Behind The Scenes A Look At The Creation Of "3rd Eye Vision"

(Clockwise) Casual, Del, Tajai & Opio Opio & Tajai Dropping Shit Pep Love About To Light The Mic

Domino arrives, we talk, and I go into the sound stage to set up a camera to record Opio in front of the mic. In the sound room, you can't hear the beat, except for it leaking out of the headphones that the crew is wearing. The mood was completely different inside the studio. Tajai sat on a stool a bit out of sight and Opio stood in front of the mic. He would record the vocals and listen to the playback. Tajai would give him feedback, then they would hear from the crew in the mixing room. "It was tight" was the catch phrase of the day. After laying down the main vocals, Opio went back and added his "add-libs." These are the doubled up vocals that Hiero has often used, where it almost sounds like an echo, or an acted out version of the words spoken; in the studio it is referred to as an "add-lib." If I thought these guys were meticulous with laying down lyrics, they are just as focused when laying the add-libs, even if it�s only one word. Opio finished his verse and left the recording room to listen to it in the mixing room. He talked with Domino about the Add-Libs they just added, and agreed with the end results. Tajai was next to lay down his lyrics. With a lot of down time between takes, Tajai was happy to oblige conversation. We talked about past shows that I had seen and his feelings on the new album. 'Nuff said, Tajai belted out his lyrics peaking out a 158 dB microphone, which Matt says is quite a feat. Not happy with the congestion in his voice, Tajai finished multiple takes and came close, but didn't find the right take that he wanted. Opio and Pep were up next to lay down their vocals for another song. Opio came back in wearing an A's hat and freaked his verses quickly and efficiently. What was being done was a rough lay-down for the final elements that were to be remixed and later mastered for printing. Pep finished his lyrics and the crew called it a night. Inside the mix room, perfectly fat blunts were rolled and smoked by the crew. The mood had mellowed out since many people had left and everyone was just hanging out. Domino gave me a sample of some incredible Del shit in his jeep and that was more than enough to keep me going until the next day.