GEEK for Beats with Mark Little

Words by Matthew Spence:

Time to get my epic 90s voice ready <clears throat>

Selling at your local corner stores, cause comic shops and Goodwill said, “Nahhh, we’re good,” and dropping out of every box of knock-off Captain Crunch you pour in the night. “The White Flying Lotus.”. The limited comic book series that’s circulating around like someone trying to find a parking spot. Illustrating the day in the life, living in the Hip-Hop universe: colors that pop more than the architecture of Candyland, humor that gives Aaron McGruder a Napoleon Complex, all while giving two 2Pac middle fingers to the Marvel Variants like someone used the last of the milk and still put the gallon bottle in the fridge. Don’t miss out on the latest Issue 14: “Donuts Loop for a Reason.” We’ll leave the poets and MCs to the side and voyeur (in a non-deviant way) on a different side of the HHU.

In one panel, you’ll see Clive trying to find his best swim trunks to deep dive in toxic waste, and in another, we’ll see Khadijah trying to perform a séance to talk to Nujabes and Dilla. Why? Comic or not, the superpower of a producer in hip-hop is something that the Aqua Teen scientist couldn’t even invent a machine to get them. Telekinesis is cool and all; sure, Superman can fly, but can he flip this Chrono Trigger instrumental? What can you do with this Cortex song? You either have it or not; you put in 10,000 hours and study the gods to get it, or you come up short. Now I could write a 700-page thesis essay on the skill set and how often-overlooked hip-hop producers (or, in general, producers) are, that Questlove would ask for my sloppy-ass autograph. If you look up producer in the dictionary, you’ll see the definition: “BITCH, WHAT ABOUT ME??!?!.”.

To be able to have a smorgasbord of a musical library, exploring everything and listening to everything. Use that geekiness to take a song/multiple songs, pinpoint a special moment, and create a whole other piece of art that Quentin Tarantino would write you down on the list of people to take from. Creating your vision while creating one for another. It’s like audio Tetris, waiting for the right part to come down to finally connect everything in its right place, yet at the same time, say “FUCK THAT” and put it together however you want. And let’s not even get started on those who rarely sample and produce music from scratch. To have that musical finesse, they’re all tight.

 

City to city, state to state, country to country, pick a bedroom or basement. With a TV show scene transition, there’s a line stretched like an elastic of producers: men, women, gay, straight, and everyone in between, up-and-coming trying to be the missing page to someone’s story. As producers are the backbone for artists we love. Remember, DJ Jazzy Jeff got top billing over the Fresh Prince for a reason. Be the necklace for someone’s musical pendant. As I write this, thousands of beats are being made, and everyone is hoping for their moment like Q in Juice. In that sea of passion and talent, Mark Little stands out like Waldo with an Akai MPC and a Funkadelic vinyl.

 

Stomping in the grounds of the Justin Long state, Mark Little is a CT-based artist: producer, beatmaker, DJ, and overall artist that comes from the cloth of Pharrell’s “You Can Do It Too.”. An A+ student of hip-hop who’s close to graduating, with production that reminds contrarians that it’s ok to have…say it with me now… Range. Beats that carry the jazz that Q-Tip had, loops that make Pete Rock and Dilla throw an MPC floppy disk in the air like a graduation cap. Shit, that’d make 9th Wonder raise his glass. Sprinkle in some R&B influence into the beats that make you wanna binge listen to Zhané and Yvettee Michelle. Taking all of his influences that span from legends to GOATS: “My biggest influences when starting to make beats, and it pretty much laid the blueprint on my sound, were Dilla, Madlib, Flying Lotus, DOOM, Pete Rock, Knxwledge, Just Blaze, Q-Tip, Dibia$e, Tuamie, Pharrell, Moodymann, Tyler, The Creator, DJ Premier, DJ Shadow, Alchemist, and RZA.” Continuing he said, “They didn’t shy away from being different and how alien they were when it came to this rap shit. These guys are gods to me.” Starting from his debut, 2021’s “You’re A Joke,” to his “Sup Dawg” series, Vol. 1 and 3, each of his albums contains instrumentals that the Lo-Fi girl and Arnold would have bomb-ass study sessions with. Pick an album, throw it on shuffle, and you’ll get a Fade to Black moment.

 

 

Beats like Plush are something JID and J. Cole are waiting for; his hip-hop arsenal is stronger than Sade’s pride (did I reference that song right?). However, 2024 is where we have to remember to expect the unexpected, as his most recent release in his catalog, GEEK, is more of a club/house music-inspired album. A bit of a departure from his more hip-hop-focused intstrumental projects. Giving you two choices: chill and listen in your room, or request a track at a dope ass party. Don’t get dizzy from the spin his musical switch has; there are tracks that give you something to dance to and songs that keep his signature vibe to chill and skate to. Pick your juice: Dance to HAZMAT

 

Chill to 1AM in MYSTIC. The World is yours.

 

Nas told us in 94 and Mark listened in 06 (possibly)

Like a lucky one, he was living it up childhood style in the ’00s. Peak culture. Smack DVDs, Motorollas, and 4XL shirts when you wore a small, and that sweet transition into DatPiff, skinny jeans, Lil B, and when it was SWAG OVER EVERYTHING. “So Soulja Boy was cracking, and all of those fun rap dance songs were taking over, while there was early ATL trap going crazy with even Wayne and Ye blossoming. But also the birth of blog rap was starting to rise, so I was always visiting those websites a lot, like 2dopeboyz and nahright, and learning about rappers that I love today.” Being engulfed by skating at a young age via riding the concrete waves outside, watching videos inside, or playing Tony Hawk games. Music is life now, but it’s owed to skate culture.” Hearing different genres of music in skate videos and playing the Tony Hawk Pro Skater video games is what sparked my interest.” Yet, a double whammy was happening in the middle of this: developing a love for hip-hop. By now, we know skate culture has become a 4th Beatle to hip-hop culture, to keep it contained for convenient purposes and laziness to explain it all: Motherfuckers be skating to rap music, and rappers be skating. For decades now. At some point, the music caught Mark’s interest and piqued his itch to learn about the arts. Mining for beats, you could say [Shout-out to Beatminerz, IYKYK]. “Being a history geek, I started to learn its origins and became super fascinated, man. So much history that impacted the culture. It felt like joining an exclusive club, and you finally were in it. I sometimes want to go back to that time hearing those artists for the first time because it was always a special moment.”

The floodgate would open, and the gate to a whole new Kingdom Hearts world would open. Listening to all of his influences and then some led to his pivotal moment. Dear Summer of 09, oh how you were special: “I did a bunch of research on what producers used, and I saw that FL Studio was available, so I downloaded that software (mind you, this was the trial version), and the rest is history.” Adding a note to his story: it’s a great example of the beauty of being Black; you learn to make the best with little (no pun intended) you have. Using the free demo version, everything he made had to be done in one go for a few years until he got the official version. Oddly enough (no pun intended again), just like one of his influences.

 

Today’s lesson, folks: Saving is a luxury, and do it when you can…seriously.

But it was those 5 years; it was trial and error worth the wait because in 2025, in a marriage with his SP404, he’s managed to get 6 projects in. Talented in his scene, and on the rise for more. So, I, being the noisy ass dork that likes to ask questions, got to send him some questions, and he answered. You’ll read it in….now?

My producing process is pretty much straightforward. I’m always searching for samples pretty much almost every single day. It can be at a store, and they play music, and I Shazam it, or record stores, or even online. Whatever works pretty much. When hearing a sample, I usually focus on melodies, mainly cause that melody can be used as a good loop to sample too. Then I can lay the groundwork on tweaking it. How I’m gonna chop it, different octaves, what drums will sound good on the samples. Drums are always hella important. If your drums aren’t up to par, then your beat ain’t gonna knock. There’s beats I’ve heard where the sample is cool, but the drums are just godawful. If it ain’t making you break your neck or giving you a stank face, then it’s a no. I’m always very particular on what snares or kicks will sound good on the sample I flip. I usually make my beats on my SP404 or FL Studio. I don’t have this crazy setup with a crap ton of equipment. Just my machine and computer. I always tell people that it don’t matter what you make your beats with; if your beat knocks then that’s important. I have the most basic setup, and that’s been making me happy since I was 14. So why change the formula? I love being in my own world. Another thing too about me is that I don’t like making beats every single day. I don’t like to feel burned out or overworking myself. It lacks in the spark of being creative, and honestly, if I went that to that route, I would feel like I’m half-assing it. To me, it’s a disservice to myself as an artist and to the premise of beat-making. I know everyone’s work ethic is different, but for me, I like to create when I want to have that drive and spark.

 

2. Which skate game soundtrack would you love to be on: SKATE or Tony Hawk?

Oh, easily. Tony Hawk Pro Skater. That game really changed a whole generation of kids getting into music and creating, me being one of them. All of the music I love today came from those games. They were the basis of what music I like to listen to. So many artists I’ve discovered I became big fans of. If Tony made another game and asked to use my music, it would be the highest honor. That game literally changed my life, and it’s the reason why everything happened today. Without that game, Mark Little wouldn’t exist. And it was the first time I ever saw skating too, so it’s very deep on why I connect with that game so much.

3. This year [Dec 2024 is when I sent the questions FYI] you seemed to have had a battery in your back to prove yourself as the best producer out (whether in CT or in the underground). What sparked the motivation? Do you feel you accomplished just that?

This is going to sound weird, but when it comes to this music thing, especially in the CT scene or in the underground space, I feel like the misunderstood stepchild or cousin of the scene. I think it’s because I have a different approach and perspective on music and how everyone’s intentions should be. I like to be different and not follow rules, so when that clashes with people that aren’t used to what I do or how I move, there’s sometimes a miscommunication within the scene. It be feeling like high school sometimes, and I’m not about that. I don’t follow trends or have a main character syndrome to prove that I’m good. I know what I make and present is good, and I appreciate every single person that has supported me throughout the years, and I can’t believe that people be tuned in on what I do; it’s still shocking to me. Cause I don’t make music for anybody besides me and me only. And the fact that heads tap in is a blessing. I’m just not a braggadocious type of cat to be like, “Yo, I’m nice on what I do.” It’s one thing to be confident but to abuse that power and act all high and mighty is not suitable, and it displaces ignorance. But sometimes I feel like I don’t get taken serious and it’s a defeating feeling.

 

I was tired of the backhanded compliments, like, Yeah, we see what you do, but we don’t really care; we only care what the other homie is doing cause he’s our boy. I think the breaking point was when I did a set one time, and I was playing flips I made and no one really was feeling it. Like a few people were vibing, but it wasn’t the reception I thought I was going to get. But then someone else goes on after me, and they instantly ultra-hype them up to a 1000 and give a crazy ton of energy, and it was a huge reality check. Like, fuck, am I really appreciated for what I do or get any acknowledgment? Am I really accepted into this crowd? Do people really want me in these spaces? I pretty much had my Kendrick Lamar moment and was like respectfully fuck everyone, I’m coming in hot and reminding everybody in this scene why I’m good at what I do and I’ll show everyone I feel like I’m the best producer in this scene, and being unapologetic about it.

 

[Matthew interjecting: reading that gave me Deja Vu:]

 

 

Everyone that knows me knows that I’m very humble, and I carry myself in a good light, and I respect a lot of heads. But I feel like there are some heads in this music thing that are only popping cause of how popular they are and how they are in the cool trendy spaces, not cause of their skill set and what makes them unique. That’s what makes it high school sometimes for me. And it’s frustrating because you got people in this scene that deserve their shine and that really care about music and the purity of it, while some are putting in half the effort and getting by with mediocrity. So my goal was to show, like, “Yo, I can be good or better than people in this space with a simple equipment and crush it.” My close friends told me I had to be confident in myself and stop overthinking about how people perceive me and not to care about acceptance. Just let your skills do the talking, and people will come around. And that’s the mindset I went with every beat I made, every show I performed at, just anything, just to prove a point why I get the respect that I get in this small scene. And to people who showed me that, I love every single one of you. I’m literally nothing without y’all. That shit really making me keep believing in myself and to keep going.

 

I’ll be 30 next year, and I feel I’m just getting started truly. I’ve had so many ups and downs with this music thing for years. People making fun of me, trying to son me, and at this point I ain’t having that. I’ve let a lot of people walk on me and try to misvalue my worth, and it’s the reason why I don’t take a lot of shit and do it my own way. I’ll figure it out myself and follow my path, and it’s worked each time. So I do feel like I’ve accomplished that, but it’s only part 1 of it. There are more goals to achieve, and I really believe I can do it. I just have to keep pushing and not give up.

 

 

This is the end…Beautiful friend. Stream and listen to GEEK and all of  Mark Littles’ music wherever you listen to music and keep up with him on whichever platform you frequent yo.