Cannibal Ox and Aesop Rock Interview

Haze47

THE URBAN ARCHEOLOGIST
ill o.g.
Aesop Rock Interview

After 5 months constant touring and twelve hours crammed inside a van, the last thing anyone needs is some joker in a silly woollen hat badgering you about things that right now you could not actually care less about.
Elplate1 squeezes blood out of the stone that is, a very weary Ace Rizzle...


E: How many times have you been to the UK now?

A: Oh, a bunch cos there’s a lot of those festivals and stuff out here, so we’ve been here maybe four or five times now.

E: Is it a place you look forward to coming to?

A: Yeah, I like it here a lot, definitely… we get a lot of love on these shores, its one of my top 5 or 3 places to come to.

E: So what kind of behaviour can we expect on a Def Jux tour at the moment, are we on some T.V. out the window type shit?

A: Actually right now, I’ve been on tour basically since October 15th - pretty much non- stop- I’ve had like two weeks off. I did forty cities in the U.S. with Lif, then we went to Australia for 3 weeks, then we went on tour with The Roots for a week and now we’re over here, its been non-stop, so after these 7 shows I’m basically winding down…

E: The Roots shows must have been interesting?

A: Yeah they were fun, The Roots played our beats and shit – it was me and Lif, Vast Aire, Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, Mad Skillz and The Roots – so there was a whole bunch of us, everyone had a good time.

E: Safe, so obviously you’re over here promoting the new album. For those who haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, could you tell us a bit about, and how it may fit in to what people have previously heard from you…

A: I think its what you may expect to be the next natural step y’know? I think every record is just a step forward from the last, and this is just that. It doesn’t sound exactly the same, but you can see where it’s coming from judging by Labor Days and Float. And I don’t wanna make the same album six times in a row y’know? A lot of people have a successful album and get into a formula and do it every time and that’s just not very interesting. So I try and do something a little different every time, but at the same time I’m me, so its going to sound like me. But I think this ones got a little bit of a different feel to the record, and in the little time I’ve had off since I put it out I’ve made some new stuff and the new stuff already sounds a little different to the last stuff – so I guess its all just a natural journey.


"...I don’t wanna make the same album six times in a row y’know?....”

E: I remember hearing prior to Bazooka Tooth’s release that you were shifting toward handling the production yourself. I was shocked as the “Aesop Rock sound” for me, was always Aesop Rock and Blockhead – and in my opinion, he was one of the hottest producers around…

A: He did three beats on the album. He’s like my best-friend in the world. Usually I do half the album and he does half the album production-wise, but I just felt like I wanted to do a bit more this time round. Not anything against him, he was starting to get outside production work, he’s just putting a record out on Ninja Tune so he’s got his own shit going on. I’ll always work with him basically.

E: Is he someone you’ve known for a long time then?

A: Yeah I’ve known him for about ten years now, and I really believe that as long as I’m rapping he will be producing for me. But it came round to this record, and I was like I think I want to make a bunch of the beats myself for this one, like 2 thirds or 3 quarters or whatever – And he was like yeah do it! Cos you’ve got your own sound. Meanwhile, he’s doing his own thing and I’m supporting him. He’s just released his solo record, which I think is amazing. We’re just boys, its not like anyone takes offence to anything. I got new shit from him for the next one, C Rayz is working with him on his next project, he’s around and always will be.

E: Is the production side of things something you want to really explore now? Would you ever consider making a whole album for someone else?

A: I never did, but I think I may be interested. I produced a Murs tack for the new Def Jux compilation and I’m probably giving a beat to Walz. I dunno, I’ve always just produced for myself, so if I didn’t like a beat or didn’t think I was going to use it I would just throw it away – but I’m officially saving my shit now! I’ve been producing for nearly eight years now, but it always took a back seat because people always knew me for rhymes. But I guess in my old age I’m getting to be a control freak, I want to be the pilot of everything. I never knew how hard it was though, I did like 11 of 15 songs for this album and almost killed myself. I’m real anal retentive about how I want it to sound. Some people liked it, some people hated it but I don’t really care – I think it came out alright.

E: Since its conception, Def Jux has come on so, so far… does it feel a lot bigger now from the inside?

A: Well our office is about the size of this room (gesturing to the very small backstage area) People hear the buzz, see the artists and hear how many quality albums come out of a label. Then you come to the label itself, and your like, wow this is a humble-ass label! We got a small office, a small studio. But everyone that works for it and is signed to it is really down for the cause, and we are all good friends before music. I think its just a group of people with a decent vision. I wouldn’t even really want to do shows by myself anymore, I wanna bring Lif or I wanna bring Walz or whatever… I don’t have any interest with going on tour with someone I don’t know at this moment in time. We’re just trying to keep it fun.

E: Does everyone chip in with the business side of things?

A: No, there’s a handful of people that work in the office and they deal with the paperwork and business shit. Its owned by El-P and this other cat, so he has a say in any major business decisions that are gonna go down. As far as who’s getting signed its El, but he’ll come up to me and Walz and be like – check this out, do think this kid is dope? And I’ll be checking the shit that I’m making with him. Instead of it being a case of him saying – take this song of your album! I want his opinion and input, and it’s the same deal with everyone.

E: Has everyone seen the Avril Lavigne video, where she’s rockin the Def Jux cap?

A: NO! is that shit new?


"...in my old age I’m getting to be a control freak, I want to be the pilot of everything....”

E: I think its her last tune, she’s up on a car with it on!

A: You see that! We’re really hitting the kids man!

E: Do you think of yourselves as a movement?

A: Its more of a feel that these are the kids I kick it with anyway? These are the kids that I’m at home playing video games with and watching T.V. with and then we make albums. Y’know I’ll be making a beat and Camu will stop by and be like – hey, let me do something to that beat. So when your inside it, it doesn’t really feel like a movement, but we know that we’re doing something right and have a lot of drive for it, but at the same time we try not to stress about it, or take it to seriously. If you start thinking of it like that, recognising that it’s a movement it might start falling apart. We just want to see how far we can take it on our own terms.

E: Are you committed to Def Jux for life?

A: I couldn’t really see myself doing anything else.

E: I wanted to talk a bit about your writing process. Are there any routines or rituals that you find yourself going through when your penning new shit?

A: I’ll light a few candles y’know…hehehe. No, it changes everyday. Sometimes I’ll write a whole thing without even hearing the music, or sometimes I’ll work on a beat first and it’ll take me two weeks to write fuckin eight bars. It just depends on like what I’m feeling at the time. Whenever I’m on the road, I have complete writers block, I can never go back to hotel and write it just never works.

E: Is there anybody your particularly feeling at the moment?

A: I’m just so flooded hearing all the new Def Jux stuff which is all pretty fuckin dope. But I like the Mountaineers, their pretty fuckin good. They’re like a kinda folk/rock group or whatever. Just all types of shit, I’m becoming less music snobby the older I get. When you’re a little sixteen year old wipper-snapper you’re just like I’m just gonna rap or die! When you get older you realise there’s dope music everywhere, it could be anything. Y’know El and Camu are working on a Rock record right now, their doing this whole crazy load of shit so anything can go.

E: How is it sounding?

A: Yeah real good, I just played bass on a couple of songs and its sounding pretty fun.

E: What is it? Metal?

A: Nah…(sighs) I don’t even know what its like, its not Metal. I can’t really explain it. I mean Camu can sing! He’s somewhere between like Al Green and Axl Rose. But every song is different – there’s some pretty crazy shit going on – so its going to shock people but we were like whatever.

E: I read something last time you were down for last years Dedbeat festival saying that you were trying to kick all your vices, how did that go? Are you still T-total?

A: Yeah, I’ve never drank alcohol in my life. I quit smoking for a whole month while I was on tour in the U.S. but I’m back (sighs). I smoke weed, but a lot less than I used to.


"...we know that we’re doing something right and have a lot of drive for it, but at the same time we try not to stress....”

E: Someone said to me that listening to the new album they thought perhaps you’d been experimenting with substances, I take it that’s not the case?

A: Hehehehe… There been periods of my life where that’s been the case. But its been a long time since I did acid or Mushrooms or any of that shit. I think I’m too paranoid these days. If I did acid I’d probably shoot everyone and then shoot myself in like a blaze of glory. If anything I smoke weed while I’m working on music, other than that anything that looks like it’ll calm me down.

E: The themes of this album seem more politically aware, is that something that you have consciously moved toward?

A: Not necessarily as a whole theme. But 911 happened just after Labor Days came out, and you can’t really shut that shit out. I’m not really politically aware, but when the buildings in your front yard start falling down you don’t really have a choice but to be a little aware. I don’t write songs about oh the government and George Bush, I write with a perspective of how that shit may effect someone’s daily life outside a direct political commentary.

E: Are you aware of a large level of paranoia living in New York?

A: Yeah, I mean we’re on like orange terrorism alert at all times. So yeah its like fucking Apocalypse Now! Its a really hectic city anyway, so to have that going on as well its like a lot to swallow. For me, I don’t really even give a fuck who the President is usually, but this is like officially fucking up my day.

E: You mentioned you didn’t vote in the last election, do you think you might this time round?

A: I might. You never know man! G.W. ain't exactly up high on my list of people I wanna meet right now! I never have before, but maybe this time. I just have never been particularly politically driven which is probably a bad thing. You know, its like as long as I can come home and eat my food and do what I would normally do then I really don’t care who is running the country, which I guess is horrible ignorance. But like I said it is actually effecting me now so maybe I will.

E: Rounding up now, is there anything exciting we should be looking out for now – is the Orphanage shit ever coming out?

A: Probably not. We did like eight songs across like two days. But we’re all doing our doing different shit now. Slug’s like always on tour, and Blueprint’s been with him, Illogic’s got two children now, it’s a hectic time for everybody. There all good people, I still talk to Slug, Blueprint’s ma boy. I don’t talk to them as much as I used to talk to them, but its nobodies fault. Honestly the songs weren’t that good. They were so rushed, I mean they were fun and maybe they’ll sneak out on those unreleased music kinda CD’s people put together… But not as an album or anything. We kept talking about it and before we realised it, we were six-months down the line and we were still talking and nothing had happened.

E: Finally, any hopes dreams or ambitions outside of rap right now?

A: Yeah, I wanna get a house on a lake somewhere. I want to keep working on music, but I don’t think I wanna be dancing around on stage until I’m like 40! I’m considering moving outside New York for the first time ever purely to save money, cos its so fucking expensive there y’know? I really love living there. It spits you out, chews you up and you love it. But at the same time its impossible to save any money there. But I’m like 27 so I’m thinking maybe I should be thinking about buying a house or doing like anything with the money I have, instead of just buying more games systems. So I don’t wanna have to move, but I might – but not to far – like Philly or somewhere maybe…

E: Any final words or shouts?

A: Not really man…I’m just trying to get to my bed.
 

Haze47

THE URBAN ARCHEOLOGIST
ill o.g.
Ko: So how are you finding the crowds?

AR: So far everything has been very, very dope. We haven't had a bad show; some have been better than others but everyone seems to have been receptive and we've done everything from 200 to like 3000 people, so we've been getting a lot of love. I know their record (Nodding towards Vast Aire, Vordel Megala and DJ Cip 1) came out here about 3 or 4 months ago and mine came out maybe about a month ago, so it's still fresh in people's minds but going to Scala I didn't think anyone would know it but we got a lot of love.

Ko: Yeah, they've always been pretty open at the Scala…

AR: It's because it's my first time here I didn't know what to expect…

Ko: Oh yeah definitely, have you had a chance to check out any British hip hop since you've been over here?

AR: Not too much 'cos we literally have been just travelling. This'll be our ninth show in a row and tomorrow's our first day off. We're travelling all day everyday and then we get to the venue…We're in every city for 15 hours tops. We haven't really heard much music tomorrow we're gonna try and explore a little during the day

Ko: Are you down here?

AR: Yeah we have a day off in Brighton.

Ko: There's definitely some interesting spots round here. There's a battle tomorrow. Brighton versus Bristol if you're about all day

AR: Oh really… Is there money involved?

Ko: I dunno there might well be…

Kate: Are you in London next week?

AR: We're there for a day

Ka: There's a battle on Thursday at Subterenia with a £750 prize. We could enter you and say that I know you and you're over from New York….

(Conspiratorial muttering followed by laughter)

Ko: That's good money, man…

One third of Cannibal Ox, Vast Aire, who had been suffering from a coughing fit for most of the interview suddenly perks up after hearing the words "money" and "battle" being mentioned in such close proximity…

Vast Aire: What did he say?

AR: There's a battle for £750….

VA: We all enter individually…..

AR: So one of us has gotta win

(Laughter)

One of us has gotta win


Aesoprock

Ko: As far as battling goes, are you still doing a lot of that?

AR: Not really, I think we're now established artists and we're like trying to make good songs…

VA: I battle…. Heads battle with reason, I still battle, but its more on a reason thing, you know, which is the basis of battling…

AR: I mean it's always fun battles when we're all together, but it's been a while since I've had to battle someone on some shit. Last time I thought I was gonna have to was in Oakland when I met the other Aesop, from Living Legends, and…

VA: People around us talked it up…I knew nothing was going down

AR: I'm cool with a lot of their crew and shit, but we were stood outside the venue like "Aiight he's rolling up", y'know and we didn't know if he was gonna be like "Whassup, y'know let's battle for the name" But he came up, he was like "WASSUP Y'ALL!"

VA: He mad cool, peace to the Living Legends…But like battling is for a reason. I'll battle if I'm being attacked, or crews are trying to attack my crew…I'm a musician, man and heads are musicians, we trying to….

AR: We're musicians and we're not 18 anymore so no-one's gonna instigate anything, we've all proven ourselves with albums. I'm 25 and these cats are 24-25. I'm just trying to make good songs

VA: Yeah I'm trying to make incredible albums…

AR: Not even battling… like in New York a lot of years were spent ciphering just open mics and trying to prove yourself…

VA: Yeah!…. We done that for years. We don't have 20 albums that are all banging. That's the realm that we wanna be in now recording banging music, touring the world and strengthening our labels and our name as artists. I did that when I was sixteen…when I was eighteen I did all the battle and all that won some, lost some, technically won some…Went through all that, I'm done with that, I do my music now…

AR: It's a learning thing…

VA: I do my music now, yaknamean? But heads will battle if ya come out ya face, heads will show you its not all gravy all the time, you know, 'cos there's some young cats that are so hungry that's all I know. All they know is "In order for me to get light, I gotta come at Aesop or Vast 'cos they got all the light" They don't understand that our light is coming from years of winning battles and reputations from good shows and good songs….

AR: It's longevity. Cats know we've been rhyming for a while…

VA: It's not just I beat some dude in a battle, got money and was able to come the next week and do three songs. It's not always like that…

AR: Young kids wanna just step on the scene and be the kid who beat Aesop Rock outta nowhere, y'know instead of just doing their thing at open mics and building a rep…It's just like stupid, go and do your thing, grow up with your generation, and be dope for what you are… You never pass battling. Some of the songs we do now are still talking shit, but that's just a definite foundation for hip hop…

VA: Sometimes….I just have to talk shit! That's a record in my assault. I know how to say things to touch something…

AR: There's always a joint that's like by the way, for all y'all that think we're just on this shit, I can still destroy you if you want me to (Laughs)

VA: That's how I did it. For years all I did is enter open mics. I didn't try to battle the people that were making noise. They're putting records out, they're performing every week, they got they songs on vinyl…

AR: People try to slip their foot through the door, before even going into the hallway….

VA: For years all I did is just enter the open fucking mics. That's all. I just want the crowd to know that I'm nice too.

Ko: Yeah, for sure…

VA: Then it became you do the open mic and you get in a cipher outside once it ends…

AR: Which is almost as if you've got more to prove then…

VA: Between those two that's how I got my name, that's how we all got our name out. I ain't never seen none of us disrespect somebody at they show while they performing, you know what I mean?

Ko: Definitely man…

VA: I never entered a circle and just …I asked to come in a circle. When a circle was closed you don't just walk in there. I asked to go in. Someone opens they shoulder, now I'm in there and I'm waiting my turn, yaknowwhamsayin? It's a respect thing. A lot of it is unspoken heard, you just gotta have common sense…If its already closed, you gonna come over and cut someone off you don't know, you don't understand….

At this point Vordel Megala, the second of the Can Ox MC's enters the room, munching a burger…

VA: 'Cos this is our circle, we're all facing each other, talking to each other, you just can't come in. You hear us, that's peace. Ask to come in. We 99.9 gonna say come in. The minute you just come in, now you got 8 faces looking at you like you better do something, so…I fail to see a lot of respect at least back home, I see a lot of young kids, they're amped, the see the scene is vibrant again and you know…That's always gonna be a common thing…

AR: And there's also a flipside of it, which is now, you know I'm 25 and like I've had the experience where I rock the show, this happened in Oakland last time we were there. I rocked the show ya know and be on stage for an hour, an hour and a half and be completely tired and all. I've been traveling and I just wanna go to sleep. And I'll go outside and kids is like "Oh get in the cypher" and I'll be like "No right now I just wanna go to sleep".

Ko: Fair enough…

AR: And then cats will hate on you for some shit like "Oh alright whatever". And it's like, money, its not that I'm not down for rhyming its just like…

VA: This is my job now. Where was you for seven days? You was at home jerking off, watching MTV and I was on stages. I was on a stage, a plane, a train, a hotel and a stage…and now you mad at me after I just rocked you for an hour and a half and you're gonna turn that…you're gonna get on the internet an hour later (Aesop cracks up) and turn that into "Vast is an asshole 'cos he didn't rhyme with me in front of the club in like 20 degree weather, and I'm just like "I just performed for you…I have to go perform for another crowd tomorrow, when you're sleeping in 'til 3." Sometimes I feel like heads just don't have common sense. Even before I did this, I met mad famous people and I probably would be with them under 30 seconds and it wasn't their fault. I would say "Yo. I like you, I like what you do, keep doing what you doing and shake they hand." That's like 20-25 seconds. If it went longer than that it would be "Oh word, what you like? How long you been listening?" That's them…

AR: I can't imagine been like…In '96 I met Chuck D, I remember I gave him a pound and said "Peace man, thank you" But imagine I'd stepped up to him and I was like "YO! rhyme with me right now or I'ma battle you, You're fucking Chuck D and I'm doper than you!" It's like why would I am gonna that?….Flavor Flav was supposed to be here tonight but he's not and this whole last week I was just like "I'm gonna get my picture taken with Flavor Flav, that would be dope"

Ko: So with you guys being from New York what do you think of the whole Jay-Z/Nas battle that's popped up?

AR: Dope! We're all hungry! We just heard the Nas track last night, it was pretty raw. Jay-Z came with it and it was ridiculous and we were kinda waiting for the response and last night in the car, we were driving and we heard some radio station that somehow they broadcast from New York and they played the Nas joint, we ran into the car and only heard the last half and it was mad raw, we were like AAAGGGHH!

(At this point Ian the promoter turns up and the Def Jukies saunter off to do their soundcheck… About ten minutes and a ten bit later..)

AR: I did about four beats with my man Blockhead…

Ko: Cool…So Can Ox guys are you gonna be doing any of your own production, 'cos EL-P handled most of yours didn't he?

VA: We have a million people to get beats from, So you're gonna hear interesting things…

Ka: Whose style of production do you admire, maybe not even hip hop like old soul…

VA: I'm really into Jimi Hendrix, I'm really into Prince…..

AR: We just had this conversation, Jimi Hendrix, Prince, The Beatles…

VA: I'm into Miles Davis, he's really done some ill…. I'm into EPMD, I'M into Run DMC, You know I'm just really into good music man. You can catch me bumpin to… You don't know what's in my headphones, its just one of those things…

AR: Def Leppard…

VA: Yes, yes Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam. All that man, I know what to listen to for me 'cos I know what moves ME.

Ka: What do you think about hip-hop's lyrics. Production moves a lot of people and lyrics do as well, but what do you think about political lyrics? Do you think that you are labelled if you choose to talk about certain things?

VA: I think….

AR: If you gotta write about it, write about it…

VA: Yeah that's what I think…

AR: If you're in a situation where you really have a strong enough opinion on something political that you have to write a song about it, then write the fucking song. Y'know if I had a strong opinion about a girl, I'd write a girl song about it, if I had a strong opinion about the Twin towers falling I'd write a song about it…At this point I have nothing to prove to anybody except myself, and anything I feel I need to write a song about I will, I could never be one of those artists that bases their career around politics, like Rage Against the Machine, which is nothing disrespectful towards them, I couldn't do that…

VA: It's just not me…

AR: If something affects me to the point where I have to write a song about it then I'll write the song…

VA: I love Public Enemy…I love Milk and Gizmo also, Audio 2 y'know. They play their role that's just straight smiling face, hardcore. It's hard at the same time but it's funny. Audio 2, and I always use them as the opposite or A Tribe Called Quest. I'm that kid that grew up and I love Tribe and N.W.A. there was no separation and it was just like yo, hot music is hot music

AR: Like Kool G Rap and De La Soul. I didn't matter what your views were. Y'know X-Clan who was openly, not necessarily anti white but definitely pro black to the point where you would question if they were anti-white, they are one of the dopest hip-hop groups in history. They had some incredible fucking songs. If you're in your craft and you're writing your songs and you have your views and you're honest with them and stick to them then the song is gonna be dope, which is what's gonna make me attracted to it even if I don't necessarily agree with your opinion. That's why Chuck D's a preacher that's what he does more than a rapper. I'm not gonna say I've agreed with everything he's ever said in history but he's made some incredible fucking albums

VA: I agree with most of it I can say that honestly, cos if I didn't agree with it I don't remember it, so I agreed with most of it. P.E at one point was a huge influence and….

AR: They were also an influence production-wise cos I mean, if you start looking at EL-P's production now its just kinda like noisy and crackly drums but if you listen to an old Public Enemy album they're just loud as fuck and raw as fuck and EPMD albums have like fuckin' rock and soul samples that were just guitars and raw and dirty. That's the stuff I think we're all trying to do. None of us are all that polished in our rhyme styles, in the way we live our lives, the way I walk to the store y'know it's not like a polished style of living. So if the drums got crust on them and they pump that's what I'm attracted to. That's why Public Enemy and Run-DMC were so raw to me 'cos the drums were just ridiculous…

VA: Their drums and their aura of "YOU CANNOT FUCK WITH US WE ARE THE KINGS". I second that I would like writers to put their honest feelings on the paper a couple of times. You don't have to but I would like that because…

AR: It sounds better. If you say a sentence that's not true and then say one that's true, the one that's true is gonna sound better to me. If you write a song and it's straight honesty even if you're saying embarrassing things about your life or that you had a breakdown or you did this or did that. If its straight honest and raw you can't really front on that in any way. It's like when NWA came out and they were just screaming on some angry shit but it was just straight from the heart. IT WAS DOPE! They were mad at everyone…

VA: Like I always use the example of comedy. You gotta dude that's gonna basically… When you break down a joke. A joke that's really gonna make you laugh is 99.9% true. A joke that's mythical can make you laugh and it can entertain you. I'm not takin nothing from that but the joke that's true just hits you and you can check Richard Pryor for that, you can check Eddie Murphy for that, you can check George Carlin for that and that's what we do in our music to me…

AR: And if I tell Vast a fictional joke he'll be like "Ah, ya fucking idiot" but if I told him like on the way home some stripper tried to rob me and it was true story we would laugh about that for like an hour. The same thing goes for music if its true its just doper. Its from your heart it'll make people laugh more when you want them to, it'll make people accept your sarcasm more when you want them to, it'll make people know that you're serious more when you want them to.

VA: Where did this kid Cips go?

AR: He's probably somewhere eating….
 
E

Equality 7-2521

Guest
phat interviews.

twas comforting to hear that Blockhead will continue to produce for Aes.

that aes rock, mr lif, roots, clsmooth, pete rock show would have been bananas
 

Formant024

Digital Smokerings
ill o.g.
Originally posted by DueceMade Ent.
Cool shit...Yo, i didnt know avril levine had a fuckin def jux hat on!?....Thats fuckin gay man!....I hate that fake ass chick!!

What about Nelly Furtado ( did I spell it right ? ) and swollen members hehehe.
 
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