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HKB Finn is a true UK pioneer. He’s never been afraid to push the boat out, try new things and take you on a journey. He’s gone from bashy and urgent to rootsy to spoken word and more in between and everything outside of the box and inside the box. Hell, Finn helps to make the box and then destroy it because he can’t be boxed or labelled.
When I spoke to him last year, I was truly blown away by his organic textured music and his erudite celebration of it. He was definitely one of the more interesting and articulate interviewees I’ve had the joy of talking to. I caught up with him again in September, to chat about his new blessing to the world, ‘Spoken Herbs’, a mash-up of blues, rhymes and spoken word rhythms…
Introduce yourself to the ukhh.com audience and tell us your favourite herb to use in cooking.
Greetings all…my name is HKB FiNN, alternative Hip Hop trouble maker. I’m here talking about my new album called: ‘Spoken Herbs’. When I’m cooking…I must say my favourite herb is Basil. The main reason for this is not only the taste, but mainly because Basil brings back fond memories of Jamaica. It grew wild near my house and when I used to play out, I’d run through the herbs patch…much to the annoyance of all the locals.
I later joined two metal bands, became a film maker, joined two Jazz bands, worked with some classical orchestra’s…and met a composer/producer named Tunde Jegede. He introduced me to loads of musicians I admired and some I didn’t know before. I later met Alastair of Son Records through Insane Macbeth and did my first solo EP in 1999.
Because I already had done a lot in Hip Hop before that, I knew I couldn’t let myself get drawn into making straight up Hip Hop because the market is already full with new artists doing similar things. I’d been away from the game for a while but I had mission. I realised that I was not alone. Being in this world can make you feel like you ain’t got a friend. I learned that I was part of a rich tradition the pre-dates our modern world. I realised that technology gives the illusion of modernity, but underneath our modern exterior lies our true selves. In that self, lies the key to a healing. Music was the doorway to a next level of healing and I wanted my vibe to represent that. I’m not here to top those Katch 22 albums. I’m here to help reach out to the lost souls trapped in a loveless world and with some of the music I’d been apart of…I saw the possibility of new alternative. A new kind of Hip Hop…and so I wan my quest for a new groove began.
I tried some new musical ideas with Vitalistics (my first solo album)…that was creatively fulfilling but financially damning. Son Records went out on a limb for me on that one…Alastair’s the man. He believed when so many wouldn’t…but the market had changed and people didn’t want music that is different. They wanted Rap music to be either Gangsta, Corrosive, Derivative or just straight. I wasn’t that…so the album only hit a few heads in the right way. This was a lesson for me. I did a second album entitled: Acoustic Afro Hip Hop. It was based on a new aspect of the sound we had uncovered. Tunde Jegede produced that album. He had a vision and he knew it would work. Son Records was rolling with the Pitman material and putting their efforts into artists the people wanted…I set up my own label.
Because I was out there gigging regularly…playing in pubs, clubs, shrubs if the fee was right…I understood there is a new audience. This audience ain’t cool. They’re not old, they’re not young, they’re not one fixed homogenous group. They’re the ordinary folk and they came to the concerts. They packed out the place. They buy CD’s.
What I love about London is the diversity…what I hate about London is the diversity. Ha,ha. Truth be told, I can’t say I hate this town because it’s my home. London has it’s own vibration…and I am a part of that. The grime, the crime, the buses that explode, the homelessness, the despair, the illusion of wealth and the elements, the product of danger or pleasure lurking around every corner. All these things feed and frighten me…as the lyric says about Londoners…”Everybody’s got opinions, but nobody can hear…some say we’re paranoid…I say we’re totally aware”. You’ve got to stay alert or some toddler will murk you…no joke.
It was not easy, but I was lucky the Producers understood how to bridge the gap and blend the right elements to make it all work. Tunde showed me his concept of African Classical Music. This is the music of African antiquity…just as Rock music owes its roots to the folk traditions of Europe…so does modern black music has it’s roots in African music. Once I learned that music is eternal and a genre is just a moment in time…then it became clear all things are linked. My past is my present…sort of vibe. I know, I sound like a New Age Hippy…but that’s my truth.
(My best Cockney accent) “Don’t get me started mate!” I could chat for four days straight on this…but I’ll be brief. Rap is one of the key principles of Hip Hop…but Rap has it’s roots in the oral traditions of this world. Once you’ve mastered timing, use of metaphor, delivery of facts in an unusual or unique way, then you’ve mastered Rap. Spoken word can offer a new world for the Hip Hop lyricist. Being a good rapper doesn’t make you a good spoken word artist. I myself, I’m just beginning the path. I honestly feel Spoken Word offers intelligent Rap a new place to go. Flow is important, lyrics are doubly important…but content…that’s a whole next level. That is what I mean by that statement… For me, if Spoken Word is done with Hip Hop sensibilities it’s like going to a place of higher learning…
Definitely…This album was originally supposed to be a double album, with a hard beats side, but I thought it was best to stick to one side and release the second half later.
Firstly, I have to say thanks for checking out the album. I’m glad you’re feeling it. I’m lucky to work with some seasoned producers like Derek Johnson who did some great stuff with Amy Newton and Caron Wheeler to name a few. Derek had the idea to mix Afro-Reggae and Blues with Hip Hop…it sounded mad…but when I heard the track…lyrics fell out of my mouth…. It’s like the music wrote itself. Derek also coerced me into doing things vocally I didn’t think I could do. There’s a song on the album called: YOU CAN’T RUN…this was recorded completely live. Me on Vocals…Don Jose on drums…Derek on acoustic guitar and Jorge on chorus vocals…it was a mad day in the studio. It took four hours to set up the mics…sort out parking…get me to shut up about my PSP…and then we dropped it down…unforgettable. For the other songs…Tunde Jegede wanted me to go deeper than before. He wanted me to re-connect with my grass roots and remember why I do music. His songs pulled out that aspect. Maya Jobarteh and Jose where also on the emotional honesty tip. I have to say…I was amazed when it all came together. It was like a diary of pain and joy. But after over 140 released songs…I can’t just fling a rhyme on a tune and go home. Hip Hop is about using your skills to their maximum and beyond. I got experience…lots of it…I have to do better. So yes, I’d like this record to do as much as it can. I’d like lots of people to hear it for so many reasons…but what will be, will be. This record is like any other tune really…it could blow up now…later…next week…never? I don’t care…I’ve done my job. I and other people on the team helped me access this vibration. It’s all pretty basic really…as far as what the heads think? Well their opinions are the most important to me. But true heads know…I’m an innovator, a musical agitator and most importantly, I serve Hip Hop. I don’t follow trends. That’s why after all these years, I’m still here. I’ve seen flash-in-the-pan mans come along, try to pimp Hip Hop and then get nyam by the same thing that made them famous. I’m that rogue element.
The Spoken Word scene is like Hip Hop was back in the day. It’s sharp, fresh, anyone with talent can take part, its part lo-fi, part hi-art…men and women can get involved… every artist has their own vibe. Not many copies. I think that’s why I like this scene. Both artists and customers come away from each event revived. My favourite poets range from time to time...but at the moment I’m really feeling: Lemn Sissey, Crisis, Shortman, Zena Edwards, Malaika B, Kat Francois and then in America…cats like Saul Williams (who Big Dada brought out), Karen Gibson Roc…so many more. When some of these poets drop their lines…I can feel something stirring in my mind and spirit…and this is the vibe I want to bring back to Hip hop. It’s like when I see Plan B do his Sick 2 Def track with just him and a guitar…it sends chills up my spine. He’s bringing another aspect to the music. Our world is one now. Globalisation means we’re all competing on an international stage. You can’t be doing local business…you’ve got to be internationally ready to take whatever you do to the world…coz they’ve got money…what are you bringing? This is what makes Plan B so fresh…a London breddah that can take his one guitar song and make the world listen. No dance moves. No six pack. No naked chicks…no expensive video. Just a man and his song…who else but haters can diss that?
Spoken Word offers something for intelligent Rap other than a 20 year old formula. For me, the difference between true Hip Hop and true Spoken Word is our imagination. They’re both incredibly potent in the right hands. Hip Hop still has a strong energy and Spoken Word has a strong basis for lyrics and exploration of the ‘Word’. As a lyricist these are important issues to be experienced and shared…
I’m listening to ‘Game Theory’ by The Roots… ‘Blue Collar’ by Rhymefest… ‘Who Needs Actions’ by Plan B and ‘The Eraser’ by Thom Yorke.
I’ve exceeded my own expectations with this project. I’ve no pre-conceived ideas about what’s going to happen with it. I do know that in life, you can plan to win or plan to fail. I plan to win and achieve my overall goal of creating a solid body of work. Something we can all be proud of. Musicians like Johnny Cash, Bob Marley, Joni Mitchell, KRS One, James Brown and so on, have all got a great body of work. So if anything, I’d like to add this album to my list of creative expressions.
Next, I’m working on a mixtape called Troublemakers Handbook which is only going to be on CD and I’m releasing an iTunes only EP called: LO-Fi JAZZ in October (if you love dirty nasty Funk… You’ll dig this). The new tour starts in September 3rd in London in Stratford Royal and will run until the dates stop coming. I’ve just signed up with an agency in France so I’m hoping to do more shows in Europe. I’m also doing a 4 week Spoken Word tour in the U.S. in October 2007 so that’s going to be off the hook. There are a few other little visual arts projects going on...but that’s it I think…
HKB FiNN's 'Spoken Word' album is available now on iTunes (follow the links from Finns site or myspace below) and like the man says it will be available on hard format soon...
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© ukhh.com 2006
HKB Finn Interview
Wow. Honestly, it’s hard to contextualise a life spent in the trenches of this artform. Basically, I started out as a child performer in Jamaica. My granny was a church lady…my grandfather had other connections to the traditional African religions of Jamaica. They introduced me to both worlds. I grew up performing at loads of secret ceremonies and learned aspects of Jamaica’s oral tradition. I learned many rhythms and melodies which I was told date back to an African life pre-slavery. A lot of these rhythms were sacred and it’s only lately I’ve began tapping into those vibes in my modern music. When I came to the UK in 1981, I got into sound system culture. Then I got drawn to Hip Hop…I formed a crew called Black Phantom Reigns Supreme with Superb C, then formed Katch 22 with Mad Marga and Brainiac. We did 3 albums, a lot of singles and EP’s and then I went to university.
We literally toured A.A.H.H. for over a year selling out little bars and clubs, tea rooms and recently I did a gig in a little church in the village of Alfriston. Sometimes I headline…sometimes I support. Sometimes, it’s just me and my drum…but it’s always heavy and people love the music. I’ve really seen another side of Britain and Europe with this project. Basically…after being on the road, being a resident in our own club night…I sort of established a colony of Hip Hop away from the Rap mainstream. This is where the new album and links with the Spoken Word community began…
The album is half live and half constructed. I definitely wanted the beats to be prominent and banging, but I also wanted the orchestrated elements to blend in with those beats also. This is because it gives me more control over how the song develops for the listener. Now, no one in any genre can say we don’t have original music. I hope this trend becomes more wide spread. It’ll help us all to up our game…Hip Hop needs to keep growing as it’s always done. As an elder of the Hip Hop scene, If I’m not doing something new or relevant, then I shouldn’t be here.
The scene is going through some heavy changes…people are buying in new ways now…specialist stores are closing up and down the country. Corporate sharks are hovering, getting ready to turn our music into some accountant’s dream…and so the customers are leaving. In the past, Japan closed its doors to the world. After hundreds of years of peace, they woke up and found themselves in a new era. An era where they were now at risk because they’d shut out the world too long. They had to modernise quickly. That’s not happened to them again. I think UK Hip Hop needs to do the same thing to survive or else it’s not going to work. People like Boombox, Hip Hop Connection, Kung Fu (whether you feel them or not) the little unknown club DJ’s and new crews no ones heard are what’s keeping this baby afloat. But it’s not enough…we need to bring new customers to this art-form Not drive them away. We’ve got into the habit of excluding people, so we’re victims of our own success. This is why I’m feeling cats like Simone and Plan B because they’ve the potential to attract lots of outside money and attention to the scene. Without profits…there will only be amateur B-Boys. That is not progress. We need to provide good services for good money. If we invest in our selves then everything will grow but if we don’t and settle for substandard mixes, weak music, no fee gigs then our customers will drift away and not want to buy your one track album…with the interludes that are better than the songs…later. Then the stagnation that so many has predicted will become real. So it’s up to all of us to make a difference. From artists to the promoters. The only this I can say with much honesty is 2007 is going to be mad. It’s the revenge of art. Ty is going to knock out teeth with his new one…I got a sneak preview…it’s ill…different…don’t expect the old…he’s updated, stronger than before. Lupe Fiasco…that promises to be rewarding. Braintax has been putting out quality products for years…you know they’re gonna do some damage in 2007…believe me…it’s all going to change. Just hold tight people…the change is coming…
Who are you currently listening to?
Please check out my new album called: SPOKEN HERBS...it’s out now on iTunes now…out on CD in October 2006…Big ups to Maya, Don Jose, Derek Johson, Tunde Jegede, The Professor Lowe, Bob at Alpha-pro-audio, Elephant Steps, Blade, K-Sly, Shur-I-Kan, HQ, Savage, Insane & Mad Marga, Westbury Music, Owen Shahadah for including my music in his 500 Years later movie and getting me to star in his short film as well…thanks to Nick Luscombe for supporting my works when no one was feeling me…Big ups to Miho, my family, all the Hip Hop fans who stay true no matter what the odds, to all the crate diggers and to you for reading this far…peace & Blessings to all who read this…
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