy.</a>&nbsp; 
 
By Michael Lacerna for RAPstation.com

Today is the 56th birthday of not one, but two members of Public Enemy: both Chuck D and Professor Griff are celebrating their birthdays today. The two Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees were instrumental in giving PE it&#39;s distinct sound and message.

Public Enemy&#39;s socially conscious ra...

Happy 56th birthday to Public Enemy's Chuck D & Professor Griff

Go beyond the superficial surface of commercial hip hop with Deep In The Trenches, RAPstation&#39;s new weekly show that goes deep on underground hip hop and rap with&nbsp;DJ&nbsp;Mercury&nbsp;and host Mikey D.

Both&nbsp;DJ&nbsp;Mercury&nbsp;and host Mikey D have had over thirty years of experience in the hip hop game --&nbsp;DJ Mercury&nbsp;began his illustrious career in 1984, spinning records for college radio, eventually working with legends like Funk Master Flex and Professor X the Overseer. Mikey D is a bona-fide Queens legend, having been part of the immensely influential 90&#39;s group Main Source, and is widely respected today as one of the best battle rappers in hip hop history.

DJ&nbsp;Mercury&nbsp;and Mikey D teamed with Grand Wizard Rasheen to form the supergroup The Elements of Hip Hop in 2013, and&nbsp;DJ&nbsp;Mercury and Rasheen also worked together to run a 24 hour, pirate radio station airing the best in classic and true school hip hop, which was unfortunately shut down by the FCC.

DJ&nbsp;Mercury&nbsp;and Mikey D have brought their skills and their immense knowledge of hip hop to RAPstation, where they now host Deep In The Trenches, a weekly show that showcases the best underground and unsigned talent that you won&#39;t find on the corporate owned radio. Get the jump on tomorrow&#39;s&nbsp;big acts with the most innovative and raw artists, and get a reminder of what true hip hop is supposed to sound like with Deep In The Trenches.

<a href="http://www.rapstation.com/show/1193/deep-in-the-trenches-with-dj-mercury">Deep In The Trenches airs every&nbsp;Sunday&nbsp;at&nbsp;10:00pm EST&nbsp;here on RAPstation.</a> 
 
By Michael Lacerna for RAPstation.com

Go beyond the superficial surface of commercial hip hop with Deep In The Trenches, RAPstation&#39;s new weekly show that goes deep on underground hip hop and rap with&nbsp;DJ&nbsp;Mercury&nbsp;and host Mikey D.

Both&nbsp;DJ&nbsp;Mercury&nbsp;and host Mikey D have had over thirty years of experien...

LX BEATS: SPOTLIGHT ARTIST/ EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Kanye West Announces Potential Album with Drake

Grandmaster Melle Mel comments on BLM, Trump, and hip hop's purpose

Legendary Emcee Rakim teams up with Stephen “Ragga” Marley

Happy 56th birthday to Public Enemy's Chuck D & Professor Griff

Let's Go Deep In The Trenches

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