[media-credit name=’Courtesy of Higher Education Records’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]

Amidst the many addictive albums released this summer, local collective Higher Education Records recently released their second mixtape Lesson II, which comes ready for the playlists of hip-hop heads everywhere. After three years of creating music in the Madison community, members of H.E.R. have explain the ethos behind their beats.

Co-owners Mo ‘Moses’ Pelman and ‘Sean Smart’ Loughran have known each other since they were 11 years old, when they played on the same Milwaukee soccer team. The two were involved in musical activities throughout high school, and they formed the LLC in 2010 when they started recording music with other artists they met while attending Madison Media Institute and University of Wisconsin.

“When we first started doing this, I was just recording every random person that was coming through, but people wouldn’t be staying and hanging out. It’d be more like working for them rather than us just hanging out and having a good time together,” Moses, H.E.R.’s primary beatmaker, said.

Artists from UW’s First Wave Learning Community and other hip hop collectives were involved in H.E.R. from the beginning. But as these artists graduated from school and moved back to jobs and families in their respective cities across the country, H.E.R. became decidedly more local.

“A lot of the original members were temporarily living in Madison, graduated and left. A lot of people that are in it now live here still,” Will Rose, whose artist name is Airhythmatic, said. 

“It went from Higher Education being something where there’s people from all over the country to now, with the core being from Milwaukee and Madison,” Sean Smart said.

While they were happy to establish their foundation with artists across the United States, the unanimous belief seems to be that it’s easier to make music without geographical barriers. Currently, 12 artists record in Madison under the H.E.R. moniker.

“We started, we went through changes, evolved and broke down into a core of people,” Moses said. “Now we’ve pretty much established our foundations, and they’re fitting a lot better.

“And that’s where it is now: everyone enjoys being around each other even if it’s not to record and work. I think that’s kind of what you need in a crew. You gotta be able to enjoy the company of the people you’re working with for a good working environment.”

And it makes it easier when the co-founders live across the street from one another. A typical recording session starts with Moses listening to a record he’s found after scouring Madison music stores for jazz, soul and R&B on vinyl. He listens until he finds an interesting sample and makes a loop out of it, setting the night in motion. He’ll tell the lyricists-often chilling out on couches nearby-to start writing their verses as he layers the track by adding beats, strings and sound effects.

Members will do this several times a week, scheduling time to work around other obligations. They scrap some tracks and start again. But their prolific output makes this process appear easy, even as members work on solo projects. The four members of the collective huddle as they give a rough estimate of the number of side projects-12 and four music videos-expected before the year is through.

Moses says a philosophy that helped H.E.R. succeed came when he asked prominent hip-hop artist RJD2 for advice. The producer responded with three words: “Never say no.”

“You never know where it’s going to go,” Moses said. “We’ve had so many awesome things happen to us just by taking an opportunity. What’s the worst thing that’s going to come out of it”?

As for aspiring artists in the Madison community, “Jermaine Event” Jamar says it’s important to stick with your work.

“Hit those open mics. Get as much practice as possible. It’s repetition,” he said.

Members of H.E.R. are planning to distribute free music and promotional material in the campus area during move-in week. Their addictive, 18-track mixtape Lesson II dropped July 9th and is available for free download online. Other releases can be found through the Higher Education Records website.