By Celene Sakurako

We first heard from Ateneo Musician’s Pool and BuwanBuwan Collective ‘s 19-year-old beat maker on-the-rise Javier Pimentel a.k.a. lui. last October, when he stopped by to play at our ScoutxADMU leg of Scout Campus Tours, then again in November at BuwanBuwan collective’s monthly beat exploration event, Bakunawa. Known for his sample-heavy beats, Javier says, he’s always been into music, “watching MYX or MTV every morning as a kid, and playing rock band or guitar hero at his dad’s video game shop.” Just like any other music-crazed kid, he originally wanted to play in a band, but instead he “ended up producing because no one wanted to make a band with [him].” And while others may have given up, Javier didn’t.

He started teaching himself how to produce beats with YouTube tutorials, but that wasn’t enough to quench his thirst. So, he joined music school Cosmic Sonic Arts just about a year ago, and enlisted himself as a pupil under Similarobjects. Inspired by artists the likes of Nujabes and J Dilla, he practices the craft of creating beats mainly through using samples. He says, “My music is really hip-hop based, especially since I use samples and loops to create my beats. I get called out for sampling, and encounter people who put down sampling, saying I’m not a real musician for it, but I believe sampling as a technique can be powerful, and people shouldn’t be ashamed of it.”

As a second year Communications Technology Management student in Ateneo, he admittedly struggles with juggling his schedule, but following the footsteps of Ta-ku, who made a beat a day to dedicate to his personal idols: J Dilla and Nujabes, with albums 25 Nights For Nujabes and 50 Days for Dilla, he tries to create a beat a day despite being restricted by his parents to gig only on weekends and school nights when he doesn’t have class the next day. He says, “I always put my academics first.”

So far, he’s yet to release his own EP, but he’s been part of a mixtape by AMP and a BuwanBuwan compilation. He says, “I’m still trying to work on my own official release, but so far I have some beats that I feel proud of, so hopefully I can by January before school starts again.” Tomorrow, Dec. 2, he’ll be playing some of them at XX XX from 10pm onwards.

Today, he put together 10 sample-based beats that have inspired him as a beat maker. He says, “The main reason why I chose these is because I want to showcase sampling, and how different beat makers use it in their own styles. Another reason is, I still get called out for sampling, and I want to remove that unjust stigma against sampling.”

ILL SUGI – “Rom And Rum”

“I consider this the first lo-fi track I listened to.”

Similarobjects – “Mahal Kita”

“This beat changed my life.”

justo – “_melonforest”

“I listened to this beat and I felt something. I then found out the story of why he made it after, and it was the same feeling.”

brother brother – “haze”

“Sometimes all you need is a laptop.”

J Dilla – “U-Love (Donuts)”

“A minute is all you need.”

architecture in tokyo – “CITY (ft. マクロスMACROSS 82-99)”

“I really love playing this song when I DJ.”

gny – “meditate”

“I’ve seen this guy grow and he’s been getting better with every beat.”

Madlib – “The Comeback”

“I’ve been going through a Madlib phase recently and I just kept looping this beat.”

Muramasa – “I’ve Never Felt So Good (Soundtrack to a Death)”

“I get a lot of emotions when I listen to this song.”

luv.ly – “mahal kita.”

“This is such a banger.”

Photo by Earl Roxas