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Interview by Benjamin Hunter |
Rock the Bells may be the best thing that ever happened to hip hop. It is a glorious celebration of the most righteous and gifted hip hop all-stars to ever share the same bill. Real hip hop is back in full force, craft brewed lyricists take the stage to provide the world a lyrical beverage of deep meaning. Rock the Bells artists reflect the sentiments that are being shared in this country right now. Americans are tired of the war, tired of this economy, and our true colors are shining. It’s not an aggro America, it is a young country sick of the rule of meatheads. There is nothing shitty about love. We all need it. Nihilism is fucking boring, scenesters are played, and that gangster hater shit is dead. Rock the Bells champions the message that we can all come together for the love of music and each other. The following interviews took place with support from Rock the Vote. In a country that is saying goodbye to the douchebaggery of the Bush Administration, we thought it was imperative to speak with the pop cultural rhetoricians of our time. Hip hop is speech, in its most clever form. Spoken word is the aesthetic. It is a delivery system of the feelings of everyday people. Free speech is the pillar of our democracy, so I asked the hip hop community about their relationship with democracy how they actively engage with it. Rock the Bells comes to San Bernardino August 9th.
KID CAPRI
Wide-Eyed: What is hip hop’s role in democracy?
Kid Capri: What the hell does that word mean? (Referring to Democracy, he breaks into laughter)
WE: Come on man, it’s a process. It’s not perfect, we’re working on it {laughing}.
KC: I guess it plays a big part. Hip Hop plays a part in everything. Even in the elections, ‘cause hip hop has generated so much money, and has gotten so much attention over the years, whether some call it bad or good, we can’t help but have an influence to what’s going on. There is so much money involved in it, the millions and millions of dollars that are being made. That right there can start a whole revolution in and of itself. Especially when we’re selling more than country music. That’s unheard of.
WE: You are getting a bigger share in cultural influence.
KC: That’s what I’m sayin’. It definitely has reach in all avenues and astronomical amounts of money are being made.
WE: What are your thoughts on this year’s election man?
KC: OBAMA BABY! Why not, he’s going all the way. Why not?
RAKIM
Wide-Eyed: What are your thoughts on hip hop and its influence on democracy in our country?
Rakim: I think now more than ever it has an influence on us because the voice of hip hop is so big now. At the end of the day, I think the government probably never thought it would come to this, but at the end of the day the young vote counts. We are looking at that right now with Barack. Hip hop is basically a way of life now. The things that people do are epistemic to hip hop, the things we go through like dealing with the system. It can even come down to legal things, like how much a crack dealer gets charged (punishment in the court system) to how much a coke dealer with the same amount gets charged. Or making sure that there are jobs for people and programs for people when they get out of incarceration. These things are affecting hip hop in every way. From hip hop, people are starting to wake up, like Puff wearing the Vote or Die shirts. People are realizing how important our vote is. I think that people in hip hop are feeling good, knowing that we are important for something, that we can make a difference. I don’t know if it’s going to make a change but…
WE: It creates a dialog.
R: Exactly. It’s touching everybody, and every body has to deal with it. It’s an exciting time, there is a lot going on, and a lot of rappers are speaking about political things. It’s a good time bro, cause this is the time of the seventh seal. It is what it is.
B REAL
Wide-Eyed: What are your thoughts on this year’s presidential election?
B REAL: I think that it is definitely interesting. There is definitely history making involved here. We’ll see what happens. You have two candidates, and there is a lot of controversy behind both of them. You know McCain and people feeling like he is basically going to carry on what Bush is doing. People question Obama’s experience and authenticity as far as where he stands on issues. So people have their concerns. I really don’t know which way to go, I mean I’d like to see Barack win because he definitely has some interesting plans on how to change things, it’s whether or not he can actually implement them.
WE: What are your thoughts on hip hop’s role in democracy in the United States?
BR: Well you know hip hop is a voice so as long as rappers keep writing songs that provoke thoughts that are on a spiritual level or political level or just life in general; people will listen. People will either be inspired by it or turned off by it depending on what their point of view is. So it’s pivotal man, it’s a tool. It’s a communication tool of an amazing kind man. There ain’t been nothing like this. Hip hop is essentially kind of rebellious and controversial like rock, and it gives the “I don’t give a fuck!” attitude, like punk rock. So you know, it’s a combination as well as r&b or soul. Hip hop is a combination of so many different things, there are so many different emotions and vibes. So you know, it is an important tool for communication, for sure.
WE: As far as the pendulum goes, no pun intended, do you think we (hip hop culture) are swinging away from the bling and materialism and coming back to the real?
BR: Hip hop goes in cycles. It always has and always will. So for as long as there is commercial-type rap music that’s dominating the airways and the publications and all that sort of stuff, and the underground remains the underground, it will go in a cycle. For a minute it will have a few years to shine and then it will switch over to some other aspect of hip hop, so it goes in circles. Then there are so many hip hop fans out there, that there is something for everyone. You know the kids that listen to Lil’ Wayne and the G.I.’s and Lil’ John? They wouldn’t necessarily be down with this kind of hip hop and the fans here (Rock the Bells) wouldn’t necessarily be down with that kind of hip hop. That goes to show you that there are so many faces and elements of hip hop and there are so many fans out there that follow every aspect of it, that there is room for everybody. Everybody can coexist and that is the good thing. Whether you like what’s popular right now or not, it’s irrelevant. It’s the fact that there is so much shit out there, that no matter what’s popular or not, you can always get to the stuff you want, via the Internet. There is more accessibility as opposed to ten years ago where you didn’t know about all these crazy dope groups that are out there, now you can find them with a click of a button. You don’t necessarily have to follow MTV, or BET, or the radio stations. You can get on hip hop websites all over and find these new, up-and-coming people.
WE: Will you be putting out another record with Cypress Hill?
BR: Yeah, definitely. Right now I am mixing my solo record. We are scheduled to have it come out in October. It is called Smoke and Mirrors tentatively. Then in March of next year, we are going to be coming out with the new Cypress stuff. It’s in production right now. It’s been in production for the last six to eight months. There’s a lot of songs. It’s going to be a high powered album. We are going back to really gritty grimy roots of hip hop, for us. There are a couple different things, here and there, but primarily it is all the rawness of what hip hop is, in my opinion anyway.
BOOTIE BROWN of THE PHARCYDE
Wide-Eyed: What’s up with this year’s election?
BOOTIE BROWN: I have to give you my honest train of thought. We are in America, and in America most things that a black man does, it’s a set up. I think we are going to find out something about Obama that nobody knows. I think some shit is going to come out, I really think so. It’s just one of those things. It’s much bigger than a racial thing. I think that having a black person in a position of that kind of power in America— I think fools would burn this shit down before they gave us that kind of respect. This is just not our place. In my heart I feel like that. In a certain way, America lets a black man get to a certain level. Once you get to that level, so many things can just break you down. To the point where, people will turn your own people against you. Put it this way, Obama is not going into office right now with the economy being low, he’s got the roughest challenge ahead of him that any president could ever suffer and he’s black. If he does it, it’s going to be like the greatest pull, it would be like Michael Jordan doin’ some shit. Bush has so fucked the shit up, everybody knows, everything is fucked up at this time. If he is going to step into office, there is just going to be so much pressure man. I hope that he does it, but living in the States, money is king and as long as money is the root of all evil, it’s never going to be right. I guess you could go live off the land somewhere in Africa, I can’t even say you could get it right there because people have been killing each other for thousands and thousands of years. This country was not built for us. We were transplanted over here and it was built around us and built by us, but it’s not here for us. That’s honestly how I feel.
WE: Okay. Well, on another note, what about today? Look at this huge mass multicultural crowd that surrounds itself around hip hop. Today has nothing to do with bling and money, there is love. Can’t you admit there is genuine love in this country?
BB: Let’s break it down, let’s break it down. SanDisk is putting it on, now you have a computer company, that has nothing to do with black people at all. Just as much as the emcees are benefiting, they are benefiting four or five times as much from the urban culture going out and buying thirty dollars worth of shit for your phone, memory — all that type of shit. I just have a different way of looking at things.
DE LA SOUL
Wide-Eyed: What are your thoughts on hip hop and its connection to this year’s election?
Jude Jolicoeur (AKA Dave): Hip hop is a culture that can sway individuals, for the people my age, 30s, 40s, what have you. It can definitely be a voice for those people and an influence for those people as well. Kids and adults alike, when rappers say ‘Throw your hands up in the air,’ it’s just as easy as saying go out there and vote. I believe that we have that force and that drive, to get people out there and be productive and be a part of our lives. I think the artists who are out there who are concerned, who are conscious of what’s going on, in their lives, in politics, so on and so forth. If we speak up, those that listen, will follow.
WE: What are your thoughts about the pendulum swing that is going on in hip hop? As a culture hip hop is moving away from bling and getting back to “the real.” That has been a thematic at this show.
JJ: It’s a cool thing. It’s always good to see hip hop take its sides. We don’t want it to lean in one place only or one corner only. It needs a balance and whether it’s bling or whether it’s consciousness, we need a balance. It’s been there since day one. There were rappers back in the day talking about doing drugs and ladies, just as much as there were rappers talking about the cultural lifestyle on a positive note. So it has always been there, we need that balance.
WE: Kelvin, what are your thoughts on the connection between hip hop and this year’s election?
Kelvin Mercer (AKA Mercenary): It’s just good to see people within hip hop or outside of hip hop just trying to pay attention. Being actually forced to pay attention due to how incredibly bad things are with certain aspects of our lives; economically, gas, health issues — I mean, the average person wouldn’t normally want to pay attention to issues like these. They need to be part of the process. Hip hoppers are normal everyday people at the end of the day, so they are paying attention to these issues and they want to try to use who they are to help people think about these things.
Vincent Mason (AKA Maseo AKA Smiley) comes to greet his partners from across the room and immediately gets in the mix. According to Pharcyde’s manager and longtime friend Greg Campbell, Maseo is the “sweetest dude”on the tour. Up to this point Maseo was telling stories and cracking jokes on the other side of the room and had the whole green room laughing.
Vincent Mason: I definitely think that hip hop has grown up for the most part. At one point when it was very young it wasn’t a part of or at least thinking about being a part of mainstream culture, such as politics and things like that. Now that we are grown-up, a lot of us are 30 plus and we influence the youth as well. We have no choice but to be a part of politics to a larger degree because it is what life consists of. Being hip hop culture and being grown men, we just have the extra influence for the youth to be participating in it. The artist they respect are involved, like a Puff Daddy or even a De La Soul, you know what I mean?
WE: So do you fellas have a new record that you are working on?
VM: YEAH! Coming at you in 2011! {breaks into hysterical laughter}
JJ: You know we never have a set date or an idea or a time, so on and so forth. We just work, and when it’s ready, it’s ready. So we are working at the moment
