Phili N Dotz, Strange U (Kashmere and Dr Zygote), Prose and Oliver Sudden are at Hoochinoo Live on Friday 7th June. Hosted by Peaches and DJ Babyblu.
£5 on the door.
Vibe Bar (Upstairs), 91 Brick Lane, London E1 6QL
While we were gone BOOT RECORDS released the latest album by Kashmere – Galaktus: Power Cosmic is out not on Limited Edition Hand Numbered Vinyl LP, Digipak CD, and MP3 via all online digital distributors, Suspect Packages,bootrecords.co.uk, and in shops via Cargo Distribution
check this excellent video for album track Bang! Splat! directed by Ed Grace
The Times, They are a-Changing: an interview with 563,Ghost and Kashmere
Three artists, one interview, many pints of beer and our intrepid reporter spilling an entire vase of water over a lady’s coat. That’s basically what happened in a nutshell. It’s not often that you get three artists all still on the rise but already with a strong following and resounding support from the scene they have been helping to build for a long time. This is how I feel about producer/Itch FM presenter/ukhh.com contributor Ghost, DJ/Itch FM presenter/graphic designer/resident Mr Hip HopKnowledgeSupreme 563 and rapper/professional pimp Kashmere.
Each one has a growing repertoire and range and the potential to blow the UK scene wide-open. They all promise me that 2004 is going to be their year. And the three friends have definitely got me convinced. I caught up with 563, Ghost and Kashmere in a fine London public house to get some answers, some advice and some war stories out of them…
First up, introduce yourselves and tell me what you do and all that jazz…
563: I am, I be 563, a Hip Hop DJ, radio show host, mixtape DJ and that’s about it.
Kash: I go by the name of Kashmere, MC for Receptor Records, professional PIMP! You knaaamean!!!
Ghost: Ghost…. Producer, DJ, radio-whatever… producer basically, mainly.
What got you into Hip Hop?
Kash: Well, me, personally, I was watching a lot of porno back in the day and I needed to really get off it, cos I was losing a lot of fluid. My brother just threw on a couple of Hip Hop tapes and I thought, “Yeah, I can get with this.” The porn thing never went away but it’s all good. Nah, really, my brother’s just a B-Boy and that and he used to play me loads of tapes and that. I used to see him practise his moves in the front room and it just interested me.
When did you start rapping?
Kash: I started rapping when I was about 10. I heard the first Tribe album and that was the one that actually inspired me to actually pick up the pen and started writing. I never took it seriously till I was about fourteen-fifteen but I started rapping when I was about 10.
Ghost: What was the question again? When did we first get into Hip Hop? I don’t remember the precise moment I got into it. I just remember 87-88 time, people I knew were listening to it and it just struck me. I just got deep into it, I can’t say why. There was a lot of big personalities, your Chuck D’s, your KRS’s and your Rakim’s. It just struck me… from then really.
Kash: You could say it was pretty mad back then didn’t it? Things got big… A group would come out and it would be like BOOM! Huge!
“…Trust me… Milli Vanilli and that shit. Peter Andre was the king…”
How would you compare the scene that got you into Hip Hop and the scene now?
563: It’s not even comparable I don’t think…
Ghost: There was a lot of messages coming out of that time, and that doesn’t sell anymore so record companies don’t promote that kinda stuff. At the moment it’s all about the money.
563: It’s completely different. Money changed everything. If you sign to a major, they’re only interested in sales. I don’t think it was like that back in the day. At least it might have been like that but it wasn’t at the forefront. It was more about the music.
Kash: Different factions innit… back then, it was just Hip Hop. That was it.
563: That’s it. Now there’s so many different parts to the scene. So many different types of Hip Hop coming out, so many different individuals. You go to club nights, you get a different crowd every single night because they play a different type of Hip Hop. Back in the day, you only had one type of Hip Hop and that was just good music.
Would you say that this fragmentation is a good thing?
563: I kinda like the diversity of it. But I do think it lacks some sort of unity. It is so separate. It’s a hard one to call, because back in the day, what was good was good, there wasn’t this type of sound or that type of sound… it was just good.
Ghost: Now you get your underground heads who won’t go to commercial nights and your commercial heads who won’t go to underground nights. And it’s just like there’s no in-between. But there are good commercial tunes and there are good underground tunes and everyone can get down with it.
Kash: That’s the thing. Because people are so hardcore in their own way, they won’t give other things a chance. It’s so separate. One person over here who listens to a certain type of Hip Hop will totally frown at this person over here, instead of just thinking “Well, let’s just see what they’re saying reh-reh-reh.” They’re not trying to hear any new type of sound.
563: I still pick up a few major label bits here and there. I’m not under any sort of pretence that the underground is all good because I know that seventy-eighty percent of the releases are rubbish. The good stuff is worth it, it’s got integrity. But there’s some commercial stuff that comes out, like the new Ghostface stuff, which is actually quite good. It’s comparable to the underground…
Kash: That’s cos his style is based in the underground. He’s obviously in the elite…
“…A good DJ… literally and quite simply, playing good tunes. It’s about knowing what you’re doing…”
So, 563, to go back to that question, what got you into Hip Hop?
563: For me? I used to hang out with my cousin and he was a little older than me and he lived closer to London. So he had the access to the music and such. He used to play me a lot of tapes like Run DMC and LL-Cool J. I was a bit too young at the time to get into it but towards the late eighties, I started paying attention. Essentially, the album that really got me hooked was “3 Ft High and Rising” but from there I checked out Tribe, Jungle Brothers. From there, I became aware of the Juice Crew- Kane, G-Rap. So, from there, it’s snowballed. You check a record and you hear some person on that record and you like their verse or their production, I’m gonna source some stuff he’s done. It’s like that now. I don’t really buy anything else. (Laughs.)
So, we talked about when Kash started rapping, when you start DJ’ing and producing and what was your first set-up?
563: I never originally intended to be a DJ. It’s just something that happened by accident. I was spending all my wages or my pocket money on music. I had a big collection but I had made the mistake of buying just CDs cos I’d fallen for that scare-mongering tactic of everyone saying that vinyl was gonna die out, which clearly it didn’t. It got to 96-97, when the new independent boom really took off. I always wanted to get tunes that weren’t available on CD. So I started buying records and playing them round my mate’s house, who had decks and that. So I’d leave my records round there, slowly building up a collection. I was at university at the time. I got my loan through and I thought it would be an investment to get turntables and a mixer, just so I could play the stuff. It just escalated from there. I started practising and became a bit of a bedroom DJ.
What about you Ghost?
Ghost: I was really lucky, when I was about 17, my dad got lent an Atari 10-40 and a Roland W-30 sampling keyboard. I’d been buying music and Hip Hop since I was 15. I had about 20 breaks records maybe. My dad got this equipment and up till then it hadn’t really interested me until the equipment got there. I started messing about and quickly got in a group with a guy I was at 6th form with. And I kinda got into Djing at the same time, cos the DJ in our band sold me some Technics for ten pounds and a teenth of hash….
563: That’s a fucking bargain mate…
What was your first gig?
Ghost: My first proper gig was with Hijack. The group I was doing, back in Norwich, Products of the Entity, we supported Hijack in 1991. It was crazy. Yeah, it was mad, odd. Suddenly doing a gig with Hijack, who were big then.
Kash: I can’t remember my first gig. I can’t remember the year… it was in some open-air festival thing in our area. I was just spitting over old instrumentals. It was good cos I wasn’t expecting nothing but we got an alright response. Maybe 95-96? Man, I got all the bitches man, all the bitches.
563: My first set was in a local bar in the area, it was small but cool. It was a nightmare set cos after two tunes, out of the nowhere the headphones just fucked up on me. I mixed about 3-4 records without being able to cue em up, with my ear right down on the deck to hear em off the needle. Whilst a mate ran back to get another pair for me…
That’s friendship eh?
563: No choice man. I was just thinking this is gonna be messy.
“…having a love for what you do is the most important thing. I love listening to music, I love music…”
How did you go from producing and DJing and rapping to hooking up with Breakin Bread and Itch FM and, well, each other?
Ghost: Through Tuf Kut. Big shout out to Tuf Kut.
(All agree)
Ghost: Tuf Kut, that’s who I really hooked up with both of them through. I donj’t remember how or when.
563: I remember hooking up with Ghost. Basically, Tuf Kut was one third of Breakin Bread. I used to work in Mash on Oxford Street and we sponsored Breakin Bread back when it was at the Plug. Back, a year after it had started out. I’d go down on the guestlist. I remember seeing Kashmere there, he used to do the open mic thing. So I aware of who Kash was. I kinda got real friendly with Tuf Kut and we used to go out record shopping. He mentioned Ghost a couple of times and Itch, where Ghost had filled in for Disorda a couple of times… There was one time, we were going to Dedbeat, and we were sharing a chalet and it was me, Ghost, Tuf Kut and Suze.
Ghost: The whole thing with Breakin Bread for me, cos I’d known Tuf Kut for over 10 years, I played him some tunes and they’d heard my stuff and when I moved down to London in 2000, I became a Breakin Bread regular. As for me and Kash, we just like a lot of the same music…
Kash: Trust me… Milli Vanilli and that shit. Peter Andre was the king.
Will you be supporting him for “I’m A Celebrity Get me Out of Here”?
563: Well, I’ll be supporting Kerry McFadden. Cos I think she needs some support…
Ghost: I tell ya mate, I’m watching the washing up, mate, that’s what I’m doing. A lot more interesting. Can I just interrupt you to say that I’m shocked. They’re playing “93 Till Infinity” in the pub. I’m impressed.
Kash: I met up with Breakin Bread through Tuf Kut too. Me and mates we were just spitting and that, and we wanted to take it to the next level. So we started going round all the record stores and just talking to people. Who they could hook us up with and that. Finally came into the old Deal Real records and put up a little ad about MC’s looking for producers. And then a week later, Tuf Kut was one of the people that called, and he invited us down to Breakin Bread and the rest is history.
(At this point, Ghost and Kashmere start giggling about an in-joke involving tomatoes, and 563 and I patiently wait for them to stop or tell us what they’re laughing about.)
Describe the process that went into making “Ghost Stories”.
Ghost: Fuck me, how long have we got! Err, it was actually… Usmaan thought of the name “Ghost Stories”. I’d just like to mention actually, Usmaan has given up MC’ing, so big shout out to Usmaan. He’s trying to better himself through religion. So, yeah, this was 5 years ago when he said that. I’d been doing some tunes and playing them to people. Did something with Kash, finally and I knew Asaviour from college who knew Verb T and it was just organisation. It took a year from start to finish. I already had the tunes done. The tunes were actually a couple of years old. But it took a year from saying “yeah we’re gonna do it” to it being vocalled and finished.
“…clarity, diction, heart, communication with the crowd, understanding what it takes to get a crowd lively…”
How would you describe your styles and what are your influences.
Ghost: I dunno honestly. I just sit down and whatever comes to me… I spend a lot of time going over breaks. I wouldn’t say I have one style, I have many strings to my bow.
Kash: Ghost has got many styles, trust me. Many styles!
563: Ghost makes traditional Hip Hop. He’s clearly learnt his craft, spent a lot of years before releasing something. This isn’t a cuss but a lot of people bring out self-financed records and CDs without having spent time developing their craft, getting their skills honed. Ghost’s been working for years. He’s sample-driven, chopped up a lot. If I had to classify Ghost, it’s in the same vein as his clear influences, which are Pete Rock, Large Professor, Premo. He pays attention to good loops and breaks but is not reliant on the loops, chopping them up, and bad drums.
Ghost: I’m gonna employ you as my PR. I must add – thank you for that, it’s kind of you to say. I do have an experimental side to me. I grew up in the “golden era” of Hip Hop. That doesn’t mean to say… I don’t have another side. I don’t like when people say “You’re trying to sound like Pete Rock circa-1992”. I’m just trying to make good music, across the board. People will see the sound on the next EP has stepped up to another level.
563: That’s not to say that sounding like Pete Rock circa-1992 is a bad thing. Cos it’s good timeless music. If it’s good, it’s good! I saw some reviews where people said, “you can tell he’s clearly influenced by Pete Rock or Large Professor” and they’re trying to make it seem like it’s a bad thing. But it’s not. Good music is good music.
What’s the next Ghost release and what projects are you all working on?
Ghost: Well, the plan is to put out two more EP’s or an EP and a 12” in June or November, on Breakin Bread. And I’m looking to an LP next year. As well as the Invisible Men project, me and Kashmere dropping some science. Doing some stuff for Conspicuous’ LP, from the Colony. Umm, at the end of the day, I’m just looking to put out good music and it’s fucking hard. People aren’t exactly forthcoming with offers and I’ve got to a point where I know who I really want to work with. And I’m working with most of those people.
Which MC’s are gonna be on the next EP and the 12?
Ghost: Kashmere’s gonna be on it. “Let Em Know”, it’s an old tune, but it’s a banger. Updated for 2004. Verb T and Asaviour are gonna be on it again. And I think Yungun and Conspicuous are gonna be on it.
563: I plan on having a big year. I wanna get out there. Got some gigs in the pipeline. Wanna be playing out a lot. Any bookings, hit me at www.runtheline.com. I’m always up for playing gigs. In terms of releases, I’m currently working on a new mix. I haven’t dropped a mix for a while. I kinda built my name through mixes. But what with doing Itch regular and playing out, I’ve kinda sidelined my mixes. But I wanna put out a new mix. It’s called “What’s Real” but that’s all I’m saying for the moment cos I don’t want to give too much away. But I intend it to be quite big. That’ll be in the next couple of months. That’ll be the one that puts 563 back on the mixtape circuit. My last one was a year and a half ago. People still ask me for them but I got none left. Which is cool.
Kash: Yo, yo, this year, we got the Invisible Man EP Raw Style v.2 out now, Receptor Records. The next thing I got coming out is a thing on Low Life, a double EP with Verb T. Two EPs in one package and it’ll probably come out around March. I’ve got a couple of beats on my side and stuff by Brains something by Ghost and Harry Love has done some stuff for Verb. It’s gonna be ill. Then an extended version of Raw Styles 2, 12 tracks… then in summer, a Receptor compilation with the Receptor producers and MC’s. Straight raw stuff.
Quite a busy year for all of you…
Kash: For 2004, the Iguana Man’s motto is “Decapitate to set it straight.” For anyone who doesn’t know my style, watch the new shit. I’m taking heads clean off. Not leaving any blood… that’s how clean I’m taking heads off. Safe. It’s an advanced Dragonball move, trust me.
What makes a good rapper, good producer, good DJ?
563: A good DJ… literally and quite simply, playing good tunes. It’s about knowing what you’re doing. I’ve seen a lot of hideous DJs. I consider myself to be a good DJ, I know my records. You have to be able to know your records… gauge a crowd, know what they’ll be feeling and then know what to pull out of the bag to keep the crowd on that vibe. You keep people in the crowd happy without resorting to conflicting with your integrity as a DJ. Good DJs… if they like the music they’re playing and they’re passionate…
Well, I would say that about musicians in general. You are the first customer of what you make, so you should never make anything you yourself would never buy…
563: That’s totally it. Money isn’t everything… I’ve got a day job so I can enjoy what I do. It’s not just about records… skills too. Practise. Learn how to mix. I don’t wanna hear a DJ with the best records but can’t mix ’em together. Cuts are good, in moderation, double-up, juggle. Don’t lose sight of the fact that it’s all about the music and keeping people happy. There’s nothing worse than a DJ using loads of cuts instead of keeping the flow. Then you get five people standing over the decks drooling and the rest of the crowd by the bar.
Ghost: A good producer? Fuck, man. I could say something and people would disagree. I’m gonna sit on the fence.
563: Form an opinion boy!
Ghost: A lot of it is to do with hard work. I think that people who put in the work… actually, having a love for what you do is the most important thing. I love listening to music, I love music. So I love what I do. I can’t criticise people who love what they do and put in hard work. That’s all you really need. You could say about all the skills and all the rest of it but… simply, put in the hours and love it.
Kash: Umm. I say for me, clarity, diction, heart, communication with the crowd, understanding what it takes to get a crowd lively. If you look tired and bored on stage, a crowd is gonna get tired and bored with you. Understand your environment and you act accordingly. As far as spitting goes, clarity, diction, heart, flows and understanding music. Obviously you don’t just spit, in music there’s notes going up and down, cadence, understanding the dynamics of the beat you’re rapping over. Understand where to hit your flows. Breathing as well.
Ghost: Can I add something? Charisma. A lot of charisma.
563: Charisma can be the difference between a shit MC and shit hot MC.
“…I was watching a lot of porno back in the day and I needed to really get off it, cos I was losing a lot of fluid…”
Who are your favourite rappers and your favourite 12”s?
Kash: I could tell you about the rappers I’m into. People like Scaramanga, I used to be a lot into Kool Keith but he’s sounding like a tired old man these days. I like technical MC’s but ones who have souls, not these dead robot MCs. People like UN… I dunno, it’s a hard one to say. Favourite 12”s… that’s impossible to say. One of my favourite albums is “Funcrusher Plus” by Company Flow. I’m really feeling that shit man. An album and a half. Nas “Illmatic”, that genuinely hit me in the chest. “Dr Octagon…”
Ghost: I’ve got loads of favourite MC’s. like Kashmere… seriously.
Why work with him otherwise?
Ghost: Well, exactly. I rate Jehst highly as a lyricist, and Verbs and Asaviour. CL Smooth with Pete Rock was a bad MC. Chuck D was amazing back in the day. KRS-ONE, when he hits it, is amazing. I like Aceyalone… the guy is fucking bonkers man. He can come raw or come with real intelligence. OC is still for me, he kills me every time. Favourite records… go through my collection. Off the top of my head, OC’s “Word Life” is ridiculous… Diamond D “Stunts, Blunts and Hip Hop”.
Kash: Pretty much loads of full LP’s from that early nineties period.
Ghost: Full LPs you can listen to all the way through. Nas “Illmatic” as well.
563: Percee P is hands down the greatest MC in the world. Lord Finesse has dope punchlines and a cool voice. Big L is a bit more of a concise Lord Finesse to me. I always liked Nas. Pharoah is sick. Organised Konfusion…
Who do you rate in the UK scene?
563: Kashmere obviously. Mystro is dope. And Yungun, there’s not many artists in this country that have that x-factor where they’re dope on record but ten times better live. Yungun is the future, I reckon. Yeah, I like lyrical MC’s but I like MC’s with a clarity and a good flow. Kurious George has always been one of my favourites too. Favourite records: like Ghost, I don’t have bad records in my collection. But Kurious George’s “Constipated Monkey”… “Breaking Atoms”, “Stunts, Blunts and Hip Hop.” “Mecca and the Soul Brother” is fantastic.
Kash: Can I just add Tim Dog to my list? Tim Dog is the man!
Well, he worked with Apache Indian, that’s a sign of genius…
Kash: Exactly man… no one can get more ignorant than Tim Dog.
OK, I’m running out of Minidisc space now, so you’ve got one minute to shamlessly plug anything, do any shout outs… now GO!!
Kash: “Invisible Man Raw Styles v.2” out now. Look out for future projects. www.receptorrecords.com, hit that up, get the porno pics.
Ghost: Wanna shout out anyone just buying the music. Watch out for Ghost Productions over the next five years. We’re building bridges. So, that’s all I gotta say.
563: Big up Music for Heads, big up Receptor Records. www.runtheline.com, shout out to Tuf Kut, Mr Bongos and Breakin Bread crew. And the listeners of Itch, Itch management. Get my mix, which is coming soon. And you can book me for gigs at www.runtheline.com…
It’s an inspirational conversational we have, making me hopeful both as an artist and a writer. With heads this screwed on, the future’s looking real good right now. I really hope this is the year of Ghost, 563 and Kashmere and that they pave the way for the rest of the talent on the UK scene bubbling under the surface.
Thanks goes to: Rahim for his driving and staying awake skills and Guru Mike/Suze for the photos.
– Nikesh Shukla
So taking a break from trying to record my EP, the radio show, the pimping, and the daily grind of the 9-5, I decided to hook up with a couple of emcees looking to cause some tremors on the Hip Hop scene in the months ahead.
In this first interview I managed to find the Iguana Man, Kashmere. Known more his mic prowess than his time-keeping skills (sounds like someone I know!), I was pleasantly surprised to see Kashmere waiting for my arrival in central London, here’s what happened…
Ghost: So Kashmere what’s the deal with name Kashmere, and the Iguana Man alias?
Kashmere: Well the Kashmere thing is obviously its quality material! And I like the down low quality of Iguana’s, they act weird y’ know what I mean, they act mysterious, that’s pretty much how I like to make my material, on a mysterious down low tip.
Ghost: And from there let’s just go back to your roots with Hip Hop, take it from the top, run through how and when you got into Hip Hop roughly.
Kashmere: I got into Hip Hop through my older brother who was like a B-Boy and stuff, he used to do breakin out in Nigeria and stuff like that you know, so I used to see the way he got down with his mates and stuff, practicing in the yard, and I was like raa, what’s this all about, this was in about 89, another one of my brother’s introduced me to De La Soul, the 3ft High LP and I started listening to that, then I got into the tribe first album, from there I wrote my first rhyme, I was listening to the first tune, “Push it along”, hearing Q Tip’s first verse I took some rhymes from there and added my own. Kept listening (to Hip Hop) and in about 94, got into Graf and stuff like that, and people like Artifacts. The Graf thing took up quite a lot of time in my life, but from like 94 onwards I started to get deeper and deeper into Hip Hop. Started doing tunes in about 96, started making beats and stuff, thinking about putting together tunes. The first dude I actually hooked up with was a drum and bass DJ called Edge yeah, and I did my first tune with him, hooked up with ILL BREED in about 98, started think about the label thing in 99/00, met up with Tuf Kut and all that doing the breakin bread thing, then we finally set up receptor records in 2001.
Ghost: Ok, so what about emcees, is there any you think back and say they’ve had an impact on you as in your style or your delivery, or what you write about?
Kashmere: There’s quite a few man, obviously like your KRS-1’s etc etc, for me mainly I’d say people like Scaramanga, people like Kool Keith, as soon as Octagon came out that changed my whole perspective on everything, he just opened my head big time, Godfather Don.I mean, I’m mainly into the emcee’s that can get mad technical, they can actually make me think damn, listen to the way he just flipped that flow there y’know, listen to the way he rhymed these two things together, obviously the content is important but it’s more like style, y’know what I mean, I’m more into styles myself.
Ghost: Different bunch of emcee’s there you picked out man, probably not what some people were expecting to hear, but they all dope emcee’s. So you had the Raw Styles EP, which went down nicely, what sort of feedback did you get from that?
Kashmere: Main thing that we got is like a lot of people were saying it reminded them of like early-mid nineties sound y’know what I saying, it’s like mainly the older heads got into it cause perhaps they understood it more, when I came through, a lot of people were surprised cause they didn’t even know that I made beats, a lot of people just knew me as an emcee. We wasn’t really expecting too much, we didn’t even promote it that much, we just put it out to see if anybody would bite the bait, and they just did. It was pretty cool, very good response, we were pleased with that.
Ghost: Yeah a nice little starter, and from that, what’s the deal with the Low Life hook up now, how did that come about?
Kashmere: That came about through releasing Raw Styles, cause I went through Braintax to press it and basically he heard the EP and he was feeling it, so he was like yeah would you like to do an EP on my label, I said of course, that lead onto the track I did for the Food Compilation. The Low Life EP that should be out sometime towards mid to end of the year basically, that’s gonna be some next ish.
Ghost: Haha, yeah. We forgot to mention production influences, any particular Producers over the years that have kinda like made you think yeah, I wanna do something along those lines?
Kashmere: DJ Premier, Premier is like my main favourite producer, but my style doesn’t even mirror his style at all, but I appreciate him the most. In my personal opinion he’s never let me down, as far as people my styles closer to, I dunno, I don’t really have a production style that’s similar to anyone, but the type of producer’s I feel are EL-P, I’m feeling Pete Rocks older style, feeling some of Celf Titled beats, Godfather Don’s beats are heavy, who else, hard to think man, obviously my man Ghost (!), but he’s asking over the years so…..
Ghost: Diamond D man
Kashmere: Yeah definitely Diamond, Stunts, Blunts and Hip Hop, the beats on that album were off the chain, you know about DJ Alamo?
Ghost: Yeah yeah
Kashmere: I was feeling his stuff, that’s a difficult one man, I’m also feeling Insight he’s a sick producer, mainly Primo though over the years.
Ghost: I think primo is for a lot of people, consistency man, and what about UK stuff, what UK producer’s do you see at the moment pushing the music forward?
Kashmere: Let me think now, production wise Lewis Parker is very sick, I’ve been feeling his stuff from time, Harry Love is smashing it, feeling more of his raw styles like Staircase 11 Stage more than his Silent Mobius type and U Know beats, they’re more smooth type stuff, but I’m feeling his more raw style. I’m definitely feeling Ghost’s production cause, and that aint even cause he’s sitting right next to me haha, cause he’s definitely got ill beats, very musical, just treading that thin line between that raw beat and that musical sound, if you know what I’m saying, both, raw and musical which is what a lot of people lack, a lot of people just throw a bunch of sounds together, and that the problem with a lot of producer’s over here, there’s no soul in the beats.
Ghost: What about emcee’s?
Kashmere: I’m feeling people like Big P and Skeme, cause them mans there as emcee’s they are very very sick, Jehst, he just smashes it all the time, his style is raw solid flow, feeling Braintax, and that’s from back in the day, Rodney P, Fallacy is jus sick, I’m feeling Wildflower a lot man (!), she’s bad,
Ghost: C-Mone
Kashmere: C-Mone, yes definitely, she’s definitely up there, yeah, by the way, you know what I’m saying, haha, C-Mone if your out there, Iguana Man is pining for you, anyway,
“… . Pick up the new Mis-Teeq 12″, you can sample some nice drums, and if you put that in your beats people are gonna love that, that’s the way to smash it man!….”
Joint laughing follows……..
Ghost: We better cut that there, we don’t wanna get to dirty there, we might have some repercussions from that…….
Laughing again…..
Ghost: What do you think about UK Hip Hop this year, like for me going back 10 years was a good time for Hip Hop, right now it’s like a second coming for UK Hip Hop, what do think about UK Hip Hop for this year?
Kashmere: This year, I mean a lot of people always want the New Year to be “the year” for UK Hip Hop, I just wanna hear the UK stuff progressing, you gonna see more people coming out with LP’s that chart and stuff like that, just a steady progression, you can’t rush it, then again a lot of people might diss me for saying this but I think that UK Hip Hop has blown already since that if you look at garage and jungle, that is actually the UK’s version of hip hop, and that’s been here for time. People don’t realize that, or wanna realize that, but as for the traditional style of hip hop I think all it will take yeah, is just more people hooking up with labels really, but the only problem is independent labels don’t have enough money to go through the correct promotional routes and stuff like that. It’s just a case of hooking up with better labels and trying to get funding from different places, people need to think about it seriously and that’s the only way it’ll keep going up. And I think it will happen cause people are realizing it’s here to stay.
Ghost: How do you see that market of UK Hip Hop outside of the UK, are you trying to get your tunes out to other countries?
Kashmere: Very much so cause in places like Germany they’re very in tune with UK Hip Hop, so I’m very interested to get out there, France is a bit of a tough nut to crack cause they just like the Americans, they’re very much on there own stuff, places as well like Australia and Japan. America is not exactly my number one on the list but it ain’t impossible, it can be done.
Ghost: Do you think too many UK artists concentrate on trying to represent over here rather than trying to make a name on a more worldwide scale?
Kashmere: Definitely cause a lot of people think that you have to crack where you came from first before you step out and stuff, but really and truly I think people are cutting themselves short, you know what I mean. Really you should try and hook up distribution, distribution is the main thing really, a lot more people need to hook that up, I’m not saying that’s easy but it’s a must, you must do it. They want it but they can’t get it out in Europe.
Ghost: There’s a lot of young people into hip hop now, what would you say to them, as in what kind of advice would you offer them from what you’ve learnt yourself up to now?
Kashmere: Pick up the new Mis-Teeq 12″, you can sample some nice drums, and if you put that in your beats people are gonna love that, that’s the way to smash it man! Haha, nah, but basically if you are gonna do it yeah, just be real with it, don’t just think I’m gonna make this kind of thing, so I’m gonna smash the clubs and people are gonna love it, blah blah blah sit down take time, build your skills, and only when you’ve done that come with a record, cause basically it can be your undoing before you even start, to just come out with anything, you must build your skills first, then drop it, that’s the only advice I can give you know what I mean. With like my first 12″, we didn’t even promote it, it got the recognition cause I put my soul into it, I put my time my effort into it, I spent years just trying to get to a certain level and once I put it out, people heard it and appreciated it cause it was me in there.
Ghost: Yeah it’s all about Mis-teeq, yagetme, funnily enough have you seen that program that just came out on CBBC called yagetme…
Laughter
Ghost: About a pirate radio station in a school or something, what do you think about that?
Kashmere: I think that’s the dope material right there, nah man but in a way that’s all good, it sort of opens people up to the whole underground pirate radio thing and they get to see it at least, but at the same time it’s kinda bait man. Please, Children’s BBC, I aint even seen it myself, but now that Ghost has recommended it, we all know that Ghost watches it, chills at home, watching CBBC, so I’m gonna go home and check it, cause that’ll obviously help me get on the airwaves!
Ghost: Where do you think I get all my ideas for my show from, exactly! I had to just drop that in there, strange TV these days! So what can we expect from Iguana man in the future, what’s the plans, what does 2003 hold and beyond?
Kashmere: Nothing man! Basically I got this new 12″, “Duck Season”, coming out in the next couple of months, after that got the Food Compilation on Low Life, a tune called “Next Level Response” on that, got an EP coming with Low Life, which Ghost will be doing some of the beats for, not 3 not 2 but 4, that’s gonna be heavy. I got an EP coming with Rob Life as well, cause you know I did that 12″ with the Iguana Verses track on it with Rob and Cappo on Breakin Bread, so we gonna hook up and do a whole EP. There’s a few releases coming on Breakin Bread as well, one with Tom Carauana, one with Ghost on the Ghost Stories EP, just keep it moving really. Possibly have another Receptor Records thing towards the end of the year. But I wanna start working on an Album, spend a couple of years just doing an album, so that pretty much everything I can remember right now.
Ghost: What about doing a video, I know we spoke about this the other day, you gonna hook that up?
Kashmere: I’m gonna do a video for this Duck Season thing, yeah yeah yeah and hopefully that’ll help us, but people gotta try and get a video, that is one of the largest forms of promotion you can have, if you really wanna be serious about selling units, you wanna do a video. A lot of people turn round to you and say there’s no money in UK Hip Hop, that’s a lie, if you go about it the right way chances are you’re gonna be able to help shift some more units.
Ghost: What do you make of the response that the new task force tune has had, Fugs R Us, cause you’re on it, it seems to me that people don’t quite understand the tune and they don’t like it, what do you make of that?
Kashmere: Well basically they need to recognize the real; we’re just a bunch of fugs out here looking to blast people, put holes through your skull. Peace Recognize, buy the record otherwise we’re gonna find you in the jam, if your not dancing in the jam, believe me, I will pull out the machete, believe!!! nah but on the real, fugs r us is just a joke ting really, it’s a parody of the whole thug thing and the people that don’t get it obviously haven’t been listening to Task Force. Even the intro it’s just like over aggy, I can see how people could take it the wrong way, but at the same time like I said, if you’ve been listening to Task Force for some time you’ll know.
Ghost: So finishing up, is there anything you wanna say to the people reading this, cause it’s not just UK people that are checking this site cause it’s Worldwide.
Kashmere: I have to say, go out and buy my record. Go out and buy it now, Suspect dash Packages dot com, suspect-packages.com, haha, but on the real, thanks for all the support and all of that, I’m gonna keep coming with tunes, keep blazing it, and hopefully you guys will be into it, and for everyone on the wider scale outside the UK, prepare for Iguana man entering your household, lock your doors, shut your cat flaps, lets keep it real!
Ghost: Lock up your daughter’s that’s all I’m gonna say! Lastly who do you wanna shout out?
Kashmere: I’d like to shout out Peter Falk aka Colombo, the obvious greats such as David Hasslehoff, Dr Sloane and Dr Travis from diagnosis murder, I’d like to give a shout out to Task Force, all the Itch fm heads, Ghost, 2 Hands, Unusual Suspects, Breakin Bread Crew, Secure, and them heads out there playing the tunes, 563, Braintax, Jehst, definitely going to be hooking up with him this year, like to shout out Suze, all the receptor records heads, Mr Brown, Ra, DJ Crooked Fingers, my mom my pops, everyone at Bongo’s as well, Deal Real and the whole world man. And my girlfriend man.
Ghost: Peace.
And that was Kashmere, nuff respect for taking the time out to have a word with us and do this interview for ukhh. Top geezer he is and truly a sick lyricist, destined to make some moves soon. We head off after we (me) finish our beers and grab a couple of photo’s for the interview. Gotta shout out Deal Real for letting us snap some photo’s in the shop, and shout to Suze for taking time out to take the photos.
We got another interview coming your way soon with another multi-Skilled artist, a beatmaker and emcee, the man like Apollo.
Peace
– Ghost
