|
 Big Dada showcase series #2 - 'Juice Aleem'
interview 0012 added 22.06.00 words: Mr.Smiff
Juice Aleem (aka Alpha Prhyme aka Jerusalem aka Lord Aleem aka Uncle Deacon aka a million other monikers) has been involved in hip-hop for many many years and was recently described as 'the most underrated MC in the UK'. He was involved in the very first Big Dada release and is currently a floating member of the New Flesh collective and hard at work finishing up his Gamma project with rhyming from E.B.Uneek & Lord Redeemer and production from Mr Mitchell. The mans got a busy busy schedule what with taking care of his new nipper (which represents hisself to the fullest upon the dictaphone - big him up!!), writing complex rhymes, holding down the production company - Shadowless Corp, and speaking to muppets like yours truly from ukhh.com. Tape on... heads ready....go
Don't stare at the light
|
I havent heard any of the Gamma material – so tell us about your latest ting – this Gamma project. Your press release was like you’re the British equivalent to like our Freestyle Fellowship or whatever
[Juice Aleem] Ummmm that’s never an accurate thing to say like cos as soon as it leaves somebody elses head its already a misconception - but I realise that people have to sell things so ….
Its gotta be classified
[Juice Aleem] That’s it – its gotta go into a box somewhere – Rap, UK Rap, Experimental Rap, This that, Breakbeat, blah blah….but its got to go somewhere in order to be sold and I understand that. I don’t have a problem with somebody saying that in that sense
But do you have a slant on it yourself – like did you set it out as a concept thing like New Flesh for Old?
[Juice Aleem] Its not as much as a concept thing as New Flesh – its more of a cathartic thing which allows us to get things off our chests. There’s four of us – Mr Mitchell and E.B.U. do the production and Redeemer, E.B.U. and me do the rhymes
And you’ve got releases coming out soon on Big Dada yeah?
[Juice Aleem] Yeah – and we’ve had a few in the past like the Experiment LP which came out of the midlands area and was put together by Cipher recordings and there’s people on there like Pen Talk, MSI & Asylum, Moorish Delta….
Actually that reminds me of summat I wanted to ask you – have you heard n’ read the letter that Bandit (from MSI) sent to Tony Blair …. Do you support something like that?
[Juice Aleem] Yeah man – most definitely cos we keep speaking and speaking about the problems since I was young with whatever we want to call it – black music, urban music, street music, whatever….cos people from the UK have been influential all over the world
But do you really think anybody is going to listen though – do you think its gonna make a difference?
[Juice Aleem] That’s what I’m saying cos I don’t think people do listen so that’s why things sometimes have to be put to a blatant legislative level. It’s a bad thing when you have to legislate for something you know – it’s a bad situation but at the end of the day if someones not playing records and we’re here making records and their in the same country – then theres a problem….and so if it comes to law in order to address it then so be it
What like the French situation?
[Juice Aleem] I mean look at their situation – it can only be good cos you can have a hardcore group entering their top forty
What cos they get the airplay and the promotion? – its gotta be good for people making n’ creating music over there right?
[Juice Aleem] Yeah of course – but I’m not into British rap, I’m not into underground Rap, overground rap or mainstream hiphop – all of that is just some kinda like, I mean I dunno who made them up cos I’m just into music really…. I mean rap is my chosen profession but that’s cos I don’t sing good enough, I cant dance good enough or paint good enough nahmean – it don’t mean I don’t have an interest in them its just I ain’t good at them – the one I’m good at is rapping so….
You a full time rapper or you hold down a day job as well?
[Juice Aleem] Man - Errrr….Um I do bits of all tings….But I’m fortunate that most of the things I do are rap and music related with workshops n’ stuff like that and I’m well fortunate in that sense
This leads well cos I was gonna ask you about this Ghetto Grammar thing
[Juice Aleem] Yeah yeah Ghetto Grammar was actually set up by Redeemer – and that’s where he had people such as Kosher n’ Ty teaching and everything - and basically he asked us to come and teach at first but I was doing something else at the time so I just came down as an observer and it was just awesome cos lots of people came thru like people we met at the Freestyle Jams of ’94 n’ ’95 – like Fallacy, Skinnyman….ummmm so many people who went on to do other things that I cant even remember
Seen – so if theres people out there from America or whatever that don’t know what this thing is or what was going down there - do you wanna give us a quick run through about what Ghetto Grammar was at the time?
[Juice Aleem] Well what Ghetto Grammar was – well people called it a hiphop school but that was a misrepresentation cos it was more of a meeting of minds really where people could hone skills. So people would come and have discussions like about what an emcee is as different when compared to a rapper. Also there was a DJ class set up where people would learn from people like Kofi n’ stuff.
So it wasn’t a mad technical thing for the MC’s – like this is about breath control and this is about blah
[Juice Aleem] No – but at the same time there might be in a particular lesson plan or day when we would talk about breath control, and the next time we would talk about the role of the hymen, but it was loose cos in the same class we may talk about alliteration or something like that and how to utilise it within a rhyme, a rap, or a freestyle. And this is what made it not a class tho’ cos we would go round in a cipher and see if anyone could utilise what we had heard. Its very hard to explain but a lot of things were covered and a lot of discussions and practising. There was lots going on – we hooked up with some American people n’ got some coverage at the time in the Source – some poet/mc types and crossed over with people like Manifest and types like that so it wasn’t just like a hiphop b-boy thing cos there’d be poets n’ DJ’s coming thru. I mean like some of the DJ’s didn’t have a particular interest in so called hiphop – they’d be from the garage side of things or whatever….
So when about did this thing finish?
[Juice Aleem] It hasn’t actually finished – its finished as an open ended thing but what happens now is that myself and Redeem have been taking it round on our own to schools, centres, workshops since about ’96
All over the UK?
[Juice Aleem] Nah its more of a London-based ting but that’s due to time more than anything….I mean its not like we’re household names or whatever getting requested here and everywhere outside the circuit
So did you link with many heads thru this Ghetto Grammar thing? For example somebody off the website asks whether you linked with Dynamic Syncopation cos of a personal request or cos of the Big Dada + Ninja Tune connection?
[Juice Aleem] Well how I got onto the Dynamic Syncopation was myself, Roots Manuva, and E.B.U. were performing at a place down Clapham at a sort of Big Dada night I suppose – and they were DJing there and so they was like ‘Oh WOW that’s kinda good’ so that’s how that came about….
Juice & Part 2 playing with their crystal ball
|
What about getting around with Part 2 n’ that whole New Flesh for old project?
[Juice Aleem] Ummm I met them about ’93 or something in a park in Birmingham – like a well known graffiti park in Selly Oak. I dunno if you’ve ever been but its got lots of pieces that have been in like Graphotism and HHC from like Part 2, Tumor, System n’ loads of other people. Basically if they were doing pieces then that’s where they would have been in Birmingham – in that park in Selly Oak. It was “THE” hiphop park in Birmingham (nuff laughing) so basically we would just chill and play a little bit of b-ball and look at the pieces and we was just having a little freestyle this onetime….
Cool that worked out wicked then…but also on that tip you had the very first release on Big Dada (Misanthropic with production by Luke Vibert) so how did that come about?
[Juice Aleem] Yeah it was nice to be asked to do something – I mean the person who got me in touch with that was Bandit from MSI cos we used to bump into each other at freestyle competitions in Birmingham – I was there at the same freestyles. So when Will (Ashon – Big Dada founder) asked him whether he knew anybody on a different level that’s saying something about something else he was like ‘Yeah I know this guy from Birmingham’.
Have you got any future appearances on new projects n’ records coming out soon? Cos you got the Gamma thing, the new NF4O album ….
[Juice Aleem] Yeah there that NF4O stuff on the way – and theres the Gamma stuff which were actually recording right now. They’ll be a single out pretty soon called Big Dada Sounds…
Oh yeah the 7” called Showtime? (out 26th June 2000)
[Juice Aleem] Yeah yeah
Oh right – we heard about this – this is meant to be some mad thing with Roots, you, Mike Ladd, Ty, Toastie, Part 2, cuttin’ from MK n’ all this…. you wanna tell us some more about that seeing as its coming out pretty soon? All we kinda know is that its press said its to be a remake of a famous 80’s hiphop track….so are you gonna give us the exclusive??
[Juice Aleem] (NUFF LAUGHING) Errrrrr (more laughing)
Its it true or bare ripping the piss bullshit??
[Juice Aleem] A famous 80’s hiphop track??? Errrrr (more creasing) its just - you know that kinda vibe – you know hitting the floor….No wait – Errrrrm I dunno what I can say here….errrr (laughing) cos I don’t want to be the mans releasing the future plots
(only putting the good cop into good cop/bad cop!) Ok – fair enough if you cant go saying in case you tread on some toes….but you know it’s a tasty little thing yeah?
[Juice Aleem] Yeah its pretty nice… its good…. everybody seems to like it and its different which is what Big Dada is totally about anyway
  
|
