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Killa Kela interview by Ben Spurr Killa Kela Interview

interview 0345 added 02.11.05 words: Ben Spurr technical: QED
Having spent the last couple of years working on the recently released LP ‘Elocution’, Killa Kela is back representing his Spit Kingdom crew with explosive shows all over the UK. Performances at the Urban Music Festival at Earls Court and all over the rest of Europe have made Kela’s live shows an experience not to be missed by anyone who appreciates the art of beatboxing. Don’t get it twisted though; the new album proves Kela to be much more than a Vocal Percussionist as he sings over a range of eclectic beats that are laced with sweet strings and other live instrumentation.

After a recent performance, the guy who would surely be a contender for the ‘nicest guy in the music business’ award, should one exist, took time out for a tour bus chat with ukhh’s own Ben Spurr.

 Some people don’t realise you are more than just a beatboxer, how long have you been doing your singing thing?
IKilla Kela’ve been doing it from about the age of 11. It kind of took a sideline, I went from singing and rapping to beatboxing and then I started doing shows and what not at a real early age. Then over the course of building this album I kind of built enough esteem and confidence to be able to put it across on record. It took a minute though because I’ve been beatboxing for so many years and then I found myself doing like a whole heap of different multi vocal based stuff; but it’s good to be here and be able to do that.
“...I was nervous about the UMF with Jay-Z because there was a lot more people than before...”

 What was it like performing in front of all those people at the Urban Music Festival in London and was it your biggest crowd?
No it wasn’t my biggest crowd- I performed in front of ten thousand people at ‘Battle of the Year’ in 2001. I was nervous about the UMF with Jay-Z because there was a lot more people than before, that was big. We were literally on just before Jay-Z so that was wicked, the one afterwards was just after Will Smith- that was cool but it was by no means bigger than the Jay-Z one.

 Explain more about the Spit Kingdom movement?
We do a weekly sound system night every Tuesday down at Herbal, we also do that same thing across Europe; Berlin, France, Romania, Munich, Hamburg, Lithuania. We do it as regularly as we can like Spit Kingdom nights. It’s all about trying to bridge gaps- whether it’s Drum and Bass, Hip Hop, Rn’B or Bashment; it’s not contrived and it’s not false, it’s real that’s how we’ve come up you know. It’s all about coming up and doing things together.

 I personally think the album is heavy but Hip Hop Connection magazine gave your album only two stars out of five and said up to track eight it is a ‘mess of swirling spacey vibesy sounds that go nowhere at all.’ So how do you react to your negative criticism?
Let me tell you about Hip Hop Connection right, I’ve been supporting that magazine for a long, long time and in all it’s fairness, as much as I love it; it’s a small island man and we think bigger than the island, we think bigger than the scene. There’s a lot of contradiction that goes on within that magazine. You know what brother, opinions are like arseholes- everyone’s got one! They’ve got a lot to say in a very short space of time and their going to say what they think. It isn’t Hip Hop man, I’m not going to lie to you, beatboxing is like the fundamental part of the instrumentalisation of Hop Hop but I don’t see it in there. It’s further a field than that and anyone who wants to question that can talk to me in Wembley Arena!
“...Spit Kingdom is all about trying to bridge gaps- whether it’s Drum and Bass, Hip Hop, Rn’B or Bashment...”

 Do you think that beatboxing has a future inside the mainstream music scene as the culture develops?
Killa KelaThat’s what I’m trying to do, I’m by no means a catalyst to vehicling the scene to were it’s got to go but it’s further a field to Hip Hop so you want to appeal to as many different people outside of Hip Hop as you can. What I do with my album, what Sterio MC’s did with their album, what Nenah Cherry did with their album, what Soul II Soul did with their album it’s appealing further a field. You’ve got to feed people a scene and if that scene is stagnant then that’s a shame.

 Do you think ‘Elocution’ is better than your last album ‘Permanent Marker’ and do you feel it marks a progression where you have developed as an artist?
Yeah, I found with ‘Permanent Marker’ you can’t really make a beatbox album, that’s my conclusion.
“...beatboxing is like the fundamental part of the instrumentalisation of Hop Hop but I don’t see it in there...”

 So the live shows always going to be better than the audio version?
Killa KelaYeah, you’ve gotta convert that shit, from live to what you do on an album to the people. When you come to doing an album you’ve gotta put that shit across in the best possible light you can. The thing with ‘Permanent Marker’ is it was so purest beatboxing, I was so young like I was only twenty three or twenty four. But you take peer pressure away from what your doing and you’ve got to come with the goods man. At the end of the day, ‘Elocution’ is as definitive as I can make it, vocally, multi-vocally, beatboxing- you’ve got to take a chance man.

 Have you ever thought about releasing a cover album because the crowd love it when you do beats that they are familiar with such as the Neptunes tracks?
I did a lot of shows with Pharrel and Justin and I was fortunate enough to do the shows with them and the beats that they created. That was more than enough for me. It wasn’t really about doing an album based off all of that. I just want to hit people off with some original material that kind of pushed things forward.

 Any final comments:
Killa KelaCheck the web site www.killakela.com, get as much information as you can. You’ll know when we’re on road, you’ll know where we are going, you know the dates section go and check it out cos as soon as you know where we are on road then you know where to go to check the shows. Check the album ‘Elocution’. Listen, it’s all about the people, I’m not gunna front it’s because of people like the readers that have got us signed and got us to the place we are right now and I’d do anything to give that back. So go and check the web site, shows and album and go and check what you’ve made, what the people have made.
“...I found with ‘Permanent Marker’ you can’t really make a beatbox album...”

Killa Kela’s album ‘Elocution’ is available now on Song BMG records at all good (and a few bad) music stores.

- Ben Spurr
 


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