|
|
|
|
deejay feature 0031 added 02.05.06 words Kper technical: QED
A-Trak is a bit of a legend in the DJ and turntablist world – the youngest ever winner of the DMC world title at 15 years old, the only man to notch up 5 world titles by the age of 18 (across DMC, ITF and Vestax) and a member of both the Invisibl Skratch Piklz (alongside Qbert and Mixmaster Mike) and The Allies (alongside Craze, Infamous and Klever) DJ crews. The word prodigy is definitely accurate, though he didn’t blow it all on drugs by the age of 20. Instead by then he was a world renowned DJ constantly touring, producing for Canadian crew Obscure Disorder, co-running the Audio Research label with his brother Dave and fitting in a part time degree at Montreal University. A couple of years ago I went to meet him after an in store at Deal Real in London. The man was in town back then promoting his new break record, and upcoming new documentary DVD. Little did we both know that following his in store and interview, his life would drastically change. Deal Real asked him to come back for another in store the next day as John Legend was in and Kanye might pop down… and 2 days later A-Trak had managed to get a gig as Kanye West’s tour DJ. 2 years later and A-Trak has been on the road with Kanye non stop, touring with the likes of Usher, John Legend, Common and G.O.O.D Music people, he also got the Dipset to rhyme on a track for his album, has done cuts for Common’s ‘Be’ LP and generally managed to establish a link between hip hop and tablism where most haven’t. Apart from probably Mixmaster Mike. So how exactly did all this happen to a young Canadian turntable prodigy who’s not even finished his university degree yet? Well read on to find out, as I caught up with him, scarily nearly 2 years to the day of our first meeting which preceded his life changing meeting with Kanye. As he slung through town for Kanye’s ‘Touch the Sky’ tour, he stopped on his only day off for a gig at Cargo and we met again to discuss his recent escapades, working for and with one of the most famous artists in hip hop right now, his newly released documentary, Grime, Southern Hip Hop and hooking up with the likes of Dipset, Little Brother, MF Doom and more for his forthcoming album. Homeboy got that crack as you’re about to find out.  “...I thought it was worth it me just trying my luck[...]and right there and then he asked me to come on tour with him for the Usher tour...” Let’s start nice and easy, what have you been up to recently?  A-Trak: I’ve been gallivanting around the world with Kanye (laughs), I’ve been preparing the release of my DVD finally, which will be out in a month, I’ve just released 2 mix CDs, one with GLC, and one which is just a live thing. And I’m preparing my album too, still working on that.You’re over here for the Kanye tour aren’t you? A: Yeah and this is my only day off and I’m doing a gig! It’s cool though as I’ve been wanting to play here for a while. Since I last spoke to you, nearly 2 years ago a hell of a lot has happened to you… A: Yeah didn’t I meet you the day I met Kanye? Yeah I think so, we met the day you met Dame Dash in that shop in Soho. A: Ah yeah, I met Kanye the day after basically. And you know what’s even funnier is that day we met Lady Sovereign was doing the in-store too with you, I remembered that recently. A: Was she? I always wondered if that was her or not. Yeah it was, it was a ladies open mic if I remember well. But do you want to tell us a bit about how this hook up with Kanye happened then? A: Yeah, well thank you Deal Real! I was in London for a show and Rod Spin Doctor, the guy who brought me out here, hooked up an in store at Deal Real, which happened to be the same afternoon as some ladies open mic they were doing which I won’t take personally! (laughs) So they had Samantha Ronson there too, so when I met Samantha and Dame Dash, and his entourage, whatever, I kept in touch with them during the weekend, and meanwhile the guys from Deal Real asked me to come back the next day for another in store after they saw my show that night. Because John Legend was coming for an in store and they were like ‘Kanye might show up’ and I had a routine with one of Kanye’s records, and so they said ‘why don’t you just come again and we’ll see what happens’. “...I always wanted to come back as the ambassador, come back into the rap world and be the bridge between the two...”  So I went back, did another in store and Kanye saw me do my routine with his record. But then what happened was right as I finished my routine, Mos Def walked into the shop and it got really hectic as Kanye and Mos started freestyling for half and hour. So I didn’t really get a chance to talk to him or anything, but we just shook hands and I could tell that he liked the routine. And after that thanks to Dame Dash’s people who I’d just met, I was able to locate Kanye again, he was doing a press conference that next day, which was the day I was leaving, with my plane being literally a few hours later, but I thought it was worth it me just trying my luck so I went to the press conference and basically tracked him down.And I got hold of him, told him I was the guy who did the routine and he was like ‘yeah A Trak I remember you’, and he just asked me about myself and what I do. He was very interested, and a few of the people around him knew about me too, so they told him I’d won the DMCs and it was really good. So just right there and then he asked me to come on tour with him for the Usher tour, which was just being prepared at that point, as he didn’t have a DJ for it. So I started working with him for the Usher tour and I’ve been with him ever since really. Are you still studying by the way? A: Not this term… I’m still studying but… I remember you saying you were studying in between your own stuff last time we met and you already had a lot on. A: Yeah when it was just my stuff I already really had a full plate, with taking 3 classes and doing my own gigs. But with Kanye it’s a whole other story because when you go on tour you have to block off 3 months. We just did 3 months at the end of last year, and we’re doing another 2 months right now. So I had to take some terms off. I took the terms off so in reality right now I’m not in university anymore, but I’m still a student. I still consider myself one and I’m still planning on going back and finishing my degree. “...When there is that moment when you connect with people and they take a step back and pay attention to what you’re doing and want to know more...” So what’s it been like doing so much work with Kanye then, touring etc…? Especially as he blew up so much after his first album.  A: It’s been great, because I’ve always wanted to work with somebody in the rap world. You know how turntablism kinda became a cousin of hip hop or whatever, and I always wanted to come back as the ambassador, come back into the rap world and be the bridge between the two. But I wouldn’t want to work with somebody I’m not a fan of and I wouldn’t want to just be in a situation where I’m pressing play every night and miming in the back. That would be boring. And Kanye is just the perfect artist to work with. If I could have chosen who I wanted to work with it would have been Kanye. So the fact that it came up the way it did is perfect. Already when I met him he was at least platinum going double, but now it’s on a whole other level.How has it been integrating what you do as a tablist into his shows then? A: It’s been fun because Kanye is a producer as well as an MC so he’ll have a good ear and he’ll be open to suggestions, and not shy of new ideas either. The end result is quite interesting. We just did this tour in North America where we had for the first time a percussionist and keyboard player with us. Well we used to have John Legend but that was a different set up. And with these guys we were able to get even more creative with the way we played out the set because if I wanted to do a breakdown of the song I could have them cover some parts of the music and I could come with other parts, meaning it wasn’t all on me. When it’s just me, it’s kinda of an all or nothing situation with what I do – I either really flip the beat and all its elements or I just cut on top of it. So when we had that set up it was a lot of fun because we could recreate parts of the song and really do some different stuff. “...I’ve never really made any [mixtapes] so I had a lot of ideas I wanted to put into one...” That’s been fun because then you bring that to a crowd that’s never seen anything like it. It’s like a constant challenge of figuring out ways to connect with the audience. Like we had this thing with ‘All Falls Down’, where at the end of the song the band would just start playing the track and I would come in and cut parts of the accapella of the chorus, which is singing, and one of backing singers would come in and imitate what I do and we’d go back forth. So I’d be transforming ‘Ah-ha-ha-ha alls falls down’ and she would freak it a little bit and so on. And that crowd didn’t even know this was possible you know? And they’d come up after and say ‘what you did with that song, how does that work? What did you do, it sounded crazy!’ The reaction is always good, when there is that moment when you connect with people and they take a step back and pay attention to what you’re doing and want to know more. And you’ve got the advantage that Kanye’s music is so well known to these people that they can relate to what you do even if they don’t understand it outright. A: Yeah totally. It works the same way as it does I guess when you break down famous songs in front of crowds – they can recognise what you’re doing. So has working with Kanye brought you anything else then, musically? Stuff like production etc…? You did the cuts on Common’s album didn’t you? A: Yeah totally. It happened through the fact that Kanye produced that album and said ‘let’s get A Trak in to do the cuts’. For ‘Chi City’, I was in NY for some other stuff with Kanye, so I got there early and went to see him at the studio and as I walked in he told Common ‘let’s get A Trak on the song’. So I ran back to get my mixer and I just had to record it right there and then. Then obviously cutting on ‘Gold Digger’ also. To a certain extent also for what I’m preparing for my album it’s a little easier to meet certain MCs while on tour with Kanye. “...I just wanted to make sure that [the documentary] came out funny and silly because you don’t want to talk about your achievements in a way that seems… pompous...” Yeah I wanted to ask you about that, as the GLC mixtape came from those hook ups on the road didn’t it? And you produced a track on there too (Ed note: ‘Chi State of Mind’). So how did the whole thing happen?  A: That just started with us being all on tour together. You’ll see on the DVD that GLC was kinda the guy I was hanging with the most, he’s a proper character, funny guy to be around and stuff. So I wanted to work with him. And he’s kinda like the black sheep of their music – his style of rap is very different to Common and Kanye for example, he’s a lot more I guess Gangsta rap, but in the vein of people like Geto Boys or people like that. So when I saw him live and we toured together I felt like people only heard him on Kanye’s album and couldn’t tell what he was about. So since we got along already I thought it was worth doing a project together where I could try and show his universe to people. So that was the premise of the CD, and we just got together when we could find time – I flew out to LA to record with him and I actually finished the CD while we were on the last tour, setting up turntables in the hotel and recording there and then.So you’ve just been working on the road then? A: Yeah a lot of the time. And that CD was done in a mixtape format wasn’t it? A: Yeah and I produced a few of the tracks, and we mixed everything obviously. I’m not really a mixtape DJ, I’ve never really made any and so I had a lot of ideas I wanted to put in a mixtape, which mostly went into that project, which was good. And so the DVD, ‘Sunglasses is a Must’, is finally out after 2 years… so do you want to sell it again to the people out there? (laughs) I noticed in the press release that there’s footage of Kanye and stuff like that, so I take it you added footage from the last 2 years? A: Well actually it was really made over the last 2 years mainly. When the trailer came out the DVD wasn’t made, that’s the chronology of it. I decided to make the DVD about 2 years, 2 and half years ago and then I jumped into the project with some of my friends in Montreal who I worked with already, like the guy who does my artwork and the guy who does the website. They all had ideas for the visuals and I had an idea of what I wanted to bring across, to have in there. We never did any film stuff before, none of us. My web guy did a class for Final Cut so he knew how to work the program slowly and so we decided to try and make a trailer and see if it gets a buzz going and whether or not people would like it. “...I wanted to get the younger, hungry kids who would be down to do a track with somebody they don’t really know...” It took us 3 months to make a 3 minute trailer, and we were so excited at the end of it that we launched my website and put it up. And right from there everybody was asking when it was coming out and saying they loved it. And that’s when I started making the DVD. So it took me a year and half to make it, because on top of the 2 hour movie/documentary there’s a lot of bonus footage. There’s really a lot of stuff in there. And by that time I was already starting to work with Kanye so things took longer but I was also able to put in all that footage. See I thought you’d already done a lot of the DVD by the time we met 2 years ago, but that was because the trailer was online and so you assume there’s something behind it. A: Yeah that’s what a lot of people thought. But basically the DVD is still the same – me telling the story of my career, umm… Does it feel odd telling your story, at such a young age? A: Not really because it doesn’t feel like it’s the last DVD I’ll make. To the contrary I’m really at a stage in my career where I need to re-introduce myself to many people because the battles were so many years ago and now that I’m working on music there’s a whole other audience that might listen to it, so I feel that I want people to know what I’ve done so far. So it didn’t feel odd at all to be telling this story. I just wanted to make sure that it came out funny and silly as well and not too serious because you don’t want to talk about your achievements in a way that seems… pompous. I remember when we spoke last you mentioned wanting to release the album with the DVD, so I take it that’s been pushed back? A: Yeah it became apparent when I started working on it that it would take me longer than planned to finish this album. And also the more each project grew, each one had guests on it, and its own little angle and I felt like if they both came out together they wouldn’t necessarily reach the potential they each could. Let’s say I’d get a DVD review, which is in one section of a magazine, and that might mention the album in passing. But the way I’m making the album I want it to make an impact as an album in its own right. “...I remember Hell Rell saying ‘Ahh that’s that crack’ when he heard the beat...” You wanna tell us quickly what we can expect from the album then? Is it still going to be half instrumentals, half MCs with your own take on using the tables to produce?  A: Yeah. It’s going to be less experimental than some other, and previous, releases basically. To make an album that’s basically scratch music but not have it overly experimental. To make the music that I feel like making, but since I’m a scratch DJ and that’s how I approach records I make almost everything out of scratching. But I’m not against a programmed hi hat here or there, I don’t need to bring my 808 hits from a vinyl it could be from a drum machine. Every song comes about in its own way, naturally.The Dipset track caught a lot of people’s attention. Do you want to tell us a bit more about that? A: When I was starting to conceptualise the album with my brother, we were both running down ideas of who we’d like to appear on there and he was really insistent that we needed to do something with the Dipset. So I started trying to figure out how to get to them and at the same time I was working on a few beats. When I made that beat, which incidentally is not a beat I’m really crazy about, I just feel it works for that track. It’s kinda the only thing I’ve put out officially leading up to the album. And there’s a ton of other things I would like to play but since nothing’s really finished, that’s still the only one that’s really out there for people to hear. But that track really… I think it really captures what you talked about 2 years ago when you said you wanted to do something different – it’s definitely the type of territory that’s not been explored much. A: Yeah, so I made the beat and tried different ways to got a hold of the Diplomats. They are a notoriously hazy organisation, with not any one manager. Anybody you talk to will tell you they manage them, so I eventually figured out how to get a hold of those 3 MCs and I knew I couldn’t get Juelz, because by then he would already charge tons for doing a track - because in their universe they’re stars. And Juelz is now becoming a star, and a year ago he was a star in the making, and they were already talking big rates for a feature appearance because to them it was just guaranteed that Juelz was gonna be the next big, big thing. So I knew I couldn’t get Juelz or Cam, so the guys that I picked, Jay-R, Hell Rell and 40 Cal, I heard them on the Diplomats compilation and mixtapes. I wanted to get the younger, hungry kids who would be down to do a track with somebody they don’t really know. And once it was all set up, I went to NY for a weekend and went over to where they record, which was all done separately for each of them. They all knew they were going to be on the track together, but each one has their own friend’s place where they go and record their mixtape tracks, so I just went over for each of them. I gave them the beat, and they were like ‘aight, sure’, did their verse and that was it. “...I’ve got a song with Little Brother and Consequence, and then there’s probably going to be a song with Lupe, might be something with MF Doom...” How did they react to the beat? A: I just showed up with the beat. They knew I was Kanye’s DJ and that I had won some DJ championships type stuff. While we were just vibing, either before or after they recorded, I played them some tracks that I’d scratched on just so they knew what I do, and there were like ‘whoa that’s crazy, that’s like Premo but kinda futuristic!’ (laughs) They were like ‘ohhh you’re on some Premier shit, but that shit is really fast’. That’s what they understood to it, so I didn’t even say that the beat was made the way it was - because that doesn’t compute to someone who isn’t aware of that side of using the turntables anyway. They just fed off the energy of the beat, like Hell Rell I remember him saying ‘Ahh that’s that crack’ (laughs). Cool, go on and record! Having heard it in clubs since then too, you’re right about the fact that it doesn’t ultimately matter how its made, because all people care about is the energy that comes off it. A: Totally, and that track was kinda of an experiment to me too because once I’d recorded them I also mixed it down myself, and I was and am still learning about that shit. I just mixed it on Pro Tools, and before that I thought I would go into a studio and get the tracks mixed down properly with an engineer to help me out. And in a way this showed me that I could possibly do it myself if I needed to. My brother also helped me out a lot with that, he kept saying ‘I bet you can mix it yourself, just try’ and I was really happy with how it came out. I still didn’t how if it was good enough a mix for it to played out, on a big system, because by that point I’d just made an mp3 of it and sent it to some people to get some feedback. And then a couple of DJs told me they’d played it out, so I took it one night and played it on a big system and realised it worked and I could do this myself. Which is great because that’s the kinda thing I can do on the road – I can’t really make beats when I’m away from home because I need my turntables, my records, my samples etc… but I can mix stuff down and stay in touch with MCs and do it all in my hotel room if I need to which is really handy. If there’s anything about the album you wanna tell us quickly? A: I mean it’s still not finished, but I’ve got a song with Little Brother and Consequence, and then there’s probably going to be a song with Lupe, might be something with MF Doom, G.O.O.D Music people, like GLC. Kanye might also do something, I hope… he’s down to do something but when I say I hope I mean I hope Def Jam will clear him to appear on there. There’s a couple of other MCs I’m reaching out to, and then the rest of the album is a little bit more uptempo, for one of those songs TTC is recording something right now… “...I’m interested in hearing people who make music and take it to their zone...” TTC? That’s dope! A: That was just another instance where I wanted to bridge a gap. I obviously didn’t give them a beat that sounds like Pete Rock or something, it was obviously something a little more dancy but their beats are all synths sounds and glitchy and I don’t go all the way into that realm either, so it’s kinda of in between. The other thing I wanted to talk to you about was Audio Research. How’s that going?  A: Yeah it’s still there, and is basically whatever me and my brother feel like putting out. (laughs) The DVD is being released through the label. With the DVD we’re now manufacturing a 7” which is the theme song, ‘Knucklehead’, the one you hear play during the trailer. That’s coming out in a few weeks on 7” and there’s a song on the B side that I did with Obscure Disorder a while ago, and that’s not going on the album as it’s quite old so we’re releasing it on the B side.So you’re still actually doing a lot of the stuff you were already doing before hooking up with Kanye? A: Yeah. And what about Craze? Is that stuff you guys were talking about still on the table for the future? A: We always want to hook up and work together, so I’m sure it’ll happen in the future. Whenever we do a show together, we know that we need to do more stuff together because it always goes well. And we link up every once in a while, and we work together for the battle records as well, but we really want to do more of a solid project together. I think I need to get this album done and I can then move on to other things. I’ve been putting off a lot of stuff until after the album, because I don’t want to miss out on the momentum right now. “...I get the impression that some people who really champion grime in the NY scene like it because it’s different rather than because they like the music...” When you were in France did you catch BNN by any chance? A: I didn’t catch them, they were somewhere else. I’ve heard bits of the album, and I’ve got to watch the DVD too as I’ve heard you really need to see them live to catch the whole thing. Personally I think that’s what we need, just more music done by people the way they want to make it. I’m interested in hearing people who make music and take it to their zone – who do what they want with it, because that’s how shit will move on. You seen anybody else that’s made you go wild? A: I’ve been away a lot and not seen anybody new in the last year to be honest. OK rounding up – what music you listening to at the minute? A: Err… good question. Lil’ Wayne, I love his album. When I was in France I brought back some music from Justice, and the Headbanger records, I like stuff on there a lot. Any UK stuff? A: Err… I haven’t heard anything very recent from the UK… I guess I should go and buy that Artic Monkeys album since it’s such a phenomenon, I wanna know what it’s about. I like some of the grime stuff. I did a show in NY with the Roll Deep guys at the Knitting Factory. It was cool. As far as grime, there’s a couple of songs that I’m really into. I don’t like everything to do with it, and I get the impression that some people who really champion grime in the NY scene like it because it’s different rather than because they like the music. And to me it’s like… I don’t know. To be honest there’s just a lot of Southern stuff right now that I’m feeling. There are tons of unknown acts from Atlanta that just come out with the weirdest beats but that shit bangs like crazy. “...There are tons of unknown acts from Atlanta that just come out with the weirdest beats but that shit bangs like crazy...” The way it’s produced is crazy. It’s funny because you could dismiss it as simple because they’re rapping about nothing. But the production to me is what’s most interesting, because it’s experimental as hell. To me it’s way more interesting than a lot of the true school hip hop that’s coming out. Some of the hip hop heads might dismiss a lot of the crunk stuff, or some of the new stuff like the Snap music scene as not being rap and just silly. But to me it’s really interesting because I’ll be listening to the beats and wondering ‘how do they get those sounds?’. Obviously not the “Laffy, Taffy” type shit. I just really like a lot of the southern stuff full stop really, like the 3 6 Mafia album was one of my favourites albums from last year. Anything else?  A: I mean right now a lot of people are tripping over the Bay Area scene, and there’s a couple of songs that I really like. The whole Hyphy movement, Kik Da Sneak and E-40, people are calling it the new Houston now (laughs). Since Swisha House really blew up.You heard the Third Sight album? A: I haven’t but my brother’s got it for a review so he’s holding it for me because I won’t see him for another 2 months as he’s in NY right now. I haven’t really been exposed to new cuts in the last year so I really wanna hear what D-Styles has done. Because when I’m on tour I’m working every day and it’s really hard work, so I try to keep up with the new music that’s out, but when it comes to scratching I don’t really hear much new stuff. You have to stay in the scene to keep up with everything, so I’ve not really heard anything new. Yeah the good thing with Third Sight is that it’s really a hip hop album, first and foremost. But then it’s got D-Styles on production and cuts, which is still something to behold. A: It’s funny how D-Styles kinda silently became the leader of the scratch scene you know? I’m sure he didn’t even want to. In France, or everywhere I go I see kids that cut really well, but they cut really like D and it’s crazy. Because I remember a few years back when I would do a show with him here or there, I could tell he was developing his own style – where he does stuff that’s just really nuanced but that is his own style and I was wondering if people were catching up to it or not because he was doing some really crazy shit right there. And then I go and do my own thing for a few years, tour, work on my stuff and come back and everybody is scratching like him! (laughs) And I’m like whoa! “...It’s funny how D-Styles kinda silently became the leader of the scratch scene you know?...” OK then, last question. Best brand for sunglasses?  A: Carrera I guess, vintage Carerras.Any last words? A: Err… A lot of people try to dismiss the scratch scene as either saturated and uninteresting because the battles have become like that or like really leftfield because that’s how some of it comes out. But I just wanna make sure that as many people stay active, because the more people do their own thing and take it to where they wanna go is I think it the best way for this scene we all came out of to stay viable and to survive. Everything comes back round, so I’m sure there’ll be a resurgence in some form in the future, but right now as long as everyone keeps doing their thing and take it where they want to it can only help it grow. ‘Sunglasses is a Must’ DVD is out now in all good shops. So are the ‘Drive Slow’ mixtape with GLC and ‘Live in Montreal’ mix CD. ‘Don’t Fool with the Dips’ ft Hell Rell, Jay-R and 40 Cal is available on the ‘Cuts of Culture’ compilation, released by Eclectic Breaks & Turntable Radio, and also out now and available in all good shops. - K-Per
|
© ukhh.com 2006
DJ
Related
Links:
