By Sherri L. Smith, BlackWeb20.com

Hip hop is big business. Everyone’s getting fat off of the proverbial teat that is hip hop. Despite all this money floating around, the genre is still underserved when it comes to equipment. Beatmakers have been forced to make lemonade out of lemons, having to adapt hardware and software to their needs. Thankfully, this will no longer be a problem thanks to the Beat Kangz.

The Beat Kangz is a three man production team that has earned countless awards for their stellar work producing tracks for countless independent and big name artists including The Roots and KRS-One. They also create beats for ad and media agencies. But aside from being music geniuses, the Kangz are huge techies.

In 2005, they created the  Zoom SB-246 Streetboxx™, a rhythm machine that has been the company’s biggest seller. Refusing to rest on their laurels, the Kangz, comprised of president Aja “A.J.A” Emmanuel and vice-presidents Luke “Boom Bap” Jackson and Reavis “Rev” Mitchell, are releasing their latest and greatest gear that has the potential to change both the music and music equipment industries in a big way.

Set to launch in October, The Beat Kangz have developed the BEAT THANG, a portable beat machine designed specifically for hip hop and electronic music. Weighing in at a mere five pounds, the 11 x 8 x 4 inch device weighs about as much as your average laptop and can fit in a suitcase, a book bag, or “a big ole purse” according to Rev. Taking two years from drawing board to production, the BEAT THANG is a culmination of three disparate musical viewpoints combined with a dedication to creating a product that will best serve the music community, which is a huge deal to the partners.

Boom states, “We’re going to do one thing that the industry doesn’t do because when we’re talking about for us, by us, we’re not just talking about black people. We’re talking about musicians. We’re talking about creative people no matter what color shape or size they come in.”

The BEAT THANG is also eco-friendly, powered with rechargable batteries that give the device approximately six hours of beatmaking fury. The hardware is crammed with over 3000 sounds and 200 beats, kits and loops, perfect for the budding producer to create that next big sound that the industry is constantly questing for. You need strings, congas, and bass? Look no further, the Kangz have you covered. Aja declares, “You can score a film with it. You can make hip hop with it. You can make any genre.” Retailing at $999, the BEAT THANG is a beatmaker’s dream come true.

There’s also BEAT THANG Virtual, a standalone software that operates independently of the hardware. Available now at a wallet-friendly $149, Virtual can do everything the hardware can do.  The low price point was done with the younger audience in mind. Aja explains, “So the 16-year-old just starting out could afford it. It’s quality enough for the most serious of pros, but we designed where it would be affordable and easy to use so even ten years olds could get on it and make beats.”

The software is stored on a 2GB USB key that allows for easy sharing between collaborators. Simply drag and drop the files you want onto a friend’s comp and they can add their unique touches to the track which is directly related to how the Beat Kangz operate.

With a backgrounds in funk, classical music and Computer Science, each member of the triumperant has their own approach to making music, but at the end of the day, they “come together like the Voltron Force” and make noteworthy music and business decisions.

But still the Kangz have more to share with the musicians of the world. To supplement the filet mignon they’re serving up, the Kangz are offering up some caviar in the form of an iTunes app that is set to debut in the app store at an undisclosed date. The app acts as a player for your Beat Thangz tracks, allowing users to separate a track into it’s individual parts, which users can then mute and increase volume as they please. The biggest draw of the app has to be the 20 royalty-free tracks mixed and produced by Grammy-winning producer Commissioner Gordon Williams who’s worked with Jay-Z, Lauryn Hill, Kanye West, and Amy Winehouse to name a few. Perfect for a cyphers, writing session, or making beats the app will only set you back $3. If an artist makes a hit of the app, the Kangz just want one thing — give them a shout out when you get that award.

BlackWeb20.com covers website and application launches; culturally relevant Internet industry news; and mainstream Internet industry news from an African-American perspective.  They also analyze emerging web trends and how they apply to web properties that target African-Americans or African-American culture.

TAGS: Aja Emmanuel, Amy Winehouse, Beat Kangz, BEAT THANG, BEAT THANG Virtual, beatmaking, beatmaking machine, Commissioner Gordon Williams, hip-hop, iTunes, jay-z, Kanye West, KRS-One, Luke "Boom Bap" Jackson, music, music producers, musicians, producers, production, Reavis Mitchell, The Roots, Zoom SB-246

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