Production Breakdown: Kida’s “Ain’t Nothing”

One of the more controversial tracks to hit DJBooth.net this week was West Coast up-and-comer Kida's latest single, “Ain't Nothing.” The ratings were all over the map, with much of the ambivalence centered around Aftermath beatsmith TheRealFocus...' (side note: who puts ellipses in a pseudonym? Focus does, apparently.) instrumental, a hypnotic affair featuring subdued vocal samples, burbling West Coast bass, and glittering synth arpeggios that swirl from one stereo channel to the other. I loved it – and so did quite a few Booth readers – but others disagreed, describing it as “boring” and even calling Focus out on his “repetitive” style.

That's a valid opinion – different strokes for different folks, I guess – even though I have a sneaking suspicion that many of those naysayers were listening to the track through computer speakers. What I found really interesting, though, was that the negative and positive reviewers were saying very similar things; it's just that what was “boring” to one camp was, “simple, but effective” to the other.

What is “simplicity,”in a musical context, anyway? From my perspective, the answer to that question is, well, far from simple. Maybe it would help to start by talking about its opposite, complexity. When you add more layers, or voices (as one reviewer suggested would benefit the record in question), does that increase the complexity of a musical composition? Yeah, in a way it does – “more stuff” is definitely a way of spicing things up, but that kind of complexity is not always a good thing. I mean, my apartment looks like a disaster area at the moment – there are clothes everywhere, books all over the floor, the works. Lots of stuff! It's definitely busy, but it's also far from pleasant (Don't worry ladies, I'm going to clean everything up this weekend!). Kinda like some of those huge, piledriver choruses you hear on the radio nowadays.

Strained metaphors aside, though, the point I'm getting around to is that is that complexity doesn't have to imply quantity, and an uncluttered composition is often simple only on a superficial level. I'd describe Focus' work on “Ain't Nothing” to be complex, in a textural sense. For those listening on headphones, take a moment to sit back and appreciate how different musical elements emerge from the droning background, as well as the aforementioned stereo effects. Pretty cool, huh? It also strikes me as sophisticated in its use of aural space; rather than falling back on the cliché “less is more,” I'll just say that, in this case, less is better.

Some days I'm in the mood for excitement and chaos, but other times artful simplicity can be pretty damned refreshing, and this morning is one of those times. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a couple deep breaths, meditate, and get to work straightening up this pigsty. Om...