Pip Skid
A member of the great Fermented Reptile, Pip Skid is on the verge of releasing his first solo album, Friends4Ever, which will be out later this month.
Noyz319: Most people are probably more familiar with the name Wicked Nut, why the decision to come out with your solo album under the Pip Skid moniker?
Pip Skid: it seems to have something to do with progression. i’m actually avoiding my family derived name. create some new things in my life. my name as one. it’s possibly a learned reaction to my lifestyle of burning my trail as i go. leaving very little traces of my where-a-bouts and previous spot riding. you know what i’m sayin? huh?
When can we look for the album to hit stores, has an official release date been set yet?
it’ll be out in the end of feb. wpg release date of feb 28th, and on from
there. sun zoo and mcenroe do their thing. word.
Fermented Reptile is definitely one of the more politically minded groups out there, can we expect the same type of messages to be delivered on the Pip Skid solo album, or are you going to be taking things in another direction in way of concepts?
some how in some way the pip shit is different from fr. if it were a book it’d be closer to the fiction section ,where as fr would be closer to the reference. snap’s 1st lp would be in the photocopier section, y’heard? freinds4ever (the new lp) feels more like a good screaming session than the fr did. fr felt like a good mental bath but i’ve lost a lot more marbles recently and the lp exhibits that i think. i feel more insane = lyrics that might tip off the people next door. the political side of this lp is more personal, less factual. i think its a very political lp though, whatever the hell that means. me being a white race traitor. i feel to be in hiphop these days as a white participant it’s important to be challenging other white folks and our racism. so there’s a chunk of the lp in that touchy space.
I know mcenroe is probably handling most of the production, who are some of the other people making appearances on the album?
mcenroe does the majority of the beats, all the mixing, mastering, layout, some rimes and a million other things like giving the illusion that he’s still 12 years old and he’s the best. i put total faith in his abilities to make shit fresher than the freshest. he’s sick wit as they say. i love rod. other folks include gruf the druid, scratch bastard. shazzam (freksho), gordski (goods), recyclone, kunga219 (goods), knowself, john smith, gumshoe strut (your brother in my backpack), unleavened, epic, and graematter and soso did a few beats up. shit it’s like a master p lp.
How involved are you in choosing which beats you rhyme over? You’ve been working together with mcenroe for quite a while now; does he basically just know the types of beats you like to hear?
he sent a few folks a beat cd and we all rock paper scissor for them. john smith got to most of the standouts 1st. i wont forget that ever. mcenroe makes a loop, i say word i want that. i put my vocals down, then he adds different elements and i give him some vocal samples to put in. and boo ya. do you know what im sayin? then we just like..kick it y’know? “always makin’ hits” as sunil once said on rap city.
I heard you’ve been spending a lot of your time on the East Coast lately, what has it been like hanging around with all those Haligonians?
i don’t live right in smellafax. i live about an hour out so i don’t really hang out so much. it’s funny cause gordski is a lot like hunnicutt. it’s like gord is an alcoholic hunnicutt and hunnicutt is a staight livin gordski in some way or another. i have love for gord and hunnicutt.
How does their hip-hop scene compare to say Winnipeg’s?
i miss wpg sometimes. i just click better with a lot of the wpg scene. i grew up in that, i was a major part of manitoba hiphop. farm fresh had a huge impact on mb hiphop. we created a rap scene out of NOTHING in brandon. i shouldn’t say nothing, the punk scene was what we came out of. wpg seems to have more resources than hlfx. more college radio (with transmitters that actually work), more spots to rock, more diversity, and wax museum (the best spot to throw down a saturday afternoon freestyle). hlfx has been good to me though, some of the hiphopppers have given me huge amounts of support and it feels good. plus moving to another area of the world you lose all your connections and contacts that made life easier, yknow? hlfx is way smaller too. wpg is more of a bangin spot than i thought. it takes distance to see what you had.
To what extent do you feel coming out of Canada has helped or hindered your place in hip-hop?
well living in wpg and hfx it’s not likely your gonna “go places”. canada is just being noticed as a hiphop resource. if a mc wanted to MAKE IT, canada is a slow start. i like it though, its not flooded (minus T dot). w/out the internet we woulda sold 200 fermented’s. if i wasn’t in certain places at certain times i may never have run into hiphop. we (farm fresh) started with absolutely no hiphop scene at all, we made one. this distance from the art form, i know gave me an original place to grow in. i am what i am now cause of where i’ve been, you know what im sayin? its like that.
I haven’t had a chance to witness Fermented live in person yet, but soso and those Beatcomber dudes put together some video footage I had the pleasure of viewing. You’re definitely one of the most intense performers I know of, how do keep your energy level up so high during shows and recording sessions?
i have a pretty strict vegan diet. besides that rapping is my 69 chevy that i wash and paint every day. my live show is intense cause its my therapy. we (me and the crowd) are interacting in a VERY personal way when i perform (most of the time). beer is one of the secret ingredients in the live show. i practice all the time. i rap everyday. i freestyle throughout the whole day. i rap loud by myself all the time. this is the most serious fun i can ever imagine having that comes with an incredible amount of heartbreak and confusion. that energy that you see or feel is pure passion. i fucking need to rap. it keeps me from choking strangers in the street. a good dj is another special ingredient.
It’s everybody’s dream to be able to make a living doing what they love; have you been able to scrape by making hip-hop or are you still working a regular job?
i’m am so broke that i’m scared. no shit, i don’t have a regular job right now and haven’t for a long time. I AM IN DEEP DEBT and i don’t think i wanna make dollars of the rap. i’d rather keep it sane and as business free as possible (i don’t believe business and art mix). i’m pursuing a chef title in wholefood vegan cooking. that’s how i’ll make the crazy dough and continue rapping doughless. in a whole other way, it’s like yea, fuck yea i wanna get paid for this. i’ve been doin this a while and regularly, i’d love to actually take $$ home from a show. youd be surprised at how often i dont get paid for a show. the goods and i are driving to PEI (which has a $40 toll bridge) to play for free beer. so i’m mixed up with all of it, and so as not to be confusing, I WANT LOTS OF CASH MONEY IN MY POSSESSION. just not sure it’d be safe to get it on the mic. and its fukin sad to see all these dope dudes struggling for rent and to put their shit out and gordski had to pawn cds he didn’t want to sell to buy groceries, that shit kills me. all these real def mc’s and dj’s working phone jobs and just getting by and dumping whole checks into equipment and all that. that’s heart, and other suckers blow up with no dues paid just for lookin pretty, shit. still undecided how i’d like to but i know i want those duckets.
Now that the solo album is finished, what’s next in store for Pip Skid? Is there a new Fermented Reptile project in the works?
i’ve been writing mad battle/concept free rimes lately. i wanna make a pause/record tape. i wanna do this lp with john smith. i wanna do this lp with mcenroe. with gumshoe and Yy. with epic. with recyclone. with break bread. with gordski. and all kinds of that shit. my next shit though is a split 12” w/john smith. idea same as the last w/2 songs off the album and 2 unreleased. just wanna record a lot, play a lot. i’d really like to go on a huge tour. as for gruf, yea fermented is on. gruf is writing his new lp rite now. it’s incredible. he’s gonna be blowing minds for years with his shit. he’s so powerful, i think people sleep on gruf, lyrically i’ve always thought he was stronger than me. i think the next fermented could be one of the biggest, rudest, church disrupting farts ever blown.
Any final words?
big shouts to noyz319 and ugsmag. thanks and good lookin out. Friends4Ever is the album. pip
40th Dimension
A dynamic duo repping Philly to the fullest, 40th Dimension have been paying dues for a while now, pressing up their own records, rocking many shows, and spreading the gospel of Trading Places through sick rhyme attacks and banging beats. With their stellar debut LP The Crop Report now available, Scand and Happ G take a minute to break things down. Read on.
Brolin: Who were your first influences in hip-hop?
Happ G: The cats that first hit me hard were Run DMC, Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, NWA, LL Cool J, and then later it was Nas, Gang Starr, and Cypress that sealed it.
Scandal: When I was a young buck my next-door neighbor Vince used to spin records off his fire escape while we ran ball, and I just remember how hot the shit was. I can’t really say which artists hit me the most, but I fell in love with that shit.
B: How did you guys hook up and start 40th Dimension?
Scandal: We started whylin out in 1st grade, but it didn’t transform into a musical effort until high school, and then it got serious in college when Happ G started stackin the equipment, and I found a place to consistently build.
B: Where does the name come from?
Happ G: Aw, that’s a toughie. It goes way back, but the cliff notes version is, aside from killin 40s like quarter waters in high school, the number 40 itself was poppin up everywhere from SEPTA busses and highway exits to pager numbers and intercom codes. Heads can peep the “Super Scandalous” 12” cover for the full story.
Scandal: It also reflects where the various types of ill shit that be poppin out of my briznain come from!
B: What’s the scene like in Philly? Is it supportive or competitive or what?
Scandal: Both. If you find a smaller family of cats to work with early on, it makes it easier to network, but a lot of niggaz be hatin.
B: Do you guys have a big following locally?
Happ G: We have a small loyal following.
Scandal: Of drunk-ass psychos and dope biddies.
B: Are you down with other Philly heads like Jedi Mind, Bahamadia, Dept. Of Rec, etc?
Scandal: I’m feelin all those cats, and I hope they feelin us. We all share mutual friends.
B: When did you guys decide you wanted to get serious with the music?
Happ G: Around our second year of college we got pretty serious with it.
B: You’ve put out an EP and two singles. Of those what are your personal favorite tracks?
Happ G: “Positive”, “Zip It”, “Scaaand”.
Scandal: “Tiddy-Itty”, “Spitsbergen 2”, “Positive”, and the rest of them.
B: Who did the “Zip It” cover? That drawing is fresh.
Happ G: My man Damon from Trauma 12 in NYC. They’re a design company and they got BANGIN t-shirts.
Scandal: They hooked us up with some ill gear.
Happ G: Heads can check out their website trauma12.com for the flavors.
B: What’s up with the full-length? When will it be out and where can we find it?
Scandal: It’s off the motherfuckin wall on some other shit. It’s a fun
album. It’s gonna come out Dec. 2nd, we got a release party on Dec. 6th in Philly. Heads can cop it at the local shop or snatch it off the screen at ughh.com, hiphopinfinity.com, sandboxautomatic.com and the like. Or heads can order em directly through us from our site 40thdimension.com.
B: Are you gonna do any out of state shows anytime soon?
Scandal: Actually I’m headin to Boston today for a show, and we’ve already hit spots like Montreal, Chicago, NY, and D.C.
Happ G: We would love to roll out west and link up for shows. Any promoters out there, all it takes is a bus ticket, a case of 40s, and a 3-piece combo with mashed potatoes.
B: For heads who’ve never heard you before how would you describe your sound?
Scandal: Everything from old school chill, to straight up ill.
B: What’s your take on the internet/mp3s?
Happ G: It’s a double-edged sword. The internet and mp3s allow lesser known artists like us to get our music out to more people, but I can understand acts on larger labels feeling like it’s taking money out of their pockets.
Scandal: I’m computer illiterate. I’m not allowed to play with them.
B: what was the last album that really blew you away?
Happ G: Gang Starr’s Moment of Truth, and more recently Pete Rock’s Petestumentals jawn had me flippin.
Scandal: I know I’m mad underground and shit, but the new Jadakiss jawn is the illest shit out right now. It brings it back to the 93-95 state of things
B: Production wise what equipment do you use and which producers inspire you?
Happ G: I use the SP-1200, 2 tables, a multi-track recorder, and a mixing console, and I got an s3000 rack mount sampler that I’m just beginning to incorporate in my productions. Producers that really inspire me are Pete Rock, Large Professor, NO ID, Premier, Muggs, The Bomb Squad, the Beatnuts, Marley Marl, Dre, and then the younger cats in the game that I’m feelin most are Alchemist, J-Zone and my man Snuff of Media 101. All these cats inspire me and keep me on my toes trying new things and new ideas out.
B: What do you think of the Neptunes? It seems like people either love em or hate em.
Scandal: I hear their shit in my sleep it’s on so often, so obviously I’m prone to nodding my head and humming along like everyone else.
Happ G: Not my personal favorites, but I gotta give em credit for making the catchy ass jams.
B: You got some pretty sick rhymes, how long you been rapping?
Scandal: Since I was born on hash and talking normally just wasn’t
interesting enough.
B: Do you battle and freestyle a lot?
Scandal: Like a dog shits and eats out of the trash.
B: What do you think of rappers who don’t/cant come off the head?
Scandal: there is a place for them. Somewhere far off in the compilation end of the hip-hop section of the store.
B: Do you guys make money, lose money, or break even off the vinyl?
Happ G: We’ll just say that it’s a labor of love right now and leave it at that.
B: If a major label came a calling would you take the loot and risk the industry shadiness or say fuck it and keep doing things yourself?
Scandal: Take the loot!! Take the loot!!
B: Who’s the hottest rap chick?
Scandal: Lil’ Kim, I’d bust up her framework like a champ!
B: What would be your fantasy posse cut team (including producer and DJ)?
Happ G: There are so many combos that would be hot, for instance a track produced by the Beatnuts featuring Redman, Scram Jones, Nas, Scandal, and Mad Skillz, with cuts by DJ Jazzy Jeff, would be insanely hot.
B: If you could do a collabo with any artist, from any genre, living or dead who would it be and why?
Scandal: The list is too ridiculous. I’d love to be around James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, Bob Marley and legends of that caliber when they’re steppin up in the booth.
Happ G: I can’t pick one but I know I’d love to have done something with Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, and Al Green, those motherfuckers had so much soul. It also would have been bangin to be around Robert Johnson when he was writing some of his jams.
B: What was the best show(s) you ever saw?
Scandal: I was too bent at the real good ones to compare them.
Happ G: I saw a show in NYC that was the Cold Crush Brothers anniversary party, it was the illest, Cold Crush ripped it, DITC performed (minus a sick Fat Joe) and on the wheels were Premier, Evil Dee, Tony Touch and Kid Capri. That jawn was probably the illest I’ve ever seen and there were mad other heads in the crowd, it was like a hip-hop all-star game.
B: What’s up with the Trading Places stuff?
Scandal: The movie reps Philly hard, Eddie is the man, and we are on some other shit.
Happ G: I’m just a little obsessed with that movie, they filmed that in my neighborhood. On a more symbolic level we’re tryin to take the old farts outta the game with our steez like Winthorp and Billy Ray did.
B: Any opinion on the Jay-Z/Nas/Prodigy beef?
Scandal: I love beef as long as it stays on wax and cats don’t start
believin their own hype.
Happ G: I got no opinion except to say that Nas’ joint “Stillmatic” ripped Jay a new asshole. Beef is inevitable on some level if you’re the top dog in the game, you become the obvious target to mad heads, but it’s cool as long as heads don’t bring out the toolies.
B: what’s the biggest problem with hip-hop today?
Scandal: Money and media. Wack shit blows up, hot shit gets commercialized by the hype. There is plenty to go around.
Happ G: It’s people completely outside of the culture that saw it was making money and chose to exploit the next hot thing. I’ll be mad happy when I stop seeing DJs in fast food commercials.
B: Who are the most overrated and underrated cats out right now?
Scandal: Overrated - Fabolous, underrated - Scram Jones
B: If you were guaranteed cash and fame but you had to do a track with Aaron Carter and Lil Romeo to get it would you still go for it?
Scandal: I’ll do the track with 3 levels of wordplay beyond their logic, and subliminally make a mockery of them while pullin in the cheese.
B: What’s the best thing about living in Philly?
Happ G: Philly got mad heart and you can’t front on that.
B: Are the Sixers gonna come through this year?
Scandal: Without any type of doubt.
The Crop Report LP is in stores now For more on 40th Dimension, check out 40thdimension.com
All Natural
On the eve of what will be their second and final album entitled “Second Nature” MC Capital D and DJ Tone B. Nimble are well prepared for life outside of hiphop. Below you will find a conversation I had with these two educated brothers and close friends. We had a chance to cover a lot of topics including what lies ahead in the future for All Natural Inc., Capital D’s conversion to Islam, and his retirement from music.
Jbutters: What motivated you to write “Fresh Air” and whose idea was it to package it with the album?
Capital D: I always wanted to be a writer. That’s one of the things that I liked about hiphop was that it was writing and music. The real motivation came when I was working in a bookstore and I saw these little books that were about the same size as a cassette tape. That’s when the idea struck me to put it together with a tape.
J: What’s the focus of the new book “Writer’s Block”?
C: Actually I’m not working on that anymore. That was going to be a collection of characters from the song “Writer’s Block”. It was going to be a little bit about each character, but I’m not really working on that right now instead I’m working on a book of poetry.
J: What’s the name of that going to be?
C: Its going to be called “African Americans and Other Oxymorons”.
J: On the first album you dropped “50 Years” talking about how certain periods in hiphop would be viewed in the future. Where do you feel All Natural’s place in hiphop will be and how do you plan on achieving that status?
Tone B. Nimble: I think we’ve basically achieved how we’re going to be looked at by what we have already done. People may like the next record we’re about to put out, but I think the foundation of how people look at us will be based on our first record. I don’t think its going to be anything major. They may mention Midwest hiphop and while talking about Chicago underground they may say All Natural. Nothing real in depth but it will be documented and they will say it was quality music between ‘97-2002.
J: Capital D you mentioned you had converted to Islam and you aren’t going to be doing any more albums. Does that mean All Natural albums or music all together?
C: We have the All Natural album done right now. That’s Second Nature and that’s coming out and I may come out with a solo album that’s pretty much done too. Other than that I’m not going to be concentrating on music. I could see Tone and I working on something here and there but I don’t think it would amount to a full album.
J: How has the conversion caused that change?
C: Well Islam looks down upon music. Music is forbidden by the Prophet Mohammed, but not forbidden in the Holy Koran. There is a lot of debate as to whether or not one can do music. I believe it is possible to do music and still be a good Muslim and definitely a good person. At the same time I think there are a lot of other things I could be doing with myself. If I’m doing music in order to get a message out to speak about important things I could be doing it through better ways than hiphop.
J: Will both of you still be concentrating on All Natural Inc.?
C: Tone runs All Natural Inc.
J: What artists do you have coming off of All Natural Inc. and what can we look forward to this year?
T: Well we released the Iomos Marad 12”, there will be a Daily Planet 12”, Greenweedz is kind of in between those but he is working on a full album. Everyone is putting out 2 twelve inches and then an album. Collaboration wise we are going to have a Family Tree 12”. If there is enough material we will release more Family Tree records. Right now we are about to release a Family Tree CD with songs from everyone like All Natural, Iomos Marad, Daily Planet, etc. The next Family Tree record will be on vinyl and it will be everyone doing songs with each other. From there I don’t know there is talk of people doing individual projects but definitely everyone will be putting out two 12”s.
J: What business philosophy does the company follow? Is it more of just a platform to release music or more of a family since you mentioned Family Tree?
T: Well Family Tree and All Natural Inc. are two separate things. Family tree is a group D and Greenweedz started. With me being in All Natural I was included as were other people who were associated with Greenweedz. We added as time went on. All Natural Inc. is the label Dave and myself started for artists. You didn’t have to necessarily be in the Family Tree to be with All Natural Inc. We just wanted to put out dope hiphop with Chicago as the focal point but you didn’t have to be from Chicago. If you were dope and we had the funds or a way to put it out we would. I’m still trying to follow that philosophy. Right now I’m trying to deal with people I know on a personal level.
J: Is the success of the label more important than the individualized success of the artists?
T: Where I would like to be is where people buy All Natural Inc. because they recognize that whatever we drop is quality. They don’t necessarily have to read about Iomos Marad ten times, they can say I never heard of the artist but its probably dope.
J: Capital D what are you looking to do in your spare time to get your message out since you may only sporadically release music.
C: Well I’m writing. I’m writing a book of poetry. I have one book of poetry done. I’m working on another one right now. Both books are short stories and essays. I’m trying to get into grad school and see exactly what I want to pursue in school. Eventually I’ll probably want to teach and run some kind of publishing business.
J: What process did you go into creating this album and did you know it was going to be the last album beforehand?
C: Not before any of it was actually done
T: However we weren’t sure there was going to be another album after this one. It’s a long time in between records.
C: It’s a big commitment and a serious process to do our album. There were never any guarantees there was going to be another one. I think on this album we weren’t looking ahead to the future we were looking back to what could have been better on the first album. We were looking at where hiphop was at right now and where we were. I think the second album is a lot better than the first album. We just analyzed what made the first album straight and how we could make the second one better.
J: How much production on the album is done by each of you and since you both produce how do your styles differ?
C: The range of beats was one of the things that limited the first album. I did most of the beats for the first album, we had Panik do two beats, Andy C. did two and No ID did one. Other than that I did the rest of them. On the new album Panik did 3 or 4…
T: He did 3 that we are using. I did two and D did three depending on what comes out.
C: Then we got Memo and he did like four. Then we collaborated with Lone catalyst. J. Rawls did a beat, G-(Riot) from the Family Tree did two beats, one instrumental and one song. We just got a wider range of styles. I think I have my way of doing beats which is good for me. I think I sound good over the beats I do, but putting together an entire album you don’t get a lot of variety. That was something we looked to do on the new album, we wanted to get more people’s input. Tone digs more than I do.
T: I just dig but I don’t dig to produce I just dig to buy stuff I could play. When I hear stuff that’s good I just use trial and error. There’s no real formula and it’s not something I’m trying to do hardcore. I’ll do it if I have time or if I hear something that I like that I think will sound fresh.
J: Are you doing a lot of Djin at a bunch of different spots?
T: I DJ a lot in Chicago. That’s how I pay my bills.
J: Capital D do you have a name for your solo project yet?
C: It will probably be called “One”
J: What type of things do you think you could accomplish on the solo album that you couldn’t on two All Natural albums?
C: The solo initially was going to be more experimental stuff and political rhymes. On the first album I had some allusions to political topics but it was more focused upon hiphop. Originally the solo was going to be focused on politics with hiphop beats but every rhyme had to be talking about something. Now the way I look at it it’s more spiritual than political. When it’s All Natural that’s Tone and my name. There are some things though as an individual that I may believe so strongly about that I need to do or say something but with my name on it because Tone may not feel the same way. The change from political to spiritual is basically the change in myself.
J: I already asked Cap D what he’s going to be doing outside hiphop. Tone how long do you see yourself continuing music and what ventures do you have planned outside of music?
T: Well I go to grad school now. What Dave plans to do is similar to what I plan to do. He plans to teach and run publishing. After a while unless I’m djin and working in a record store, which i’m not going to do forever, you cant stay up to date with what’s hitting on a music tip. I don’t want to put out stuff that’s dated. A lot of old cats put out stuff they think is hitting and it sounds mad dated because they don’t do the research and are too busy hating on what the new stuff sounds like. I’m current so I listen to everything whether I like it or not. I can pick and choose what I think is dope and what’s not and what I could add to the repertoire. As long as I’m current I’ll continue to do music or run the label, DJ, and go to school. Once I’m finished with school I want to run the label for a little while, teach and go into Sports Psychology.
J: Besides the variety of production what are some things you learned after the first album that made you approach the second album somewhat differently?
T: Sound Quality. A lot of different things as far as sound quality.
C: You always know the sound quality is important but when you are first trying to put something out you are trying to balance the importance of sound quality with your budget. I think a lot of people spend all their money in studios to get one or two songs done and they never put anything out. Other people might put out a lot of stuff that’s just half ass. I think we kinda walked the line between but we might have been slipping off to the half ass. Ha ha
J: Haha
T: <
C: or Mobb Deep but its fresh
T: That’s one thing about underground you can sacrifice a little sound quality and replace it with freshness.
C:
T: We can forecast how much money we can make so we can afford to spend a little bit more. Not a lot more but its money well spent.
C: One thing that changed was that we got to do some touring. We got to see what people are listening to overseas, how they’re living and what’s on their minds. We got to see stuff we would never have seen.
J: What spots did you get to tour?
C: We went to England three times, Scotland a couple times, Amsterdam, Sweden, Portugal…but never the West Coast haha.
J: Haha you performed all over Europe and never even made it to Cali?
T: We just got to NYC this year
C: Yea NY for the first real time
J: Where in NYC
T: CMJ. It was cool.
C: We went to Buffalo before we went to NYC. We hit Buffalo, Cleveland, St. Louis and of course Chicago.
J: You both seem well prepared for careers outside of hiphop. Was music more of a springboard into your next ventures?
C: When we did the first album I think it was both for the future and present. One of the reasons I put the book with the album is because I knew I wanted to write. I may not want to always tour, high school kids may not be feeling Capital D when he’s 40 years old. I always wanted to transition from the music into writing. Its was always going to be Tone and I running the label. Even if All Natural wasn’t hitting we would know who was. The struggles we went through to get on and seeing people change their styles to get on a major label helped us realize if you have an independent label with a good reputation and enough money to put in your pocket we could make it easier for a younger cat no matter what the style. I didn’t know about the whole music restriction even after I converted. That’s the biggest change to me. Otherwise we’d be concentrating on other artists. As far as my personal life I would definitely still be involved in music.
J: What were the first thoughts or feelings you had once you decided to stop doing music. Is it something you felt so strongly about that you didn’t have any second thoughts?
C: I still have second thoughts about it to be totally honest. It’s difficult because I love music. I did a song with J.U.I.C.E about a week ago. Just listening to him kick his rhyme it just reminded me about all the things I love about hiphop, then in the midst of actually listening to the rhyme it will remind me of the things I don’t like about hiphop. Most things are love hate. I think about all the time I spent trying to do music related business and it seems like a shame not to do it anymore. On the other hand it’s a shame I haven’t written a couple books or have a teaching certificate because I spent all this time on music. So it’s two ways to look at it. Its not like its no second thoughts that’s why I think we will probably do a song here and there. If I feel the urge to say something and it will also be a good All Natural song I don’t see why we wouldn’t do it. However being honest to Tone that may happen once in 2 years. As we both plan our lives out whereas he could rely on me before he cant rely on me for that now.
J: Tone did that change your outlook on future of your musical career and base it more on your education?
T: Well I was already in school. I didn’t start going to school because of that. It was harder for me to go to school because I don’t know how many incompletes I got because we would go out of town at the end of the year. It threw me for a loop but I was also kind of expecting it because of a conversation we had in Portugal. I even mentioned it to other people but we been together for a long time so obviously I was disappointed. I think David is a better person now than he was then. He has made significant changes in his life and it would be really selfish if I was like he played me. He did something he felt was right. I can still do my thing because talented brothers already surrounded us. I had to sit down and plan how I wanted to restructure things. Ask myself did I even want to continue but once it was all said and done I don’t have the reasons to stop music like he does so it would be even harder for me. I applaud what he has done. To me what he has done is much more difficult than anything we’ve done together and we been to hell and back. Nothing has been this difficult.
J: When will the album be released and how many tracks can heads expect?
T: Its called Second Nature. Its supposed to be released April 16th. It’s going to be between 14-17 songs depending. Certain songs will be on it overseas that won’t be on it here and some songs we may decide not to put on it. The CD is going to come out on Thrill Jockey and the vinyl will come out on Fat Beats. We have a single coming out the first week of February off of Fat Beats called “Elements of Style”. There’s also going to be a Family Tree album in mid March but it might be available in mid February. Check the website for more info at www.AllNaturalhiphop.com
J: Any Final Words capital D?
C: The second All Natural album is a good album. It’s better than the first without question. I haven’t heard anyone who has ever listened to it say otherwise. A lot of people don’t think its going to be better but I feel good about putting the album out. I haven’t listened to any music during Ramadan so it’s been like a month and a half. It’s been about 2 to 3 months since I had listened to All Natural stuff. We were in the studio mastering songs yesterday and to hear it again I feel it’s a real strong hiphop album. Tone and I still talk as much as we used to talk. We still will talk about music, I may not talk to him in the same setting but at the same time we weren’t going to clubs to be friends. Not doing music is a big change, not doing shows is a change but if I want I can listen to the stuff we’ve done. If I feel the urge to do a beat I can go ahead and make one. I still talk to the same people I did stuff with that’s one of the reasons it hasn’t been that hard and made it more bearable.
Onemanarmy
What did you think I was gone? No, No Jbutters is back with another interview and what better way is there to start off 2001 than with an EXCLUSIVE! Below this intro paragraph you will find an interview with the Onemanarmy of Binary Star fame who sheds light on the current situation with the group and the truth behind all the rumors you have heard. Read closely to get all your questions answered from an authentic hiphop head.
Jbutters: How was the show last night?
Onemanarmy: It was dope. It was in Ann Arbor, Michigan in collaboration with this kid named Havoc. I host the battles and after the battle we do like 30-minute sets so it was like a show/battle.
J: Was this a Onemanarmy show or a Binary Star show?
O: It was more like a Subterraneous show. They really are Onemanarmy shows but I have the rest of the crew there so every now and then we do some posse cuts. I haven’t done a Binary show in like a year.
J: Before I get into that I want to ask you about your aliases. From Mr. Ree Man to The Anonymous you have a lot of different names. Do each of them have a lot of depth?
O: Back in the day around ‘95-‘96 my MC name was Lofat. HipHop is forever growing and changing and some MC names have time limits. To me a MC name is real personal but at the same time it’s like a tattoo, you feeling it for the first six or seven years but when you 50 years old that ain’t even you no more. To me it isn’t really a name thing it’s more like an attribute thing or a way to express myself through different means. I felt like if I was Onemanarmy I couldn’t do no love shit cuz Onemanarmy don’t do that but Mr. Hide do love stuff. One Be Lo is another side of me, Boy Wonda is a different side of me. Another person would say it just sound like you got a lot of nicknames but if you pay attention to which name is on each joint its different trains of thought. Every time I sit down and write it’s a different mission. Sometimes it’s a creativity thing; sometimes it’s a battle thing or a storything etc. I didn’t explain that enough on Waterworld. On the album people got confused with all the names just on the track. They all stemmed from The Anonymous. My whole mission on the mic is like I could care less if people know who I am I just want people to respect my music. The Anonymous can’t keep dropping albums left and right. Its another way for me to put out a lot of music without cats saying “That’s Onemanarmy. How he gonna do some shit like this”. Then you got kids saying I ain’t feeling Lofat, but I love One Be Lo, Onemanarmy he’s ok and they don’t even know it’s the same person. I’m more so a conceptualist. I don’t go and change my voice or put on wigs for different characters. The name thing is just a concept, me stepping outside the rhyme and continuing my concept that’s how I remain anonymous. If I tell everyone I’m the Anonymous I won’t even be Anonymous anymore.
J: Yea that makes a lot of sense going beyond the song allowing the mc name to become apart of the concept taking it one step further. So let’s talk about the Binary album..
O: This Binary shit is like 2-3 years old.
J: Really?
O: Some of these songs are damn near 5 years old. Being an artist I make new shit everyday, I got so many new songs this old stuff is actually kind of annoying, as a solo artist, mainly because we haven’t recorded in almost a year. With the album just dropping it’s like the Ghost of Christmas Past, now I gotta go back and be Binary Star again.
J: That leads right to my next question. There have been mad rumors going around about Binary Star that you guys broke up after Waterworld. How did the rumors start and what is the current situation with the group?
O: Obviously we weren’t trying to start a rumor like that because it isn’t helping Binary Star. The kind of fan I am I love artists, I could care less about a beat or rhyme I respect the artist. If you drop a dope album and then tell me the crew ain’t together anymore I’m not gonna have no faith in what I’m listening too. I love Senim Silla to death and he is still one of my favorite MCs but the thing with Binary Star is that we basically had business differences. We both had our own way of doing things. I felt we had a formula for success and it was working. We had a whole lot more work to do and I felt that cats were content with the state we were in. I’m the type of artist that feels that nobody is going to tell me how to do what I’m doing and I respect other artist where I wont tell them how to do the shit they doing. So basically I said you do things the best way you know how and I’m going to things the best way I know. I don’t believe in democracy when it comes to my shit. It wasn’t creative differences it was that cats had they own goals. Of course we aint gone always agree, but if we a crew we can’t be disagreeing 9 times out of 10 and then say we a crew. But that shouldn’t be a surprise, I said on the album that “a lot of people will look at Binary Star and think that we a crew, but in reality, we just two emcee’s that revolve around each other, and that’s how we shine.
J: Is there a possibility for another Binary Star album?
O: I’m sure we’ll record again but right now that isn’t even my focus. I’m pro Binary Star. It just got to the point where kid’s started disagreeing just because they had the right to disagree, and I felt like that wasn’t why I was making music. It ain’t no beef or nothing I’m just keeping it moving with or without Senim. My album is recorded, Waterworld 2 is already done, Maliki 12”, Majestic Legend’s album is halfway recorded, my whole crew is tight. My solo shit was ready along time ago but I couldn’t drop it before the Binary album because people would have been confused. Don’t get me wrong classic material don’t ever die. I love this shit. I love it for who we were when we did it and the experience we had. If I had the chance to do it all over again, I would it exactly the same.
J: Waterworld and M.O.T.U seem to be essentially the same album explain the differences between the two.
O: The Waterworld album was originally supposed to be a compilation featuring Decompoze, Athletic Mic League, basically cats in my crew. I went to everybody and told them we were doing a compilation and we are going to call it Waterworld bring your shit here’s the deadline. Underground cats don’t believe in deadlines. The deadline comes and nobody got shit but Decompoze, he got 2 joints. So I’m like we got all these songs we can put on it because it’s going to cost the same to press the CDs. The whole point was to do the compilation to make a couple dollars so we can put out the real Binary album. We worked on $500 budget. We made a lot of mistakes and we weren’t even trying to correct them because of the limited budget. Senim and me dropped every verse in one take.
J: That’s what I heard and to me that sounds crazy to do every verse in one take. Did you freestyle at all or was all your material just that well practiced before hand?
O: Me and Decompoze mixed the songs without a digital board, we didn’t have shit sequenced we did all the drops by hand yo. Every time I hear a snare drop or a drum kick back in or drop out I feel that shit cuz I can see me pushing the button on every single drop. That’s why I was loving that shit. The thing is me and Decompoze worked hard, we was going to work taking our paychecks so we came in with a totally different mentality than the kid’s who wasn’t paying for it. It was like you can come in bullshitting if you want too but you gotta have this shit tight before you even get here.
J: How do you respond to the critical acclaim you have received and still stay focused on your solo work with all the hype surrounding Binary Star?
O: We’re heads that got something to say. If MCs were doing what they supposed to be doing I wouldn’t even be rhyming. I got sick of taking up for all the Nas’, Wu Tang’s etc. I know some of these cats cant even look themselves in the mirror without a $100 bill hanging in their face. Some cats do it for money, women, or fame. Its my sole responsibility to do what I gotta to the best of my ability and at the same time shed light on cats doing the bullshit. So when you say how do we feel about heads responding to this saying its classic or they feeling it, that’s how you supposed to feel. I wouldn’t put out any shit that I didn’t feel like it was classic, so it feels good when at least one head feels that way. Everyone has there own definition of what’s good and what’s bad. To me it’s like how can you write a wack verse or make a wack beat. We was anti industry on Waterworld, no hooks, no choruses, fuck 16 bars, we making music for heads. If its live then heads gonna say its live an accept it. We not the kids who just started listening to hiphop; we have been doing this for a long ass time. We grew up in on era where you didn’t even think about touching the mic unless you had skills. I meet kids everyday like “Yo I just started making beats 2 months ago, I want to get you on my joint”. To me that’s disrespect but I don’t tell them that, but I believe you have to crawl before you walk. Half the albums dropping the past few years wouldn’t get the same love if they were dropped in ‘92-‘94. That’s because the overall state of HipHop is so low you can drop a mediocre album and still shine.
J: It’s all about marketing and promotion these days
O: I know for every 1000 people loving Binary Star there are a billion people that don’t even know. So if you get gassed up cuz some cats is feeling you, you might be humbled going somewhere else. This ain’t for everybody so we don’t try to make dope rhymes we make good music. If it’s a good song everyone will feel it. As far as doing my solo shit in the midst of the hype, my album has been done since April. Binary has been done since ‘99. I sent off the M.O.T.U masters in April. The first release date was August, then it got pushed back we been waiting forever for it to come out. I was two seconds from saying Fuck it but I put too much into it to walk away from it. This Binary shit was definitely a big test for me.
J: I’ve seen Subterraneous records proclaim to be not just as label but a movement. Describe the movement you are trying to achieve?
O: The definition of Subterraneous is one who lives underground. It’s a movement to activate these fans and these heads to realize that they have responsibilities. It’s about supporting HipHop whether you buy my shit or not. Where do you buy your records from Tower or the mom and pop stores supporting HipHop. Do you download music or do you go buy that shit. Are you to good to pay to get into shows, because every time you don’t it tells promoters this type of music isn’t marketable. Somebody has to support artists. It’s your responsible to boo wack cats off the stage and if you see heads you feeling show them some love. HipHop isn’t just MCs, DJs, and production teams. HipHop is people. I don’t want people to feel that they have to be a b-boy or dj to be HipHop. It’s in the heart. You have a lot of people that don’t understand HipHop because the people who live it are like fuck it, it ain’t for them anyway. How are they supposed to understand it when we exclude them from the jump? MCs, DJs, fans, promoters all have responsibilities to support other artists too. People tend to use HipHop to try to get you to buy their shit. That’s called a career they not doing it for HipHop.
J: I heard you have a Onemanarmy comic book series coming out. Tell me a little about that and whose idea was it.
O: The comic book overall is my struggle with the industry. I put all the characters into it like the Onemanarmy and Mr. Ree Man and they all do different things. Then you have the industry in the comic as a big, evil kingpin named Shady Biz. He goes around with his army of wack MCs and A&R’s terrorizing a world called HipHop with an evil force called rap. They poison the airwaves and take the Onemanarmy’s family hostage. In other words my little sister is into this rap shit and that’s my way of saying Shady Biz has my family hostage. You run up in the record store and there are jars with deals in them and wack emcees run into the store vandalizing and stealing deals from real MCs. Everything is symbolic. So the song talks about what the comic book will be about. I’ll spit a verse to you:
“Once upon a time lived a man named Lo/ Everywhere he go he make the crowd say ho!/grown man flow for the boys and girls now let me tell you kids about a place called Waterworld/ shaped like a mitten/ I rock the mic higgin/ my block recite copywritten rhymes I be spittin/ nobody knows the true identity/ It’s a Clark Kent thing one superman army/ straight out the sound booth timberland boots/ my necklace alone could pierce any bullet proof/ So now that you know who the good guy is/ every story has a villain this one is Shady Biz/ kingpin all about the dividends/ panties, wack emcees to torture HipHop citizens/ with some powerful force he call rap/ but the Onemanarmy here to stop all that/ chop all that/ Navy on the mpc/ literary military on the m-I-c/ one man up against a whole army/ full of a&r’s, wack emcees, and r&b/ Industry y’all nothing but snakes to me/ HipHop Waterworld is the place to be/ no place Shady Biz or fake emcees/ we bout to set y’all free just wait and see”.
I’m working with my man Kenji on this comic book series. He is the kid that did the Binary Star artwork. The way it came together was that he came to me with some Onemanarmy shit.
J: Will you package it with the single?
O: I’m only coming with the content and concepts he is coming with the drawings. For the Waterworld 2 CD what I want to have is a prelude or pre-version of the comic book. We are trying to get the comic book done as soon as possible. The storyline is coming along. I’m almost literally a one-man army. I’m promoting, booking my shows. Making beats, coming up with the budgets, doing the comic book, doing posters, the newsletters, etc. so it’s a slow process when your doing it by yourself.
J: Financially supporting all avenues of your music including recording, promoting, and distribution must be draining. What are some examples of how the business has influenced your social life?
O: HipHop is my social life. All my friends I either rhyme with them or see them in the clubs. I go to sleep at 4 am and get up at 6 am. I can’t go to sleep knowing that I didn’t do shit today. One day in Shallah I can get all the sleep I can get. Right now though it’s a struggle. My shit has to get out there, the comic book has to get done, and these posters got to get done. I’m getting thousands of angry emails saying shit isn’t in the stores. I gotta clean up TRC mistakes and I’m doing the best I can. They fucking up the 12” covers and I have to explain that too, but I’m positive cuz I know Allahu-Akbar. When its time to get it done its getting done. Its just sad that people just hearing Binary Star today are like wait so you mean they aren’t a group anymore? We still Binary Star in the sense that if someone wanted to book tours that we could do that but as far as working on future shit I’m not even thinking about it right now.
J: With the experience in the studio do you prefer to do all aspects of creation yourself? (I.e. engineering, mixing, production)
O: When you’re working with other people it boils down to communication. Personally I think it’s all about knowing your product and where you want to go with it. Sometimes you need other people’s input sometimes you don’t when I write a verse I already know how I want the track mixed. I haven’t really worked with any outside producers. I have a problem with letting other people mix shit cuz not everybody focuses on the same thing. I’d rather work alone or with a cat that is on the same page. I’m open for suggestions but if I don’t have any control of the outcome I don’t want any part of it. I only work with people that are consistent with not talent wise but feel and concept.
J: How do you even have time to write rhymes and make beats when you seem so pre-occupied with everything else your responsible for?
O: I’m always doing something. On the way to where I’m going I may be listening to a song to see how I’m going to critique it in the studio. I might go to the T-shirt shop and scope out inks and all that. From there I might work on some newsletters. Then if I’m at home not doing anything I may make a beat or Majestik Legend might come by and we write to another track or I get a call from Jbutters and we do an interview. Since I’ve been home from prison in ‘97 i’ve never had a day off. HipHop is my life, HipHop is about people and people are your biggest resource. I love the fans because that’s whose been street teaming for me. Cat’s reviewing the album and posting it everywhere keeping it alive. I have nothing but love for them.
J: With the popularity of Eminem and respect garnered by Binary Star has Detroit’s HipHop scene evolved?
O: It’s more Eminem and Slum Village wannabes. A lot of people don’t want to work. I’m from Pontiac, right outside Detroit. In the beginning the Detroit cats weren’t showing us any love cuz we weren’t from Detroit. The fans were screaming Binary Star cuz nobody was fucking with us onstage. Then the Detroit cats started asking us to do shows trying to use us but we needed the exposure. Heads around here so busy screaming 3-1-3 but when you go outside Detroit nobody want to hear that. My motivation is Allah, the fans coming to me saying they feeling my shit.
J: How do you want to end this interview?
O: Let the fans know to come to www.subterraneousrecords.com for all the updates. Be on the lookout for the Onemanarmy joint. I’m going to hold the album for a minute. I want to let the Binary Star album accumulate then I’m going to drop a few Onemanarmy 12”s with a few different companies. With Waterworld 2 I’m taking the Waterworld concept and I’m doing what I originally wanted to do. Its going to introduce the world to Subterraneous Records, Majestik Legend, Maliki, Decompoze, Kodac, Illite, 9-5 Colony and I’m telling you if cats is trippin over this Binary shit they gonna go crazy when they hear this Onemanarmy shit. If I got something to do with it its gonna be classic, I’m not saying that in an arrogant way I just want to guarantee these heads that if you ain’t got nothing to play no more stay tuned. We already added a Binary Star album to your collection and we gonna keep adding. Anyone can be Subterraneous, if you believe in HipHop and you want to preserve this culture then you already subterraneous. Stop supporting the bullshit and support the real shit.
Grap Luva
Grap Luva was born in Manhattan and raised in Mount Vernon, NY. He is younger brother to legendary producer Pete Rock but became involved with music through his father who DJ’d in Jamaica and can still be found rocking parties in the Bronx. Gaining attention for his production work for J Live and Lone Catalysts and MCing on releases from the UKs Nextmen and his own “Touch the Sky” from the Wide Angles Compilation. Check for his work with Sound Providers being released on ABB in the coming months.
Q: What are your musical influences?
Grap Luva: It ranges from Bambaata to James Brown, from Ahmad Jamal to Bob Marley and a few genres in between.
Q: What type of music do you listen to the most?
GL: I think I listen to hiphop the most. Also, I like good modern soul music. Stuff that you don’t hear on the radio twenty times a day like Loose Ends or Omar Lye-Fook. Not too many people know about him. I also dig jazz , Roots Reggae, the doo wop sound, fifties to present in soul music. If it has a good groove, I can get with it.
Q: What do you prefer, producing or MCing?
GL: I lean toward producing. I used to write and not take it too serious. Then people started telling me they liked my voice and I started taking it more serious. I always liked writing but I started taking it more serious. That was five or six years ago. I prefer producing.
Q: Do you have a list of MCs you would like to work with?
GL: Dat X, Common, Pharaohe Monch, and Mos Def.
Q: Who are your favorite hiphop artists?
GL: GURU, Large Pro, Q-Tip when he’s on some real shit. AG, OC, Busta, Rob-O, Mos Def, De La Soul, The Roots and the entire Wu Tang family, even Old Dirty Bastard. I like the Toronto scene. Cyrkle Crew, Kombo, Unspoken Heard, and even a little Jay Z once in a while.
Q: Favorite producers?
GL: Pete Rock, of course! Primo, Marley Marl, Dr Dre, Leon F. Sylvers, Quincy Jones, Carl Macintosh, Prince Paul, he’s sick. Mark the 45 King and James Brown, one of the funkiest mofos ever.
Q: Being someone who works with an SP 1200, how do you feel when people say sampling is stealing?
GL: They’re wrong. Its an art form. If you do it properly its an art form.
Now if you do it the way those cats did who came out in 95 and 96, its not the same. When people heard it, they knew their motive. Money. Fast easy money. Trying to make money off what someone else has already put out. Now when its done properly… when people take certain sounds and make it go, its like they are playing the instruments. Then there’s layering. Its fuller more orchestrated. Horns can come in. You can bring keys in. Its dope. Like conducting.
Q: What do you notice about a track?
GL: I like it when it hit hits you in the mid section. I like funky bass plucks. Acoustic bass, jazz bass.
Q: What do you think about the response to your music from Europe?
GL: I appreciate it. I appreciate it all and am looking forward to going back over there.
Q: Do you think being on an independent label limits access to your music?
GL: Not at all. Every level has a fan base. I would rather have creative
control and help with all the aspects of putting a record out. Help get it
distributed. But it’s a paradox. You can have that on the major label side too. Look at my brethren Dead Prez. They do it the way they want to. You’ll never hear them on the radio fifteen times a day. You’re never going to hear Jeru’s Return of the Prophet on the radio ten times a day. That’s false. Lauryn Hill’s not the only one doing culturally responsible music. They did that song for Diallo and you never heard that on the radio. It’s not the DJs fault, his hands are tied. You’ve got to have ying and yang.
Q: What is your ultimate goal?
GL: My own label where artists could express themselves.
Q: Would you want to work in other genres?
GL: I would be willing to produce some deep soul music. All the music I make has to mean something. Someone has to take responsibility. These rappers out there putting out those oppressive records will tell you they are doing it to help their kids live better. But how much better are their kids going to be living when they come into contact with other kids who were influenced by the things they were saying on their records.