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Jump Off has been taking leaps and bounds lately. The latest competition had the, frankly fantastic, prize of having the MC entered into what is probably the worlds biggest battle tournament - Scribble Jam. So then.....Who won? Mc Kulez. Here's a quick insight into the mind of the man himself, on what he's up to currently, his best and worst battles, and of course...Scribble Jam....introducing Kulez...
Yes...yes...Kulez is me, sometimes known as Kuda. Raised in NW London and moved to Norwich. Since then been tryna make Norwich a regular name name on the scene.
Im just excited to be real...All the MC's i'll be up against are MC's I look up to on tha battling ting. So it will be nice to meet them and that, but I see this battle event like any other freestyle show i've been in, its all about who's hot that minute when the beat drops, and keeps the consistency. Really I cant wait to get it over and done with to get the verdict.
Yeah, i've been watching a lot of American sitcom's so I got some content they can relate to and that. I dont think il have to "study hard" coz I was listening to US hip hop before i discovered UK rap, so as far as references, I reckon I got a ton...I'll definately keep my eyes peeled on American news and stuff once I get over.
I really enjoyed tha first tag team ting Jump Off did. Me and Arkaic Vs Stig and BA. I was still developing as a battler and this teaming up idea was still new. It ended up being a sick battle just going on punch after punch with no fillers. Which I think lead to a league and that so definatly was a good look.
I dont really have a favourite line i've said, but a lot of people like tha Bin Laden one I dropped on Stig, "He's so fat Bin Laden is hiding behind him / that's why they're still trying to find him". Against me, a lot of rappers come with tha nose and African jokes but tha one that stood out tha most must have been Spits Semis, when he said "This guy is blatently wack / nose is that fat, I can put it on my back with straps and use it as a jet pack".
Umm....Just making a lil' name for myself and some links out in the States. I'm taking a couple promo's with me, so i'll pass those out to rappers, producers, etc. Hopefully come back with a few collabs lined up.
To be real, i'm not even looking at it like that. I'm going out there as Kulez the MC that just happens to be English. If I looked at it tha other way i'll probabably go on stage and lay a brick.
Yeah, i'm currently working on a mixtape with my boys in Norwich, Visonary Records. It's a collection of tracks by artists such as myself, Arkaic, Scudsy, Pariah and O Jay on most of the production. Thats looking to be completed at the end of this month. I've also been recording solo tracks for a mixtape, on a personal level, which i'm hoping to have done by October some time. Most of the production on there is being catered by Zaheer.
My family have showed me nothing but support so far, helped me out along the way and continue to push me. Friends were always there to listen to a track and give me an outsiders ear to my music, so its all good. Like, to them i'll always be tha same Kuda no matter how many battles i've won and what not, so they're always there to slap tha back of my head when im getting too cocky or arrogant.
Like, the UK battle scene is pretty much held down by Jump Off, so from there i'd say Respek BA is definatly doing his thing. In UK Hip Hop there are a few heads making an impact like Lowkey, Klashnekoff, Sway, Chester P, Jehst, tha list goes on...
Yeah, I roll with V.O.T.E, 'Voice Of The East'. It's a collection of artists and crews coming from around Norwich. So yeah in the near future you could expect a free promo cd when you cop the Kulez mixtape ;)
Scibble Jam isn't really known for pre-writtens and you get more props for freestyling there...coming with relevence and rebuttals...so no, I dont really plan to get prepared with writtens, but when you know who you are up against, as a battler, I cant help but having pre-meds pop up.
I hope to see myself as an artist pushing out albums every year or summin. Maybe branch off to a clothing line and all that cuz I havent really seen that aspect of entrepreneurial thinking touched in uk rap yet...maybe cuz it is still coming up and still slightly underground. I'm still a young guy, 16, I got plenty of time to make decisions and finalise plans.
Haha....If I got a pound evey time I got asked that i'd quit rap. But yeah...like, i'm originally African...still got family and that over there and that was kinda my nickname when ever I visited. Even my uncles and that call me that. It means like 'young brother' and as I am like tha youngest in tha family it sort of makes sense. Decided to keep it as my stage name...
Like if I had the scene my way i'd have disses having to be strictly about a persons appearance and momma jokes dissallowed, get me?...I try to stay away from them, but when it's what the crowd usually favours and when you dry out, it is summin to fall back on, its hard not to. I think freestylers make the best battlers because whatever they say will be relevant.
Its between Jae Millz Vs Murda Mook, jus tha way Jae is like, "Leave me alone/ and come up on your own" and Serious Jones Vs Murda Mook. Murda Mook murders it when he flips back tha phone call.
I got that Lupe Fiasco, 'Food and Liquor'....Definately a sick album, if u ain't got it...COP DAT!
Like, as far as battling i've been battling for time...just casual battles though....I think Jump Off stepped up my battle game just by facing other sick MC's around...I dont think fame was propelled, cuz I dont count myself as famous yet...they just put my name out a little more...
Big ups to all my Norwich peoples, Ali, Rusheed, you all know who you are, and my man on tha london side of things S.G, sensewitgame.com, EZ, One.
Kulez is back from Ohio now and will be no doubt appearing on jumpoff.tv very soon. Unfortunately he lost out in the first round at Scribble Jam to Semi-Finalist Deuce Leader and the eventual winner was The Saurus. You can also peep more on Kulez's progress @ http://www.myspace.com/kulez. Check The Visionary mixtape out soon - special thanks to Pootle & the UKHH.com forums for questions. Thanks for reading folks. Peace
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© ukhh.com 2006
Kulez Interview
Evening Kulez, first up congrats are in order, you're on your way to Scribble Jam after what I'm told was an exciting night of battles, but for those that don't know you....would you care to state your name, where you're from, and what you're about?
As far as my chances, i'll just give it my best shot. Like the way I see it is that you cant really call yourself a battler if you'd battle one person and not another, sort of thing, so in that respect I dont really care who im against...but in this competition there are a few big threats such as Illmaculate, Thesaurus, etc. Obviously i'd rather an easier opponent to start things off and get warmed up.
Battling aside....Are you working on a record currently? If so....whats it called and whens it drop? Can you describe any of it for us?
Are you concerned with the amount of pre-written lines that windle there way into American battles? Are you planning on having a lil' summin summin of your own prepared? Or are you goin strictly freestyle?
Whats been the best battle you've seen but not participated in?
Lastly, is there any shout outs or thank you's you'd like to give?
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