[MP3: View post to listen]
[MP3: View post to listen]

How intense was it moving to New York and having to struggle so much in the early days?

It was very dramatic… haha. I originally moved to NY on the pretense of going to school out there, but in retrospect that was never really the plan. I’d given up on school somewhere around 7th grade. So when I started performing at the Nuyorican and was met with some immediate success, that was all the validation I needed. I let my family know that I was quitting school, which touched off a crazy shit storm. There was a long period where most of them refused to speak to me, or would call and threaten me and shit.

So the decision to pursue my career as a performer basically deaded all family relationships at that point, and I’d made the decision to drop out of school and had no place to live. I was basically living on friend’s couches that winter, crashing with girls and sleeping in subway stations and sometimes on trains. So, it was a long winter until I finally scored a job as a doorman on Park Avenue.

That job allowed me to buy my first drum machine and laptop, which I kept at a friends house, and then after I had those things I found an apartment. I was young and I felt invincible and like my feet were finally on the path though. It was hard but it didn’t phase me too much.

Is it easier today than it was in those early stages of your career?

Not really. It’s just hard in different ways. Some things have gotten easier. Parts of the process I’ve gained a very good mastery of in the past decade. But other hard things have come along to fill in the gaps. Hard work rewarded with harder work. It’s always taken a sick amount of effort and an unhealthy amount of ambition and focus… and maybe when it stops being hard you should quit. It’s easier to heat my apartment now. Harder finding time to stay there and enjoy it.

Do you find it kind of ironic that you dropped out of school when so much of what you do is informing and educating people?

Yeah. It certainly seems ironic when I’m asked to perform or lecture at Universities, and in general the educating role that I end up taking on a lot of the time. I’ve always loved the process of education though… the actual relationship between a good teacher and a good student, and the process of people learning from each other. I’m into that. In some ways I function like a career student, and I credit that with getting me to where I am today. I’ve really never stopped learning, or being hungry to learn, or been satisfied with a certain base of knowledge or ‘expertise’. I’m constantly seeking out new shit that I don’t know about, and trying to absorb and understand it… so, I appreciate learning. However, I became really disenchanted with educational institutions from a young age. I was always a kid that was aware of death, due to some things that happened when I was young. I always knew about the concept of death and that I would die… which obviously made me a very weird kid. Haha. But I can remember being in 3rd or 4th grade and thinking “why am I doing good in this school? So I can get into a better school. Why do good there? So I can get into a good college. Why? Get a good job? Why? Work until I die.” something about the whole industrialized learning process that they put you through in school… I saw through that shit at a young age and stopped trusting it. Then later I learned that it’s true that the department of labor is actually responsible for setting the standards for the department of education. So the purpose of school isn’t to help you actualize yourself as a human being, in this country. Their purpose is just to produce the desired traits in the next generation of workers. And I guess I instinctually resisted that shit. So, that’s where that kind of seeming contradiction comes from probably. Love learning, hate schools.

You faced a lot of doubters and, as you mentioned, hurt your relationship with your family because of your pursuit of a career in music. How did it feel to quiet your doubters?

Well, the shit with my family is complex. My grandmother and grandfather both immigrated to America with next to nothing, went to work in sweatshops and factories, and established a better life for their kids. My father still works in the same warehouse he worked in my whole life, and my mother was a secretary at a law firm. So, basically I come from a working class family with immigrant values; and my job in the order of things was to do good in school and become a doctor or a lawyer or something. And continue the climb up the social ladder. haha. Until my children’s children presumably become the first Guinea president. So, when I announced that I was gonna drop out of school, pursue my dream of being a rapper, and probably continue to shovel shit alongside my father in the same warehouse while trying to do so… I was throwing a big wrench in the works. So, 10 years later they recognize my tenacity even if they don’t understand what the hell I do. And they see me traveling and making money and shit… So there’s a kind of grudging respect. And on my end I had to make a decision years later to just accept them for who they are and be at peace. When you consider neglect and abuse that goes on, family can do worse shit than doubt you. I can get over people doubting me.

The production Alias does on this album really does a good job of setting the mood. How was it working with him throughout this process.

Alias is the shit man. I don’t know if there’s a more talented, unsung producer doing it right now. He also happens to be one of the nicest dudes I’ve ever met, and I consider him a real friend. We developed a kind of trusting friendship relationship early on, and fairly quickly, after doing some shows on Sage’s ‘Death Dance’ tour together… Which allowed us to be really up front with each other through the whole process… There was no awkward or uncertain period really. We were both confident that we were fans of the same kind of shit in hip-hop, and that we both understood what kind of album we wanted to make. So from there it was just a process of passing the demos back and forth and working out the songs.

By the way. That shit with the band on “Border Crossing” is so fucking ill!

Yeah, “Border Crossing” was a special kind of track man. Pulling all of that together was a really incredible and rewarding job. All together that song took about 6 months to complete, from the time I started conceptualizing it and made the demo, to tracking down the What Cheer? Brigade, to working with them on an arrangement and having Alias come down to Providence and record them, make the track, finalize the vocals and writing, etc. There was really a period of despair with that song. Where I felt like ‘Fuck man. There is no WAY this song can survive being worked on for this long. This has to suck.’ but miraculously, it doesn’t suck. That song is a total anomaly in the course of my career. Haha… usually if you think you stink…

You and Sage Francis have great creative chemistry. Any chance we’ll be seeing a B. Dolan, Sage Francis collaboration album?

It’s certainly been discussed, though mostly in jest. There’s no strong concept of how to approach a project like that. I would say the chances are fairly high that it’ll happen at some point though. We did a run of shows with El-p earlier this year and he kept referring to us as “The Bushwackaz,” after that old WWF group. The two bald brothers who used to lick each other’s heads. So maybe that’ll be the group name. Plus it has the political double meaning. We can call the lp ‘Fuck Bush.’ We’ll be right on time with that.

Your piece, “5 Ways to Bleed Your Customer” for urb.com is on some real shit and you’ve got a song called, “50 Ways to Bleed Your Customer” on the album that touches on the same issues. You mentioned how important it is that you educate yourself. How important is informing your listeners of the atrocities we commit against each other and our environment?

Well, for me I feel it’s important to actually do something in terms of social justice work, instead of just rapping about it. Which is why I created the Knowmore.org website along with Sage in 2005. We try to offer that resource to people who hear the political content in our music and are fired up and want to make some positive change in their lives and the lives of others. I never know, really, what impact my music is having on people in that sense. My only frame of reference is personal experience, and I know that I started thinking about politics at a young age, probably due mostly to Chuck D, KRS, and later bands like Rage Against the Machine… I remember they had an album insert that was just a picture of a pile of books and I started hunting down those books… But, that just sparked a kind of awareness.

Only after living in NY on September 11th did I actually get active and start doing real work on issues, because the immediacy of these ideas came home to me, and I saw my city become a warzone overnight. So… you know… I don’t know what it takes to turn a comfortable, middle class college student into a soldier for change. Or if rap songs will ever or could have ever had the power to organize working class and poor people single-handedly. If Chuck D, and Bob Dylan, and John Lennon’s music didn’t spark a revolution, I’d have to be feeling myself pretty hard to think that mine had some quality theirs didn’t. So, when it comes to political art I just try to make things that are honest, and that I have genuine feelings about… I try to communicate it all in ways that are radical and challenging, without sounding preachy or like I know better than anyone else. It is what it is. Then I go try to balance that with some action in the real world, and some hours of work.

I’ve lead whole workshops on this topic man. Haha. Your questions are too good. This is a tricky subject. Political art and its usefulness… It’s like, I think music can in some cases be an incredibly powerful revolutionary force… but you can never rely on that happening. Like in South Africa, songs were really important to the whole anti-apartheid movement. They were critical tools. When the men were marching towards you with guns, what kept the line from breaking is that everyone locked arms and sang the same songs. Those songs were real-world weapons. But in other cases, a song is just a song. A Che Guevera t-shirt can be a totally empty symbol, and the kid wearing it thinks the guy on his shirt is named Bob Marley.

If the artist reinforces their songs with actions as you do it makes it more real though.

I hope so, anyway. I hope that message makes it through to people for that reason. It’s important that the listener and artist not get caught in this pat-me-on-the-back cycle of bullshit. Where we just become spectacles of revolution. I think that happens a lot in the ‘underground.’

There is a theory held by some that the world is controlled by an alien race of shape-shifting lizard-people. While doing research for the song, “Reptilian Agenda” you were warned by one of your sources to, “Think carefully before you start talking publicly about this stuff”. Is “Reptilian Agenda” a challenge to the lizard people to come and get you?

In a word? Yes. Haha.

What’s the energy like at the average B. Dolan show?

Controlled chaos. Unexpected costume changes happen. I say foul things and kick funky rap routines. Do dances. Talk shit. I’ve gotten into the habit of leaving pauses for people to heckle, and inviting and engaging hecklers a lot. Which thereby makes the crowd more likely to heckle. Kind of on some old Richard Pryor shit. People want to say dumb shit to me so I can pwn them. It’s familial and ball-busting and rowdy like that. Also, a marching band occasionally appears. I plan to push the crazy vaudeville circus angle more in the future too. If the gods keep granting me superpowers, I will continue to use them for evil.

Anything you want our readers to know? Tour dates? Shout outs?

Fallenhouse.com is the place to order the album. There’s a lot of cool deals SFR is offering, with lots of extras and posters and signed things and what not. Time is running out for people to grab those. Also, it’ll be available as a double vinyl lp starting in May, and people can pre-order those now. Assuming people still know what a vinyl record is. I start touring in 6 days. Europe, UK, Ireland, US, and Canada. Almost 70 shows in the next 4 months. Those details are at Fallenhouse.com. And Knowmore.org is the place to put your shoulder to the wheel.

Give the uninitiated a brief introduction of who you are, what you do, and where you live.

My name is Jason Cornell, aka “BRZOWSKI”. I am an artist, musician, and promoter who lives and works in Portland, ME. I was born in Providence RI in 1980.

You were on tour in Europe. Give us a brief itinerary and highlights.

The European jaunt with myself and Moshe was an idea that we had been kicking around for some time, and once we had solidified some contacts, that have since become friends (through MilledPavement Records, as well as a few moonlighting spots we respectively played on the “Our Accents Sure Are Pretty Tour”), we decided now was the time. We both have releases geared to the European market coming up, and it just seemed the timing was right. It was a bit of an experiment in “sustainability”, so we kept it brief. Ten shows in 12 days, France and Germany, set up mostly by friends. We are already planning on going back… the touring lifestyle is a bit of an addiction that needs to be fed. A rough night on the road beats a great day at “work” in every way imaginable.

Trier, Berlin, Lemans, Ferme de Mauriac (outside of Villefranches) were definitely all highlights, but the greatest pleasure was meeting friends, artists, and fans every night that we had communicated with for years on the intertubes.

Like Woe was just released somewhat recently… tell us some ideas you had working on the album and elaborate on working with fellow Portland artist Moshe.

Well, Moshe and I are both known for our “dark” sensibilities, him w/ sparse, bleak beats, and myself for self-destructive autobiography, so we just decided to make some dark, arguably catchy, tracks. This is what the fans would have expected, so we gave it full bore. It also includes the most “pop” song either of us has ever done, in “Dog Called Cirrhosis”. The hilarity inherent, is that the song is still bleak in its outlook on trading time for labor, work-a-day drudgery, our “fake” economy, and so forth. The EP was written, produced, recorded, mixed and mastered in 14 days or so, and initially just going to be a tour CD, but as it was coming together, we both realized that we wanted to take the project a step further. It is easily the fastest either of us have ever created songs, together or otherwise. We are usually slow as a glacier at creating, and unbelievably nit-picky, hence the plethora of guest spots and compilations where our names crop up, but not so in the “Official Solo Release” column. The immediacy is refreshing for my process.

You have some vinyl coming out, soon too? Tell us!

Ah, yessir. I have been touring with some regularity with H.W. and Shane Blakemore (both from Massachusetts) for the past 3 years or so, and have a working relationship with them and Delusional Records extending back at least 5 years. Last year H.W. and I had a bit of a brainstorm to do a split 7-inch, with myself on one side, and a bit of a Delusional Records “showcase” on the other. It will be limited to 300 copies on white vinyl, and includes a download card to grab the digital version. It will not be available as a straight up digi or CD release until the physicals are long gone. I am seriously attempting to maintain the “objecthood” of making records/CDs. Tom Brown, who did the Like Woe artwork handles my side of the sleeve… it looks super metal.

Tell us about the Blooddrive series.

The Blooddrive series is essentially a repository for collaborations, guest spots, compilation tracks, remixes, and “lost” verses. This way, all of the collabos from a given time period can be found in one place.There are no official digital versions of them at present and I intend to keep it that way. When I was younger I would collect certain artists ravenously and snap up every record they appeared on, only to find that they would be compiled and repackaged later. I would feel slightly wronged by these releases (by finding that I was no longer the keeper of “secret” songs), but now i guess I’ve become that asshole! Blooddrive Vol. 3 will be released late 2010 by 2-99 Records, out of Russia, who just released Moshe’s Thinning The Herd album, and handled “compiled” projects from Awol, Epic, Subtitle, and Existereo. I’m pretty amped on the release, it’s goon-deep and diverse, in so far as styles, beats, and guests are concerned.

What are some upcoming releases we can check from you?  Contact info?

• The 7-inch will be available March 27th from circleintosquare.com and others to be announced.
• 1000 Crooked Miles Tour (US + Canada dates) w/ BRZOWSKI, Jesse Dangerously, Moshe, and H.W. in May 2010 [Including Saskatoon & Calgary]
• For a complete list of upcoming performances, please visit myspace.com/brzowski
• Facebook: facebook.com/pages/BRZOWSKI/172588563858
• Twitter: twitter.com/brzowskimusic
• For past and present releases: milledpavement.com/brzowski.html
• For additional info on Delusional records: delusionalrecords.com

I hear you’re a visual artist… how often do you get a chance to work on painting and how does it contrast with what you do musically?

I work on painting whenever I am offered a show or project. I don’t have a regular studio practice, in the normal sense. I constantly sketch and collect ideas, but dig in and paint when a deadline presents itself. My educational background is in visual art, Painting and Art History specifically. In the next year or two I would like to integrate my art and music a bit more, a la Thesis, Agent 8, or Awol, but I’d rather make art related to someone else’s music. It feels like talking to myself if I try to create an image to match my lyrics. My visual work is cartoony, and laced with more humor than my music. It is more cerebral and less emotive and brooding than my writing tends to be.

I also hear you like metal and hardcore. How have more abrasive sounds influenced your hip-hop projects?

When writing, I listen to non-hip-hop music. I don’t want to inadvertently regurgitate something culled from the same genre-cluster and so I’ll listen to music that gives me the same feeling as the one I want to convey lyrically in a “hip hop” format. Sometimes that influence will be Type O Negative, Amebix, Waylon Jennings… I’m a sucker for things that sound urgent, whether they be aggressive, progressive, or pop-oriented. I tend to gravitate to powerful riffs, melodies (or flagrant lack-there-of) and hooks.

What should people expect at one of your live shows?

Sweat, rapping, singing, good-natured aggression, alcohol, and poor taste disguised as humor.

How is the Portland, Maine music scene organized? I hear you live with some doom metal overlords.

In a city of 64,000 we have at least 250 bands/artists gigging regularly, all competing for the same 10 stages, plus national acts rolling through almost every night. It can be tough when booking, because someone that would come see your alt-country band may skip your gig to check out the metal show that night. Some of the best shows I’ve ever played in town are on mixed-genre bills. People have wide-ranging taste, which is admirable for a small hipster burg at the southernmost tip of the “Mississippi of the North” (no disrespect to my southern homies). I live with Candy Carlson, who sings and plays guitar for uber-slow doom metal band Ocean. If megalithic doom metal is your thing, check these guys out. Candy doesn’t realize how huge his band is in that scene, which is refreshing. I have metal bands at my apartment as often as rappers and dj’s. Occasionally both stay on the same night and the party gets interesting…

What things should an out-of-towner check out while in Portland?

Hmm. Seafood (I know it’s cliché, but the seafood you can buy off the wharf is so fresh, you could probably resuscitate it.) Strange Maine, which is an oddball little store w/ Nintendo games, records, tapes, and a lot of opportunities for breathing dust. The We Push Buttons and Beat Happening electronic monthly events,The Green Hand is a great cheap used bookstore, and also houses the International Cryptozoology Museum. Sanctuary Tattoo and Gallery, Whitney art Works, Phoenix Magazine, The Bollard Magazine, WMPG radio, the Spinout show on WCYY radio, The Portland Music Foundation’s music industry seminars, Geno’s Rock Club, The Big Easy’s hip hop night every Wednesday (hosted by my comrades Sandbag) and the vibe of a tight-knit creative community… at least in the Arts District.

As an artist what does the term sustainability mean to you?

Well, speaking as an artist, I would like sustainability to mean that one can eke out an existence solely based on finances gained through the sale and exploitation of one’s creative output. This is, in my experience over the last 15 years in the “creative economy”, increasingly rare. I can count on my fingers the number of visual artists/writers/musicians (that I am friendly with) that fit this definition.

Sustainability, in turn, has come to mean that it does not COST an individual to engage in the creative economy. That is to say, as much revenue comes back as is paid in. Hitting that mark, in of itself, can be considered a feat. Ask anyone that has attended an art school and paid for it with loans.

Are things getting better for the underground emcee in terms of sustainability?

Things are getting better for myself and for some people who have been doing it for a while. It took me 10 years of doing music seriously until I could tour and turn a profit. If I was more grounded in fundamentalist materialism or mired in responsibility, I’m sure I would have deduced that giving up and being a hobbyist was a good idea. The “leveling of the playing field” that took place with home recording, social networking sites, and rampant piracy hurt as many artists as it helped. For example, anyone can throw some flash on their Myspace, buy a bot to add friends, and boom, they look as legit as someone who has been sweating it out and paying dues forever… at first glance, if not first listen. DIY/Independent can be a double-edged sword, for certain. It always blows my mind when an acquaintance/fan/friend will inquire “so, do you LIVE off this shit?” It’s flattering when people think that may be the case. My creativity sustains itself, but my bills need some elbow grease.

Why is the front door to your house constantly unlocked?

That would be because my downstairs neighbors leave it open to offer convenient access to the steady stream of sketchy shitbags who need to buy… whatever. The resident(s) are too lazy to get up and open the door each time. Who needs exercise when you have contraband in demand?

What are you plans for the next five years?

Stay healthy, find homes for my upcoming projects, a ton of touring, ceasing diplomacy when unwarranted, and then likely getting my ass back to college to get some letters after my name. Oh yeah, and I’ve been considering quitting smoking. Again.

[MP3: View post to listen]

Give us a brief introduction to your current list of projects.

2010 is proving to be a very interesting year already… I just finished doing a score for a feature length film by the Suicide Girls (which is aptly called, “Suicide Girls Must Die”), Giovanni Marks and I are working on new Labwaste material, I am going to produce a record for Big Jus, I’m working with an artist called Blackbird on a project code named ‘Black Electro’ (which is more sleazy dance shit), I have a new record that I am very slowly working on, and in between all of that I’ll be doing various things on behalf of Ableton (I’m a certified trainer)…

Tell us more about the sleazy dance shit.

I’ve spent a lot of time making these dark emotional beats and heavy songs, and when I hooked up with Blackbird (he has released two albums with AlphaPup and was part of the extremely slept on group Darkleaf) we just started to record stuff with no real direction initially, but I knew I wanted to do something different with him. He’s an incredible performer, and just an interesting personality, and it gave me a chance to work with a very different kind of artist who wasn’t worried about being the hardest rapper or making these dreary heavy songs. We started making some more uptempo dancey sexy sleazy songs and it’s just been fun… it is very different from most of the stuff I’ve worked on, and I’m hoping we can find a good label to push the project through once it’s finished. You can hear some of the rough songs at myspace.com/starttheengine.

It’s been a while since Global Phlowtations…what should people know about your involvement in that group?

It has been a looooong while since Global Phlowtations… hahaha!! Well, I was one of the original members, I made the majority of the beats (though I was only one of four producers… everybody made beats, but I made the most), I rapped, and engineered the majority of our recording sessions (using our trusty Tascam Portastudio 4-track). I was never the leader of the group (that was always Zagu Brown), but I probably had the biggest influence on our sound.

How did you transition from Global Phlowtations to Adlib to Thavius Beck?

At the time that I moved to LA in 1996, I was already calling myself Adlib. The name came about because I played tenor sax in school and since I was one of the best musicians in the school band, I always got to solo on our songs. So I was the dude who adlibbed all the time… anyway, in 1996 I moved to LA and met Zagu, Nairb, Sach, and everyone else and we formed Global Phlowtations. The idea was that we would focus on more positive music and creative hard hitting beats.

The group was always comprised of solo artists (we were essentially a west coast Wu-Tang), so me doing solo Adlib projects was just a natural progression. I made so much stuff that it didn’t make sense for me to not do solo projects, so I started releasing stuff, mainly instrumental projects with my weirder beats.

Ultimately what lead to me ditching Adlib and going with my real name was two-fold: The main thing I told people was that I wanted to be taken more seriously by people outside of underground hip-hop, and I thought Adlib sounded kind of silly after a certain age. But the real reason is because I was really fucking tired of people calling me Madlib. That shit infuriated me. It takes much more effort to confuse Thavius Beck with someone else’s name (although a lot of people write my name as Thavius Black, which is equally annoying).

Dialogue just dropped and features you a lot more on the microphone. Give us some thoughts on Dialogue in contrast to your previous solo releases.

I try to make every album different, and Dialogue was basically my rap album. My first solo project was called VS., and it was a 10 song EP made of one verse songs… since then I haven’t really rapped very much on my albums. Most of the solo projects I made as Adlib were essentially just beat tapes with different themes… My first album with Mush records (Decomposition) was more of an attempt to keep up with the electronic producers of the day… when I made THRU, I was thinking about getting my music licensed for visual media, so I tried to make it more brooding and cinematic… When it was time to make Dialogue, I had gone through so much stuff in my life that I felt like I had a reason to rap again… I doubt I’ll do another album like that for a while…

One track that stood out was “Money.” Do you think society is becoming more or less materialistic?

Society has always been materialistic, there just happens to be more material for people to chase after and worship nowadays… And honestly, unless you were born and live completely off the land in a remote forest somewhere with no connection to modern ways of life, you are bred to be a consumer from birth. Our entire society and way of life is based on being materialistic… the more shit you have, the more successful you are supposed to be.

Any tour plans where we can check you?

No current tour plans really… I hope to get back to Europe this fall and play out there. I haven’t had much luck touring the states, but I have a few spot dates here and there. My main focus right now is working on these new projects and trying to network with some people who can help me get to another level.

How have your travels across the ocean informed your outlook on life?

To me, the best thing about traveling to different countries is being exposed to so many different ways of life and seeing remnants of the local peoples history… Being an American, we’re used to seeing buildings that are at the most a couple hundred years old, but when you go to Europe you see old castles and churches that have been around for 500 or 600 years… places that have survived numerous wars… structures built for royalty… etc. It really broadened my outlook on what it meant to be part of something bigger than the United States.

What keeps you relaxed?

Well, making music is usually a pretty relaxing thing for me if I’m just doing it for fun… it’s my way to escape from all the BS around me. I also enjoy a lot of comedy… I like stand up and goofy british shows (The IT Crowd is one of my favorites)… laughing is generally relaxing… and if all else fails there is always weed.

Tell us more about your collaborations, specifically with K-the-I???

The thing with K-the-I??? was a label connection… The guy who runs Mush suggested we do an album, so Kiki moved out to LA a couple years ago specifically to work on our album together. The process was very easy… I had a bunch of open beats, gave them to him and told him to write songs that were still him, but a bit more accessible, and we recorded several songs every weekend for about two months until the album was done. Kiki was very open to my suggestions, so everything flowed very smoothly. He’s an easy dude to work with. Big Jus and I haven’t started working on our album yet, but I’m looking forward to seeing how that will come together. He is very hands on and wants a very specific sound, so approaching that project will be different from the K-the-I thing… When I collaborate with someone, my goal is to bring out something in them that no one was able to before… otherwise there wouldn’t be much of a point. Even in my work with Saul Williams, you can hear the music I worked on and see how different it is from the other songs he’s done… it’s all about putting your stamp on something and creating something new.

If you could covet one piece of vintage equipment to add to your gear, what would it be and why?

Probably a high quality 2 inch reel-to-reel, but I would have to have a dedicated maintenance person come with it. I would love to have that true analog tape warmth on my mixes, and be able to take advantage of that warm fuzzy analog distortion… that or a Neumann U87… preferably both…

If you had to be trapped in a TV show for a month, which show would you choose?

I would hope to not be trapped anywhere for a month, let alone a tv show… if I’m not watching sports or comedy, I try my best to avoid the tv. Having said that, I guess I could spend a month in the world of the Flight of the Concords… I imagine that would be the most bizarre month of my life… hahaha!!

Last words? Shouts?

I just want to thank everyone who was supported my music and still has an interest in what I’m doing. I have a lot on the horizon so there will be lots of new music pretty soon… stay tuned…

[MP3: View post to listen]
[MP3: View post to listen]

When and why did you start making music?

I started quite young, because it’s quite a tradition in Switzerland to take recorder lessons at an early age, which makes sense, because it would be rather embarassing doing that when you are an adult. Luckily, I moved on, took some piano lessons for quite some years and finally got propellerhead’s reason and started making beats in 2002.

I can’t really say why I started producing. I just felt like doing it and it made me happy and sometimes pretty proud of myself. I also felt pretty gloomy in my early twenties, so i decided to use all those negative emotions for making dark, destructive beats. I often made three or more beats a day. Think I’ve done some thousand beats since 2002. Unfortunately, I am no longer the beatmaking-machine I used to be. Anyways, I stopped sampling quite some years ago and I just think that it’s way more difficult and challenging to compose and play everything yourself.

Why do you rap in English and Swiss German?

I don’t really rap in English. Honestly, I’ve only written five songs in English so far. Maybe six. One was inspired by Cormac McCarthy’s masterpiece The Road, a second one was for a girl I thought I had fallen in love with on my first Canada trip. The other’s are a part written for Ira Lee’s Album Die and some stories about being frustrated and about commiting suicide. I don’t know, Swiss German is probably a nice language, but after some months in Berkeley, Seattle and on Oahu, after my two trips to Canada i just started writing some lyrics in English and it sounded quite nice to me. I also got the feeling that my voice sounds way better when I talk or rap in English. It’s pretty sad that I am not a native speaker, mainly because I really think that my style of mixing singing and rapping and my lyrics are pretty dope and unique. Talking about serious depression and sheep, about people who keep on digging holes because they are afraid of ufo’s or about suicide and absolute loneliness aren’t topics that many mcs deal with, at least not in the way I am doing it.

(keeps on thinking)

I just love one text i wrote after i had stayed some days in saskatoon and then moved on to New York. I always feel like a super dope mc when i am rapping it. My ex-girlfriend mostly hated it. (laughing) When i am feeling downhearted i just have to rap some lines in doubletime and i am back in business, feeling all young and fresh, ready to save the planet, ride on whales and dance the bougaloo. Maybe i should mention that it’s a text about a guy who is planning to kill himself and cuts his right arm just to get sure that he still exists.

Can you speak a bit about your past releases?

Well, I’ve made some beats for some artists like Demune, Selfhelp, The Mole, Epic, James P Honey, Audio 88, Athena, Notthesame, Aes, Terms None, Wormhole, Ancient Mith, Geneva B, Extra Kool and Time, Materpfahl and some of them have been used for some albums. Think I made beats for more than 30 releases which is important for my self-esteem but not really more. I also released five Swiss German albums that I mostly produced myself.

It all started to get a bit more professional with my producer album Mattr and Friends – Consequence of Thoughts that was released on Kareem’s German label Ramadan recordings in 2004 and we got pretty positive feedbacks worldwide. The sound quality wasn’t really convincing but some of the songs or beats are still breathtaking. Still some of the best work I’ve ever done. Thanks again to Kareem and the Motionrecordings family who made that happen. I am still waiting for demune to finish our album. He picked some lovely beats as well, a long long time ago. Damn. Don’t know what he is up to these days. Staying in contact with all those guys is quite challenging. Anyways, I think demune is the master of the golden alienraps, but unfortunately, he is just incredibly slow or maybe too busy earning his living or maybe he is just way too professional to release an album that isn’t perfect, plus he is rapping too fast and needs to write way too many words for one single song. Other mcs would use one of his texts for an entire album.

I surely could have released more stuff, but I’ve most probably just picked the wrong mcs. (laughing) I don’t want to complain too much, because it just gives me a good feeling that i got the opportunity to work with all those skilled mcs and that I met most of them in real life. Hopefully, there will be some more releases soon.

You we’re the principle producer behind Selfhelp’s amazing 2009 album Old Friends can you describe the experience of bringing this project to fruition?

It all started with lonely nights typing nonsense on msn and practising my English writing skills. We had pretty weird discussions about Alf, 2012, cats, dwarves and Thesis Sahib. Well, we just started writing one day and went on for several months. I had been a fan of Bending Mouth for a such a long time, so I was really glad that i got in contact with Derek and that he liked my beats… Well, I occasionally sent him some beats and he did some raps. To be more precise, i sent him plenty of beats and he did some raps, i guess, mainly when he was drunk. I really can’t remember how many beats I’ve sent… It doesn’t really matter. I also spent one week in Regina in 2007 and mostly stayed at his place, watched him drinking, made some beats and did some whistling. Best thing was waking up with his cat “turtle” on my chest staring at me. I will never forget that.

Derek and me did some good talking as well and although we didn’t do much those days (not a single song), it was a good time. I am just impressed that he doesn’t need to release albums and to stand on stage in order to feel important. He knows that he is a gifted artist, a great mc, but he just seems to be absolutely content with being a good husband and a good father. I truly appreciate that.

We spoke about the drastic differences between the Canada you expected to see, and you’re real Canadian experience. As you travelled across the country from east to west in 2007 and, and spent a month in Montreal. What are your impressions of Canadian people, culture and community?

I really don’t know. People are people. It doesn’t matter where you go. Some are phoney bastards, some are just nice. It’s always related to how you are and to how you are treating others, i guess. Especially my first trip to Canada was mindblowing. Meeting so many nice people, spending a week in Vancouver at Geneva B’s place, seeing Coco Rosie and Busdriver performing live, eating sushi with Busdriver, then taking the Greyhound, spending a weird time in Banff drinking heavily, then two weeks at Ira Lee’s place in Edmonton with a really strange guy that started drumming in the entrance hall at 3 am, while i tried to sleep in the next room, where jesus kept on staring at me, then moving on to Saskatoon, meeting Chaps again (at his birthday), spending some days at Soso’s and having barbeque with Neila and Nolto and so many others and finally a week in Regina at Selfhelp’s place: it was just hugely inspiring and i still have some good stories to tell and some nice pictures to look at. Especially one girl told me some weird stories I will never forget. I would like to, but i can’t. (laughing) At the same time, I realized that Canada is not all about mountains, bears, indie rap, snow and icehockey, but is dealing with some serious issues like poverty, crime, racism etc. Canada is most probably really not just a North American version of Switzerland. Switzerland stays the only paradise on earth, a paradise with a lot of desperate people who try to kill themselves.

My second stay in Canada was in Montreal in 2009. A strange month worth telling many lovely stories about it, but i can’t do that without hurting people’s feelings. (laughing) All I can say is, that I made about 90 beats in one month, that I read some Bukowski and Irvine Welsh, that I drank a lot of green tea and some vodka and beer, watched three seasons of my favourite tv show Rescue Me, missed my girlfriend incredibly, did some pushups to keep fit and to kill some time, tried to stop smoking and just hated Montreal’s French. Besides that, it was just great meeting Ira again and being able to actually talk about our project instead of writing hundreds of emails. He often came to me in the morning, told me what kind of beats he need and i just made them and gave them to him some hours later. That was nice.

Do you consider yourself a musician or ‘just a rapper’?

I stopped considering myself a rapper a long time ago. That doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t be a better rapper than many others that still consider themselves being rappers. (laughing) I just don’t practise enough. I prefer making music, well, I often just make beats or sleep and dream about making beats or daydream about sleeping and dreaming about beatboxing with neon plastic sheep. I just love playing sad melodies on my piano and getting all moody, playing some heavy drums on my korg padcontrol and rapping the saddest vocals that have ever been written since the mothership landed on this planet 500 years ago.

Your live shows are almost opera – tic. In a sense of abandoning traditional formats for a much more individualized mannerism and style. How did you develop this unique live style?

I once woke up and a dwarf was dancing on my chest. I wanted to shoot him down, but he told me that he would give me three wishes if I let him go. I eventually wished to get that unique live style and i got it. Yeah. Wait, that’s another story. To be honest, I am just a big fan of big performances, i really love watching Kinski in all his movies. He is my hero. I always wanted to change roles, to become someone completely different on stage (or maybe just to be myself… I am not sure about that), to unsettle my audience, to talk about death and suicide and depression and to make my audience feel as uncomfortable as possible. I just didn’t want to be the only unhappy person on earth, i guess. (laughing) It’s all about losing control. Getting rid of your fears, it’s all about feeling real emotions on stage, about getting so unbelievably sad that you start crying while you are performing. That would be nice. A serious nervous breakdown on stage. I haven’t seen that yet. I can only think of Jaques Brel. There should be more performers like him. Well, let me think about it…maybe not.

How important is music to your life?

Music isn’t that important anymore. I still love making beats and thinking about what soft- or hardware I could buy (that’s my number one leisure time activity these days), but being a secondary teacher currently takes pretty much all of my energy. Hopefully, it will change again.

When I listen to music I mainly listen to my own music. I’ve made so many beats in all kind of styles that i can enjoy myself for weeks or months or even years.

It’s true, I sometimes really feel nostalgic, and I really miss the good old times, when I felt enthusiastic whenever Anticon released a new album; I miss those hiphopinfinity days, when i got nervous waiting for my vinyls to arrive. I am not a big fan of rap anymore. Often, it just all sounds the same to me. I would love to get that feeling once again when i first listened to Soso’s songs, or Sole’s Bottle of Humans or the Themselves debut album or Buck 65’s “Ice” or “Cries a Girl” or Busdriver’s “Imaginary Places” or Sage Francis’ album Personal Journals or some Ira Lee songs (grip)… There is just way too much music and I am often just not in the mood for picking the good one.

Is it important to learn English as an international artist? Why?

Communication is pretty important these days, isn’t it? Language is the key. And Aceyalones Book of Human Language is still one of the best albums I’ve ever listened to.

What type of music do you like listening to? Who are your favorite artists?

As i said, i don’t do it often, but, actually I like listening to all kind of music. Some of my favourite artists are Nirvana, Vanilla Ice, Ace of Base, Milli Vanilli and Boney M. Frank Farian is the king. Well, I also like some classical music, mainly because i was constantly surrounded by Mozart, Brahms, Albinoni and Bach when I was young. They were pretty close friends, back in the days. I sometimes like Why?, Son lux, Cat Power, Sole, Soso, Sage Francis, Themselves, Bonny Prince Billy, Sigur Ros, Bending Mouth, Radiohead, Leonard Cohen, Cat Stevens, Ira Lee, Buck 65, Arcade Fire, Xndl, Band of Horses, Busdriver, Deep Puddle Dynamics, Sixtoo, Alias, Jimmy Scott and many others. Let me think about it… Well, actually I only like Jaques Brel, Milli Vanilli and my own beats.

Is it important for rappers to have jobs besides rap?

It would be lovely if there was no need to work. Unfortunately, times changed plus there are way too many mcs that just suck. It just isn’t enough to rap on point. It’s all about finding your own style and having a great voice, about being unique and being a good performer; it’s about writing great lyrics; it’s about picking the right producers and the right beats at the right time; it’s about recording quality and recording techniques, about the proper hard- and software and finally about doing shows. Many shows. And getting the marketing done properly and professionally. And you have to meet the right people. That’s probably most important these days. Hm, it’s quite a long list. That’s maybe why so many rappers have jobs besides rap and why it is important for them. You have to know what you want, right?

What are your future releases?

After having worked with Ira Lee for more than three years I am just a bit tired of collaborations. I am tired of life. Ira Lee kills you. It’s not smoking cigarettes, it’s him. (laughing) It seems that an instrumental album could be a good way avoiding all the messages, mails and bad feelings. I am also thinking about releasing another Swiss German album for all my fans (approximately 5 to 10 persons including my family and myself), maybe with some tracks in English. I really don’t know. If there was another great and unique mc that appreciates my work i would also be down to work with him or her… just get in contact with me. I’ll soon be back.

Can you tell me more about the ‘Little Eskimo Jesus’ LP?

It’s a great album with great beats, great lyrics, great vocals and great cover art. Some songs are perfect, others are just very good. I am just happy that we finally did it. It all started with the idea of making the saddest rap album of all times. Unfortunately, we got happier and happier and if we had went on making new songs we probably would have made some decent christian pop. I really hope that people take some notice of this release. The whole album is pretty important to me. There’s neither an average, nor a filler track on the album and it works as a whole. 12 tracks. Some beats, whistling and singing by me, some raps by Ira Lee and some deep emotions by the two of us. That’s it.

Where can we get you’re music?

On milledpavement.com or iTunes or write me an email at ohm_acht@yahoo.de or get in contact on myspace.com/themattr.

Do you have any shout outs?

I say thanks to all people who have worked with me and to all others who tried to understand what i am all about. Thanks to ugsmag, Ira Lee, Khyro, Moshe, Manu and Mich (Mism), Berne’s arts council, Eva, my family, Daniel, Thomas, Substrakt, Jan, Ruth, Martina, Goran, Quiet, Xndl, Kareem, Simi and quite some others for their help and support.

Advo hails from 182 st. deep in Edmonton’s Westside and received his rap education from Stray and Touch of the now dormant rap crew Dangerous Goods Collective. Non Status exists with fellow emcee (and cousin) Nekkbone. Over the years Djs have joined the fold, producers have provided the beats and Advo has remained the constant of the group, working as the manager and actively pursuing the big shows. Consider this: Advo opened for Guru before he was old enough to get into the club he was playing at. Thus far, the group has an impressive resume: Masta Ace, Del the Funkee Homosapien, the Game, as well as the p.b. and j of Canadian rap fare – Kardinal Offishall, Choclair and Classified. But such as the case of underground rap and especially the independent music coming out of Alberta, it straddles the line between total support or complete reckless abandonment – Advo has experienced this first hand. Non-Status have rocked “10-people-in-the-crowd shows” up to sold-out crowds at Commonwealth Stadium. The group’s very name ‘Non Status’ reflects the cultural limbo in Alberta.

Advo’s direct ancestors married out of the reserve system. Advo is a self-proclaimed mutt and as such, does not qualify for the privileges that treaty Natives do. He is by definition, a Non-status Aboriginal. Originally the group was predicated on this political message, but it evolved into a group with a broader appeal, especially for the traditional rap listener. Advo explains that he never wanted to embellish this part of his heritage because “a lot of those guys are overly preachy and to me it’s kinda corny, too many people use it as a crutch. I do hip hop, I consider myself to be a varied emcee.” Advo is versatile, but his heart is in the “pure boom-bap hip hop, that’s where I’m comfy at.”

Nowadays Advo’s motivations are palpable, he is a father. His drive to produce has increased and it he has had to work hard to satisfy their needs. Children bring a whole new dimension of commitment to all of one’s endeavors and for Advo, part of it means stepping up his rap game. He tells me that no matter what, he’s “here for the long haul…because you don’t stop rapping.” Destroy and Rebuild is a new album due to be released later this year and it’s rumored to feature Nekkbone, Julez Lavish, Benny E, and K-Riz, J-Mac with production from DJ Nato, Rellik and Classified. Here’s the rest of our discussion, in his words.

You’ve been away from us for a while…

Advokit: From that point up until today, I’ve been through a little situation. Where I was, it wasn’t too inspiring to write, but I got a lot of life experience in the past 18 months. I take that with me. The moment I got home – that’s when I got a lot of inspiration to write. During the time I was gone – regardless of what you hear in movies and television, that place is not inspiring. I cannot see how a man like Tupac Shakur can write an incredible fucking album. That whole thing is false: coming out a superstar with albums written and stuff – it’s stereotypical bullshit…

How do you feel about getting out there again?

When I first got home, I didn’t know what to expect. First time I made it out – me and Rellik opened up for R.A. the Rugged Man, which was like being thrust back into the limelight, that was a shock. After that, it was just like old times, dust off the shoes, dust off the mic…and get ready to do this.

Are ideas coming to you constantly?

It used to be a struggle for me to write – it’d take me a day or two to write to a fucking track. But these days…there’s a lot that I need to get out. I notice it in the style of my writing; my flow’s actually changing as well. I’ve been recording the past 2 months, so it’s a little different and it’s a growth process.

Hip hop is sometimes discussed with pessimism – is hip hop really fucked?

As far as hip hop dying? You just need to look in the right places. The music has changed and the number one reason is the Internet – everything is accessible now, it’s easy to be an artist and that brings a lot of garbage. 10 years ago, you had to have money, the drive to record and make good music – you had to make that effort. These days it’s effortless music; you can get production from anywhere, get yourself a $20 radio shack mic and start rapping. B-boy culture is still holding strong. The DJing thing is kind of dying down, I remember early 2000s, Djing was the thing to do and emcee took a backseat – but that’s all good, it’s hip hop, everything comes in cycles. Hip hop is nowhere near death, but these days, you gotta know what you like and look for it. There’s some really good underground stuff which you just gotta find.

What is the record label situation?

On the solo thing, I’m part of Red3 – a production company which is a crew of artists, which almost works as a label. Non Status was working with a label south of the border, but things went sour. We had an indie label that showed interest in the states, but it fell through. If we decide to do a full reunion and get this album out, then I’m sure we’ll find someone to put it out.

Shouts?

I want to thank everybody out there that’s still got love for me and continued to support me, to everyone who has held me down through my troubles, Shouts to the entire Ugs site, Nekkbone, Stray, Touch, Ben.E, K-Riz, DJ Creeazn, Julez, Red3 fam, Arlo Mavrick, Stray, you Jon b and the whole 182 section – thanks for everything. Most importantly my beautiful daughter Eliza, I do this for you baby girl.

For more on Advokit, check myspace.com/advokit

[MP3: View post to listen]
[MP3: View post to listen]

Most people will probably know you best as a member of Toolshed. How did you originally hook up with those guys?

We all go back basically to the beginning of high school. That’s when we all met each other. It was through a mutual love of music and fuckin’ around havin’ fun. First we started free styling together and recording it for fun. Then that turned into the group and 10 years or so later it never stopped being fun so we kept doing it.

So what made you decide to release a solo album?

Currently, myself and Timbuktu are in Toronto. But a few years back we all got out of London, our hometown and for a second were geographically split up in different cities. We all decided during that year apart it would be a good look to work on some solo projects, then get back together and work on the mother of all Toolshed albums. We re-grouped sooner then we thought but still plan to put out the three solo albums. Timbuktu’s working on his album right now and then a new Toolshed album’s coming next.

Do you find things easier recording on your own or do you feel more creative having everyone else around?

Neither have cons but they both have different pros. Timbuktu, who I write with primarily did a lot of the beats on this album and so did Fresh Kills, who’s studio Toolshed records at. So I’m working with the same team I work with when I record with the group. Sometimes with the writing process when you’re going solo you can go off on a tangent that you wouldn’t go off on within the group. Or focus on some more personal shit or some of your own ideas. But then with the group we’ve been writing together so long we have this chemistry so I enjoy both.

According to the handy dictionary on my computer, Hypergraphia is described as an overwhelming urge to write. It is not itself a disorder, but can be associated with temporal lobe changes in epilepsy and mania in the context of bipolar disorder. Would that describe your approach to music?

I think the reason I became a dope MC is from an overwhelming urge to write. Like I said we started out free styling but it’s really the songwriting process and the writing process itself because even when I’m not working on projects I continue to write almost everyday. It’s just part of my process of venting stress or getting the ideas out. I first came across it reading an article about a nurse who had Hypergraphia and it stuck a cord with me. Sometimes I’d have roommates crackin’ jokes at me when I’d empty my pockets at the end of the workweek and have all these scraps of paper with notes and ideas on them. Maybe 90% of the stuff I never use but I keep writing it down.

How would you describe yourself as an artist?

I guess first and foremost someone who loves music. That’s what primarily got me involved. I started out as a fan. I guess I would say I’m dedicated to what I do but only because I enjoy it so much. If it wasn’t something that I still get fulfillment out of then I wouldn’t be doing it this long at the end of the day. Especially in the Canadian scene. You best love what you’re doing other wise there’s no point doing it.

That’s real talk. Have you found it more difficult then if you were in New York or a place like that?

It’s hard to say obviously only coming from a Canadian standpoint. Not necessarily. But I guess at the end of the day maybe it wouldn’t matter anywhere in the world you come from. There’s just so much music being made nowadays and so many talented people everywhere. I’m coming across talented artists I’ve never heard of before everyday. But in Canada it is hard to break out. Being in Toronto has been good for that because all the talented crews out here make you have to work harder.

Would you consider the Canadian hip hop scene really strong?

Oh yeah I think it’s really strong. I could throw out a laundry list of so many talented people. A lot that I’m lucky to be friends and even crew with. Toolshed’s part of the Backburner crew. They started out in Halifax actually. Cats like Ghettosocks, Fresh Kills, Wordburglar and Jesse Dangerously are all from out there in Halifax. Then our boy More Or Les is doing his thing in Montreal and he’ll be in Toronto soon and half a dozen equally amazing cats just in that crew alone. Then obviously there’s a huge pool of talent in Halifax, Montreal Toronto, Vancouver and everywhere in between so I think Canada’s got just as much to offer as anywhere else for hip hop.

For sure. I would agree with that. Who are some of your earliest influences?

I don’t know if it reflects what we’re doing now. But when we were coming up, we were sort of big on the LA and Bay Area underground scene. Cats like Freestyle Fellowship, Solesides, Hieroglyphics. Specifically Gift of Gab and Del were huge influences on me. Later on it branched off. Now I can name cats that I love from the underground to the top of the mainstream. There’s talent everywhere.

Are there any producers or artists that you’d like to work with in the future?

Yeah like I said about the list of talented cats in Canada. The list just goes on. We’ve been lucky to get to work with some of people we’ve worked with. Right now for Timbuktu’s album we’re working on a track with our boy D-Sisive who’s also outta Toronto. He’s doing a lot of great shit these days. So on the Canadian level there are a lot of cats doing great things that I’d love to work with. On a massive level if I could work with ANYBODY it would be hard to keep it down to a few names. There’re still guys like Del who I grew up admiring. Even if they’re not as strong today as they once were there’s still that infinite respect for the artists that pointed you in your direction.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen at a show?

That’s a good question. It’s always funny to see those people who obviously weren’t meant to be there you know? They’re just at the bar but they’re not necessarily there for the show. Maybe you see some old Latin dude with like the biggest mustache you’ve ever seen, just drunk out of his mind and he’s been there since like 7pm. But once the show starts instead of turning up his nose saying, “What’s this”? He’s dancing his ass off to every song. Stuff like that definitely sticks out.

What’s next for Chokeules in 2010?

Hopefully big things for the Toolshed crew and Backburner. Still workin’ up in the Kil Zone, that’s Fresh Kil’s studio. After the solo my crew mates Psybo and Timbuktu got solos coming down the pipe line, we’re still working on that. I’m getting on a few joints on Tim’s album and we also have a Toolshed album; it’s unreleased stuff we were working on in 2007/2008 but we never put down the pipe line. Our DJ homie Young Fes out in Halifax who did pretty much 95% of the cuts on my album. He’s working on the cuts for the unreleased Toolshed album that’s coming out. We also have a Backburner album featuring all the members of the Backburner crew that we recorded over the summer. I’m really excited to hear it because it’s something that we’ve talked about for years and it’s finally happening. There’re so many producers and talented MC’s on there that I’m as excited to be a part of it as I am to just hear it.

Whoa that sounds crazy!

Yeah it should be pretty dope. I haven’t heard final mixes or anything but we’ve got guys all the way from Japan to BC. Everything I’ve heard though has been phenomenal.

Any shout outs?

Well I wanna thank you obviously. UGSMAG is a site that I frequent anyway regardless of if you were lookin’ out for me or not. It’s a great site. Just a shout out to my Backburner crew. Ghettosocks, More Or Les, Fresh Kills, Wordburglar Jesse D, The guys at The Vault in Halifax, Dex, Beatmason, Young Fes and the rest of the crew. And basically anyone who’s been supporting the Toolshed for a long time.

For more info on Chokeules check out:
myspace.com/chokeules
dehsloot.ca
backburner.ca

[MP3: View post to listen]
[MP3: View post to listen]

Nickelodeon Ethics is your six solo release. What are you trying to get across to your listeners and fans with this release?

I never really try to go into a project with a point to get across or any attention to one particular theme. Actually, maybe that’s a lie. Really, my last three albums (Solitude Savannah, Waist Deep in Concrete and Spinning Blue Planet) were part of a concept but weren’t totally limited to the concept. I guess it was maybe related to all the non-fiction I’ve been reading over the years but those projects were just something that needed to be done, personally. That’s how things just came together when I got into the studio. Will just leave it at that. This album, Nickelodeon Ethics is basically an idea juke box that I pressed into a CD. It represents my plunge back into the fiction world. Really, I just wanted to get across to the listening public what I’ve been up to and scheming on since Spinning Blue Planet.

What is the meaning behind the album title Nickelodeon Ethics?

Nickelodeon Ethics is a blend of a few different idea’s I’ve had over the years. First, it stemmed from Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics” and just thinking that it was a fairly fresh name for a project. Not sure why, really. But, secondly I thought it would be ill to relate an old school nickelodeon music player to my own life. Kind of like a soundtrack for my last few years, months, weeks, etc. of idea’s while recording the project. That’s probably the best way to put it. It means that this is the soundtrack, the music box of my life since I decided to roll with it as an album. Nickelodeon Ethics! And, I still like to eat cereal and watch cartoons on Saturday morning and that’s how I want to be living. Deal with it Harper.

On the track “who needs enemies” you profess tat all your friends seem to hate you. Do all your friends hate you? What is the significance of that song?

No! I hate most of my friends but they seem to still love me. I’m not sure why? It’s a crazy thing this life shit. Actually, the track is more related to hiphop and the business end of it, the internet hustle, touring, recording, self loathing, etc. If you listen you’ll find that the truth is in the lyrics. Let me ask you a question Chaps, do you hate me?

You recently filmed a video, your first, with Stuey Kubrick for “Who Needs Enemies?”. What was tat process like? Will there be more videos for the album and why did it take so long to finally film a video?

The video process was very sick! I had a lot of fun shooting it and understand why someone would want to shoot a video for every track they make. If it is done right it really opens the music up artistically. If it’s done wrong then you realize in a hurry that you shouldn’t be shooting video’s. Some people appreciate things with their eyes more than their ears and that’s why video’s are so important in the youtube era. When you can combine several media mediums it seems to make more of a lasting impression, bottom line. A short attention span needs some visuals every now and then and that’s how things work these days. I blame the plutonium.

As far as more video’s goes, I’m definitely hoping to shoot more in the near future but as for now those hopes are still just that. There has been some talk about shooting a video for “1869” in the spring but hasn’t been any confirmation yet so I’ll leave it at that. But, I was very happy with the result of “Who Needs Enemies?” and can guarantee there will be another.

As far as not shooting videos prior to this one, I guess I never really had any desire to shoot a video previous to this album to be honest, especially if it was going to be lousy. I just kind of figured that there wasn’t any point in shooting a video that you realize sucks a month after you release it. Point being, with no dough or hook ups I wasn’t going to fuck with a low quality video not worth putting resources into. But, things are better…meaning it’s video time. Google Stuey Kubrick!

You recently finished a tour with Sole, Def 3, and Factor. What was that experience like?

The tour was amazing!! Big shouts to everybody who helped put it together. We were treated amazingly everywhere we went and I was left with only one negative thing in my mind. This is country is too fucking big!! Open up the borders so we have more cities to rock and less driving. Not really but really real. With that being said I definitely miss it already. Bring on 2010! P.S. shouts to Factor on the drive home from Victoria!

This is your first release in some time where all the production was not handled by Factor. What was it like to work with some of the other producers on the album?

This is my first release ever where the production came from multiple sources and it worked out very nicely. There wasn’t anything strange about the process besides the fact that I was writing the tracks outside the producers studio for once. All of my last album were produced, written, and recorded in the same studio, but not this time. I don’t think I really prefer either way to be honest but I still made sure that the tracks felt natural while writing and recording. You never feel good about forcing anything so I tried to keep it the same once I got into the studio. The same mentality as was there on earlier projects. Previous to Factor I was working strictly with Devotea, and previous to that I was rapping on 12″ instrumentals so it’s good to finally open the doors up. Calling all producers to feel free to hit me up!! Big shout out to Factor, Joe Dub, Mphasis, and Campbell.

There is a Metropolis Now reunion on this album are there any plans for another Metropolis Now album?

I can’t speak for any of the other three members of the group but I can say that I’d love for it to happen. A few things would definitely have to be hammered out and finalized before talk would even start but i’d be down. I guess there is just a cool dynamic when the four of us are working together, especially if we get the chance where we can all be in the studio at the same time. If we do happen to get it going I think it would be pretty exciting for all of us. From what I’ve heard, rumblings from the boys, it looks like a definite possibility, hah.

The first album was pretty sporadic considering that all of us were living in different cities when it was recorded and it maybe took away from the group dynamic but I think that’s debatable. That isn’t to say that the final product came out sporadic in any way. There may have been a lack of depth or concepts for some people but I think we just wanted to make an album together that was hype to perform, had the opportunity and did it. But, if we do hook up again, I know that we would make it the hottest SideRoad release to date, besides Nickelodeon Ethics of course. Quote that!

On the track “1869” the opening line you profess “oh Canada land of the free for now”, what is threatening Canadian freedom?

This track is a dedication to Immigration and Citizenship Canada and that’s pretty much all I will say on that. I don’t want to influence anybody else on their understanding of the track but I will elaborate on that line for sure. I think that Canada is, or has potential to be the best place in the world to live. That being said, life is good here for me but I can’t say the same for my friend who lives on the other side of the city type of thing. So is the reputation just smoke and mirrors?

There is definitely a reputation that supercedes the reality I feel, especially when we talk about Canada abroad. Really, anywhere you travel abroad there are going to be a few people who will ask you questions that are seemingly ridiculous, but honest inquiries to be sure. For example, “is it true that everyone in Canada is rich?” Or, “when I move to Canada will you come and visit me?” Reality check, If you are living in a hostel in Ukraine, with a Romanian passport and no funds in the bank…you are not getting anywhere fucking close to the border, sorry. But, that is the general belief. I mean, we have a lot of serious societal issue’s and ridiculous policies that are not only ignored but are also accepted by the middle class. Most of which are just brushed under the table to maintain that status quo of our international reputation, so to speak. Long sentence short, we aren’t the all welcoming, peacekeeping, everybody is wealthy, this land is your land, this land is our land society that we like others to think we are. (That wasn’t that short, sorry.) At least not in any way close to the way that we put it out there for others to believe.

We’re almost like the Al Gore of countries, trying to gain a lot of influence and influential people and their money, off of our image, an image that is barely believable by anybody who knows the truth, while covering up the truth with a good sense of humor and a nice smile. Why is Avishek, the rocket scientist from Kashmir, India driving me home from the bar on a Friday night? He likely paid his way in for that position unfortunately. Was his acceptance based on his need or of reputation and financial history?? That is the problem. What about the rice farmer who has been run off his land, has no material goods, or special western “skill set” that wants to the same opportunity? Here is where the problems begin. In 2008, there were nearly seven times the amount “economic immigrants” as compared to “refugee immigrants”, or so a little birdy told me.

The reality is that we have a lot of backward thinking groups that are in positions of power, especially surrounding the economics of immigration. That is something that I would like to see changed before my time runs out. You heard it here first. I’m not saying that the borders should be open to the global public to come and go as they please but if we “talk the talk” lets “walk the walk”. Looking down on someone who looks up to you for help is the work of a bully and not a world leader. Especially not of a leader in area’s such as hospitality, providing available necessities to those in need both inside and soon to be inside the borders (ie. shelter, protection, basic human rights, etc), equality, quality standard of living, and most importantly the nation others aspire to be. All of these which we have been programmed, and programmed others to believe since grade school. Price tags belong on material goods, if anything, and not the extended Canadian border.

It’s true, Canada is near the top for immigration percentages and numbers every year, but we need to be much more conscious of who is coming into the country and why? Providing opportunity to someone who really needs it rather than someone who can be profited off of seems to be most sensible. Unfortunately not the reality. But, those who can afford to make the move do so and those who can’t need not apply. If you can pay the fare then you get to join the ride. Those who can’t and need it most, where should they go? Run away!!?? I’ll leave it at that for now. That’s how I feel about it, hah.

Are we all living for the first and the fifteenth of the month?

I know I am and that’s all I can really speak for. Those are generally both the greatest and worst days of the month for people in a situation similar to mine. It is good to get a paycheck in the hand but sucks to have spent the majority of it before it even registers into your account. “I would be rich if I didn’t have so much debt” type of mentality these days. All I know is that if you’ve dipped your toe into the system, convinced yourself that the water was tolerable enough to fully submerge then you are likely living cheque to cheque. But, I could be wrong. Either way, on the first and fifteenth you’ll know where I’ll be.

Any last words, stories, shout outs etc?

More details about Nickelodeon Ethics and its availability can be checked out at myspace.com/kidastros and SideRoadRecords.com. Shout out to everyone who is checking out ugsmag.com and Kay the Aquanaut! Stay tuned. Cheers to noyz319.

And, shout out to you Chaps, the first member inducted into the Saskatchewan Hip Hop Hall of Fame!! Congrats big homie, you’ll always have a place to call home now!

Nickelodeon Ethics!!

[MP3: View post to listen]
[MP3: View post to listen]

Introduce yourself.
DJ T.Lo – full-time Turntablist/Dj. I won the Canadian DMC Supremacy in 2007 and Scribble Jam last year.

How do you build a routine?
You kind of have these records that you play with for so long and after a while it all comes together. I don’t think was able to put together decent routines for 8 years into it.

Why did you pick up a turntable instead of a guitar?
Most Asian kids are forced to learn the piano when they’re young and I did the piano for 6 or 7 years. I was just intrigued by scratching and hip hop music and I wanted to be involved. The DJ role stuck with me and I fell in love with the look of two turntables – I saw it instantly as an instrument, I saw the potential in it to manipulate records.

Did you get into beat-making before you got into Djing?
I kinda got into wanting to make my own music, progressing as a Dj…building routines and performing them is cool, but I really wanted to make something of my own. I haven’t been producing for that long. But I definitely wanted to merge the two.

Are you a “technical DJ”?
No, I’m not that technical. For me, what caught my attention about music was really simple…I was in awe for technicality, but for me it was more about the composition that made me. I wouldn’t say I’m the most technical scratcher at all, but I love scratching and I think I have my own take on it.

What’s the process of going into the DMCs?
As a Turntablist there’s only a few avenues where we can shine and do our thing. The number one thing was battling, ‘cause the people who understood why we’re there. In hip hop there’s this thing about battling – emcees, Djs, – I always like to put myself to the test and it pushes the art.

What’s the environment in the DMCs?
For the most part, they’re looking for really aggressive routines; so I felt personally – for me as an artist, it wasn’t the best avenue for me to keep pursuing, but I love battling. I kind of put my compositions to the test.

The idea of the Turntablist is kind of dying, do you notice that?
Oh definitely. There’s different types of Djing…personally I’d rather see more people take risks with regard to the music that they’re making. But there are trends and the trend right now is pretty much electro/hipster scenes – that’s where the money’s at, believe it or not people are capitalizing on it. But you can only do what your heart’s into, I like making scratch-based, Turntablist music and there’s not a lot of it out there, so I wanna contribute my part.

Do you have any albums out now?
Just finished a short album called Rough Waters – which includes some live instruments. Just working on a live show with that.

How did you link up with Shad and become his DJ?
We went to school at Laurier together. A buddy of mine told me about this guy who raps – he looked like a hobo. I invited him over to my place, I had my turntables set up and everything and he just kicked freestyles for hours while I was lacing instrumentals – it impressed me like crazy. I did some cuts on his album and I was with for the live show and I’ve been with him for the past 4 years — we’ve seen positive results. We’ve done some Canadian tours and he is currently working on a new album to be release in the Spring of 2010.

What’s the Warped Tour like with all those rock kids?
It was definitely not our scene, but there were some kids there that took to what we were doing. We were on the tour bus with Alexisonfire and we got along with them. It was good exposure for us. There was a wide variety of acts this year. A lot of the bands respected what we did and a lot of the kids got to be exposed to something different. It was a good experience touring on a bus, not showering for days.

Do you use vinyl or Serato?
With Shad I use Serato. It’s easier to DJ parties with Serato, but if I can, I will roll with a crate – it’s a better experience for me, if it’s a better experience for me, it’s likely a better experience for everybody else.

Did you bring a crate to Warped Tour?
I brought a small bag of records for my routine and I bought a lot on the road.

If you were going on a tour and you could only bring 100 records, what would you bring?
A lot of randoms. If I were to put a show together right now with 100 records, I’d definitely put some classics: Tribe, break beats, jungle records, weird samples – I’ve been messing with the RC-50 loop pedal, so I’d try to put something creative with that together. If I had more money, I’d bring a drummer, try to bring some live players.

Why is it important to have a live drummer in a rap show?
I could do things myself with a [loop-pedal] and 3 turntables, but it would enable me to show people who don’t really see it as an instrument…with a drummer, I can collaborate and create variances in a composition that’s a little more understandable for people from different backgrounds – like a rock band for example. It’s about a shared experience with people [and] the turntable is being used just as much or more above these instruments to create these sounds.

What projects are you working on?
Shad’s recording another album, so I’ll be involved with some of that process. I’m working on another project which is mainly instrumental composition. I’m coming out with two mixes right now, which are beat mixtapes – I’m kind of tired of all these mixtapes that these emcees are putting out right now, I don’t know what they are. There are no concepts anymore. Probably another scratch album around the summer time hopefully. Just trying to keep busy, it’s hard if you’re not making those commercial hits.

Shout outs/last words?
Everyone I’ve collaborated with: Shad, Lazarush, Elijah Walsh, all my friends and family
and Jon b.

For more on TLO myspace.com/djteelo

[MP3: View post to listen]
[MP3: View post to listen]

Introduce yourself and how readers might already know you?

I go by Azrael (formerly Azraelian, and even more formerly Azrael), from east Vancouver. Been making hip-hop music since around ‘02, and people may recognize me from a release I’ve been on, shows I’ve played, mutual friends, or from working with a multitude of artists over the years, like Kaboom, Aalo Guha, Chadio, Josh Martinez, Birdapres, POS Crew, The Gumshoe Strut, Factor, The Phonograff, Aspire and Wundrkut, among others.

I find it impossible to believe Doldrums is your first solo CD. You’ve been rapping— you know, at least semi-professionally, in clubs and such — for how many years now?

Well, I was sneaking into the Piccadilly Pub at the old rap night there to get on stage when I was around 17 or 18, so a few years now. But yeah, it’s my first solo disc and it’s been a long time coming.

Here’s what I gathered from your discography: You recorded an album with Cle and Aalo Guha under the group name Castheadwork; you joined POS crew and recorded Buckslice; you are on two Imaginations Treetrunk compilations; you co-created Tapwater with Aspire and put out another album; then you and Chadio released an album under the name Quoted Motives; plus you were in what I called a Canadian super-group when I first heard them, This Dance Dance Revolution Will Not Be Televised (and there’s another album there); and then you recorded the 46 Middles album under the name 50 Fingers with Gumshoe Strut, Kaboom, Chadio and Factor. Finally, you made a solo debut — Bangers and Mash, the Azrael version — that was sort of a download only promotional thing for Get Grounded TV. But Doldrums, you say, is your first solo CD… Did it not occur to you before to put out an album with just your name on it?

I’d have to say yes and no. Starting out, when we made Castheadwork it was just about making songs, I mean, we were young too, and just having fun. And the other group albums I’ve been involved in kind of happened sporadically and whimsically. Like the 50 Fingers album we recorded in two sessions (it would have been an EP if our Red Deer show didn’t get cancelled), or the Kitchen Sink album we recorded in two weeks (give or take).

And that’s my comfort zone musically. I like to do things at the drop of a dime, very spontaneously, which is kind of weird because I’m pretty calculated with everything else. The thing is — and any artist who isn’t a one-man-band will attest to this — timing is key. It has to make sense at the time for everybody involved. I think Guha and I shared a mutual patience with this project which is great because he’s a ridiculously talented producer to work with and he put a lot of work into the album. I tried to start making it a couple years ago, but wasn’t satisfied with what I came up with. So it got put on the backburner.

But it’s not like I haven’t recorded anything solo before this. It was just ideal timing with Guha not being obligated to other projects, while, on my side, the pressure was busting pipes.

What are the benefits you’re realizing now by rapping alone and not as a group?

I can’t really say that I was unaware of any sort of benefits. I guess it’s nice to play your own CD, but its pretty much business as usual. I mean, there is a bit more creative control in certain aspects which is nice. But as far as the songwriting goes, there’s not really a major difference. Oh, and I get to decide the final track listing. Aspire and I are two headstrong Scorpios and almost duked it out on a couple occasions during Tapwater['s album Breadcrumbs] coming up with things as trivial as a track list.

What do you miss about group work?

Well, I’ll be honest — nothing! The bulk of my resume is group work, so I’m focusing on doing a lot more solo work in the future. Keep an eye out for new music from me, I’ll be staying busy.

So on the horizon, you’ll be recording more one-on-one with producers.

I have an album produced by Sythe from Ill-Legitimate Productions that is now in its mixing stage. And, immediately after, I plan to get started on an album with Zach W from This Dance Dance Revolution Will Not Be Televised and The Heard. It’d be really cool to do another Tapwater or Quoted Motives album in the future, but the thought isn’t really in anyone’s mind right now.

Seeing as how you’re such a prolific artist, I’m curious about your writing process. Not everyone can come up with that much solid material in a few years. Are you the type of emcee who caries around a notepad everywhere? Do you memorize rhymes on the SkyTrain? Do you just appoint a lot of recording time and write when you get to the lab?

I’m not sure if prolific is all that apt. I might say consistent but I know I’ve been spending more time lately watching TSN than being productive. But I do write in different types of ways. I might spend a while on a verse and bring it to the studio, but more often I’ll write it there. And I prefer to do it on the spot for probably the same reasons an actor would like performing on Broadway as opposed to filming a movie.

Also, from the albums it may seem to you like I’ve written a lot, but I know that that is just the tip of my brain’s iceberg, which might sound like a dully generic answer — but it’s the truth! There’s a lot more oil to strike and butter to spread, I just don’t know how stoked Chadio and I would be to tour via Greyhound again.

The mood of Doldrums is, at times, mellow like a lava lamp. How does the definition of the title reflect that — does it speak to the feeling of the album, or is it more about the atmosphere it was written and recorded under?

The atmosphere of the album was always changing because of the lengthy process it took to complete it. Mellow is my comfort zone and Guha knows that so it went without saying. Like I had mentioned earlier, we had planned to make the album a few years ago but didn’t, yet, I still liked that title so as time passed it just made more and more sense. It’s a good word plus I like the letter D.

Are you born and raised Vancity?

Yes, I’m a born and raised East Van boy.

When I lived there in 2003 to 2006, the hip hop scene was very vibrant. There were rap shows or open mics every second night, if not every night, and Monday Night Live was unmissable. What changes have you observed since when you started rapping and now?

Yeah, I remember those times and they were great. Like you mentioned, Monday Night Live (which is still going) was unmissable, and other weekly nights got solid turnouts as well, plus big name acts seemed to be a bit more frequent than now, which was good for local rappers to be able to open up for. But honestly, I don’t notice all that much difference other than there is a few new rappers bringing their circles of friends to the shows. It’s the same atmosphere that a lot of the country would say is very “Vancouver,” which, translated, means cliquey and pretentious. But I don’t know anything else so it’s fine with me. I don’t get out a whole lot nowadays either.

Lots of the rap shows take place in the Gastown area of the city. Has the recent gentrification and 2010 Olympic preparations affected that at all?

Perhaps, but I wouldn’t know the inner details of it. The Monday Night Live shows are at Modern now, which is at the foot of Gastown, instead of the notorious Lamplighter — so maybe the new owners had plans from the get-go. What I do know is that the city will turn into a police-state once the Olympics get here, so maybe I’ll have to watch what T-shirt I wear in public.

If freestyle rap were an Olympic sport, who should represent Canada in the tournament?

Good question. I’ve been watching all these King of the Dot videos lately, and there is a lot of really dope rappers to choose from. However, I’d have to go with my man Aspire. He’s the best freestyler I’ve heard in my life so I’d choose him. He’s got an archive of rhymes in his head and when he freestyles, he’s not relying on a list of crutches. I could give a couple honourable mentions, but I won’t. When Aspire is in the zone, he’s pretty damn good.

Introduce yourself, your crew and affiliations…


My name is Jonathan Stoddart, AKA Ricca Razor Sharp from the Audible Intelligence Crew based in Calgary. I represent Audible Intelligence, but in a larger sense, I represent the Calgary music scene, of which I have been a part of for 10 years, in various capacities.

You’re 50% owner/operator of Neferiu Records, how did the label come about and what kind of artists are on it?


In fact, I am Vice President of Neferiu Records, but it really belongs to Mantrakid. He is the creator, graphic artist, visionary and primary talent scout, and has been working at it for about a decade. When Mantrakid produced my first album, 12 Steps to a Deffer You (2006) I became involved in promotions, and found myself in somewhat of a ‘Right-hand-man’ position, which Mantrakid eventually rewarded by bestowing upon me the title of ‘Vice-President’.
 


Does the label work ever get in the way of making music?


I have been able to manage both. In actuality, Nate (Mantrakid) does more label work than I do, although I have spent considerable time assisting him. In effect, I think it has been beneficial to me as a musician, kind of like getting a college education on the music business, or an internship so to speak. Being a part of the label has expanded my
knowledge and scope, and in turn, led to better perspectives in my rhymes. And, to be fair, a lot of the work I have done for the label has been in support of my own albums, so I have been helping myself. Being the VP tends to ensure that you remain a label priority, so I am grateful for that.


Do you have any future plans for the label? If so, what would they be?


A big part of what Neferiu focuses on are the free download series. There are a lot of quality albums available from neferiu.com absolutely free. By putting out innovative projects from the likes of Planit, Metawon and many others, we have been able to draw a lot of traffic and positive attention to the label, which in turn opens doors to our entire roster. It’s a work in progress and an evolving vision, but the Mantrakid and I are always putting our heads together and continuing to work the angles. I think that Neferiu Records is definitely more well known now than it was several
years ago, and we do intend to capitalize on that. Ultimately, Neferiu follows the creative vision of Mantrakid, who likes material that is slightly alternative or experimental in nature.
 


Your new album is called Causeways and C-trains, what are you referencing? What’s the album about?


I grew up in a place called Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia. It was connected to the mainland by a causeway, which is essentially like a bridge, except it is affixed to the ocean floor. The C-Train is an obvious reference to Calgary’s public transit, which has been a part of my life since arriving in Calgary in 1999. The album is in part a contrast between
small town life and the big city. In addition it is about girls, parties, choices, fads, the future, and of course, hip hop. I also tried to reference different decades, and have material on here that borrows from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and today. I would like to think that the album is entertaining and witty without being dumb and intelligent in the right places. And the beats are fat, thanks to the production of SoLeo and the Mantrakid.


Which is the doper rap scene, Alberta or Nova Scotia?


My 22 years in Nova Scotia were mostly spent in more rural areas, so my hip hop experiences there consisted of bumping Ice Cube out of my parents’ Jetta, and getting crazy to Funkdoobiest at high school dances. Halifax has a great scene, and was early on board as hip hop started making inroads in Canada, but I only experienced it in bits and pieces. Obviously Alberta has a great deal of talented artists and enthusiastic supporters as well. I think that in 2009, wherever you go, there are going to be hip hop circles adding and thriving, and others who are contributing close mindedness and wackness, so geography is only one factor. Peace out to all of those doing their thing in Canada, and the world.
 


What made you want to pick up a mic, write rhymes on a page or otherwise keep it real as a rapper?


I just really liked the music. In the early 90s, when I was in junior high, it was the new thing, and I really liked it, from a point of view of the potential for expression, but also just the rhythmatic possibilities of the spoken word over dope beats. After just so many thousand hours of admiring the rhymes of others, I got the idea that maybe I could try myself. In short, it was some combination of Rap City, the Fu-Schnickens, cassette mixtapes, Master T & Roxy, Public Enemy, and a Radio Shack karaoke machine. It wasn’t so much one MC, as it was just getting inspired by the arrival of something relevant and new (at least new to me). Anybody who remembers Michael Williams hosting Rap City knows what I’m talking about.


Do you ever see rapping as a viable career path?


I did at one point, but it was way outside of my reality. Ironically, the
more I achieve, the less I fiend for the success that once guided me.
Don’t get me wrong, I still have aspirations, but the star struck sense
that career success was going to provide me some kind of happiness in life
has faded somewhat. I just try to work my musical career into my life as a
32 year old well adjusted human being. At this point, if I am able to do
what I want creatively with the respect of my peers, and some help from
the industry, that would be considered success. I suppose I could get
rich, stranger things have happened, but supplementary income is probably
a more realistic goal at this point, and I’m cool with that. I would like
to think that I could still be rapping at 55, and putting out material
that is relevant to somebody. It’s not like I’m going to forget how to
rap, or stop wanting to speak on the changing world around me. That is
 more important than a gold chain to me.



Shout outs/hidden knowledge?

Be yourself, and walk the line. As hip hop heads, it is our job to call
out bullshit when we see it. On the other hand, obsessing about the
actions of others is child’s play, and I’m an adult. Don’t waste your time
picking apart every detail, or artist who might not have the historical
knowledge you have. Unless you lived in New York in the 70s, you didn’t
have anything to do with the invention of hip hop, so just do you. We’re
all in this together.


Special shout outs to Mantrakid, and SoLeo, who put countless hours into
my new album. EquAzn, Iron Lion, King Lou, DJ Jetleg, Wyzaker, Rynocuts,
Stillz, and all the Audible massive. Props to Cole Binder who accompanied
the Mantrakid and I on tour as our videographer. Big ups to all Calgary
MCs, as well as the B-Boy/B-Girl scene, and all doing their thing on the
DJ and promotions tip. Big ups to the hip-hop scene, as a whole, and also
those from the rock scene who have continued to support me, after my days
in defEKt and Phattoe. Props to JustBen, working it on the East Coast.
Peace to my boys in Ripcase, and to all of those in the world who know
right from wrong. Everybody doing their thing, keep on keeping on.

RiccaRazorSharp.com
Neferiu.com

Ricca Razor Sharp – “Do You In The 80’s” video