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  Foreign Beggars Interview
interview 0265 added 01.12.04 words: Nikesh
technical:
QED
Foreign
Beggars are easily one of the most talented crews around at the
moment.
Based around Dag Nabbit’s dark and
edgy beats and Orifice Vulgatron’s absolutely incredible flow
that can easily beat off anyone in this country, they also
encapsulate the true wit of Metropolis, nice cuts from DJ
NoNames and incredible beatbox from Rabbi Schlomo. They have it
all. As they later describe to me, the iller beats and the iller
rhymes.
This isn’t the interview we hoped to get out of them though.
Down in Brighton, Lingo and I decided to grab the boys for some
words before their show supporting Blak Twang. However, their
rehearsal overran, and just when we were getting to scratch
beneath the surface to the evil that lurks within, we were all
interrupted by something, which will be explained later.
In the meantime, let this serve as a precursor, so when we get
to deliver the banging interview with them they deserve, you
will have already picked up their incredible and brilliant
album, “Asylum Speakers” and have gotten to grips with their
coded rhythm talk. This is merely an introduction. So what
better place to start than…
Introduce
yourselves:
 Dag Nabbit: I’m Dag Nabbit, I make the beats for Foreign
Beggars.
Metropolis: Metropolis. I rap.
Procto Guivanol: My name is Procto Guivanol. I’m the
studio gimp. Nice to meet you.
Dr Syntax: I’m Dr Syntax. Occasional guest from time to
time.
Orifice Vulgatron: Yeah, yeah, this is Orifice Vulgatron,
Foreign Beggars, a.k.a. Saul Wright, aka Rodzilla, down in
Brighton, come to fuck it up for you for UKHH.
Between you all,
how many different languages do you speak?
OV: 83. Metropolis speaks forty three of them.
ME: I speak Japanese fluently, I speak Korean 'cos I spent a lot
of time in South Asia when I was younger. I speak Thai, I went
to university and did a degree on Klingon. Got it down to a tee.
I can literally kill it. I’ve been chirpsing a lot of Klingon
girls. The rest is all African, Ghanian and sometimes I speak in
tongues, when you get the spirit of the Lord in you.
OV: I speak breeze, I speak fraff, gibberish, shit… We speak
several languages, like English, Akan, French, German, Norwegian,
Scottish, Hindi, Schlomo speaks Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, we can
drop it man.
So, where are you
all from and how did you all come together?
OV: All over the place, as you’ve probably heard. Dag is half-Norwegian,
half-Scottish, born in Columbia, lived in Iraq, moved to Dubai.
I’m from India, born in Dubai. Met Dag there when I was 10. We
went to the same school. Came to England. Metropolis is from
Ghana. Moved to England. James is from Oxford, moved to England,
Lena is half-Norwegian, half-Lebanese but from Dubai. Schlomo is
Israeli/Iraqi/German and we met him in Leeds. We’re from all
over the place but we met in England and Dubai. Core crew was
formed in Dubai and happened to meet the rest in the scene.
"...Nobody
can say shit. They can try, but we’ll battle them and we got the
iller raps..."
What were you
doing out in Dubai that kick-started the band?
OV: When they brought me to Dubai, I was only 4 or 5. They
kidnapped me and made me race these camels. The local Arabs
there consist of Balujastani, Iranians, Persians, different
people who formed in that part of the world. Kinda Bedouin
themselves. It was known as the Pirate Coast then. They came to
Pakistan, India, Afghanistan and kidnapped a load of us, brought
us to Dubai to race camels for them. We got too tall and fat so
they left us aside and didn’t have shit to do so we started
break dancing and beatboxing for cash in the backstreets… well,
back-dunes, they didn’t have streets… Nah, man, I’m only joking…
What’s the hip-hop
scene like out there?
DS: It’s great, it’s just Orifice.
OV: No, it’s mad. Dubai’s a cool place and interesting.
Everything who lives in Dubai is hired. There’s nothing
artistically flourishing that’s coming out there. A lot of kids
who grew up there are ignored by society. 80% of the population
are foreigners who are on a contract to perform a certain
purpose within a certain company. After they’ve done their work,
they’re expected to go home. There’s a few bars for them to go,
where they have bands playing covers music and there are a
couple of radio stations, which mimic this country and plays
chart songs, but that’s about as deep as music gets in Dubai.
There’s a segment of the society that is completely ignored and
that is the youth, who are pretty inquisitive and most of them
are from all over the world. Most of them do have satellite TV
and MTV and the internet, so they do find shit. So they do have
interests, but they can’t turn them into anything. It’s
insulated. Being detached does force you into a position where
you do more research and find out what’s going on and what’s
good and what’s bad, rather than it just being a random thing
and them fronting. There’s a lot of talented individuals out
there…
So would you say
that in Dubai there’s a lot more space for freedom of thought
but nowhere to outlet it…
OV: Kind of. Not really. You don’t really have freedom of
thought there at all. Because of the way society is, you’re
over-controlled by society. You’re not given a choice about
much. Being forced into those small little corners, you’re like
“what the fuck..” you wanna burst out.
Does anyone else
have anything to add to how you all met? I think that was the
question. It seems so long ago…
ME: One day I was walking down the road and I heard these
footsteps behind me and I wondered what that sound was. I turned
around and I didn’t see anyone 'cos there was no-one there. I
turned back and there was these weirdos in front of me, little
this short little Indian dude and this next dude with some beer
in his hand, nodding to some madness. This other crazy dude that
wouldn’t stop freestyling. I thought, what’s going on. One of
them jacked my beer. I don’t know. Met Orifice at university…
OV: I met DJ NoNames at university, I was doing the lighting for
the “Wizard of Oz” and NoNames was doing the sound. But he
showed up with a Vestax and a turntables. I was like,
“Seen… Wicked…” He told me about his band. I told him I was an MC
and he was like, “Yeah, whatever”. Met Focus Few, Dark Circle
and Defcon and Manage, they were my first link in the country
here. Met SkinnyMan. That’s how I met Metropolis and a whole
heap of guys.
ME: I met NoNames cos we were at University together. We just
bumped into each other…
"...Eventually,
I found the people I connected with on a level, mentally,
artistically..."
Learning Klingon?
ME: Yeah, learning Klingon. It’s an interesting cause. You
should think about learning it. Basically, I’d heard stories
about this sick mythical freestyler called Tau from Focus Few
and me and NoNames bumped into each other in the courtyard and
started freestyling pretty much. He had the beatbox and I had
the freestyle. After that, I thought, Fuck classes, I just wanna
go to NoNames’ room and spit raps. He pretty much kept telling
me he was doing all this stuff with Foreign Beggars and I’d met
Orifice before in University. So we started making tunes from
there. What about you Syntax?
DS: I worked with a producer called Tom Caruana, who now lives
in East Grinstead. He used to live in London and he hooked up
with Orifice and those boys. Just an open mic night called One
Inch Punch in North West London. I was working with this guy,
Caruana, doing a lot of things with him as Boiler Room
Collective. Then Orifice popped up and we had a bit of a
freestyle and basically, the Beggars just jacked me from Caruana
and I cut off all my ties!! No, I’m joking. He’s doing his
thing. He’s got a new 12” out now. On Breakin Bread Records.
DN: I just met Orifice in Dubai basically. Dubai used to be a
desert with a couple of roads and a golf course made from sand.
We lived in Dubai 16 years ago. There was nothing to do except
make tracks.
What is the
concept behind Foreign Beggars?
 OV: There is no fucking concept, all you fucking cunts. We just
get asked that question a lot and get put into corners about our
political standpoint a lot about the state of the earth. I don’t
know shit.
ME: I’m just trying to have as many drugs as I can.
OV: We have fun. At the end of the day, it’s dope. It’s dope. I
could call myself So-and-So G or Supa D or reh-reh but I don’t
give a fuck. We’re all slightly different. We’re not trying to
conform, we’re not trying to not conform. We’re just having a
laugh, doing our thing. At the end of the day, you have a name
so people try and set you apart from everyone else. The aim of
the game in hip-hop to a certain extent is to get noticed, stand
out, be different. We’ve got a name that makes people say, “What
the fuck is that?” If you see a big fat piece of text on the
wall when you’re walking about town that says “FOREIGN BEGGARS”,
you’re gonna take an interest. It’s to make people ask and find
out what’s going on. It’s just a name.
Where’s the best
begging spot in London?
OV: It depends on what you’re begging for really.
ME: It’s definitely not in central man. I’ve done a lot of
fundraising work. You wanna go to all the fucked-up estates.
That’s where people actually care about others.
OV: And pussy.
How would you
describe the music that you put out then, if there’s no real
concept?
OV: The concept is more our belief system. This comes across in
the type of beats we use, the lyrics that comes out. We’re
having fun, we’re having a laugh to a certain degree. We take
ourselves seriously as artists but if I took myself that
seriously, I wouldn’t be fraffing around rapping and reh-reh. We
are doing our bit to change the world, but in micro-terms.
Whatever. Our word does get spread. It’s more… hold on, what was
the question?
How would you
describe your music?
OV: ILL!! Crazy fresh. Fucking ill. Mad dope. That shit is off
the hiz. It’s just Hip Hop. What I find interesting about the kinda stuff that we do… our stuff is off the beaten track. And
when we meet people who are into RAP MUSIC and HIP HOP, people
think “Hmmmm”. A lot of heads appreciate it. They have an
understanding of what Hip Hop is. They feel our stuff. What
we’ve seen is a whole contingent of people who don’t have
anything to do with Hip Hop or UK Hip Hop who have taken to our
music in a different way. I’m surprised because some of our shit
is out there. I don’t play this stuff in front of my mum! It’s
been interesting. I think it’s just Dag’s beats man. The illest
beats in the fucking country. Nobody can say shit. They can try,
but we’ll battle them and we got the iller raps. We love it.
"...they’re
getting into that coded rhythm talk shit. Just dark imagery that
starts off pictures in your head..."
DS: On the new stuff, I can see these boys developing a new
style that they started on the first album. Now they’re getting
into that coded rhythm talk shit. Just dark imagery that starts
off pictures in your head. I think that’s a theme and the new
shit is coming together.
ME: We’ve been trying to come up with new ideas and new ways of
approaching rap. Not necessarily new to rap in general 'cos
there’s nothing you can say or do that hasn’t already been
attempted. In terms of us ourselves and progressing ourselves
and seeing where we can take it.
OV: People’s approaches are different in rap 'cos their
intentions are different. Some people make tunes because they
wanna get so big so quick and get on the charts and be up there
being that rap music from the states is portraying. If you look
into individuals who have taken themselves there, you’ll see
that they’ve been underground to a certain degree but they’ve
believed in themselves and earned their passions and whatnot,
paid certain amount of respect and homage to the art form. Eminem
is an example. It’s the different because Eminem and Busta
Rhymes. Make yourself.
The album was a
who’s who of all the shit hot rappers in the scene. How did you
go about hooking up those collaborations?
 OV: Just feenin for it really. When I first came over to
England, I was doing a lot of drum’n’bass shows but unless
you’re moving large amounts of money and making large amounts of
money, nobody gives a flying fuck who you are or what you do.
Skill isn’t even an issue, especially when it comes to MC’ing.
You don’t have to have any lyrics to be a great MC. You don’t
have to change your lyrics for 8 or 9 years. Anyways, let’s not
get personal. I came here, started hitting open mics man. Anik
from Dark Circle, we went to school together. Linked up with
him. He released on DefCon, so I met those guys. Literally I
went to every single Hip Hop jam I knew was going on, started
hitting the open mics, started getting to know people. Just go
around. I was happy to meet anybody who was doing what I was
doing, 'cos I was so deprived of it. So everybody I met who was
good or safe or decent, I just started talking to. At that time,
Dag wasn’t living here so we didn’t have any beats either. So I
was trying to meet producers, on a mission, trying to meet
everyone. Eventually, I found the people I connected with on a
level, mentally, artistically… And it just came to play. There’s
a whole lot of tracks that didn’t get on to the album, nothing
personal, but you find out who you wanna work with, invite them
down to your yard, they bring an ill verse , deliver it with
passion and puts it down. That whole year and a half we were
doing the album, I was talking to everybody saying for them to
come through and do something. It was open ground. I’m sure some
people who were more established were like, Yeah whatever but
no… people’s passion comes through.
DN: We had sixty tunes and we cut down to 20. People were coming
around the whole time and putting stuff down…
DS: It’ll be out on the lost tapes special in 2020.
What different
side-projects you all working on?
DN: Doing stuff with Skrein from Undali, Double Edge, Wildchild,
Supernova…
DS: Wildchild?
"...If
you see a big fat piece of text on the wall when you’re walking
about town that says “FOREIGN BEGGARS”, you’re gonna take an
interest..."
Wildchild?!
DN: Yeah, well, different people come round all the time man. We
try and do as much stuff as possible. I dunno, different people
all the time.
OV: So, yeah, different projects. There’s a Wildchild
collaboration that we’ve done, a 2 track 12” that’s coming out
soon. Doing some work with Vadim, probably gonna be doing stuff
with Scratch Perverts. Oh yeah, we’ve got two sick tracks coming
out with Sparo on Scenario Records. Sick tracks. Featuring
Syntax, Kashmere, Anik from Dark Circle, Metropolis and myself.
Also, working with Asian breakbeat thing called Shiva
Soundsystem. Huge crew. I rhyme as MC Chori Sala. We got a
couple of things that have to stay under wraps. Doing some stuff
with Dum Dum Project, stuff with a guy from the states called
Troy Walsh, suburban rapper. That’s it. We’re working on a
second album. And then there’s this other album on the side.
Working with this guy called Moss Chops, fat producer. New
Skrein stuff coming soon. Focus Few live band are going to be
coming out. So, it’s a quite a broad spectrum of things.
What’s your five
year plan?
OV: Five year plan? Fuck me… I’m 24 now. When I’m 29… I cannot
answer that.
ME: When I’m 29, I’m gonna hopefully be an alcoholic and be on
mad drugs and hopefully have about 5 kids. I don’t know. I can’t
think. I just wanna improve myself. I just want to get as sick
at what I do as possible. I just wanna put out stuff that people
will listen to…
OV: Hopefully be paid… just wanna put some albums out. Don’t
wanna do anything shit. Hopefully be at a point where we can
live fully off the music and think about having a family off the
music. Just do things. You can make an imprint. I wanna live for
a while, have a nice life when I’m over. I wanna go on a world
tour. Just do the fattest shows, fattest crowds, with the iller
rhymes, illest label, illest crew… we’re getting there. Just
lacking the big fat loot factor. Hopefully we’ll still be going
strong.
ME: Hopefully, I’ll have given up cigarettes.
What do you think
your biggest achievement is?
 OV: Regular sex. Go to towns you’ve never been to and people are
singing your lyrics, know who you are and they’re telling you
stories about you. I don’t know. Nice things. Move to this
country, do what I set out to do, to a certain degree. Found
myself having to make new plans and new goals and set new
standards.
ME: Just being here doing what we’re doing. It’s just a good
feeling to be able to participate in a scene you’ve seen
growing. To be a part of that is incredible. Just seeing it all
happening is amazing.
DN: I haven’t achieved anything. Just working with the people
I’ve worked with: Wildchild, Taskforce, Tommy Evans, basically…
DS: To get recognition in a saturated market where every kid and
his gran is rhyming. To put stuff out that people are feeling…
Interview stops at
this point…The reason? Orifice will shortly explain…
Interview restarts after the kerfuffle:
Okay, finally, any shameless plugs and shout-outs you wanna
make?
OV: Everyone. Anik, Dark Circle. Everybody everywhere. Too many
names. Big up the fucking nutter who took a piss against a
pillar in the pub next to the waiter. Big him up. That’s deep.
Some random guy… Most inspirational crew. All the most
inspirational people we know are in our crew or in our extended
family. I think that’s deep man.
ME: Big up my family in all senses of the word.
DS: Imagineers. Caruana. The Menagerie. Big up Rarekind Gallery
in Brighton.
DN: Big up to everyone really.
It’s a shame that we have to stop there just as it’s starting
to get interesting but the pub is emptying due to closing and a
bloke, drunker than I’ve ever seen drunk thinks he’s made it to
the toilet when he decides to have a piss next to our table.
It’s a crazy scene as he is hastily and violently bundled out of
the pub. The Beggars then realise that it’s time to hightail it
to their set. Lingo and me? Well, we decide that there’s more
drinking to be done.
But believe me when I say Foreign Beggars are one of the most
talented crews in the country. Believe. Switch on to their
asylum speakers.
-
Nikesh Shukla
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