It don't get no more Hiphop than this. Paco Cruz chops it up with The White Shadow, breakin' shit down for all the youngsta's.
You're a Norwegian Hiphop legend that most know little about, and you've been in the "game" for a (short) lifetime. How did you get into Hiphop?
When a friend brought Rappers Delight by The Sugarhill Gang to a school party in the fourth grade of elementary in 1979, on a mixtape with DJ Dave Dale, who was a local DJ in Geilo, where I'm from. I was into Disco and Funk before that, and had just begun to DJ a bit at home and at school parties, with primitive equipment. Belt-drive turntables, two amp's, and four speakers so I could "mix". Didn't know what a DJ mixer was yet.
Dad (RIP) was a big influence too cause he taught me what Disco and DJ's was, and I grew up with music since he was a musician.
Hip Hop came to Norway with Disco, and Rappers Delight by The Sugarhill Gang, Rhythm Talk by Jocko, and Rap-O Clap-O by Joe Bataan were all on the national top ten in 1980. Since most rap records at the time were 10-15 minutes long some of us kids would compete to see who knew most of the lyrics for Rappers Delight and The Message.
Radio Lux also inspired when they played all the new records imported from the US, and most of the early rap records were played for the first time in Europe there. Rappers Delight, Wheels Of Steel, It's Nasty, The Message, Planet Rock, Play That Beat Mr. DJ, etc.
I heard cutting for the first time in 1981 when they played Wheels Of Steel, and destroyed a couple of turntables because of it.
B-Boy and Graff I saw the first time on some documentaries that aired on Norwegian TV in 82/83, and it made me realize that it was all a part of one culture, and I think most of the old school heads from here have similar experiences. The difference for me was that I started with Disco, got into Hiphop from there, and many who had no particular relation to Hiphop liked rap music and thought it was part of Disco in the late 70's, which it was, as a lot of Disco was played on the Hiphop scene in New York, like Chic, Grace Jones, and even the Human League, and Disco Dj's were the first to use two copies of a record to extend the breaks, and since Hiphop began with Dj's rockin' breaks, and Disco Dj's started with that, Hiphop and Disco were parts of the same dance music scene in New York in the 60, 70 and 80's.
You was the opening dj for major rap acts when you lived in NY in the early 90's (Busta Rhymes, Jay-Z, A Tribe Called Quest, and others). Do you feel that you're getting more recognition in the States than at home?
It's happened that people who know me in the US. have told people in Norway about me, haha, and makes sense to get more props in the US than in Norway since I mostly work with people from there, but it's about the same in Europe and the US I guess, but I'm perhaps more slept on comercially in Norway because I don't make commercial rap music, and have never been much into rap in languages other than English either, so I guess I'm a bit different out here because of that, and I do feel more a part of the US Hiphop scene.
You won the Norwegian DMC Championship in 1988 (and 89) but your first album didn't drop until 2005. Why the hold up?
Not much of a hold up, but a lot of work. Started making beats in 88, moved to New York in 91 and was into DJ'ing then. Played at most clubs there, and produced a bit on the side, and was a member of various crews there, including BDP. It was when I got back from New York that I focused more on making beats, and it helped when I got the SP-1200 sampler too, so I spent a few years in the lab before any records were released.
The first record I was part of was the Jamalski album "Roughneck Reality" on Sony / Ruffhouse in 1993, but that was just cuts. The first record I produced was a House ep on Norwegian Thang Records, distributed by Peppermint Jam in Germany, in 1995, named Poon Thang EP, which I produced under the name of 109th Street Connection, then I worked with various mc's in Norway for a few years that resulted in the Mindstate, and Glammalife singles where I did both beats and cuts. It was the first releases where you can hear my style on both cuts and beats, that I continue to build on nowadays, and after that, Roll Out by D-Stroy in 2001, Leisure by Maylay Sparks and Grand Agent in 2002, then my own EP "Back To The True School" on vinyl, featuring Celph Titled, Grand Agent, D-Stroy, and more, on Uncut Productions in 2003, plus production for Maylay Sparks, Celph Titled, Army Of The Pharaohs, Malik B from The Roots, Supastition, Pizdamen, etc.
In 2003, I finished an early version of my debut album "Renegades", but I wasted a couple of years trying to get it signed to various labels, and went through three record deals in the US. that didn't work out because the labels were either too small and had too low of a budget to implement the release despite the fact that they were pretty well known indie labels, and illegal downloading had just started to kill off the smaller labels as well, so I continued to create new songs, and hook up with various artists during that period, so in 2005 I had a new version of "Renegades" ready, and released it myself. After that, it's been a steady flow of releases, about 3-5 a year, before last and this year, where it's a lot more.
You seem like a perfectionist and a man who does not release the projects until you are 110% satisfied. Do you work mostly as a producer in the studio when working with artists? Or is it beats sent on the Internet?
Thanks. Trying to do my best always, and sometimes I even manage. All the work's done online, and I'm happy bout that. Studio sessions were fun, and we could come up with things we wouldn't otherwise, that way, but there was also a lot more time wasted, and by workin' online mc's trying to be producers, and vice versa is over now which is a good thing, cause we can make a lot more, and better, music that way in my opinion.
How has the Internet changed the game, and how did you hook up with mc's from the US in the early/mid 90's? Cd's in the mail?
Pros: Easier to get in touch with artists, much faster to make music through Email, don't have to waste expensive studio time, costs close to nothing to release an album online, makes my music available easy to a lot more people, free promotion, all you need for recording, etc. is free.
Cons: Hardly ever meet the artists I work with in person anymore which was part of the fun of studio sessions back in the days, illegal downloading has made the whole industry lose a lot of money. I've probably lost several 100 000 Norwegian, due to my albums being easy to get for free online, but when an album's leaked you can pretty much forget about stopping it, so I turn the promotion of being available for free to my advantage instead.
Before the web it was CDs in the mail, phonecalls, and working in the studio, often as part of the deal when booking artists for shows in Europe.
And how do you feel HipHop as a genre has evolved since you first became a fan of the culture?
I think the best era of what you could call real Hiphop was in the 70's before there were records, but only tape recordings of jams in the Bronx. Hiphop became commercial when Rappers Delight dropped, but the early rap records were still far from radio friendly because of their length, so the music that was released in early 80's on labels like Sugar Hill and Enjoy is the closest to real Hiphop because it reflects what was going on at live jams in the Bronx. Starting with Run-DMC the songs got more commercial, 3-4 min. long with hooks to please the radio and pop charts. Hiphop, like other music before it got milked by greedy artists and label execs, and has become more and more commercial ever since. Now Hiphop culture is pop culture, but at the same time there's an underground scene that has more in common with what Hiphop really is because it still consists of mc's with skills on the mic, and beats based on samples, and to some extent breakbeats, but real Hiphop as it was in the beginning you will only experience at jams like the Zulu Nation and Rock Steady Anniversaries nowadays. The way Hiphop's evolved is that those who take it seriously have gotten better at what they do. Styles are more complex now, but on the other hand there is the commercial rap music that's reduced Hiphop to below retarded, but there's Hiphop culture, and rap music culture, and those are two totally different things.
You work with the what we like to call "real" rappers and the "real" hip-hop artists. How do you feel about the developments in the music and sound since the 90's "bling bling" music and up to today's even more ignorant and questionable styles?
The commercial rap artists are not a part of the Hiphop culture, and so they're irrelevant to Hiphop, but hardcore Hiphop is a dying breed. Not many left of us who make that music, but there's a new generation of great up and coming artists, but to hear them you have to search on the web, cause most of them will never get played much on radio, or TV.
There's a select few big corporations who own the major record labels and radio stations in the US, which is the country that determines what blows up worldwide. They decides what gets airplay, and only support braindead party rap or fake gangster shit because they want Hiphop to become a parody of itself. They want to downplay the importance of Hiphop, and clown the hell out of it til no one takes it seriously. We're already there or no?
A little more quality control was a good idea. Maybe it went a bit too far in the 90's when only boom bap was considered real, but at the same time we see what happened when the "rules" were gone. Do we really want Hiphop to be singy-songy pop music? That's not a good thing to me.
Another thing is that Hiphop's starting to get old, and most have been sampled and used, so the days when Hiphop was new, and controversial is for the most part gone anyway. Time for something brand new maybe?
When you look at your discography, there's no doubt that this is one of the most impressive discographies in Norwegian Hiphop, and big names such as: Wordsworth (EMC), Tash (The Alkaholiks), Malik B (The Roots), Easy Mo Bee, Vinnie Paz (AOTP / JMT), Krumbsnatcha, Louis Logic, and Supastition (Lost Colony) are only some of the people you've worked with. Who would you want to work with the most?
Thank you. Many years of hard work to accomplish what I have, but some luck too. I'm very happy that I've had the opportunity to work with most of my favorite artists, because I mostly listen to stuff like Jedi Mind Tricks, Snowgoons, Non Phixion, La Coka Nostra, and so on when it comes to new Hiphop, and have made tracks with most of the cats I liked from back in the days who are still active as well, so there's not that many I still feel that I have to work with. I've worked with most of the legendary mc's on my albums, or on other releases, and most of those who remain are on my next, and final album.
Looking at the Norwegians you have worked with, the list is quite strange. Everything from legendary: Anarad, to .. El Axel, Mad Con, Paperboys, Kleen Cut, and Silje Nergaard (!!!). Do you feel that you are labeled as a strictly Hiphop producer who has more to offer when it comes to other genres too?
It's quite varied, yes, and Disco and Funk is where I come from musically, and released an 80's style Funk / Boogie single online last year, but Hip Hop is my genre, and I have no desire to make music in other genres. I love the 70 and 80's music I grew up on, but I'm fine just listening to it. Perhaps I'll do another House 12" or ep eventually, we'll see.
What are you up to nowadays? And what artists are you workin' with?
I can't talk much about who's on my next album yet, but it's a combo of legends and newer underground artists like my previous joints, and will be an even sicker line up of featured artists than on the "Victory" album. Imma give a little extra on everything since it's the last album. Most of the vocals have been recorded, and are waiting for me to get started on the album. That'll probably be in the fall, so it will be out some time in 2011.
Working with a lot of dope up and coming artists as well, and will be releasing two albums on my label Uncut Productions this year. The first is called "Classic Regulations", together with Infinito 2017 who is a legendary MC from Chicago with more than 200 albums to his credit. We call ourselves Next Universe, and the album is completely different from "Victory". That was an epic, hardcore album, while the Next Universe is laidback and jazzy. Came out digitally on March 1st. on ITunes and Amazon.
I've also signed Mark Deez from Augusta, Georgia to Uncut, and his album drops in August. Mark Deez is one of the best new mc's from the US, and is a part of The Grindhouse Gang along with Powder, Dr. ILL, and Lord Lhus who's also known from the Snowgoons' albums, and Mark's album is the most hardcore album I've been a part of so far. We also have some of the best producers from the US, Europe, and Norway on the album, and we're about 1/3 done.
In addition, I produce and lay cuts on a whole lot of other records. Be on the look out for them online, especially on ITunes, and ughh.com. I can't talk much about them yet, but the last song I did cuts for was featuring Canibus and Kool G Rap.
Not counting Beat Making and Turntabelism, have you ever been into the other "elements"?
All of them. Breakin' and Graff from 83-86 but had no talent so I quit. Rap since 79/80, and I still write sometimes. Have a few tracks out there where I'm on the mic. Don't have mad skills, but am able to lay down a dope verse or two if needed. Dj and producing is what I've been doing for the longest. Dj since 1978, and beats since 1988, and will ease up on producing next year, so I'll most likely finish where I started, as a DJ.
Props to Pablo Cruz for the interview.
Norwegian version at duvet.no
No comments:
Post a Comment