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  Blak Twang Interview
interview 0340 added 05.10.05 words: Nikesh
technical:
QED
This interview almost never
happened. If it wasn’t me forgetting to phone Tony
to do the interview,
it was the timetables conflicting or last minute cancellations.
But we did it… we finally got 25 minutes in audience with the
great Tony Rotten aka Blak Twang. One of the finest and most
important rapper/producers the UK has produced. You know his
history. Two superb and legendary albums under his belt that
have yet to see the light of day. One of them was even released
when he was just Taipanic in the band Blak Twang. It has only
become too clear to us recently that Tony Rotten/Taipanic IS
Blak Twang. And we thank our lucky stars for him. After hitting
commercial success with his “Kick Off” album, Tony has been
travelling all over the world making music and touring.
 He also released his new album, “The Rotten Club” this year to
muted response but critical acclaim. It’s a strong album and the
man’s work rate is in sharp form now, as he prepares to drop
another album, a package featuring the two lost albums and his
own artists on his own label imprint.
Well, he certainly is a busy boy. We’re lucky we caught up with
him at all.
But we did… at Kung Fu’s recent 5th Birthday Party in Camden.
Minutes after Twang finished onstage, we grabbed him for a chat.
And Big Ted, drunk as a skunk, was keen to have his say…
Introduce yourself to ukhh.com...
This is Blak Twang, a.k.a. Tony Rotten, also known as that South
London Brer but some of you may remember me as Taipanic. I’m the
same dude, still going strong, like a lion.
Are you going to ever re-release
“Dettwork SouthEast”? Everyone wants to know…
I plan to release it, regardless of whatever. If there’s a big
demand for it, then definitely. Someone recently told me it sold
for £65 or nonsense like that on eBay and I didn’t see any of
that money. So, there’s a big demand for it. And “19Longtime” as
well… Also, my new album, that’s coming soon… sooner than people
think too…
At which point Big Ted wanders in and does a thirty second
long praise to Twang’s current longplayer “The Rotten Club.”
We’ll leave out the exact transcription as a drunken man’s words
are often best-left on a minidisc player…
"...I’m a real hip-hop student..."
It’s coming out obviously. Keep looking on the website.
Basically, what happened was, the label I’m with now tried to
buy the rights… I think now they do even have the rights but it
might not come out on that label. We’re not even sure yet. But
it will come out, maybe as part of a special package.
Tell us about “The Rotten Club” LP.
 I tend to pretty much do what I do with making music. Whatever
vibe takes me at the time, I’ll put it down. I’m not trying to
follow any particular fads. If I’m inspired by a record, then I
might be inspired to go in the studio and do something. But
you’ll never hear me intentionally sounding like anything else.
Some producers tend to do that. I was just trying to stay true
to my roots. My roots are hip-hop as far as traditionally how
we’ve known it. You could say an East Coast sound but it’s not
really just like that. I try to use a lot of reggae vibes with
what I’m doing. There are a lot of reggae tones in my music.
Lyrically, I’m kinda glad I got it out there to be honest with
you. I got a lot of shit off my chest, there was a lot of
personal stuff on there. There was a lot of stuff I was feeling,
not necessarily politically about, but definitely socially aware
about. I think these things weren’t being said. People were
putting across too many one-dimensional images. And that’s what
was being put across, and that was a form you had to follow to
be successful and I didn’t want to conform to that. So for me, I
did what I wanted to do, say what I wanted to say that was
relevant and relative to what I was going through at the time.
Also, I recorded half of the album in Jamaica and New York. A
lot of those experiences came out in the music, especially when
you heard songs like “Travellin’” or “Stop and Search”, you can
hear it in there.
You brought out the “Kick Off” a few
years and it seemed a lot more all-guns blazing and this album
now seems like a more mature approach to the lyrics, it was a
lot more issue-based… but issue-based from the point of an elder
almost… am I talking rubbish?
Whatever it was… was probably your interpretation of it. I was
just writing really. A track like “GCSE” was an intentional
thing I wanted to do. What I’m writing now is nothing to do with
“Rotten Club” and I’ve written about 7 tracks. And that’s only
in the space of 2 months. I’ve been making loads of music
in between touring. For me, “Kick Off” was a culmination of work
from the last three years. “Rotten Club” I actually went into
the studio and was specifically working on an album. I’d never
done that before, as far as saying I was working on an album.
Prior to that, it was just me writing, writing, writing and
making music and it would eventually come out as an album. This
time, we were consciously saying we were working on an album and
these are the tracks on it. Lyrically, I was just being me.
"...I don’t want to remain stagnant. I want to keep
growing. Constant elevation is the key to life and success..."
My surroundings are always very important and are my first point
of reference as far as inspiration goes. That was it really.
This time round, cos there was more people listening, I think
they got to hear that I was saying some real deep shit, like it
wasn’t all about the personas of Tony Rotten or Taipanic or Blak
Twang… whatever you perceive me as… it was about the whole
package. All about me saying this is what’s going on and this is
what I want to put across to you, to all those people who don’t
know me, this is what I’m about. I’m serious. I like to have fun
but I’m serious and I think often the serious side of my music
isn’t always pushed forward. Everyone thought that I probably
like to make party tracks but I don’t even do that shit. I will
do it, but it’s not what I’m about. I’m about lyrics. I’m a real
hip-hop student, I’m a very good student as well, to the point
where I observe people’s flows and beats and how they’re being
clever with wordplay and I try to put all of that as a package
into my music.
OK, one more question about the
transition between “Kick Off” and “Rotten Club”… you toured
“Kick Off” extensively all over the world… Africa, South
America, Caribbean… how did that influence the making of the new
album?
 I’m sure it did and it’s evident on the album itself. I got to
experience different records and different sounds as well for
samples… I probably got to taste different kinds of vibes and
music and I also met loads of different artists and caught their
flow as well. It might have been different languages…
We’re interrupted once more by Big Ted, this time serenading
us with his dulcet drunken tones. Twang tries to shoo him away
so he can continue…
So all those vibes there… me being in Jamaica, the whole vibe of
that definitely came through on tracks like “Beef Stop”, “Stop
and Search” and “Travellin’”. Obviously being in Ghana, we heard
people playing talking drums… we did some shows in Botswana and
we were lucky enough to do some workshops with local artists
playing traditional instruments. So you hear all these different
artists playing all these different patterns and I tried to
bring that vibe across. You might not notice it because I still
tried to keep it within the format of traditional hip-hop but
some of those influences and styles and music are in there as
well.
In terms of UK hip-hop, you’re
celebrated as one of it’s elder statesmen… what would your
advice be to up and coming MC’s and rappers?
My advice would be to believe in yourself. Self-belief is always
important. Also, be as original as you can be. And be patient.
People always expect things immediately and it doesn’t always
happen overnight so you got to be patient. Enjoy yourself! Cos
if you don’t enjoy yourself you’re going to become cynical. Even
if I’m not selling a whole heap of records, I’m still enjoying
myself. I enjoy making the music in the first place. Also, wish
for luck… but make your own luck.
When you’re sitting at home, listening
to other rappers out now, what makes you sit up and think, “Shit
that guy’s a bad MC.”
First and foremost, the flow and lyrical content. The flow has
got to be wicked. If you’ve got an interesting voice that’ll
catch my attention, I’ll take more notice as well. Sometimes,
you hear rappers who are just plain awful and you switch off
after about 8 bars or so. I try to be patient and tolerant. But
certain times, I listen and I think it’s garbage. But when they
got a nice flow, and they’re clever… when I first heard Sway’s
promo thing, I thought this guy is really interesting. When I
heard K9, who I work with, I thought he was interesting too. I
like interesting characters. Also, someone who appreciates flows
and tries to push boundaries in terms of flows, and not just
doing that ABC rapping. ABC rappers I’m not feeling. Artists who
got good cadence, flow and wordplay.
"...You gotta try and come in with your own style and try
different things. Know your craft..."
You’re known primarily as a rapper, but
you produce the majority of stuff you put out…
Respect for respecting me as a rapper. I look at rap music from
the stance of a painter. The beat is like the canvas, and the
rap you put on top of it is the drawing. So, first and foremost,
it’s got to be a very canvas so you can put a nice painting on
it. Eventually, when people run through the album sleeves,
they’ll see I produced most of it. I let the music do the
talking. I don’t have to shout out about it, “Look at me, I’m a
producer.” I’ve done bare work, people just don’t notice. I
produced “Skiver’s Guide” for Roots Manuva. I did some remixes
for Rodney P, Seanie T. I’ve done tracks for Tom Jones, Beverley
Knight, Hill St Soul. Sammy Deluxe, one of the biggest German
rappers. I’m just as comfortable rapping as I am making music,
it’s nothing to me. So long as you appreciate bopping your head
to my beat, that’s good to me. I make music, that’s no drama to
me.
What is your stance on UK hip-hop
producers?
 You gotta try and come in with your own style and try different
things. Know your craft. Don’t do it for doing it’s sake. Don’t
just find a break and try and that’s it. If the break works, use
it but know you’ll have to pay a lot of money for sample
clearance. And you’re not gonna get any publishing rights. Try
different things. I use a lot of samples but not as a loop. I
use the sounds, chop them up and be really patient with the
beats, how I layer my snares and my percussion to give it a
different swing. I’m not going to give you all of my secrets but
there are very important things to do. The beat is the first
thing you hear and if it ain’t moving you, you won’t be too
interested in the rapper.
“Kick Off” was on Bad Magic and “The
Rotten Club” was on the same label. The “Kick Off” had a huge
promotional campaign behind it whereas the “Rotten Club” was a
little bit more understated. Why was that?
To be blunt: the label fucked up. Simple. They didn’t build on
the momentum that we had but I’m disappointed about that. But
I’m not going to dwell on that. I gotta move on. I’m going to
have a big meeting with them and address these issues. It was
bullshit. Bare people noticed it. I think that a lot of shit in
the two years I didn’t put out a record. You had some other
forms of music came along and people got distracted by the hype.
You can’t just rest on your laurels and say, as soon as you put
it out there it’ll fly off the shelves. Obviously in this
industry, it keeps changing on a daily/hourly basis. I felt like
tha record company was ready to deal with those music scene
changes. But it’s cool. It makes you more determined to be
successful. That’s just a little setback for me.
Who are you feeling in the scene at the
moment?
I mentioned Sway, I mentioned K9. There’s a lot of artists I’ve
heard recently. Kyza, Swiss…
Big Ted grabs the mic once more and graces us with an
excellent Westwood impersonation…
Who else am I feeling? Kano is quite interesting. Boy, whatever
man. And there’s some American ones that are nice. The Game’s
nice, Cassidy’s nice, Lord Finesse as always.
"...I look at rap music from the stance of a painter. The
beat is like the canvas, and the rap you put on top of it is the
drawing..."
What’s next for Blak Twang?
I’m working on my new album as I said. It should be finished by
November/December and it should be out by the New Year. Other
than that, I got K9 as one of my other projects. We got
Rottenous Records is something we’re going to kick off big time.
Look out for K9’s “Storm Again” mix CD and “Hungry Hustle” EP
that’s coming out on Rottenous Records. That’s a whole different
thing. We’re developing a whole heap of different artists. And
we’re always touring, I’ve done a whole heap of shows this year
alone. I must have done 200 shows alone this year. I’m still
touring and writing and recording and I’m going to come back
better and stronger. I believe in growth. I don’t want to remain
stagnant. I want to keep growing. Constant elevation is the key
to life and success.
Final shout-outs and plugs you wanna
make?
Firstly, the “Rotten Club” LP is in stores now, in case you
didn’t know, seeing as the label slept on it a little. Don’t
worry it’s there and it’s very good. I don’t like to blow my own
trumpet but it’s very good. Don’t believe the hype. They’re
trying to stop people having their own opinions. It’s only an
opinion and no one likes everything and if we did the world
would be boring. But the “Rotten Club” LP is there. Order it.
Check out the website. Shout out to K9, Big Ted, B-Sharp, Seanie
T, RP, Alex the Kid, First Man Productions, Sway, Pyrelli, the
Alliance crew, Sincere and family… and ukhh.com people keep
doing your thing. I don’t get to go there but I know there are a
lot of interesting and passionate people who do come on the
forums. Sometimes, everyone ain’t liking the same thing. It’s
interesting. Stay focused and have your own mind.
-
Nikesh Shukla
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