Hip-hop was center stage Thursday night at Red Bull’s Big Tune Los Angeles competition as 12 of Los Angeles’ brightest up-and-coming beat makers went head-to-head in a single-elimination competition judged by audience applause.  The winner and runner-up from the competition earned a ticket to the Chicago Big Tune finals where they will battle other producers for an opportunity to collaborate with a hip-hop legend.  Previous Big Tune winners married their beats to lyrics by Nas, Young Buck, and most recently Ghost Face Killah.

The event, held at the world famous El Rey theater, raised over $3700 and all proceeds will go towards buying music production equipment for select LAUSD after school programs.

As the night was getting started, I sat back stage interviewing legendary Hip-Hop Producer DJ Premier, celebrity guest and headlining MC for the event.  We sat talking on the dressing room couch as the cutting-edge beats bounced in the background, and at one point in the interview, DJ Premier paused and said, “I don’t know who this is right here, but…DAMN… We’re doing an interview right now while we’re nodding our heads!”

DJ Premier shares his knowledge

I asked DJ Premier what advice he had for the budding producers and he responded saying, “Be original, study other people that you love but don’t bite their style. Take tid-bits from everyone and develop your own flavor, then your will earn yourself a piece in the puzzle.”

After my chat with DJ Premier, I went out to enjoy the smashing synths and genre-bending beats from Pal Slaps, Hi-Rez and the other talented producers most of which looked under the legal drinking age.

Renowned Beat maker Nottz took the stage between prelims and finals to share sound bytes from his star-studded arsenal of work.  Contestants and crowd alike danced as Nottz showcased collaborations with Notorious B.I.G, Busta Rhymes, and a plethora of other impressive names.

In the end, the frenzied crowd chose “Dibia$e” champion and “Captain” runner-up, securing the Los Angelinos tickets to the windy city for the final competition.  The evening concluded with a lesson from the master himself with DJ Premier spinning late into the night.  To find out more about Red Bull’s Big Tune, go to http://www.redbullusa.com/cs/Satellite/en_US/Big-Tune-Homepage/001242834696634/. Be sure to check out the photo gallery below for all the night’s highlights.

Words by Mike Bucher with photos by Sidney Bensimon