Roger E Lear
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In a place called “The Garden”, where inspiration is incubated in the womb of creativity, a producer sits with his soul reaching out to melodies. Melodies reborn as repetitions of head nods or hums hanging out of the mouths of someone blessed to catch a track by this “cultivator” of sound that makes living feel good. This Garden, a studio that sits in Minnetonka, Minnesota, is the place of solace for producer Roger E. Lear also known as R.E.L. In 1992 the Garden bore Smooth Composition Recordings, R.E.L’s response to a necessity for freedom from an industry that was slowly becoming the antithesis of musical creativity, an industry rife with redundancy and an abundance of “status quo” production. He began his journey into music as an Inglewood California deejay in 1979. In 1985 he joined the military. It was while based in Europe he found himself part of a band that had the opportunity to travel. While on tour he discovered that music is his “connection to heaven” where every keyboard or guitar intonation brought him peace. After returning from tour he began to produce music. When his fellow soldiers were hanging out, he was creating. His first demo production was done in 1986 and in 1989 sold his first track. With inspiration derived from producers such as; Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Teddy Riley, L.A. Reid and Babyface, Easy Mo Bee, Dr. Dre., Pete Rock, Quincy Jones, Narada Michael Walden, and Rockwilder, R.E.L has created his unique sound. A sound he calls “Smooth Hop”, tracks akin to sucking on rock candy dipped in honey. From Smooth Jazz to Hip Hop to Gospel to Funk Rock his paradigm of versatility as a producer is met by few. This is evident in his diverse collection of produced work for his Smooth Composition Recording imprint; K.O.S Killers of Society, (Welcome To Death Valley, 1993 and Can I Get My Rip On, 1994, Hip Hop), Extreme (I.A.I.M.A.S, 1995, Hip Hop), Krush (Lord Please Protect Me, 1997 and Friend or Foe, 1999, Hip Hop), Yotman (All Night/Huh What?, 1998, Hip Hop and Spiritual Warfare, 2001, Gospel Hip Hop), From The Vault (Compilation, 2000 Hip Hop), and Eastside (Against All Odds, 2001, Gospel). Also, in 1996 he released “The Collective”, which was touted by the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper as the “first ever hip hop compilation in the history of Minnesota”. It is this recording where R.E.L’s “Smooth Hop” is born. Since the 2001 Eastside’s release R.E.L has been in “The Garden” fine tuning his sound and producing for various artists. With a R.E.L. track you will be arrested by the “Head Nod factor”. Where many producers fall flat on production R.E.L follows what he considers “R.E.L Funkdamentals” to producing a track. A R.E.L track mesmerizes, hypnotizes, and leaves an imprint on your mind that translates into you “nodding your head until your neck hurts”. Teddy Riley had his “New Jack Swing” and the early Minneapolis music scene had the “Minneapolis Sound”. Now the new millennium has “Smooth Hop” growing and created in “The Garden”, cultivated by R.E.L. “…music is freedom. It is the womb I reside in where time is of no factor only the resulting sound is of significance” R.E.L, 2009
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