History
To understand Beat Studies today, you have to look to the past when it was established in 2005. Then, CEO BJ Alden had different partners. Turntableist/Beatmaker Eforce 1200 was an integral part in establishing the young company. He and BJ got together once a week and banged on the MPC, added some scratches and slowly began developing the sound that has evolved into what Beat Studies is today. They became an LLC, signed a young artist by the name of Jaero, tracked vocals to some of their beats and began learning how to record, arrange, and mix complete songs.
In Fall 2007, Eforce 1200 and Jaero left Beat Studies to pursue other interests. Alden was left holding the torch and the fire was starting to fade. If Beat Studies didn’t find a new direction soon, the company and its momentum would wane.
That vision came in early 2008 when Alden linked up with the hungry young artist, SIMP. Alden and SIMP hit it off immediately with SIMP providing the musical vocals and intelligent lyrics for which Alden had been searching. SIMP was made a partner in Beat Studies along with graphic designer, Kristen Alden, and emcee extraordinaire, Q-SAN, whom BJ Alden met while producing ”16 Bars of Gold” that same year. While the sound and direction of Beat Studies was evolving during this burst of momentum, the image and branding of the company was taking shape as well.
Today Beat Studies has grown into a respected independent label and full service production house through the collaborative efforts of Alden and his new partners. Even though the studio continues to be an important aspect of the company, Beat Studies’ main focus is creating content. It is an outlet and an opportunity for artists to have a voice for change, reform, enlightenment, self-empowerment and creativity. It is a movement. And like the fellow beat before him, Jack Kerouac, Alden sees it as no beginning or ending, it just is… with Beat Studies viewed as a company that treats music as the art that it just is.
