Paul C

Paul C. McKasty (September 20, 1964 – July 17, 1989), better known as Paul C, was an American East Coast hip hop pioneer, producer, engineer, and mixer in the 1980s.

The group later recorded a self-titled album at Hi-Five Studios in New York City, which they released in 1985 on Manna Records/Mando-Division Music.

Paul co-wrote the song "I've Got A Hatchet" and his brother Tim played guitar on "First to Fight".

Musician and producer Moogy Klingman, who was a founding member of Todd Rundgren’s Utopia, helped the group mix and master the album.

Klingman acted as a mentor to McKasty and taught him a great deal about the post-production process.

After the group disbanded, Paul started making beats in a bedroom studio at his family's Rosedale, Queens house.

During this time he did some mixing and mastering for the rap group the Clientele Brothers, which consisted of members Will Seville and Eddie O'Jay.

Paul eventually moved his production setup out to his garage and was later introduced to rapper Michael Deering, aka Mikey D, by Eddie and Will.

Not long after he joined Mikey D's group, Mikey D & the LA Posse.

Mikey D described Paul as a musical prodigy and said, "He didn’t even really have to try that hard, it just came so naturally to him. Paul C. was a genius."

He also started working at 1212 Studio in Queens after dropping by the studio to purchase a keyboard voice synthesizer.

During his visits he asked 1212 employee Mick Corey for a job.

Corey described Paul as a somewhat inexperienced engineer who learned quickly.

“Paul was green," he recalled. "I showed him a few things.

He started doing sessions and generally took off from there.”

During his early days at 1212 Paul started sneaking Mikey D and DJ Johnny Quest in after hours to work on Mikey D & the LA Posse material.

It was during these sessions that Paul produced singles like "My Telephone" b/w "Bust A Rhyme Mike" and "I Get Rough" b/w "Go For It".

On "Bust A Rhyme Mike", Paul showed an advanced understanding of the E-mu SP-12 sampler, as he recorded Mikey D making three different percussion sounds with his mouth and wove them together into a beat.

He also impressed Mikey D with his ability to take vocal sounds from beatboxer Rahzel, change their pitch, then turn them into a fluid bassline on "I Get Rough".

“Rahzel didn’t know that his voice was going to become a bassline,” Mikey said.

“It’s not like Paul told Rahzel to play ‘Brick House’.

He caught something from what Rahzel did earlier like a bass and then he played it himself.

It’s like he programmed him into the keys to become a key on a piano.”

He also worked as a producer and engineer for numerous other hip-hop acts.

Paul C's best-known work is on Ultramagnetic MC's 1988 classic debut album Critical Beatdown and the non-album singles the group released between 1988 and 1989.

He has only one credit as a producer on Critical Beatdown, for the track "Give the Drummer Some", but according to group members Paul C was responsible for the overall sound of the album.

DJ Moe Love said that Paul played a pivotal role in the song's creation, even coming up with the hook.

Paul preferred to work without contracts, so he often did not receive credit for his production work.

Although his involvement with Kwamé is not as well known as some of his other collaborations, Paul engineered Kwamé's "The Rhythm" on Christmas Day of 1988.

He also helped engineer additional songs for the Kwamé the Boy Genius: Featuring a New Beginning album, as Kwamé recorded six out of the eight songs from the album during the same session, which lasted from midnight until eight in the morning.

Before his death on July 17, 1989, McKasty gained recognition for his work with notable artists such as Devo, Organized Konfusion, Kwamé, Queen Latifah, Biz Markie, Ultramagnetic MCs, Rahzel, and Eric B & Rakim.

Complex called him "one of the most important figures in the development of sampling" and Questlove of the Roots called McKasty, "damn near the J Dilla of his day."

Paul gave himself the middle name "Charles" after Ray Charles, which he shortened to the initial "C".

He developed an interest in music from his older brother Michael, who was a guitarist, and Tim, who worked as a recording engineer at 1212 Studio in Queens.

According to Paul's middle school friend TeQnotic, he was an already gifted artist and bass guitar player in junior high.

McKasty began his musical career as a bassist of the pop rock band the Mandolindley Road Show.

Band founder and lead singer Lindley Farley said Paul was "a historian about pop music and soul music. And that's what informed everything he did."

During the band's early years he studied his brother John's extensive record collection to learn about different genres.

One of the group's first shows was at the famed Max's Kansas City venue before it closed.

Band member Lindley Farley credits Paul for being the group's best live performer during their early shows.