Lord Finesse

Why he matters

Robert Hall Jr. was raised by his grandmother in the Forest Houses in Morrisania and grew up in the South Bronx. He met Diamond D at St. Augustine Catholic School and sharpened up at freestyle battles at DeWitt Clinton High, where he met A.G. In 1989 he and DJ Mike Smooth signed to Wild Pitch, and Funky Technician followed in 1990 with beats from DJ Premier, Diamond D and Showbiz. It’s a battle record start to finish, all setup and payoff, and it still plays like a clinic in punchlines.

The crew that grew around him became D.I.T.C., Diggin’ in the Crates, named for the hunt for records to sample. Diamond D, Showbiz and A.G., O.C., Buckwild, Fat Joe and Big L all came through it. Finesse is best known as its leader, and his second album, Return of the Funky Man (1992, on Giant), is where he started producing his own tracks.

That turned out to be the bigger career. He produced “Suicidal Thoughts” on Ready to Die in 1994, most of Big L’s Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous in 1995, the title track of O.C.’s Jewelz, and “The Message” on Dr. Dre’s 2001. He produced The Awakening (1996) entirely himself, then mostly stepped back from releasing albums. A spoken intro he cut for a Vinyl Dogs record even ended up as the hook of Fatboy Slim’s “The Rockafeller Skank.”

What a working rapper can take from it

Learn to make the beat. A rapper who can produce controls his sound, his schedule and a second income stream. Finesse started with a couple of tracks on his second album and ended up on records by Biggie and Dre. The sampling guide is a good first afternoon.

Punchlines need setups. Funky Technician lands because every joke is built a bar or two ahead. Write the payoff first, then work backward to the line that makes it hit. The verse-writing guide covers the edit that makes a bar hit twice.

Build a crew of specialists. D.I.T.C. was rappers and producers who made each other better, and the next generation came through the door it opened. Big L met Finesse at an autograph session in a 125th Street record shop. Show up where your heroes are, ready to rap.