Fake For Real

It was difficult to catch Busdriver this day. But finally we did it. I interviewed him with the help of a German journalist after his concert on the last day of the Nördik Impakt festival in Caen, Normandy. Busdriver was a bit tired after a whole week of shows in France, but he was kind enough to answer each of our questions.

Dan The Automator is Gorillaz, Deltron 3030, Dr Octagon and many other things. He is a music star, then. He is a very busy man. When someone tells you he is available for an interview, obviously, this does not mean he’ll share a whole afternoon with you. And you finally end up with answers that are even shorter than the related questions. And you don’t learn anything new. Anyway, let’s publish it. That’s Dan The Automator after all.

For most of us, Arizona’s hip hop scene is still to be discovered. This year, our entry point to all the exciting and promising artists from Phoenix and its neighbourhood was Avenue of the Arts’ rapper and producer Courdek through his excellent Synchronicity record. A first contact has been the opportunity for us to discover a bit more about his past, musical tastes, projects and fellows rappers from the AOTA crew.

Until last year, Fingerprint Records was just a name for me, just a label I had heard of from one or two reviews here and there on the Internet. But one day, I contacted the manager of the label to tell him I had reviewed the latest Nobs album, and he proposed to send me his own solo album. Finally, I found myself with one of 2005’s nicest surprise between my hands and ears, a record named Karma Kingdom that was exactly what I was expecting from hip hop at this moment. Now, I guess there’s no use for me to tell you why I wanted to know more about this talented guy named Eibol.

The eccentric MC Bleubird is one of the phenomenons that appeared in the shadow of Anticon. Just a few minutes before a crazy show in Paris, Endemik Records’ key MC accepted to tell us a bit more about his international connections, his relationship with Sole’s label, his horrible teeth and the origin of his french name.

Slug is one of the most singular and important artist of the indie rap scene that started to grow at the end of the 90’s. A model for the fast-growing Mid-West underground scene, he was able to find a kind of third way between rap conservatism and exaggerated avant-gardism. Personal, sometimes introvert and candid, some others harsh and cynical, and a collaborator with many other rappers, he became the kind of missing link between all the contradictory universes of indie rap.

In the first half of 2005, Sleep released a new solo record as well as the first real album of the Chicharones, his duo with Josh Martinez. We thought it was the appropriate moment to interview him about all his past, present and future projects. In this interview, Sleep tells us a bit more about his background, Oldominion’s current projects, his many links with the Canadian hip hop scene and what becoming a father changed in his rapper's life.

First, I tried to contact Ceschi Ramos, whose Fake Flowers was one my favorite of last year. Or David, his brother, who’s just released a new album. But when I contacted them, all the members of Toca were available, them being the two Ramos brothers plus Tommy V. And Xololanxinxo. This was an opportunity for a joint interview with the four of them. Some of their answers got raving, particularly at the end of the interview, but some others provide us with key information about these artists’ forthcoming projects and releases.

There are several news concerning Recyclone in 2005 : re-release of his Dead World and Corroding the Cellular Engine albums, preparation of a new record with Soso from Clothes Horse Records, collaboration with Second Front... It was time for us to interview this key player of Canada's hip hop scene and discuss with him about his past and current projects, his career as a rapper or a rocker and some other issues.