About a week after I opened for Bok Bok via Decibel w/ Sounds In Silence (another dB resident DJ), he was over in New York doing this lecture for Red Bull Music Academy. I remember him mentioning a future trip to NY for this presentation, and I’m so pleased with the way it came together. Although I did an in-depth observation of his Night Slugs Infrastructure for Disco Droppings pre-show, I was very laid back with this intriguing man in person. I wasn’t able to go deeper into his mind, and talk about music and the NS aesthetic. Lucky for me, RBMA took care of that, organizing a lecture/interview running a little over an hour.
It is a true privilege to hear from Bok Bok in such a lengthy way. You’ll learn about everything from the ideal Night Slugs club environment to the beginnings of the label, the foundational grime influence, new producers to the NS family and the production manifesto for their Club Constructions series. Take notes, Night Slugs & Club Culture 101 commences.
What’s so impressive about the latest from Kanye West to me, along with Daft Punk’s newest, is their ability to take expectations and rip them to shreds. These people do not owe us anything. They have changed the way this world looks and sounds. They have built their careers around following their own gut, and there’s no way that’s about to change. Yeezus and Random Access Memories sound very different, but the mindset is the same; trust yourself.
I knew when I heard Kanye West perform “Black Skinhead” on SNL, this was the track Daft Punk was talking about. In their cover feature for Rolling Stone they said,
“We had a combination of live drums and programmed drums going..And Kanye was rapping over it.”
“Not even rapping, more like screaming in this very primal way..”
“He’s radical in the choices he makes..He doesn’t give a fuck.”
Daft Punk also said via Mixmag, “”When the first 15-second snippet of ‘Get Lucky’ came out, Kanye came to our studio in Paris and we worked on loads of different ideas together. We’re not sure how many tracks we will have on [his new, forthcoming] album yet.” A look at the credits for Yeezus show that Daft Punk contributed to 4 tracks; “On Sight”, “Black Skinhead”, “I Am A God (Feat. God)” and “Send It Up”. Another artist with his fingerprints on Kanye West’s new masterpiece is Hudson Mohawke. He’s credited on “I Am A God (Feat. God)”, “New Slaves” and “Blood On The Leaves”. There are some more intriguing artists who’ve worked on this new record including Gesaffelstein, Brodinski, Frank Ocean and Lunice. But all these wonderful people aside, this is Kanye West’s vision. It is raw, it is angry and it is not afraid.
In an exclusive interview with The New York Times, Kanye West had a few things to say about Yeezus. He describes it as “visceral, tribal” and when asked if he still feels like an outsider fighting his way in he responds, “No, I don’t think I feel like that anymore. I feel like I don’t want to be inside anymore. Like, I uninvited myself.”
He concludes the interview by saying, “I think that’s a responsibility that I have, to push possibilities, to show people: “This is the level that things could be at.” So when you get something that has the name Kanye West on it, it’s supposed to be pushing the furthest possibilities. I will be the leader of a company that ends up being worth billions of dollars, because I got the answers. I understand culture. I am the nucleus.”
My dude Arctic is on the attack. Some may remember past features here on James Arctic. He’s shortened his artist name, and is showcasing some impressive, dark new sounds. He’s got a fantastic release on Coyote Records called theShook EPwhich features two tough grime tracks and a remix by Kid Smpl. Hear from the man himself in this new interview for Disco Droppings..
DD Feels strange to say, but it’s been over a year since I last talked to you on Disco Droppings. Welcome back..
A I know, time has flown. Great to be back, always a pleasure mate.
DD Your Shook EP was on June 3rd. Look at you dude! First I see “Kings” in that Tracks 4 My Mom release, and now this EP. It makes me smile seeing my friends such as yourself pushing out and doing shit. How are you feeling about it all?
A Thanks man. I was stoked to be a part of the Tracks 4 My Mom comp. The “Kings” track was receiving a great response when I first made it (over a year ago now), but nothing much came of it, so when March’85 hit me up I jumped at the chance…It’s a great home and fits really well in the compilation. The Coyote EP is a real proud moment. Having my music pressed on wax has been a goal of mine for a while and seeing it all come together alongside an amazing back catalogue is such a great feeling. Tom @ Coyote has fully supported my music from the get-go and the whole experience has been a pleasure.
DD You are really into Grime, a style of music I’m not too familiar with. How would you describe Grime and how has it influenced your new EP?
A What attracted me to Grime music back in the day was the old school clashes – the rawness & energy behind the productions and the hype between mc’s sending for each other. The sounds were unpolished, the quality didn’t necessary have to sound good, which I feel made it exciting & unpredictable to listen to. I like to think that comes across in my productions also.
DD How’d you connect with Brackles? I see he’s played a remix of yours recently and also brought you on to do a 15 minute production showcase mix for Rinse.fm.
A I initially wanted to run a tour with Brackles in Australia, so we were discussing plans for that originally. During that time I’d send over tunes every few months, which he ran on Rinse and were getting picked up on by a few blogs & dj’s. Not long after signing the Shook EP, Coyote organized a guest mix which Brackles requested a 15min production showcase…I was over the moon to say the least!
DD How have your shows in Australia been going?
A The gigs are going well here, they kinda come along every few months or so. It’s usually my mates organizing stuff, sometimes international supports but mostly local events. I locked down a monthly residency at a bar in the city not too long ago, which I prefer doing the most. It gives me 5 hours to play whatever I like and get extremely pissed in the process…shouts to the E55 crew every time.
DD Any last words? Hope our paths cross again very soon..
A Big thanks for getting us back and shouts to everyone supporting. The Shook EP is available on select digital stores now and will be available everywhere & on 12″ vinyl as of June 24th. More releases to follow, keep an eye out!
M.I.A. is back bitch. Today she unleashed “Bring The Noize” through Zane Lowe’s show on BBC Radio 1. She’s been having issues getting her new album Matangiout there. Originally scheduled for release inApril through Interscope/N.E.E.T. Recordings, it’s been delayed till fall. The frustrated energy comes through strong in this new track. I am patiently awaiting her powerful return.
I am all over Sugur Shane. I first heard “Buddah Vs Sugur” through the Qween Beat Soundcloud, and thought “DAMN”. So I emailed MikeQ, head of this savage label and asked about Sugur. He hooked us up and here we are. As someone who loves attitude, Sugur Shane’s music is exactly the kind of stuff I can’t get enough of. I am 100% behind his My Night With Peter & Juniorrelease (digitalor CD) and I’m so excited to chat with him today. In addition to this interview, he’s given Disco Droppings an exclusive download of “Sexy Heels Freestyle”.
DD First off, I get so hyped on your music! The attitude, the energy and the power you showcase really gets my goin’. Could you talk about your influences on “My Night With Peter & Junior”? There’s a combination of Peter Rauhofer, Junior Vasquez, ballroom culture, house classics, and rap battling all melded into one. I’m interested in what these various things mean to you?
SS Thank you, I’m glad you enjoy it. Well Peter & Junior are the reasons I fell in love with house music. When I was 18 first stepping into the legendary Roxy nightclub of NYC, it totally changed me. I went religiously every Saturday; sometimes I would just sit on a speaker and feel the bass. As far as ballroom culture, a couple tracks of course have that theme and then the infamous “ha” we used. Rap Battling is my style for rapping. I have a huge love for house music but also hip-hop. I hate when people make the mistake of calling me a commentator or ballroom artist. It just shows you how much research they have done on me, NONE. At the end of day, I’m not commentating on my songs, I’m rapping. I always wanted to do a mixtape with house music classics. When I became a part of Qween Beat, I thought this would be the perfect time to do it. So I took all of my influences and merged them into one project.
DD To follow up, how do you feel your music distinguishes itself from your influences? I would say you have your own thing going on.
SS I’m glad you said that! I feel the same exact way. You can definitely hear the influences, but I know how to make it my own. Also I’m always evolving, and learning to make sure my music remains fresh.
DD Did you collaborate with a producer on this release? You’ve mentioned the producer Get Em..
SS I mainly worked with my producer Get Em on this release. I included some older tracks of mine which were produced by Jay R (Qween Beat), DJ Exclusive(PKE), and DJ Nakaifma (Bamabounce). B. Lee of Hustler Records mixed and mastered two of those tracks. The feature info and production credits can be found on the tracklisting artwork.
DD The execution of your voice in these tracks is phenomenal. How long have you been at this, both as a rapper and producer? At this point, it sounds very realized.
SS I’ve been recording and releasing music since late 2004-05. My first release on a record label was in 2010 on E0N5/Kult Records.
DD What does a Sugur Shane show look like? Take us into the environment you aim to create.
SS A Sugur Shane show is FUN! I like to have a lot of fun and engage in my audience. I want them to have the time of their life, so after I’m done they are asking when the next show is. So far so good, I’m happy that I have succeeded with that so far. The response has been overwhelming. To give you a little insight, I like to have a theme for my show. Different segments etc. I’m also big on shock value, so I like to have some performances & remixes handy for my show.
DD There’s a music video for your “Qween Beat Attack Intro” track. What was the process like getting that together, and how involved are you in the direction and style of the video?
SS The process of that is draining but fun. I’m an independent artist, which means I’m also a walking record label. Everything you see from the photo shoots, music videos, marketing even down to booking shows is all me. One of my partners in my company Got Rush Ent helped me shoot that music video. We did the shooting together as well as for all my videos. I’m very hands on when it comes to everything. I control the direction I want to take and so forth. I have a recording studio and also photography studio equipped with a green screen. By time we were done, all it needed was editing.
DD What do plan on accomplishing next? I truly wish you all the best, know that your tracks will be getting support from me in Seattle!
SS I’m glad to hear that. What’s next? I have many projects in the works right now. I worked with quite a few producers on some tracks. I have a remix EP in the works with a crazy roster for production. Two bitchy house music tracks sitting to be released later this year. OH! And the mixtape is not going away. I’m doing several other music videos for the mixtape. I feel I still have much more ground to cover, the mixtape is way to good to let sit.
dd 