D-Will

Kansas City-based producer, MC and DJ D-Will recently told us that he makes at least five beats a day. Though an admirable claim, we didn’t think much of it until we remembered a line that beat guru Kanye West once rapped: You can’t fathom my love, dude/Lock yourself in a room doin’ five beats a day for three summers/That’s a different world. Not that D-Will is destined to become the next West, but the name of the game on his latest, the Just Add Water mix tape, is sharp kick drums plus a penchant for creating original melodies for locals CES Cru, the Soul Servers and Approach to rhyme over. Will delivers a solid mix with Just Add Water, and his hard work shows in the quiltlike arrangements and cuts between tracks. He processes beats, rhymes and turntable tricks like some kind of hip-hop studio’s in-house cyborg. But to D-Will: Just don’t forget to eat, man.