The next generation of Chicago footwork producers worked primarily in Fruity Loops rather than hardware drum machines and samplers

Rashad notes a generational tool shift: while the founding generation (Rashad, Spinn, Clent, RP Boo) built their sound on hardware — a Roland/Boss DR-660 drum machine, a Roland JS-30 sampler MIDI-chained together, a Gemini mixer-sampler, and an MPC only from 2004 — the younger producers coming up (DJ Earl, DJ Manny and others in the Teklife circle) worked primarily in Fruity Loops (now FL Studio). They would learn in the studio with the older producers, then continue on Fruity Loops at home. This shift did not fundamentally change the footwork sound — the rhythmic logic and sampling approach stayed consistent — but it democratised access by removing the need for expensive, MIDI-wired hardware.

Examples

Rashad on the old rig: ‘we still had his same drum machine the 660, we had the JS-30 Roland sampler and you had to MIDI that together and do some crazy MIDI stuff.‘

Assessment

Describe the tool shift across footwork generations. Explain what stayed constant despite the change, and what became more accessible.