MVRemix: How long have you actually been rapping? How did you get started?

Rockie Fresh: I’ve been rapping since I was in high school. I used to just kick freestyles for people and with friends, and it grew on me and eventually I decided to take it seriously and start recording.

MVRemix: In 2009, you dropped Rockie’s Modern Life. What do you think is different about you and your sound on The Otherside?

Rockie Fresh: I’d say the main difference is that The Otherside was a much more mature effort. With Rockie’s Modern Life, I went into the project wanting to give people something fun. But with The Otherside, my approach was a bit different. I’d say I grew tremendously from RML to The Otherside, and The Otherside is a bit more universal both conceptually and sound-wise.

MVRemix: You were just at SXSW in March. Was this your first big festival? Tell me about what that was like.

Rockie Fresh: SXSW is great. I actually was there the past two years, performing at different hip-hop blog and brand sponsored showcases. I’d say though that my first real big festival experience was at Bamboozle this year. That was what really made me believe that I could take everything to another level. When you perform in front of thousands of people that truly love your music, there’s nothing better.

MVRemix: What’s a consistent theme or message in your songs?

Rockie Fresh: I think the message is generally positive. I’m not going to say I don’t rap about weed, women, and other things like most rappers, but the way that I approach the issues is different than most. It’s more reflective. Every song though has a different message, and many are up for interpretation.

MVRemix: Describe your very first experience rapping in front of someone.

Rockie Fresh: I’d say my first performance was the most notable in terms of rapping in front of people. I had never taken to a stage before to perform, and it was definitely nerve-racking, however, when 500 people showed up to see it, my confidence level skyrocketed. I definitely would say I’ve grown a great deal as a performer since then.

MVRemix: You’ve said that you can be found listening to Paramore and Fall Out Boy. What kind of inspiration do you draw upon from alternative or rock groups? Do you think they influence your music?

Rockie Fresh: Everything from content matter to the sound of the songs. You’ll notice on “Otherside” that there is a lot of alternative rock influence, be it from the samples used or the instruments played on certain records. “The Worth” featuring Mike Golden definitely has that alternative vibe, as do a ton of other records. I actually just did a few new records with Patrick Stump from Fall Out Boy and the Madden brothers from Good Charlotte, and this really let me take that alternative vibe to another level and was a dream come true.

MVRemix: I think every region has its different sound when it comes to rap—the Bay Area’s got hyphy music, New York’s rap is tough, political. You’re from Chicago, also home to big rap names Kanye and Twista. How would you characterize Chicago rap, or Midwest rap in general?

Rockie Fresh: Chicago rap has a lot of angst, and a lot of struggle. There may not be one particular sound, but I think we all share a similar perspective as Chicago artists . The people’s attitudes in our city definitely influence the music. It’s a mindset I’d say, being a Chicago rapper. I’d like to say I have some of those qualities, but am also enitrely my own person with my own style.

MVRemix: Which rapper or rappers do you think have influenced your rap message and your rapping style the most?

Rockie Fresh: I’d say Kanye has always been an inspiration, as has Jay-Z. These might be typical, but I’ve also been influenced by artists outside of rap like John Mayer as well.

MVRemix: Tell me about your verse writing process. Do you sit down to write, or write as you go along?

Rockie Fresh: I typically spend a lot of time with an instrumental, writing at random times when I get inspiration. I also often work with my producers to construct instrumentals from scratch for a specific song or concept that I have in mind.

MVRemix: Tell me about the name Rockie Fresh.

Rockie Fresh: Well, Rockie actually has a few different origins, and I’ll leave those up to people to figure out for themselves. If I had to explain it’s origin completely, I think it’d lose a bit of its charm. It just was a name more so given to me by the people around me, who started calling me that.

MVRemix: You’ve been compared to Drake, Wiz Khalifa. How do you plan to differentiate yourself on a competitive platform where mixtapes are a dime a dozen?

Rockie Fresh: I want to make it clear that although some inspirations come from certain artists, it doesn’t mean you are JUST like them. I plan on separating myself by taking a different approach and perspective. I don’t do this to intentionally be different than everyone else, I do it to make music that people will like. I think I am already my own artist, and will continue to grow as that.

MVRemix: You grew up in the 90s, presumably watching Nickelodeon if the title of your last mixtape is any indication. What’s the deeper inspiration behind the title “Rockie’s Modern Life”?

Rockie Fresh: It was really a play on words that stemmed from the cartoon show name, and became something else. As I made the project, I realized I was crafting my own modern version of what hip-hop meant to me growing up. It was like I was taking my life, and applying it to hip-hop.

MVRemix: Any embarrassing moments while performing?

Rockie Fresh: Definitely. Once I had a skipping DJ track, so the song was skipping behind my vocals and I had to keep up with it. It was not a good look, but I managed and just ended up cutting the track and rapping the rest acapella.

MVRemix: What’s up next for you?

Rockie Fresh: I’m headed out on the road this Fall, details coming soon, re-releasing “The Otherside” on July 27th with a bunch of new material and remixes, and recording a brand new project due out in October. Keep up to date at www.rockiefresh.com or twitter.com/rockiefresh

Jasiri X is a jack of all trades; an MC, Activist and Entrepreneur, Jasiri uses his gifts to follow in the footsteps of other groundbreaking, socially-conscious artists such as, Public Enemy, KRS-ONE and Tom Morello. Where other artists proclaim their status as a Hip-Hop mogul, Jasiri dedicates his time to bringing awareness to social, and political issues. Check out, “What if the Tea Party was Black,” and you’ll understand why Jasiri is a force to be reckoned with. MVRemix had the opportunity to talk with Jasiri about what he does, influences, working with artists that share his same passion and fervor for informing the people and future plans.

MVRemix: You are an MC, activist and entrepreneur. How did you become what you are today?

Jasiri X: Reading [chuckles], also I was raised in a household that was very conscious. At a certain point in my life helping my community became more important to me than Hip-Hop, even though I love it. To be able to do both simultaneously has been a blessing.

MVRemix: Your songs always carry a message, and due to the responses you get, you obviously strike a nerve. Is that the intended goal, or are there other things you try to get when you release a new song?

Jasiri X: I want to strike a nerve, but also hopefully create dialogue. I believe the messages I carry are true, and if we can talk about them we can begin to see things eye to eye.

MVRemix: It is great to see you use hip hop in such a positive way, that really has not been seen since the days of Public Enemy. What influenced you to take this approach?

Jasiri X: Public Enemy [laughs], also X-Clan, KRS-ONE, Bob Marley, Nas and Wu Tang.

MVRemix: How was it working with X-Clan’s Paradise the Arkitech and NYOIL when you did “Enough Is Enough?”

Jasiri X: Paradise is like my mentor/brother; I don’t do anything without first having at least a conversation with him. It’s been a blessing to work with someone who has produced classic Hip-Hop albums. NYOIL showed me the power of videos in getting your message across, and he taught me about the video side, and even recommended the program I use to edit. He also connected me to Rel!g!on and Wandering Worx which is my current label, so he deserves a lot of credit in my development.

MVRemix: Your videos have contributed to not only raising awareness about who you are, but raising awareness of issues that are going on in the U.S. How has the reception been from both supporters, and opposers?

Jasiri X: People usually either love it or hate it, especially in the cyber world, but in person I get a great deal of respect from supporters and opposers.

MVRemix: You shot “American Workers vs. Multi-Billionaires” in Madison, Wisconsin, during the people’s takeover of the statehouse. It reminded me a little bit of Rage Against the Machine’s video for “Sleep Now in the Fire.” How was the experience, and hearing the opinions of the people there?

Jasiri X: It was an incredible experience! Seeing all those people in the statehouse gave me goosebumps, and really made me understand the power we have when we unify. The people were extremely nice and respectful, and very educated about the issues.

MVRemix: Speaking of Rage Against the Machine, you performed “American Workers vs. Multi-Billionaires” with Tom Morello, in Los Angeles for the Our Communities, Our Jobs Rally. How was it working with Morello, and do you have any plans on collaborating with him on anything else?

Jasiri X: He did one of the most incredible shows I’ve ever seen, and he was one of the most down to earth people I’ve ever met. I actually just met someone who works closely with him, so hopefully a collab is in the very near future.

MVRemix: You performed and presented at the Netroots Nation, which is a really cool conference featuring people such as, Dan Choi, Biko Baker and other important individuals. How was it performing in front of all of these political activists, and how did your presentation go?

Jasiri X: I got a great reception at Netroots. I don’t think a lot of people knew how powerful a tool Hip-Hop can be, especially politically, when framing our issues. I got recognized a lot too because of, “What if the Tea Party was Black?” which was kinda surreal.

MVRemix: You’re gearing up for a second album, you’re continuing work on your successful series, “This Week With Jasiri X” and you recently headlined a fundraiser for Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha. What inspires you/ pushes you to continue doing all of this?

Jasiri X: Well it’s my job now [laughs]; this is how I make a living so the more I do, the more progress I make, but I also love using my gifts to help others. There is no better feeling in the world.

MVRemix: You are all about change, and supporting problems that need immediate solutions. What would you say to those who also want to make a change, and want to help out?

Jasiri X: Keep pushing and working towards real change; we’re in the late innings and we’re winning so stay focused.

Don’t forget to check out the new video by Jasiri X – Jordan Miles

Jasiri X tells the story of Jordan Miles, the 18 year old honor student who was brutally beaten by 3 undercover Pittsburgh Police officers while walking to his grandmother’s house. “Jordan Miles” was mixed by Diezel and directed by Paradise Gray.

Call Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala at 412.350.4400 and demand he file charges against the 3 police officers who brutally beat Jordan Miles

He’s currently on the road performing for fans and promoting his forthcoming album “6′s and 7′s” which features the Deftones, Mint Condition and Lil’ Wayne amongst others.

Tech N9ne took some time out of his day while in Vancouver to sit and talk with MVRemix for a while.

MVRemix: What are your thoughts when coming to Vancouver?

Tech N9ne: Vancouver means a whole lot of fans. It means a lot of family that I’ve made in the past times that I’ve been here, and it means a wild, wild, crazy show. That’s why I’m getting so much love, because everybody’s so wild in Vancouver. I can’t wait. I’ve been having people calling me since the tour started like, “You got us on the list?” “You got us on the list?” Yes I do. It’s gonna be massive, they said The Vogue is pretty big and I’m thinking we might fill it up man, we’ll see.

MVRemix: You had two dates in Victoria, how did that go?

Tech N9ne: That’s why my voice sounds like this (a little croaky) because you really can’t do two Tech N9ne shows in one day because it’s so loud and boisterous, but we did it in Victoria. Oh my god, it was so wonderful. The first show was all the young kids, I mean there was 3 year olds man, with Tech N9ne shirts on that they made! I felt like they all came to see the Muppets making it happen, it was so crazy how young they were. The first show was at five o’clock with all the youngsters. The second show was 19 and over, and they were both equally bananas.

MVRemix: Who has served as an influence to your live shows? Which artists have influenced the way you perform?

Tech N9ne: Influenced? Public Enemy, NWA, KRS One, Run DMC, LL Cool J. You know, Eric B & Rakim. The old school taught me how to do a show. Heavy D taught me how to command a crowd and crowd participation; I paid attention. I’ve been in the crowd with some of these guys on stage, all nice and smooth. I was lucky enough to see them then and all those shows. Even Ice-T, he knew how to do a show when he came to town. The old school is what taught me.

MVRemix: Are there any Kansas artists that shaped the way you perform live?

Tech N9ne: Yeah, there’s one guy. His name is Jay Lee. No, there were two guys, Jay Lee and DJ Cutfast. They were in a group with a guy named DJ Icy Rock, who did a lot of music for me in the past. They were in a crew called Straight Funk. Jay Lee taught me how to look at people in the eyes when I rapped, ’cause before I couldn’t do it, I was pretty shy. Like Jim Morrison (of the Doors) I wanted to turn my back to the crowd. But Jay Lee made it to where I looked at people, eye contact, let them know you’re there. DJ Cutfast taught me how to be energetic on stage and play with the crowd, that same clique taught me a lot back then.

MVRemix: How long did the album “6′s and 7′s” take to record?

Tech N9ne: I have no idea. [chuckles] I know that’s a weird answer but I actually have no idea of an actual timeframe because I get the beats and I start to write my life… Probably a month and a half. Maybe. I don’t know.

MVRemix: How many songs would you say were left off of the album?

Tech N9ne: Left off of the album? None. I chose 31 beats, there’s 24 selections on the album. Then Best Buy has three, iTunes has four… I did a lot of music for this album. I didn’t leave nothin’ off. I still have a couple more when I get home that I have to record for iTunes. If I’m not mistaken, I have six more in the batch that didn’t get touched. They have ideas and everything and I cannot use them for the next album ’cause my taste will be different. So I can’t wait to record the rest of them.

MVRemix: When you first started Strange Music, did you have it with the idea that you wanted the company to couple with one of the majors? Or was it always that you wanted Strange Music to be independently done?

Tech N9ne: Well I’ve been with the majors first before I had my independent label. I’ve been with Quest/Warner with Quincy Jones, I’ve been with Perspective Records with Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis, I’ve been on Jcor/Interscope – I’ve done all that and it didn’t work. As soon as I started doing it independently it started working, why would I even want them anymore? We are the major label now.

MVRemix: With regards to alcohol, I saw you talking a lot about KCT – is that your favourite drink, or do you have another drink of preference?

Tech N9ne: That’s my drink of choice right now, KCT, Hennessy spiked Lemon. I also have a drink called Cariboo Lou which is really humungous amongst the college crowd and stuff like that. It’s [Bacardi] 151, Malibu rum and pineapple juice and yeah, those are my two leisure drinks.

MVRemix: How did you initially hook up with Lil’ Wayne?

Tech N9ne: Wayne did an interview from inside Rikers Island with Funkmaster Flex. Flex asked him who he’d like to work with, who would be on his wish list and he said Andre 3000 of OutKast and Tech N9ne. I was like, “Wow”, I had no idea. Just shortly after that I visited him in Rikers Island for 3 hours. We talked and we kicked it. When he came out, I came down to Miami and we did a song for his album (The Carter IV) and then we did a song for my album (6′s and 7′s). Wonderful days.

MVRemix: Does it surprise you that Strange Music has gotten so far just by concentrating on the local scene and it has spiraled into all these other different areas?

Tech N9ne: I’ve seen it grow right before my eyes, and I’ve been planning it since I started. That’s why the chip on my shoulder has always been so big, because I always felt that I was an elite artist. It was just my imagery that made some people stray… That I was a devil worshipper, and I have no idea why. I think it’s because I’m a black guy and I paint my face, I have red spiked hair and how am I satan when I’ve never had upside down crosses on me ever, but somehow people thought I was a devil worshipper. I always knew that I was an elite artist, so like Jim Carrey said when he got all that money for Batman, “No I’m not surprised, I’ve been planning this all my life.”

MVRemix: So you thought back at the middle-end of the 90′s that Hip Hop would be as big as it is today?

Tech N9ne: Totally. I know because poverty will always be there always be black markets. Hip Hop is from the streets, it’s forever, real talk. It is forever, there’s no way to get around that. When you look around, Hip Hop is rock, Hip Hop is country, Hip Hop is pop, it’s jazz, it’s everything. There’s no way around it. It has merged with every piece of music, now with dubstep. If you don’t believe me and hear Hip Hop is country, if it was not there would be no Kid Rock. There would be no Nelly and Tim McGraw song, there wouldn’t be a Jazz thing with Guru (Jazzmatazz) if it wasn’t merged with Jazz…. There wouldn’t be “Walk This Way” with Aerosmith and Run DMC. It just keeps going and going. Yes, I always thought it would be here, it’s just the old timers that thought it would just be a flash in the pan. But it’s not going nowhere, so they’ve gotta deal with it.

MVRemix: A la Fight Club, “If you could fight any celebrity, who would you fight?”

Tech N9ne: I’m a warrior, so… [ponders] I would like to get all the way in shape and see if I could take a punch from Mike Tyson.

MVRemix: Do you think you could?

Tech N9ne: I think my head is strong enough, but I don’t know if my chin is.

MVRemix: Is there anything else you’re working on aside from “6′s and 7′s” at the moment?

Tech N9ne: No, just working on pleasing my fans by traveling to do 82 shows in 85 days.

MVRemix: Any songs that you’re sick of performing? Songs that the fans want to hear but you yourself want to give it a bit of a rest for a while, but you still have to perform that one?

Tech N9ne: No, I haven’t gotten to that point yet. I think it’s a blessing for them to like any song that’s just made from nothing. So when I’m in the midst of doing my serious songs and they’re singing, “Oooh, areola! Oooh, areola!” my joke song, it’s funny to me. I’m not tired of doing it yet.

MVRemix: Any last words?

Tech N9ne: I want them to read this and hear me say, “Together we are a powerful force, as one mind, body and soul. Let no evil enter or attempt to reduce us because of the beliefs we hold. With this love, combined with our strengths, we ward off pain and stress. Technician I am, wholeheartedly in life, and in death.

Before the set, the crowds were thick, packing around the stage and securing the best viewpoints from the balcony. Before long, Trentemøller and his band began at the Vancouver, BC club and entered into their performance filled with eclectic moods and powerful light shows.

With Trentemøller’s music, songs tend to be a lot longer than what people typically expect. Those in the audience that were unfamiliar with him, but had his music recommended by others were treated to an amazing first exposure.

Anders Trentemøller and his band have solidified a live experience unlike any other group, and the Dane has accomplished a lot having been making music in various capacities for nearly two decades now.

After the set on April 13th, 2011, I went back to have a few words with Anders Trentemøller about his forthcoming set at Coachella, how the Ultra Music Festival went and which music videos (check out “Sycamore Feeling” and “…Even Though You’re With Another Girl“) and live performers influenced him.

MVRemix: You’ve just come from the Ultra Festival, how was that and how did it compare to tonight in Vancouver?

Trentmøller: As you just saw it’s a bit more of a rocky concert combined with a sort of clubby sound, and the Ultra Festival was a lot more pure techno [with] a lot more of the other bands I think. So for us it was fun, but maybe we were not in our right element. I think it was much more fun tonight actually [in Vancouver] because it was…

MVRemix: So you prefer the smaller groups?

Trentmøller: Well not smaller, we also play really big stages. But I think that we first play more rock festivals because that fits this sound better. It was fun (the Ultra Festival), it was great; we had a good time and people had a good time. I felt that people were listening to the music a little bit more here – at Ultra it was more about dancing, and that’s fine. But it feels sometimes that you feel you can play whatever and it’s just [raises his arms like a fist thumping raver]…

MVRemix: What sort crowds were you played to at Ultra?

Trentmøller: It was definitely more clubbers and more commercial maybe. Yeah, but it was fine…

MVRemix: Going from that, how is this going to translate with Coachella? Are you going to be doing more of an Ultra type vibe or more like what Vancouver saw tonight?

Trentmøller: I think we’re only going to play 50 minutes, so we actually have to take out a lot of tracks that we played tonight – we played 1 1/2 hours tonight. But I think that we will definitely play the tracks that are more indie kind of sound. I’m not trying to fit too much to what people expect. I really like to surprise people a little bit and just play whatever we feel is right in the moment. We can always change the set-list during our show, and we often do that. It will really depend on how the crowd is.

MVRemix: When you make your music is your sound planned out? Because your soundscapes vary a lot. Is it something that you come up with on the day or is it something you go into planned and with rigorously thinking through?

Trentmøller: When we’re recording it, no, I don’t really have any plans. It’s always very loose and I just do whatever feels right and sounds cool. I don’t really plan too much. It’s much more of what I feel is right in the moment. Of course there’s a lot of layers in the music, but I try to still have this kind of spontaneous attitude to it so it still sounds a bit fresh. I still like also when I’m listening to albums to go back on the fourth of fifth time that you’re listening to that album, you suddenly find new details and new layers that you maybe didn’t hear the first time you were listening to the album. I’m trying to put that into the music also.

MVRemix: Do you create a specific ambience when you create your music? I’d read that you don’t want to be under the influence of alcohol or anything else – you want to be very sober when you do it…

Trentmøller: Yeah, actually because I think when I’m sober when I make music, I’m still on a trip. Because music takes me on these trips, but still I try not to think too much about the whole process because if I think too much about it I might feel a bit of pressure and trying to do what people would expect or something… I don’t know. So I’m just trying to let music talk. Just.

MVRemix: I’ve also read about your different influences movie wise, do they play a role with regards to making your music. I know you’re a Lars Von Trier and David Lynch fan, do you ever watch their films and try and make something after that?

Trentmøller: [wincing] Yes, sort of. Not always. I’m inspired by soundtracks because instrumental music can do something that music with lyrics cannot do. It’s very open and you don’t have an illusion, so to speak, to think what you should feel. Making instrumental music makes it possible to make your own inner movie in a way. Sometimes I make my music to a soundtrack that is not existing… [correcting himself] to a non-existent movie.

MVRemix: A la “Fight Club” “If you could fight any celebrity, who would you fight”?

Trentmøller: [ponders] As a joke? Someone that I would really smash? If “Fight Club” was recorded in the 80′s maybe Ronald Reagan? He was a Hollywood star, wasn’t he?

MVRemix: Yeah he was

Trentmøller: That could be a possibility.

MVRemix: The main question is though, would you win?

Trentmøller: Of course I would.

MVRemix: Your music videos are always really interesting to watch. Which are the music videos that really influenced you?

Trentmøller: I think that I’m not that much inspired by music videos, but much more cinema or art. This guy who has done my latest video for “Sycamore Feeling” is a really good video artist and I’ve been a big fan of his work for the last three years. He’s called Jesper Just. He’s Danish, but he has done some really, really cool stuff and it has this sometimes a bit like David Lynch. I know it’s a cliche. But the video has these many layers to it so you can watch it as a… Sometimes he does some work that nearly looks like a Hollywood movie, but it has some really real layers underneath. So this subconscious is a really big part of his work and it’s something that I really like. I cannot really point out one specific music video that I loved.

MVRemix: That makes sense.

Trentmøller: Maybe actually if we talk about a simple music video, if you’ll remember the “Unfinished Symphony” (Massive Attack) it’s one big, long take and that’s simple stuff. Also Fatboy Slim did a video with some people dancing in an airport. I think that something that has a very simple idea is something that often works. What’s better than a big Michael Jackson budget? A Hollywood music video…

MVRemix: Which shows influenced the way you perform? Are there any artists that influenced you?

Trentmøller: I think then I have to actually bring in my guitar player [Trentmøller beckons in Mickael Simpson, his guitarist/bassist] I think Mikael can best explain it.

[Trentmøller gets up to grab a drink]

Mikael Simpson: You’re not leaving me with this! What was the question? Sorry. I’m the guitarist.

MVRemix: Which are the artists that have really introduced you to these live experiences?

Mikael Simpson: I’m not sure…

Mikael Simpson: For me, I’ve got nothing to say in the [Trentmøller] project. But for me it was bands like Spiritualized. I know that Trentmøller

Trentmøller: I’m too young, even if I’m older than you…

[Both Mikael and Trentmøller begin cracking up at clearly an inside joke, with drink in hand Trentmøller then rejons]

Mikael Simpson: Can I just say something? The cameraman on the “Unfinished Symphony” video that Trentmøller’s talking about is actually the cameraman that recorded the whole of “Twin Peaks.”

MVRemix: Oh really?

Mikael Simpson:Serious. Yeah.

Trentmøller: I didn’t know that. That makes sense.

Mikael Simpson: And the whole thing about the “Unfinished Symphony” video that we really like, well I think it’s the only thing that we really both like, is that you can’t see the reflection of the cameraman in the window.

MVRemix: I never noticed that actually.

Mikael Simpson: Check it out.

MVRemix: Are you working on any remixes at the moment?

Trentmøller: Recently I did a remix for UNKLE, and they also remixed me. It will be out very soon. That was a very cool remix that they did. Now I’m concentrating on touring. This UNKLE remix is actually possible to download for free for two weeks more, then it will be out on iTunes. It’s a track called “The Answer” and it’s free when you go to UNKLE’s website, you can download it there.

MVRemix: Do you have any last words to your fans?

Trentmøller: To just say that we had a beautiful night tonight and the [Vancouver] crowd was perfect. For us it was the first show on our US and Canada tour and it couldn’t be a better start. It was really great.

For the video version of this interview, click here

Trentmøller is currently touring North America, dates include:

4/21 – USA, Chicago, IL, The Mid
4/22 – Canada, Toronto, Mod Club
4/23 – Canada, Montreal, Le National
4/24 – USA, Brooklyn, NY, Music Hall of Williamsburg
4/25 – USA, Boston, MA, Royale

Before the set, the crowds were thick, packing around the stage and securing the best viewpoints from the balcony. Before long, Trentemøller and his band began at the Vancouver, BC club and entered into their performance filled with eclectic moods and powerful light shows.

With Trentemøller’s music, songs tend to be a lot longer than what people typically expect. Those in the audience that were unfamiliar with him, but had his music recommended by others were treated to an amazing first exposure.

Anders Trentemøller and his band have solidified a live experience unlike any other group, and the Dane has accomplished a lot having been making music in various capacities for nearly two decades now.

After the set on April 13th, 2011, I went back to have a few words with Anders Trentemøller about his forthcoming set at Coachella, how the Ultra Music Festival went and which music videos (check out “Sycamore Feeling” and “…Even Though You’re With Another Girl“) and live performers influenced him.

Following our interview Trentemøller quipped about how much enjoyment he gets from touring, but for the band to take days of here and there while touring is a rarity. The expense of having the eleven people involved take a day off means hotel costs and huge expenses. He also mentioned about his acceptance of the public’s perception that Trentemøller is a DJ as opposed to an artist as his Royksopp remix and other remixes have earned him higher notoriety separate to that of his solo music.

One thing was settled that night though, Trentemøller and his band can easily captivate an audience by their music alone. No emceeing or “We love you Vancouver” needed in order to have people leave happy and roar. Just play the songs and leave the stage.

After a long struggle, rapper Scribes emerged to beat the odds and drop a very polished encore to his sizzling debut, Sleepwalk (2007). What Was Lost – a title suggestive of the album’s arduous conception – features a renewed commitment to Scribes’ hip-hop roots that does not disappoint. The album, released February 2nd, represents a significant revival for the Seattle rapper, and offers a more contemporary depiction of the artist, who’s approach has certainly adjusted and developed in the years since his debut.

What Was Lost comes off as being less politically involved than previous releases (EP Summer Sampler 2009, and the revolutionarily charged Sleepwalk), but in it’s place Scribes has portrayed a more personal image – running the gamut from brooding and dejected, to even quite fun and celebratory.

The following is part two of a two-part interview I did on March 12th with Scribes at his workplace (Wilcox Boxing), in which he tells the story of how his album was stolen just weeks before it’s release, the road he took to re-recording and releasing What Was Lost, and also, what was gained along the way.

Written by Adam Salazar

MVRemix: Talk about the theft of the album.

Scribes: So, Sleepwalk came out in 2007, and then I started recording the following album, which was with BeanOne from Dyme Def. I wanted to record with BeanOne because I had heard Framework’s HelloWorld and I was like, “Man this is my favorite local album that I’ve ever heard; if there’s one producer that I want to work with for the next album it’s gonna be BeanOne.” So, I started working on the album with BeanOne. [We] demoed a lot of the songs at my house so that I could get an idea of it out of the shitty recording setup – even recorded some stuff with BeanOne – I didn’t find we got the best takes at his studio. His studio got repossessed and shit like that, so I just left those recordings there. And then I took the album to this studio… I thought it was called “In-Flight,” when I was recording there because of this act named “Birdie” which was one of the bigger acts; like the foundation for the studio, but I think it’s called Forever Green Studios – with a guy named Aaron Angus, and the people recording there was One Below from Binary Star, and Grayskul, and a couple other acts. So, I was recording the album there and was really close to finishing it. We were coming close to the mixing phase of it – certain songs had been mixed, certain songs were ready to start finalizing. I was like, “Man, I’m trying to release this one my 21st birthday in February,” and then in November of 2008 I had a studio session booked and I called Aaron up, like, “Yo, just making sure we’re still on for the session today,” and I never got a response so I left a message on his phone, called him up a bunch of times but he never picked up, so I didn’t go to the session that day. I couldn’t get a hold of him for a couple of days, then he sent me an email like, “Yeah, on this-and-this day last week someone broke into the studio; broke the window, climbed in, and stole everything in the studio,” except for . . . I don’t remember totally . . . like the gun I think. But they ripped off everything in the studio. I was backing up on-site. I didn’t have an off-site backup, which I learned you shouldn’t do. We lost the on-site everything. Most of the acts that were in the studio had prior releases – what they lost was stuff that had already been released, or it was stuff that was maybe like their side-project or whatever. I think that me and JFK probably got hit the hardest, but JFK was recording a solo project that he lost – Grayskul is his biggest moneymaker I’m thinking. For me, it was like I lost my “Grayskul,” my main album, so I was ready to . . . lose it. But they had an idea of who they thought it was; they had a pretty good idea of who did it. I wanted to go get into his personal house, you know what I mean, I wanted to get my shit back. I would do what it takes. But nobody else was really willing to go with me, or do that. I was kind of frustrated. No one was organized about it, like no one gave a fuck. I was already at that time, like, “Man, I don’t fucking know how I’m going to even put my album out, because I don’t have the money.” I was really frustrated and dealing with the struggles of life, and then it was like – now the album is gone, and I had just busted my ass. There was a lot of really, really frustrating personal situations to get here and now everything that I had to show for it, to represent that, was gone. And so I’m really down to get into this person’s house and get my shit back – do whatever I gotta do, and no one was really down to help me. And so I waited for a while, like, do I just sit here and wait for some of it to get recovered? Or do I start over? Start spending money [and] start the project over again?

Well, fuck it. I went in to record the Summertime Sampler EP, which a couple of the tracks from that went on the album. So the Summertime Sampler I started recording probably around February or something, and that got dropped in May. I didn’t even drop that to get big off of; I just dropped it to remind everybody that I’m still here. Hella people come back with some mediocre follow-ups, and I’m like, “Nah,” I’m this age now – yeah, Sleepwalk was released two years ago, but I’m still [here]. Not only am I still here but I’m better. I’ve evolved. Just to remind my hardcore fans and political connects that I’m on top of my shit. And then after the sampler was done I was like, “Well, let’s finish this album up.” The album was a combination of stuff that was lost from there, and stuff that was lost that changed. Most everything got changed if it was already on the original, and then there was also some new songs.

MVRemix: How much do you feel the incident changed the final product? For better? For worse?

Scribes: I mean it’s definitely better. The thing is this project is so much cleaner – everything from the recording, to my ability as a singer, to my delivery as a rap artist [and] the writing on the new songs. Everything is better than it was. That’s the truth. But the hardest part for me about What Was Lost – and I stand by it a hundred percent like I stand by everything that I’ve put out because it represents a certain chapter of my life – is that the foundation of a lot of the songs on the album . . . [were laid] when I was really young. So, certain songs – three of the verses were written when I was 19 years old, and then the chorus [came later] and it’s me at 23 years old. So, I did my best to make sure that I adapted it to fit me as best as I possibly could at age of 23 – not the 19 year old that wrote some of those songs.

MVRemix: Did it feel strange to retrace your steps on those tracks or did it feel the same? Better?

Scribes: [Better]. A lot of that had to do with my engineer too. Because my engineer – Teal Douville – he was important because he pushed a lot of the songs in different directions than they were before. So we kind of changed them. I realized how filthy Teal was over the course of recording the Sampler, because that’s where I recorded that at, and he made a lot of contributions to “Roll My Way,” and songs like that. So he was big on that. [He] made it so that some of the songs weren’t just straight up re-recordings of shit that I had already done – we made some changes.

MVRemix: How did the theft affect the album financially?

Scribes: (Sighs) So, it was already difficult and frustrating and hard financially, as it was before. Because artists like me – everything has been paid for by me. You know what I’m saying? The only money I really got from anybody was the money from Mike [McCready], which basically paid for the production – so it paid for everything that’s BeanOne on that album. After that, when the album got stolen, had I been like a rock group we would’ve lost everything, you know what I mean, and had to replay all the instrumentation. But since I’m a rap artist and we had production [and] . . . beats, I could go back and get the beats from Bean, so I just had to re-record all the vocals and remix all the beats – so that was cool. But the financial hardship of re-recording it was unbelievable. I thought it was hard before, [but after] I thought that I would maybe break.

MVRemix: The original name of the album was supposed to be Thruourmusic. How about the meaning of the new name, What Was Lost – is that a reference to What Was Lost in the break-in?

Scribes: Yeah, [and] what was recovered, you know what I mean. I guess the foundation of the album’s recording is What Was Lost.

MVRemix: What does What Was Lost mean to you personally? As an accomplishment? As a statement? What inspired you most when putting this album together?

Scribes: I’m very proud of the album. I wouldn’t say that I stood around and listened to it all the time because I’ve heard it a lot (laughing). I’ve heard it a lot, and it’s been a long ordeal. But I’m very proud of the album; it’s a huge deal for me because I kind of forgot what it’s like to ever even put out music, or to have people hear your music for a long time.

MVRemix: What kind of statements were you making?

Scribes: The thing about me – especially now – which is different [is] on Sleepwalk is like, “Okay, I’m going to address these issues.” It’s from the heart, but it was like, “Okay, I see the policies of this in black and white and this is what I’m going to address.” In this album I didn’t really think about it like that because I was in a much more difficult financial situation, and I didn’t always have the luxury to really think about stuff [like that].

MVRemix: So in a way, whereas Sleepwalk was more subjective, this album is maybe more personal?

Scribes: It’s more personal. It’s a lot more personal, and it’s also just like: just say it how it is. This is life. I didn’t think about being politically correct, I just was like: this is what my life is right now. Call it how it is. Say it how it is. That’s why this probably might offend some people – especially in this area – more than my previous album, but at the same time that’s why it’ll probably hit more people in the heart.

MVRemix: What Was Lost has been received as being less political than your previous two releases, especially Sleepwalk. Do you think that’s true?

Scribes: Oh, absolutely.

MVRemix: The track “Forgive Me,” seems to possibly address this perception. Is there merit to that idea?

Scribes: [It’s] funny, “Forgive me,” more than anything was about my frustrations with the Seattle scene. And don’t get me wrong, it runs parallel to that of like the bullshit that you’re going to face trying to break into the national scene as well, like trying to make it on Clear Channel, you know, as opposed to making it on indie-radio or the indie scene. It was my frustration with just seeing everything from behind the scenes, and seeing how people conduct themselves and how they behave, and what business transactions actually lead to promotional opportunities, and the way that certain artists – and I’m not going to say any names – put themselves out there on stage or what they do, and what actually happens behind the scenes. There’s like a contradiction . . . And that goes for commercial artists, sure, but I spent so much of my time disliking commercial artists when I was doing Sleepwalk, and before Sleepwalk, that after Sleepwalk I saw the contradictions that existed on the end of the political artists. I started seeing artists who were quote-unquote “conscious,” or “not commercial,” and “indie,” and artists that were supposed to be so focused on improving the community, and I saw their contradiction, and I was like, “You know what? I really can’t fuck with this.” That’s also a part of what made me less political . . . when I started to see the climate in which their music came out of, and the community that it came out of, and the self-righteousness. It made me like, “Yo, man that’s why the hood doesn’t bang your shit, you know what I mean? That’s why people in the hood don’t want to hear your rap [they] don’t want to listen to that.” I see it now. And again, I’m not taking shots at anyone when I say it, because there’s certain artists in the community that I have a lot of love for. But I definitely got exposed to the bad aspect of the business.

What are you reinforcing? Because there is, like I say, “The Devil Machine.” There is [this] overwhelming machine that everybody reinforces – [well] not everybody – but the large, large majority of people reinforces. And that’s really a negative, or evil machine no matter what network of people you’re functioning in; whether that’s a counter-cultural leftist group, or a right-wing Bible-belt group. There’s going to be some type of really fucked up value that exists on their list of values. That’s just how it goes. And I’m the type of person who really [tries] to kick it with everybody and try to be open to everybody, and kind of drift between cliques, because I kind of like take the good things out of those cliques. But I always come across the value that everybody follows just because everybody else is following it, you know what I mean? Everybody is down with it because it’s on that set of values. It’s like, “Man, I can’t see things so black and white anymore.” And I guess “Forgive Me,” is about like: Are you going to reinforce that evil, or are you going to sit there and fight out of the corner and try to beat it? Are you going to be like everyone? Is it possible to beat that systematically reinforced evil? Are you going to try to fight against it? Is it possible to fight against it?

MVRemix: There seems to be a few references to estrangement from friends and family on What Was Lost, specifically on tracks like, “Moving On,” and “Pass You By.” Would you agree with that?

Scribes: (Sighs) Yeah, I mean, “Moving On” is a tough one for me; it’s definitely pretty personal. I tried to leave it open-ended so as not to cut ties with people, because there’s people that I care about that fit that song, you know what I mean, and I don’t want the [relationship completely cut]. My relationship with my direct family right now is probably better than it’s been for a long time. We’re cool. We hang out and talk more. But, a lot of the songs – this is where I go back to saying that the foundation for those songs were me at a young age. A lot of them were written – “Pass You By,” for instance, song like that – when I was staying on Beacon Hill [when] I didn’t talk to my family at all. I would exchange phone calls every once in a while, but – it wasn’t because they weren’t reaching out to me. There was problems that I didn’t really want to talk to them [about]. So it was a lot of isolation from them, which took its toll on me and came through on the album.

And then also, “I’ll Be Gone,” is specifically the combination of the rap grind – the hip-hop grind; trying to survive, stay afloat; the financial struggle of it all; the multiple jobs to support it. But then also at the end of the day, being disconnected from the family, not having people necessarily to rely on; holding it up yourself.

And then, “Moving On,” is really just specific to friends. For me, a lot of people went off to college and went and got their degree in certain things. For me, I didn’t get to experience that. I went right into this. A lot of people go off to school and would get to experience all these things and go to class or whatever and they would come back after months and months of being away, and I would be sitting there – having been forced to grow up and whatever – and they would come back and assume that I was the same person that I was in high school, and they didn’t spend enough time around me to know that anything had changed. And I don’t blame them for that, but they would go away and they’d come back, and this was the case up until they graduated and they come back and stay here for good. So I’m 22 years old now, and you still think that I’m that 18-year-old kid because you are closer to the person you were when you were 18 because a lot of them didn’t necessarily have to develop the financial independence, or the professional independence that I had. And that’s all on a college tip.

For me the other set of people I’m left around are people who are in the town. And a lot of people are in the town not because they are trying to have a rap career, but they’re in the town because they’re not doing shit with their lives, you know what I’m saying, because they are stuck on the couch. They’re like behind the speed bump you have to hop over to get momentum. Like when you’re a kid when you’re sitting in the bathtub and it starts getting cold, you know, and you sit there and rather than hop out and get clean you’re like, “How can I just not move and get warm,” you know what I mean, and me, I’m like “Man you got to get the fuck out of the bathtub,” (laughing) you know what I mean? And you’re just sitting there, and you’re freezing your ass off, and it keeps getting colder and colder but you don’t want to get out because it’s going to be hard, you know? It’s like that in life. You’ve gotta step out of your comfort zone. I know that you don’t have any momentum, it’s hard as fuck right now, but the longer you stay there the harder it’s going to be to get moving. And the people in the town that I’m with – they are so, a lot of them are just like stuck doing not-positive things, and were not able to get over that speed bump and do positive things, and that’s what’s frustrating. The fact that they’re drowning [has ended] up pulling me with them, and it’s very frustrating to be financially taking care of myself, running a rap career, [and] for the most part not being able to have a consistent, functioning relationship with a woman because of how chaotic my life is. There’s always women because of this business, but it’s difficult to hold down a relationship. A lot of times [you have] to be kind of out of contact with your family, and then to have your friends be not even on a parallel wavelength – totally out of touch – some of them even drowning and pulling you down, it’s a lot to handle. There [was] so much shit going on at once when the album was recorded. I don’t know. It all kind of made sense; one problem happens and it causes a domino effect of other issues, you know what I’m saying? I think that it made it into a reality with that album.

MVRemix: It sounds like on one hand you have some resentment towards some of the people this is directed at, but on the other hand you may be reaching out to them with some of those songs. Is that accurate?

Scribes: That’s the thing, with a lot of them – some of them are so far out of touch I don’t even know how to like try to [reach out to them]. It was basically me being passive a long time ago when I was young, and then the problems grew to a place where it’s like now, you know, we’re so far out of touch I can’t even . . . I don’t even know why I would even to talk to you anymore, you know what I mean? There’s so many of you that have this fucking problem, that have something that [has] like totally separated you from me that I don’t even know how to say it except for to put it in music, you know what I mean?

MVRemix: Do you think those people will listen to this album and hear the message?

Scribes: I don’t know. I mean, we’ll see, I don’t know. The thing that is hard is [that] there’s certain people that definitely are and definitely aren’t [going to hear the message]. And I know that some people might hear things about them – and it’s not about them. And then some people might hear it and think that it’s not about them, and it is about them, you know? And some people – that’s the thing with the album because once it comes out, it’s not like a music video where everyone watches it at once and it’s like, oh, now it’s right in your face. It’s like, “Nah, this is track 8 on a 12-track album.” Who knows what they may even listen to? You know what I’m saying? So I don’t know what’s going to happen, it was definitely worrying for me because I didn’t want it to feel like I was going behind people’s backs – it wasn’t like that. I didn’t even want people to think that the conclusion of it was like, “Fuck you guys,” you know what I mean – dissin’ people. But it was just kind of like, “Man, some of you guys really need to get your shit together, but at the end of the day I care a lot about each and every one of you.”

But I can’t handle the negativity, you know, “You have to make some changes in your life, because I don’t want the same shit in my life.” So, we’ll see.

MVRemix: There seems to be a lot of (deserved) criticism of the mainstream, and the mainstream recording industry on the album. Can you talk a little about your thoughts on that?

Scribes: I definitely don’t hate the commercial world like I used to. I’ve been mostly out of touch with individuals functioning in the commercial world, so I’m sure that once I get down to L.A. and I’m functioning in the scene I’m going to have some frustrations. I don’t know. It’s hard. When you take specifically urban, commercial, black music, there’s a tendency when it comes to white fans – especially music purists – to hate it when it happens and to like it 30 years later, you know what I’m saying? That’s why everybody listens to Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and jazz artists – it’s great music, you know what I mean, first and foremost – but they wouldn’t of kicked it with those jazz artists had they been [there] at the time. And there’s a lot of people who hate the commercial world now who will like some of it later. Sometimes people just hate what’s new because when something is new history hasn’t been written yet, so things are still open-ended. It [hasn’t] placed in history, or been written in history as a particular age or period of history that people categorize, so you don’t know where things are going. So people a lot of times hate on shit, but two or three years later, or even later than that it’s like, “Oh, that’s what this is – that’s what The Chronic was, you know what I mean; that’s what 2Pac’s Makaveli was,” you know what I mean, or whatever it was.

But at the same time, there’s a lot of commercial shit that is garbage. And there’s a lot of Clear Channel stuff where they’re just not gonna let anything on the air except for the same songs they put on repeat. It’s weird. An artist like me is kind of in an odd place because I’m somewhere between independent music and Clear Channel, because so much of my influences were Clear Channel artists from the 90’s, and urban artists from the 90’s. In general I want my music to always sound new, but I just don’t want it to be toned down. Basically at the end of the day I don’t really give a fuck about what you’re doing – whether it’s commercial, underground, independent – some alternative network of music – unless it’s good. If it’s good, that’s what I care about at the end of the day. I’m not like a music purist, I would say. But it’s definitely difficult to get recognition like artists with Clear Channel play.

But the thing about the album that I think is pretty tight, not to sound arrogant, but I feel like it’s got the underground edge – you can’t knock it for it’s writing because the writing is there; it’s better than what most artists can produce as far as their writing goes. So you can’t knock me as a rap artist. I didn’t dumb my shit down. The production is somewhere in-between underground rap and commercial rap – a lot of the production – but you can’t knock it either because the beats hit, you know what I mean, the melodies are filthy. And then the singing could appeal to Clear Channel audiences. The melodies, and the sounds can appeal to Clear Channel audiences, and have something that balanced the edge of the raps or whatever. It’s very much still a side of me, it balances the edge of the rap, but at the same time it isn’t dumbed down at all.

That, very much, is what is tight about working with BeanOne, [because] BeanOne just has a really quirky style, because BeanOne is a straight-up hip-hop-head, and he’s a straight up like, graffiti-type. Probably more so a hip-hop-head than I am. I’m a rap fan. I grew up very much influenced by rap as the element of hip-hop, but he is very much someone who is down with all the elements and shit like that. I have love for all of them, but I just don’t know it as well. At the same his time music – his beat style is very, like, quirky; Clear Channel meets underground, type of beat style.

MVRemix: What kinds of thing would you like to see happen in hip-hop? What is your vision for the future of hip-hop? What directions would you like to see explored, and what directions would you like to see left behind?

Scribes: I’m just interested to see where things go. I know what I want to do. At the end of the day I just hope that the other artists out there keep building and evolving doing tight stuff. Like if they want to go in that like straight bass futuristic thing and it’s tight, they have my blessing, you know what I mean? And maybe I’ll even like try and work on some of their beats and see what I can do with it. But if they want to go in a different direction, I don’t know. I mean it’s an interesting time and I really don’t know where things are going to go, and I think that when it comes to the internet, like I just said, I don’t know where things are going to go. If this was the 90’s there would be a much more distinct [path] of things; “This is what’s going on right now.” There’s so many avenues to listen to music and so many different networks of people, and networks of music and followers, you know what I mean? There’s no one radio station. It’s overwhelming.

I wouldn’t say it’s a bad thing, I’d say it’s a trade-off. Because you get some of what you want, like: it’s easy to record music right now; but it’s over-saturated because everyone can record music. You know? You can promote an album for free online, and you don’t need to invest as much money if you don’t want to in pressing up CD’s and this or that, and you can get music faster and easier from places, but at the same time, because that’s the case, everybody is throwing music out there, and from every single dimension of the internet you are receiving music. So it’s like it’s a little overwhelming. It’s a trade-off. It’s a really different business. And I’d say specific to hip-hop it’s interesting because I see things I never thought I would’ve seen growing up in the 90’s. I grew up [and] everyone wore baggy clothes, and everyone had to be hard as fuck, you know what I mean? Even if you were flashy, you had to be on some shit. And it’s tight, it’s definitely tight to see that people don’t necessarily have to fit that exact formula; they don’t have to be gangster; they don’t have to be hella flashy. When I was growing up you had to be a thug, or you had to be a thug who was “jiggy,” you know what I mean, or more “Puffy.” And it’s tight to see that you don’t have to be like that anymore. I never would have thought I would see young black rap fans and rap artists rocking skinny jeans and mohawks, and dyed hair, rolling around on skateboards and shit like that. So it’s tight to see things diversify.

At the same time though, it’s a trade-off because people have to pay fewer dues to the street, and maybe don’t have to establish quite as much credibility as they used to, because everybody is a rap artist nowadays. And so many communities are involved in following, or producing, or making hip-hop music [whereas] back in the day you had to have a little bit more credibility. You had to like, pay more dues, to earn respect. Take an artist like Mac Miller: If you take some of his songs you gotta give him his props because – break down his bars, and his sound is not bad, you know what I mean? He’s got some songs where it’s like, “Oh, that’s dope.” But it’s like, I don’t know what his story is, or what he’s been through, so I’m not criticizing him, but it’s like, well, it appears to me that he doesn’t necessarily have to like, check himself on certain things. And he’s able to have the freedom to do things that he maybe shouldn’t have the freedom to do. That may sound wrong, but I don’t know.

I’m interested in seeing how things will go. I noticed a lot of change when Obama got elected, because I think there was a lot more racial tension in general – and I think there still is – but as far as in rap and hip-hop goes there was a lot more. There definitely still is, but things [have] mixed in an interesting way between college students who follow rap and go to shows, and futuristic black rap artists on that spaceship tip – skinny jeans and tight pants, and you’ve got your old-school, more gangster style rappers, and you’ve got your conscious rappers – it’s a weird, unusual melting pot. I never thought I would’ve seen it. But there’s nothing wrong with that.

MVRemix: Now that you’ve finally captured What Was Lost, what are you excited about doing next? What would you like to experiment with? What are you looking forward to? What can your fans look forward to? What’s next for Scribes?

Scribes: I want to record another project. I want to build a team, and I want to create a team of people where we’re able to produce interesting extensions of what Scribes is – [where] it isn’t necessarily totally me. The recording and the songs and the stuff that’s all like what I do – but videos, interviews, graphic design, whatever else. Building a brand. Seeing where I can take the brand and what I can build.

And also, I want to just record something great again. I just really want to get back in and record something great. I don’t know; I feel like I kind of want to put out something shorter than an album, because it seems like people lose interest. It just makes more sense. I don’t know. It would be tight to record an album that is less than 10 tracks. I don’t really want to put it in a box; we’ll see where it goes. I really want to build a team to establish an interesting brand and see where we can take things. And then I just want to keep recording.

MVRemix: Artistically, what are you excited about exploring to get you to that next great thing that you’re talking about?

Scribes: I honestly would just do what I feel like I haven’t been able to do, because while recording What Was Lost, I felt kind of like obligated and tied to shit that was older. I want to be able to take something and see what I can build with a really contemporary sound. Like I said, whether that’s on the Clear Channel end, or the KEXP end. I want to see what kind of contemporary stuff is out there, and I just really want to make something that sounds…

I don’t want to experiment to the point where I feel like sometimes people get over-experimental, and forget what their foundation is. I kind of hear something in my head; this sound that is like – I can visualize it and hear it and picture it in my head, but I can’t like… I don’t know. I’m kind of like looking for that. So that producer – find producers to work with [and] make it happen.

I see the crowds that I kick it in, and the crowds from my shows, or that are influenced by music, and crowds that aren’t. Anything from the clubs in Belltown where you go out and kick it and dance to the top 100 billboard artists, to next door where you go see some independent artist coming up on tour. I’m just interested in seeing how I can take those different things that are contemporary and make it into my next project.

MVRemix: Where can people download the new album and check in on upcoming shows?

Scribes: www.Scribesmusic.com

What Was Lost comes off as being less politically involved than previous releases (EP Summer Sampler 2009, and the revolutionarily charged Sleepwalk), but in it’s place Scribes has portrayed a more personal image – running the gamut from brooding and dejected, to even quite fun and celebratory. The following is part one of a two-part interview I did on March 12th with Scribes at his workplace (Wilcox Boxing), in which he tells the story of the road he took to releasing What Was Lost – and also, what was gained along the way.

MVRemix: Did you grow up in Seattle?

Scribes: I went to school here, lived here, worked here, graduated from high school here. My mom lived in the Wallingford area, and then when my parents split my dad moved to the Lake City area for a while, and different neighborhoods in the north end. Then when I moved out I was living in Beacon Hill for a while, and then I spent some time on Capitol Hill, and now I’ve been living in Belltown for a while.

MVRemix: What do you remember most about coming up around town? Who did you listen to?

Scribes: I don’t know the national scene that well so, I don’t know what is Seattle and what isn’t, you know what I mean? I guess I would just say that the biggest influences for me was: In general I’m kind of like a sponge, so I pick everything up, you know I’m always soaking stuff up in the world around me. But I think the biggest thing in Seattle that probably influenced me was my school experience I guess. Just from the diversity, the teachers, and the different neighborhoods.

The rap scene influenced me in certain ways. I wouldn’t say that I’m a huge fan of all the music that Seattle has produced – as far as rap goes – but as far as the way that I function as a businessperson [in the] community that I came up on. That was like the rap scene that I experienced. Whether I’m a fan of it or not, I was definitely influenced by it.

MVRemix: What influenced your taste in music? What influenced your style?

Scribes: Originally I’d say that, [because] my dad was kind of like a 60’s baby – I wouldn’t say he’s a hippy – but [those were] his years. My mom was like a couple years younger, but about the same time. So, my dad’s musical taste was very much, like, soul and rock & roll. It was a combination of white and black music, but it was very much rock & roll. So, anything from The Temptations, to Little Richard, to even Elvis Presley, you know what I mean – on the whiter side; The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Al Green, Aretha Franklin. So there was that.

And then when I got to be in 3rd or 4th grade I started getting heavily influenced by rap music – I would say black, urban music in general. So, R&B, Rap – I wouldn’t even say hip-hop, because that wasn’t even a word. If I used “hip-hop” it was to describe just the music side, it wasn’t to describe the break-dancing and everything else, because that’s not necessarily what I was influenced by. It was rap music. So, anything from 2Pac, to Biggie, even, you know, Boyz II Men, Aaliyah – artists like that. That’s what I grew up and witnessed. That’s the side of rap that I watched – “The Chronic 2001,” Snoop Dogg, whatever, Nas.

And then when I started rapping it got a little bit different, because before I was rapping was kind of like my middle school phase, and in middle school everyone burned mixes. So, they’d go on Limewire, they’d go on Morpheus, and Kaaza, whatever they’d used to download music, and we’d burn really long mixes of random stuff. So we’d get all these songs – whether it was a pop song, or an R&B song, or a song that people bang in the hood – it was all mixed together. So, I kind of heard a lot of the songs from 2Pac’s album, Nas, Biggie, Eminem, DMX, whoever, but I hadn’t listened to their albums because it was all mixed up. So, when I started rapping – I was about 15 or 16 – I went back and did my research more, and was actually listening to their albums as opposed to listening to all their songs from throughout their career all mixed up into one. So, it helped me put all their careers into perspective; this is when he was doing this – this is when he was doing that. Especially if you take someone like 2Pac: 2Pac’s evolution from “2Pacalyspe Now,” to “All Eyez On Me,” before he died, was [a tremendous] contrast. So, when I grew up I would have a mix and it would have “Brenda’s Got a Baby,” but then it would have “Do For Love?” track two, and those are from two completely different periods of time. So, that was an influence. I would say that in general, I was always influenced by contemporary urban music. And when I started rapping, I went back to learn a little bit more about the golden era, or the golden age of hip-hop, because I didn’t witness that. There were songs that came back to my generation in middle school – even if you weren’t listening to rap in 1993, because I was in kindergarten, you know at I mean, you would still hear “The Chronic,” when you’re in middle school. So, [there’re] songs that you grew up on no matter what. But there [were] certain artists that I didn’t witness, especially on the East Coast because, I would say that my influences and what I witnessed was very much West Coast, because I’m in Seattle. Even though Seattle’s not Cali, for me and my middle school experience, and cats from the hood and stuff like that, they for the most part they were banging that type of West Coast rap.

When I started rapping it got a little bit more complicated because Seattle’s rap scene – it’s not even a rap scene, it’s a hip-hop scene. I don’t feel like Seattle would even want to use the word “rap,” because it’s like almost politically incorrect to them (laughing), which I don’t necessarily agree with [but] I understand their point. But Seattle’s scene influenced me because when I started rapping, I kind of had this edge or this influence, which, if you’ve heard my album is like a combination of R&B and hard, hard bars. And that’s kind of like what I grew up on. So there’s that element, but then when I started actually functioning as a rap artists all of the opportunities in the city, it was a very much different network of rap music and hip-hop; you know Blue Scholars, and Common Market. And some of them produce great music, and you’ve got to give them their props, and I followed it in high school, and I started getting into the scene in high school. That music influenced me in certain ways, [but] they were very much on the KEXP side of hip-hop, and I was very much growing up on the KUBE side. And I have a lot of love for KEXP, but I’d say sometimes it’s a little bit difficult for an artist like me to try and market my sound, or express it through the lanes that might be more appropriate to promote an artist like Macklemore, or Blue Scholars. But you’ve got to give them their props, and you’ve got to give KEXP their props; there were certain artists from that network, like Immortal Technique who influenced me. I’d say for the most part, the acts that came through Seattle were not what I grew up on or what I was originally influenced by, but they still influenced me because that’s the only scene that I’ve ever known about functioning in, or ever promoting my music in. If you ask a lot of artists in Seattle who they were influenced by, they’re going to say a totally different set of artists than I might say – especially the older cats, they’ll be like, “Run DMC,” they’ll be like, “Sir Mix-a-Lot,” you know what I mean, and they’ll hit you with hella East Coast, late 80’s early 90’s cats. You can’t expect a kid who’s – I’m 23 now – you know what I mean, how old was I when those cats were relevant. KRS One, I bump KRS-One now, but I didn’t grow up on KRS-One. He’s on a different coast and he was around when I was too young to even understand what was going on.

MVRemix: What artists did influence you the most?

Scribes: It’s a hard one because, like I told you, I just soak so much up that I’m constantly just taking in information that I think I can use and being influenced by things. I think that any artist who’s doing big things [is] a collage and an evolution of their influences. So, they take everything [and] all the artists that influenced them; they probably made music that sounded exactly like those artists and then, once they developed the actual skills to say, “Oh, I know how to make this music,” then they kind of put their twist on it and made it evolve. So, it’s hard because I’ve been influenced by so many people, but I would say that if there was one artist of like my top 5 rap artists, the one artist that was my model for everything was probably 2Pac because 2Pac was like Martin Luther King or Malcolm X of my age group. And I only really caught him like maybe right before his death [or] right around his death because I was still young – and I don’t know if it was necessarily healthy because there was some disingenuous and corrupt marketing as far as his post-death music releases go. But whatever the case it influenced me and a lot of my peers, and he was like my model for everything, because musically, it was the full package: the persona, the music itself, the political significance, the contradictions in his music – “I Get Around,” talking about what its like to be a rapper and all the hoes on your dick, and [then] “Dear Mama,” you know, the sweet side, then the “Hit ‘Em Up” gangster side. I guess he was just the model for [me]. Which, when you talk about Seattle jams, what makes it sometimes a little bit difficult to try and promote myself in Seattle – not to the consumers, but to the establishment – because a lot of establishments like I said, they probably relate a little bit more to other avenues of hip-hop.

The thing is, I don’t even know if he’s bar-for-bar the best rapper ever, but in my eyes there’s no question.

MVRemix: When did you realize that you had a talent for rapping?

Scribes: I was always a pretty good writer; so, I think I remember it was in like the 5th grade I started writing poetry and started writing more, and started to realize that I kind of had a knack for writing. But I’m kind of the type of person where I always had to have some type of skill. So – I think it’s even in this book over here (gestures towards a nearby boxing book) – there’s this line [from] Mohammed Ali where he’s like, “Boxing was nothing, it was just a means to introduce me to the world.” So, I think ever since I was a little kid I’ve been trying to develop a certain skill to establish a platform to say something from. So, I was always trying to develop a skill, and, writing was just one of the skills that I developed. And I don’t know if I’m naturally talented in general at many things, or if it’s just a certain confidence that I developed when I was young to get off the couch, kind of, and pursue a talent or skill, because a lot of people don’t have that confidence – they just have this feeling of failure so they don’t necessarily pursue a talent and they don’t put their heart into it. And don’t get me wrong: there’s thing’s you’re going to be better at or worse at. I was a good basketball player, but I wasn’t as good of a basketball player as I was a boxer. But I did have a knack for writing and it kind of showed early, like elementary school, middle school, and I kind of let it grow while I was pursuing other things; I was doing boxing and basketball and other sports and this and that. And it came back when the war was going on in Iraq or whatever, and I just remember being really heated and frustrated, like, it was just a combination of political frustrations, teenage frustration, frustration with my family and things that were going on and it was just like, “Man.” I remember seeing freestyle battles at my school and being like, you know, maybe I’ll be a hip-hop artist. Because before that happened, I was always like, “Man there’s no possible way that you’re ever going to be a rap artist,” you know . . . part of me always pictured myself being a rap artist, but . . . “You are white,” you know. I grew up on pre-Eminem hip-hop, so there were no white guys doing it, and then I also experienced post-Eminem hip-hop, and I was just like, “There’s no way you’re going to be that.” But then, I remember seeing a bunch of freestyle battles and, you know, I got into it for whatever reason, and that was probably sophomore year in high school or something, and I started recording projects and after I had gone from freestyling and messing around for like a month at a time, I started recording with producers in my high school, laying the stuff on wax, and I was like, “Yo, let’s record an album.” [I] did an album over the course of three or four months, and by the end of the album – which was like the beginning of my junior year – I was just like, set on being a rapper, and after that everything came second to it.

MVRemix: Was that Sleepwalk or Pre-Sleepwalk?

Scribes: Well, pre-Sleepwalk I went by “Prophit,” so it was like a combination of the two words, and that was in like 2004 maybe, that I released that. You know, I wouldn’t go out and promote it now (laughing), you know what I mean, and say that I made the album because it’s not something that I necessarily stand by as like, “Check me out,” but given the circumstance I’m definitely proud of it as an accomplishment. And after it came out everything came second – schoolwork – everything. And Sleepwalk was the following project.

MVRemix: Who are you listening to right now?

Scribes: I probably get most of my music from YouTube. Music has changed so quickly, you just pick up stuff from random sources all the time; I don’t even know how you get it. You might see a link on Facebook or something, you know what I mean; you might see something on a blog or whatever. I’d say that I was kind of ignorant to the blogs up until this fall of 2010 when my video came out and it started getting posted on the blogs, and [then] I started following blogs more.

As far as rap music goes: Nipsey Hussle, J.Cole. I feel like I bump old school music for the most part. Aaliyah. Whatever else.

MVRemix: How do you know Macklemore?

Scribes: I think the first time I met Macklemore was probably in the 90’s, because my dad started dating a woman named Laurie – they had just started dating – and she was a family friend of Macklemore’s family. So, I remember meeting him – [we] didn’t really talk, I had met him like once. I had always kind of heard about him – not as Macklemore, but as Ben – and his mom would kind of keep me posted on what he was doing, and this or that. But we never really talked; he was like six years older than me, you know, so, they were just kind of family friends. And then when my album – my first little CD in high school – came out [and] I started working on another one I was always doing free recordings. And I realized, man, free recordings is not the truth, that shit is whack as fuck, because when your doing a free recording your always feeling that someone doesn’t really want to be – for the most part – recording you. So, you know, you’re kind of like on their time. You’re always sacrificing something to pay for that. And I think I was a senior in high school, and I was like, “Fuck it, I’m going to invest some money in recording,” and Macklemore has a studio, and I just knew him from around and we were family friends I guess. So, I went and started recording at his studio and did the whole project there, and [did] shows together. I went back with him, I knew him for a while.

MVRemix: How did you meet Mike McCready?

Scribes: Here actually [Wilcox Boxing]. Mike was one of the people training, with his wife, I was one of the trainers working, and we just became friends before anything else. I knew him; we would kind of talk music, and I would keep him informed on my career, but [it was more] friends than a business connect. But then he said that he wanted help to finance the album. He said he just wanted to help me out.

MVRemix: Had he heard your previous work?

Scribes: Oh yeah, Sleepwalk had already been out, I had given him the album and he was, you know, blasting it; giving it to all his friends and contacts. They’ve always been really supportive – him and his wife Ashley. Ashley, I think said, “We should help him out,” and they did. They’ve been very supportive.

MVRemix: Did you know who he was when you met?

Scribes: Well, my boss had told me, or whatever. I wouldn’t say that I grew up listening to a lot of Pearl Jam, but Pearl Jam was always relevant. My dad had always talked about Pearl Jam, and talked about Stone [Gossard] and Mike being like relevant local figures – not [just] because they were in this [huge] rock group, but also because they happened to be active as local people. But I didn’t know Pearl Jam’s music that well, [but] once I was kind of friends with him I started trying to go back and [listen].

MVRemix: Let’s switch gears. What was it like shooting the video for “Roll My Way”?

Scribes: It was crazy. I mean, there was some really fun moments and then there were some really difficult moments. Because, you know, the thing about shooting that video in particular and Jon Jon’s [director Jon Augustavo’s] videos is that they are organic, but they also kind of look like you have a high budget when you do them. The look of them is pretty specific, and it’s difficult sometimes. I wanted to make sure it looked professional like we had a big budget, but I wasn’t working with a budget, you know what I mean, I didn’t really have shit. So, definitely, to establish all that [in the] scenes [it was] work. But it was important. Jon is very much like a freestyler when it comes to his videos. He shows up and just kind of captures. He very much freestyles it and I’m very much pre-composed. Everything that I do in general is very much like my music, very thorough and written out, whereas Jon – he’s just having a good time (laughs). I learned some things from Jon. But it was crazy, because there was multiple, you know, events, parties, and multiple shoots. And generally Jon’s videos are more simplistic and they capture interesting shots or whatever, and I wanted to add some really specific conceptual themes to the video. So, it was definitely hard.

MVRemix: Who’s idea was it to do the video?

Scribes: It was mine. I didn’t know Jon – I hollered at him. It was like spring of 2010 and I was like, “Man, I’ve got to shoot a video or something,” and I was just kind of saying it – I didn’t think I was actually going to make it happen, you know. [But] my engineer was like, “Yo, holler at Jon,” and Jon had only shot like two videos: he shot Eighty4 Fly, and Wizdom and Grynch. And 84 Fly – no one really knew that name yet. People know Eighty4 Fly’s name now in the town now, but no one really knew it yet. I hit up Jon, scheduled it for the summer time, and what’s crazy is that I hollered at him when he had just done a couple videos, nothing big, and by the time my video started shooting he probably released three more videos, and they were like SOL, J. Pinder, The Physics – reasonable names. And then by the time my video was released he had probably done like five or six videos, so my video kind of like picked up the momentum – followed his momentum and his name. (laughing) He was busy this summer.

MVRemix: Was it easy/hard to fund?

Scribes: It was difficult; I mean it’s been difficult to fund this whole of life in general, you know I mean, and its definitely something that I’ve busted my ass trying to [do]. The video was a landmark in my career [because] the album got stolen, and it was just marking a point of, “You’re hitting rock bottom right now.” It got stolen in 2008, and I shot the video in 2010. So, that entire two-year period or whatever was just like me trying to climb out of a hole. There were already problems that existed in my career and I was struggling before, but I had enough momentum not to get fucked with. And so when the album got stolen it was an indicator of [being] at the bottom now. And a lot of people kicked me while I was down. I went through a lot. The whole period of time I was like, “I don’t know if I’ll ever climb out of this. The album might make or break me.” And then the video – I kind of almost lost it over the course of shooting it. I came really close to a tipping point, a breaking point of not even being able to finish it just because of all the work it took. And then I did, and it ended up kind of marking the next landmark, or indicator, like: you’re reimbursed.

MVRemix: Who were some of the people in the video? Was that HAVi Blaze I saw?

Scribes: Yeah [HAVi Blaze]. Most of those people I just grew up with, you know what I mean, freinds from high school, back to middle school. My brother brought some of his friends out from his high school. The barbeque scene [was] some of my friends from high school, people here and there, so it was more like, small groups of people kicking it kind of low-key. The house party scene was like my brother’s friends, some of my friends, some people at one of my shows.

MVRemix: I noticed the chorus covers 2Pac a little bit, was that a shout-out to the “old-school jams . . . [you] miss,” that you talked about at the beginning of the track?

Scribes: Yeah. The whole song is kind of like that because the whole song consists of quotes. Even when the melodies or the lyrics aren’t direct quotes from somebody they convey a certain emotion for me that reminds me of that period of time. Outkast quotes, Devon The Dude quotes, Mary J Blige quotes, 2Pac of course in the chorus. It’s kind of like you have the actual literal quotations that are referencing songs that convey an emotion parallel to that of what I was trying to convey in “Roll My Way,” and then also the chorus and the singing brought back a certain sound or feel that reminded me of a lot of music that I grew up on, which is like I said, Aaliyah, TLC, stuff like that.

Mohammad Dangerfield which consists of rappers Rugged N’ Raw and Hasan Salaam, are performers that you should definitely know about. Both have received critical acclaim for their independent work, and for their work as Mohammad Dangerfield. Working with the likes of U-God of Wu-tang Clan, Brand Nubian and Consequence, Mohammad Dangerfield keeps things fresh while also working with those that have paved the way for artists like themselves.

Signed to Viper Records Mohammad Dangerfield shares the same label as underground heavyweight rapper Immortal Technique and rap duo Da Circle. Mohammad Dangerfield embarked on multiple tours in 2010 and performed during Austin, Texas’ SXSW 2011 music festival. Along with touring, the group’s self-titled album was released February 22, 2011 to positive reviews.

During SXSW’s festivities I had the opportunity to talk with Mohammad Dangerfield about SXSW, the music they make, working hard to achieve success and influences.

MVRemix: Since we’re here for SXSW what have you thought so far about the experience, and is this your first time out here?

Rugged N Raw: This has been our first time here at SXSW and it has been an amazing experience. We have done five shows in three days and the response has been crazy. The people have been great, the spots have been great, everyone rocks out with us and they talk with us. It has just been a great experience.

Hasan Salaam: It’s dope because there are so many artists out here with so many different styles of music being put on, and everybody just has their own sound. On the hip-hop level it’s cool because I’m seeing people from both the east and the west coast that I haven’t seen in a long time, and being able to connect and network with all of these people is just a really blessed thing.

MVRemix: You guys have played with artists such as U-God, Rakim, Talib Kweli and Kurtis Blow. How was it working with people like that who influence the music you make?

Rugged N Raw: I mean for me working with people who were at the forefront of what we’re doing and just having a lot of respect from other people in hip-hop is a cool thing. Although we do create this music for ourselves, we do hope that people can relate to the music and understand everything we’re saying. To be able to share the stage with those types of names is just a sign that we’ve been putting in our work, and that we are not afraid to do our own footwork. The reward may not come right away, but to be able to share the stage with those bigger acts, and afterwards have people come up to us, buy a CD and remember us, is truly a lot of gratification.

Hasan Salaam: To work with all the artists that I have worked with just shows that we are doing what we need to do to get to the places we need to be, to make sure that the people hear our work as individuals and as a group. Like my brother (Rugged N’ Raw) says we do our own footwork. We’re passing out fliers and connecting with people. We’re not like those artists who say “you can talk to my people.” You can come and talk to me, which is why we’re out here connecting and handing out fliers. If there is anything worth having in this world you have to work hard for it and you got to do it yourself because they’re no free handouts.

MVRemix: Where can people check out or download some of your music?

Hasan Salaam:Go to modanger.com where you can download our EP for free. For future stuff I have my next album called “Life in Black and White” which will be out some time this year.

Rugged N Raw: I have a bunch of stuff planned as well, but mainly just check out the self-titled album. It has a bunch of good songs on it and to be honest our album is the shit.

MVRemix: Any last words for the people back at home who will be reading this?

Rugged N Raw: If you are reading this then you are instantly cool. Even if you do not like us but you are reading this you are still cool. Continue to support Hasan Salaam, myself, Mohammad Dangerfield and we will continue to support ourselves and other dope artists in the future. Stop complaining about the state of music because music is on and poppin’, and Mohammad Dangerfield is at the forefront.

You can find more stuff about Mohammad Dangerfield, Rugged N’ Raw and Hasan Salaam at Viper Records, Mo Danger, Twitter and Facebook.

Few rappers have the resume Ghostface boasts. From being a part of the core nine Wu-Tang Clan members, and coming up from the “36 Chambers,” Ghostface has done nothing but wow his listeners. Often extremely abstract and arguably avant-guarde, Ghost has consistently pushed boundaries even to the point of setting a trend rhyming over old soul records without removing the vocals from the original song.

After moving from Sony to Def Jam, Ghost has just released his fifth studio album entitled “Fishscale.” Featuring guests including Ne-Yo, the whole Wu-Tang Clan and MF Doom, Ghost is trying to further solidify his position as one of New York’s most creative.

MVRemix: What’s the biggest mis-conception people have of Ghostface?

Ghostface: I don’t know. I can’t even really, really tell ya man.

MVRemix: Is there anything you think people think differently of you than you’re used to thinking of yourself?

Ghostface: Nah, some people be thinkin’ that I was wild and shit – whatever they got it from was back in the days though. I’m a cool person, I’m down to earth. I’m a humble person.

MVRemix: What’s the plan for tomorrow? (March 28th when “Fishscale” is released)

Ghostface: I mean nothin’, just take it day by day. It’s not even a plan, God’s got all the plans. I just live it out.

MVRemix: So no particular celebration parties or anything like that?

Ghostface: Nah, just do what I do. I got a show, I think tomorrow… Got a show and that’s it. I’m keepin’ it movin’. That’s it.

MVRemix: Do you find focusing on being creative a challenge because of your time constraints with touring, interviews etc.?

Ghostface: Nah, I’m thinkin’ all the time. I’m always thinkin’ of new stuff and music really makes me go ahead and think of stuff, if I’ve got the right music. That’s it man, I’m always creating in my head.

MVRemix: Do you write down a lot of it or just keep it up there?

Ghostface: Nah, a lot of the time I keep the thought and lose it a lot because I don’t write it down, but it always comes back to me.

MVRemix: How does the Ghost of the “Ironman” era compare to the Ghost of today? What sort of things were going on back then?

Ghostface: The “Ironman” era; I was just coming out of “Cuban Linx.” I was wildin’ out on “Cuban Linx” in the streets and all that. Nowadays I’m not on the streets like I was back then in the “Cuban Linx” days and “Ironman” days. I mean I was with a bunch of my friends, just doin’ a lot of stuff and things wasn’t really that cool, you know what I mean? I found out I was a diabetic and losin’ a lot of weight here and there. So times was stressful, a lot of other things was goin’ on that I mentioned. It was real. Today things are still real, it’s just what I was goin’ through in different time zones.

MVRemix: “Three Bricks” is an excellent track, but would it have happened if B.I.G. were still alive. Did you make things good before he passed, because I know there were some problems around ’95…

Ghostface: I think so… I think so.

[phone rings]

Hold on, hold on…

Yeah, yo Rae. Yeah, I’m on the phone with these interviews with the magazines. Doin’ a bunch of interviews on the phone.

Raekwon: Okay… Page me then.

Ghostface: Alright, in a minute then. Aight, peace.

[interview resumes] It would have been happened before that. I mean it would have been happened before that because we would’ve gotten over that little bullshit and talked with whatever was goin’ on and we would have moved on. Right before he passed I was tryin’ to connect dots with him anyway in time, like, “Yo, come on, lets get this splashed out. Lets call this shit today man.”

MVRemix: How did that track come about? Was it your idea? Was it a label idea?

Ghostface: No, it was we had this song for Puffy and he doin’ the Biggie “Duets,” and it didn’t make “Duets,” and we just took it. We just used it.

MVRemix: How involved were you in “The Broiled Salmon Mixtape” with Mick Boogie?

Ghostface: How what?

MVRemix: Do you as an artist see much or any profits from the mixes?

Ghostface: When I did the Mick Boogie mixtape, the “Broiled Salmon” joint?

MVRemix: Yeah…

Ghostface: What about it, what you wanna know about it?

MVRemix: Did you play a hand in deciding the tracks, or was it more so him and you just hosting, or…

Ghostface: Nah, it was just me in a hosting thing. I just hosted it for him.

MVRemix: There have been some issues with U-God over the years with him saying things about the Clan, what’s the current situation overall with that?

Ghostface: I don’t know… That’s my buddy. I don’t know about him and anybody else, but that’s my man. That’s my buddy.

MVRemix: What’s the current status with the collaborative project we’ve heard you’re doing with MF Doom?

Ghostface: Yeah, we got the album that he got… We gotta finish off the Doom album.

[phone rings three times]

And um… Hold on for one second, hold on…

Yo, yo.

Male voice: Yo, I got the pen here right now. [Interference] What you lookin’ for?

Ghostface: Just tell me a few things ’cause I’m on the phone with some magazine people.

Male voice: You can eat chicken, right?

Ghostface: Yeah, I eat chicken, what else they got?

Male voice: Yeah, that’s it, it’s a chicken house! It’s a chicken place.

Ghostface: Just get me some chicken wings. Some chicken wings and… that’s it.

Male Voice: Chicken wings, alright…

Ghostface: Chicken wings, but just chicken wings though. No thighs, no legs – just wings.

Male Voice: Do you want some eggs? They got the fries and three chicken wings.

[Ghostface chuckles]

Ghostface: Aight so yeah, whatever, it’s all cool, it’s all cool. Put some cheese on the eggs. Some real cheese; American.

Male Voice: [laughs] Alright, I got you.

Ghostface: Alright, that’s it, that’s it. Aight, peace.

Male Voice: Peace.

Ghostface: [interview resumes] Yeah, sorry…

MVRemix: We were just talking about MF Doom – the collaborative project.

Ghostface: Yeah that’s my man. I gave him five or six songs, I gotta do another five or six songs.

MVRemix: How was it working with Rae, on “Cuban Linx 2″? Doing that whole thing over again…

Ghostface: I wasn’t with Rae, he sent me the music. It’s like nowadays everybody movin’ so much and it’s easy to MP3 somebody the music, you can get the music, write to it and then just lay it down and send it back to ‘em.

MVRemix: What about the forthcoming Wu album? You said during a recent interview that you didn’t like the last two projects – why was that?

Ghostface: I didn’t like ‘em, they was wack and y’all know it was wack. So I’m not tryin’ to hide nothin’ from nobody and shit. The last couple of Wu albums wasn’t nothin’ to me. I didn’t like ‘em, I’ll tell RZA – I tell everybody that. It was ’cause I know our capabilities and I know where we can take it.

MVRemix: Are there any non-musical plans in the works? Tell me a little about the Ghostface Doll and how that came about…

Ghostface: Nah, just some people who wanted to do a doll from California. I flew in, I checked ‘em. I seen the doll to see what they was talkin’ about, and we just agreed on it. You know what I mean? It was nothin’ and pretty soon they should have a doll out.

MVRemix: Aside from the album, what else have you been working on? Guest appearances and whatnot? I heard rumours about you working with Swollen Members…

Ghostface: [phone rings] I did Swollen Members, I did that. [phone continues ringing] There’s a bunch of little side artist things.

MVRemix: Are there any further plans to collaborate with AZ and Cormega?

Ghostface: I mean listen, everything is in God’s hands. I don’t know what’s goin’ on – whatever God guides me or brings my path into who’s hands or brings to me. Whatever the case may be, he’s the soul controller. I’m just here as a student in life and a servant for him just waiting, and that’s that.

MVRemix: A la “Fight Club,” “If you could fight any celebrity, who would you fight?”

Ghostface: I don’t know. I’d probably fight my alter ego.

MVRemix: And which alter ego would that be?

Ghostface: I don’t know, I got a lot of ‘em. I got Ghostface, I got Paisley Fontaine. I got Tony Starks, [phone rings] Ironman – either one. I’m not into that celebrity stuff like that.

MVRemix: What are your feelings on the reconciling of Nas & Jay-Z. Is that a good look for New York and Hip Hop overall?

Ghostface: Yeah, yeah, I mean in the sense that you ain’t gotta kill each other man. Anything that’s better than killing each other is a good look.

MVRemix: What about follow ups to “Fishscale,” anything in the works there?

Ghostface: Nah, I got a lot of stuff that was left over. A lot of stuff that I’m writing to. I’m just keepin’ it movin’ man, there’s no stoppin’ me now. It’s on, you’re gonna see me on the come up.

Ghostface: On The Come Up Interview

Some people dream of being an emcee, while others are content with playing the sidelines. Former Royal Fam member Dreddy Kruger is one of those individuals who never was concerned with being a superstar in this Hip-Hop game. Instead, he would rather play his position as an A&R and help construct classic albums for other artists. Dreddy was the A&R behind Masta Killa’s album and the Black Market Militia project. With his own company – Think Differently Music – Dreddy has now conjured up his greatest idea of all time – Wu-Tang Meets The Indie Culture. By pairing various underground emcees with Wu-Tang artists and producers, the album finds collaborations fans have dreamed about for years. Before the album dropped, Dreddy chopped it up with MVRemix about his come up in the industry, as well as his new project.

MVRemix: I just want to start off by letting the readers get to know you, then we’ll move into your Think Differently project. So can you tell us where you were born and raised?

Dreddy Kruger: Born and raised in Bushwick, Brooklyn. That is where I first met Gza and how I got into the whole Wu-Tang Clan.

MVRemix: What was it like growing up there?

Dreddy Kruger: It was the same as everybody else. I have the same story. I don’t really want to get into all of that. I went to school, sold drugs – all of that. But I always like to mention this in all the interviews I do – I never wanted to be a rapper. That wasn’t even part of my plan. You know how niggas come with their stories saying I always knew I wanted to do this and I’ve been rhyming forever, etc. But for me, it was none of that. I just always had love for Hip-Hop, as I was a break dancer back in the days.

Actually, that is how I met Gza, because me and ODB were dancing for him when he was on Cold Chillin’. I don’t know if everybody is familiar with that whole history. So I was a dancer and the Wu started to pop off around ’92 and I was going to LIU at the time. That same time the Wu recorded “Protect Ya Neck” and I was there. It was recorded in Brooklyn and niggas don’t ever mention that in any interviews. It was recorded in Brooklyn, at Fire House Studio. And that day they recorded “Protect Ya Neck,” GZA and Dirty stopped at my school to pick me up, and we had to stop at Beat Street to pick up some records. RZA told us to pick up an LL Cool J’s “I’m Bad” record because he needed that to take out the curses in “Protect Ya Neck.” If you listen to it, you’ll hear that sound from “I’m Bad.” So I was in the room when them niggas did “Protect Ya Neck,” but I still wasn’t rhyming. I used to fool around and spit Wu-Tang lyrics when I was at LIU. I would spit their rhymes off the album, because I knew what was coming out, and niggas used to think it was my shit. (Laughter) They had never heard shit like that before, but I would tell them, “Na, I’m just spitting my niggas darts from Satan Island.” And at that time, Satan Island was like a different fucking state. So niggas didn’t even know what I was talking about.

But it was eventually my friend Ali and Adrian who told me I should start rhyming because I had a nice voice and I had the looks. At the time, I had the dreads and all of that. So we came up with the name Dreddy Kruger and that was the birth of it. It all started in LUI on the Brooklyn campus. And the first time the Wu ever heard me rhyme was out on the video set of “Can It Be All So Simple?” Hype Williams was directing it in Satan Island and mad niggas was outside. Meth was out there freestyling in a circle and I spit a joint right there for the first time against some Satan Island nigga. And it was crazy because RZA and everybody was buggin’. RZA was like, “Yo, you getting on some other shit that I’m doing.” And he was talking about the Gravediggaz, but at the time, I didn’t even know about it. He was like, “I’m doing this Gravediggaz project.” Basically – that was the first shit I ever got on, Gravediggaz’ “Graveyard Chamber,” which was me, Killah Priest, RZA, Shabaaz The Disciple, Frukwan and Poetic – god bless the dead. So the first song I ever recorded in the music business is legendary. That was what opened me up and made me say, ‘Damn, I wanna do this.’

MVRemix: How did your career progress from then, which eventually lead you to be apart of Royal Fam?

Dreddy Kruger: Basically, I was always a solo artist, but like I told you, I was never on the tip that I wanted to be an emcee. So I was never running around telling cats, ‘Yo, I’m working on my solo album.’ So it was RZA and Timbo’s idea for me to join up with Royal Fam. RZA was like, “Yo, you and Timbo would be the perfect combination. Just let Timbo be the real lyrical one and you just spit how you spit.” So I was like, ‘Aight, cool.’ Then RZA gave us a deal on Wu-Tang Records and bong, bong, bong. Me and him went out to Miami, recorded the album, and it came out bangin’. By the time we finished the album and it was supposed to come out, RZA was going through label problems with Priority Records. So our album didn’t get to come out in the USA, but we still released it overseas with different distribution. And we went on to sell almost a hundred thousand records in Europe. We had a big song….I don’t know if you are familiar with the song we had with IM. Have you heard of the French group IM?

MVRemix: Na, I haven’t.

Dreddy Kruger: Well, I won a French Grammy for my song with them. It was me, Timbo and Prodigal on a song with IM called, “The Saga.” IM was like the Wu-Tang of France. They were the first group to sell over a million copies and their album went Gold in one day. But Gold over there is a hundred thousand – but it was still a big deal, because this was around ’96. We went over there to shoot the video and by the time we got over there, the song was out already. By the time we left, they surprised us with some party and presented us with these plaques saying the album went Gold in one day. So I went over there to shoot a video and I came home with a Gold plaque. So we were buggin’. I told RZA about it and he was buggin’, because at that time nobody even knew how big Hip-Hop was over in Europe. That was probably the biggest Hip-Hop collaboration between an American and French rap group. After we did that, then everything started happening. Then a lot of cats started collaborating with artists from overseas. But when we did that – we were like the biggest shit – no joke. You can look up the numbers and do the history – its already set in stone. That is what really solidified my name into the Hip-Hop game overseas. Because people over here still don’t know about IM. But when I got over there to perform that song, its crazy. We didn’t even know how big IM in the beginning. They sell out stadiums and there is about seven of them dudes. They branched off and did solo records, movies, and all of that – just like the Wu.

MVRemix: Yeah, some people over here still don’t know how big international Hip-Hop is. The are ignorant and don’t even think about it.

Dreddy Kruger: Yeah, people have no idea and they have a different respect level for the culture over there. They don’t like commercial shit at all over there. A lot of them are still even stuck on the older Hip-Hop groups because they don’t like the new music coming out of America. That is why you have all these old Hip-Hop niggas selling out shows over there. Those niggas over there love to see them and they don’t take it for granted.

MVRemix: How did you form Think Differently Music?

Dreddy Kruger: Think Differently Music Group used to be a promotional company called Think Differently, which was run by my girl and her friend. I created the name, logo and all of that – but they were running it. It was a promotional company and they used to run parties in the city and things like that. They stopped doing that eventually, so I picked it up and added the music group to the end of the name. First thing I started doing was releasing….because Wu-Tang has a lot of unreleased music that we are sitting on. I’m talking about albums worth of shit. So the first thing I started doing was putting out street releases of unreleased Wu-Tang shit to websites like HipHopSite.com, SandboxAutomatic.com and other places in Europe. It picked up a following, because with the mixtapes, I wasn’t using no DJ and it sounded like a real album. The first shit I ever put out was this CD called GZA:Live. It was a show that me and him did on tour around ’99. I put it out around 2001, but the quality was good. And at that time, no one was putting out live mix CD’s to the streets. So it created a big buzz and we were selling them on the road and in Europe. And that is when I realized that the mix CD is different for us than the average nigga. We already have a loyal following. So that is how I started Think Differently Music. Then the first big project I did under the label was, I was the A&R for Masta Killa’s album on Nature Sounds Records. I did that and then the Black Market Militia album. I was one of the co-executive producers on the album, as well as the A&R. I also arranged and sequenced the album – same as I did with Masta Killa. That is what really gave me a buzz in the independent industry, because people started respecting my work. Even though the albums didn’t have the big numbers, niggas respected the work I was doing. Other independent label owners recognized my talent.

So I always had the idea that I wanted to match up Wu-Tang niggas with other independent niggas. Because Wu-Tang has really never worked with outside artists – everything was in house, from the producers to the features. Only Busta, Nas and Redman really jumped on a Wu album. But I lived in Brooklyn and hung out in Manhattan all the time, so I would see emcees all the time. Niggas always had a lot of respect for us and I used to link up with artists like Sean Price and the Boot Camp – I’ve known them niggas forever. I used to see C-Rayz Walz, Cannibal Ox – all these independent cats. And I love there music as well. All of those cats could recite Wu-Tang albums to me. And I always told them, ‘Wu niggas don’t really know a lot of independent niggas. They really don’t dwell in that whole world.’ So that is how I got the idea, because I really wanted to match all these niggas up. I wanted to have the independent cats on a Wu-Tang vibe as well. Because anybody can get Cannibal Ox and someone from the Wu to do any old song. But I wanted the entire album to be a Wu-Tang concept. All the Wu-Tang members, the same Wu-Tang sound, but you are hearing MF Doom, Aesop Rock and all these cats mixed in to give it a certain type of feel.

So RZA and MF Doom have never met. RZA didn’t even know who MF Doom was. GZA and Ras Kass – they knew who each other were, but they have never met. So right from that, I knew this album was going to be crazy. These are legends on different sides of the game. Everybody knows MF Doom has a cult following.

Dreddy Kruger: Thinking Outside The Box Interview [more]