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Lewis Parker - Return of the Jedi
interview
0124 added 20.11.02 words
Kobi
UKHH: So, it's been a while since 'Masquerades and Silhouettes' came out. Why the wait?
Lewis Parker: You know how it goes man. Apart from setting up the studio from scratch, I had to get my shit focused from where I was before, 'cos it would have been quite possible after I finished 'Masquerades…' to go "OK, I've been on tour with Massive Attack for a year, they've signed me up for this next album, let's go back to the studio, knock another ten tracks out and put it out. Album done. But I was like "Nah, man I ain't gonna be wasting my money like a duck" ain't be sitting there like a chump, with no money again, I'm in the same position, I've got an album coming out but I'm still strapped, even though I'm doing that now, anyway, but I'm set up now; I got my place, I got my studio, I can record. I mean things I've done with
Champions of Nature, things I've done with Klashnekoff, things I've done outside of this wouldn't have been possible unless I could have set up my own shit and be recording. Now I'm set up all I'm waiting for is collateral so I can do the independent label…. That's really what my aim is at the moment. To be putting shit out monthly 'cos the amount of tunes I've got with different people that I'm working on…I need to be putting them out on a constant basis…
UKHH: Yeah, Tommy Evans mentioned his favourite tune isn't on the album. It's one tune you did with Jehst with a folk sample in the chorus…
LP: Oh shit, yeah,yeah. That was a while ago, I'd forgotten about that. There was quite a few classic tunes that didn't make it onto there….
UKHH: Are you going to put them out though?
LP: I might do, but some of them are old. There's a couple that I'm definitely gonna put on some boots, but some of them I don't know. That one he's actually talking about I don't know because there's a mix of I've got and I wasn't necessarily happy with it and I wanna do it again…
UKHH: What was it called?
LP: 'Say You'll Remain'…
UKHH: So you moved from Canterbury to London, has that helped your career at all?
LP: What I'd say probably helped me from living in Cantebury for 3 and a bit years was, when I moved there in '92, at that point I remember nuff people who were into hip-hop that I knew in London, that were getting into drum n' bass as well, and a lot of people were crossing over at that point…I went to Canterbury now, and I've gotta say it was a completely white orientated place but saying that it was b-boy heaven at that point there was nuff people that were straight into hip-hop and it was more of a renaissance of the old shit. People were just on it and that was the main difference, and I was influenced by that and it inspired me, just meeting deejays that had been into it for longer than I had, like 357. People in my year like Giacomo Travelli, who did cuts on 'Masquerades…' and shit, he's got sick beats now, he's got shit that's ready to come out and Bias has put a couple of things out, y'knowhatimean, and me and Bias were mad tight we started doing demos from when I was in Canterbury, and his big brother had this deejay, 357, and I did a couple of tunes with him and he mad showed me shit, it was like, yeah, come back to London and I was just on making hip-hop, I come straight back and just started working on it. I was going to college and in the mean time I was making beats at home, working for my mum, yam the cassava then going to my local studio, and that was me. I'd just be trying to make some demos and at that point I was working with a crew, and no-one ever knows I was working with them and when I released a record I just release my shit out I didn't release any of their shit, but I was working with a crew called the Mafia Crew, at the time. That was a big crew it had nuff mans in it, and I was bringing them to the studio and I was working on that level. I just wanted to make beats and get tunes done and I had a couple of tunes that had been demos and I was trying to get them around to people in terms of Trevor Jackson, Senser and Unity Records and a couple of other people, but I couldn't get much out of it, a year down the line I put 'B-boy Antics' out and I put it out myself 'cos I wasn't getting nowhere with anything else….then it went from Trevor Jackson to Melankolic. It's all been good, but it all feels still quite similar to me now. The only difference is that I've been through it now so that excitement is no longer there. For me, I see the harsh reality of the situation now….
UKHH: How long does it take you to make a beat, normally?
LP: Depends what the break's like, yknowhatimean (laughs). For me, I'm chopping up drums and chopping up drums you can do in five minutes, I could spend an hour or something doing it. It depends on what I want to get out of the drums. It's about the essence you've gotta get that locked, keeping the air and shit, that's the trick, and that's the skill, and if you transcend that into everything else you're doing, chopping up music to everything, that's what its about, that's when you've got control over your shit. Really you could chop up some drums in five minutes and stick a loop over it and say " That's a beat and I made that in six minutes" or get a stab and muck it around. So you could do a beat that swiftly or sometimes I could spend a month working on a beat, and people wouldn't believe it, but seriously you're just going back and trying to get the bounce on it, which can take more time than anything. That's really what it's about, but it all depends what you're dealing with when you're making the beat, a beat can take anything from six minutes to a month or longer, really…
UKHH: Do you think being signed to Melankolic will take you to a new audience and…
LP: I think it has…
"...
. all I can see at the moment is that the industry would be quite happy for more So Solid Crew-style,...."
UKHH: Do you think it's changed your outlook on making music as well?
LP: Well I think experiences everyday change my outlook on making music yknowhatimean? I don't really think they as a label actually encourage what I'm doing, or have been a wicked influence for me in any real way, actually Melankolic as a label, I'm not trying to diss them, but I'm just saying that they haven't really been the type of label that is trying to see my needs and say "Alright lets try to work on that" or give you what you want, it hasn't really been like that. For me, it would have been a lot better if they were like "OK what do you need? What equipment do you want? How can we help you? Its never been like that, its just been fucking me doing my shit and I've always been independent, and I can't really say that I've had any guidance or interference from Massive or Melankolic or Virgin throughout the recording of this album, really I had my money and I got my things paid for, for a while at least, then that was it. And now I ain't getting no money from these lot so I'm just on my everyday thing, see me down the market Friday to Saturday with my parents and that's half of it, so really I'm not looking at this label like they're actually gonna be the ones that do anything for me, unless I see different, and I don't seem to be seeing any different, I'm just going to be doing my shit, and that's really why I had to set up the studio that's why this album took so long. And it's not even just the fact I had to set up my studio. From when 'Options' come out…You remember that?
UKHH: I remember it but don't think I heard it…
LP: I was ready to put the album out then basically, I was like "OK, let's go" . I wanted them to put that single out properly then put the album out, they didn't want to do it. They wanted to clear the samples and take long, Then it was like "Maybe we should wait a while" then it got long, yknowhatimean? A couple of the other tracks were done and it was like it went on for another couple of months, and I was like "OK I'm really ready to release this, you didn't release 'Options', let's release 'It's All Happening Now', that's the album, I'm ready to go and that was last year now. I was like "OK, the albums coming out" …I thought that was gonna be pressed up properly and it wasn't, then they were telling me "Nah, we wanna re-press it we wanna re-cut it", then that never happened, and the samples had been going since 'Options' and it just longed out and that really longed it out for up til now, since last year that has been the main thing. It's been clearing samples that's been the main thing. They've been trying to clear samples that don't need clearing. I would say that there are 5 samples at most which should have been cleared on the album. They tried to clear over ten samples, a ridiculous amount of samples, when the companies didn't even exist anymore, just proper ridiculous shit…for me that would be the main thing that has kept this album back, but its also for me the lack of support I've had. Since I've been on tour with Massive Attack and come back from America at the end of '98. I got my record deal but it wasn't like I got support. It was like what are they doing to help me finish my project? …I was just trying to get myself to a level where I'm independent, but also trying to finish the album at the same time…It got to a point where I had stress with the geezer who was mixing the album, The Sea, on a personal thing the relationship got too deep. We were fucking living in the studio for six months, both of us…that's shit got hectic, and a lot of the tunes that got done over that period, although there were some fucking bad tunes started to do my head in. Just cos of the environment…There's another whole album that should have come out after 'Masquerades…' but its never gonna see the light and there's a couple of bits from that which are on 'It's All Happening Now', but it is a different album. The whole Espionage shit was gonna be on the album, but that's been an ongoing theme for like 7 years…The newest tune is the last tune "No Escape", which we just knocked out…'Incognito' and 'At Large With A-Cyde' are both versions that I had to change because of sample clearence.
UKHH: How do you see the future of British hip-hop, at the moment?
LP: Well, it's a delicate game, a delicate game of espionage, a delicate game of Cluedo and shit. At the end of the day its got a lot of positive things going on, and you can't deny that and you can't deny the talent that we've got. The amount of people I know with talent and the amount of people I don't know, that I know is sick as hell out there, its just ridiculous. All that I can see is the problem is the fact that the industry won't back us and that's all I see, and until that point changes we can't move on and we've got to get into that position ourselves, it's a fuckin' hard thing to do but we have to do it, because even with me I'm finding it hard as fuck to sell this album. I need to do a video I need proper fuckin' promotion. To be honest with you bruv, I ain't got no garms to wear. I'm thinkin' how are they really expecting an artist to sell on nothing, without any suppport. They're thinking "Well, this is an underground thing", but I've got the next shit, they need to be saying "OK, we released the single a bit late, we need to get the next one out, we need to get the video…" and that's what I'm trying to push, but it's a hard thing, and if I'm not getting no proper support then it's a hard thing to come out with and it's the same way. If they already have a bad artist signed to their label and they're not really doing anything, then what does that tell you? And they're sleeping on the rest of fuckin' everyone else that is out here. I'd say that I got onto this thing out here as a bit of a fluke, well, ain't no fluke but it was a fluke, yknowhatImean? All respect to my Massive mans, cos without them boys I wouldn't be sitting here, but around the time of "Masquerades…" they didn't want to sign me. They didn't want to take me on, its was like "Awww British hip-hop…", but Daddy G and Mushroom, they fought my case, bruv, I am not dissing them for that I have complete respect for them. If that had to happen, just to get a British hip hop artist…I already had nuff people saying good things about me, and from that point they were still already being funny. They need to just forget about the stigma and deal with the music…I could find a lot of shit that is out there but…
UKHH: They don't know about it…
 LP: They don't know about it to any sort of level. And most kids they watch TV like MTV Base, man…
UKHH: None of us are on it though that's the thing….
LP: We're not on that shit, man. WE have to be represented on that youknowhatImean? Even Fallacy and Fusion's video 'Groundbreaker', people were going 'YEAH, I'm into that video, man' even if they didn't like the tune that hard…They look good. And that's what we don't have enough of. We need that 'cos unless we have stars out here it ain't gonna work. The way the industry is designed in music, unless we have a similar structure they're not gonna be able to do it….and that's the whole fucked thing, because all I can see at the moment is that the industry would be quite happy for more So Solid Crew-style, even if it is hip-hop, for that to come through. I don't wanna have to be mad controversial on it, but that is basically what they want to see.
UKHH: I suppose in terms of sales its proven itself…
LP: They would rather have that up their than have proper fuckin' hip hop which is saying something to the children on the reality of the world on some straight up shit… what hip-hop is…Hip-hop is straight communication and for me they're just trying to hold us down and that's how its always been like that and its not properly recognized now because they can put up other things and say "This is representing it…" That's not what it is. It's the same with the breaks, man ..Like the same way you have rock groups looping up shit and you see them on TV "Oh this is offensive rock". These are the new rock stars and they're sitting up there with some loop of some 70's shit, yknowhatImean (laughs) and you're like "What?" , and then they have some guy some guy coming on doing whatever and they're like "Yeah, that's my guy sampling…", having to name the sample…The amount of times I've watched Top of The Pops and its been like some dance act, or someone come on and they've had to name the sample…Why? Why can't these people have as much credit and be respected as much as these rock people who are blatantly looping and sampling anyway and you're not even acknowledging that and this is all shit that comes from hip-hop, from Marley Marl. It's not fucking recognized. Hip-hop hasn't had no award for fuckin' coming up with sampling snares and shit. Marley Marl should be presented an award for sampling the first snare, man. We changed the face of the fuckin' music industry and they don't recognize it. They just keep us down and act like hip-hop just some little shit music, yknowhatImean? Act like its just some little genre of music, but its not at all, we changed the whole of music. We changed how everything is made…Now every music is now programmed. Where the fuck do they get programmed drums from? You know what I'm sayin?…
UKHH: You're preaching to the choir already man, totally…If you could work with anyone who would it be, first as an MC and secondly as a producer?
LP: If I was just an MC, if for some reason I suddenly lost the ability to make beats I'd go Pete [Rock] man, (laughs)...It's a simple thing yknowhatImean? And if it ain't Pete it's [Lord] Finesse, man, I'm tellin' ya…
UKHH: And what about as a producer?
LP: As a producer? If I could produce any MC in the world?
UKHH: Yeah, dead or alive…Or anyone. Any artist from any genre of music…
LP: Shit….(long pause)
…I'd love to work with Quincy Jones, man (laughs)
UKHH: There aren't as many Star Wars references on this album…
LP: There still are some…
UKHH: Fair enough, I noticed some…
LP: They're in there, don't worry bruv, they're in there…
UKHH: But was it 'cos you thought Episode 1 was shit?
LP: No…For me the new films, I don't think they're gonna affect what I think of Star Wars, like whatever they actually are. It's the sort of thing which obviously as a Star Wars fan, people have been doing their nut, ever since they knew they were doing new films since the 80's, you know that he's been making the sequels and you've obviously been waiting for years and I enjoyed both of them and I am looking forward to Part 3 but its not the same thing…For me, I have taken madly from those movies in my life, the Jedi shit, whether I talk about it or not, that is something that will always be with me…As far as the movies go 'Empire…', man, yknowhatImean
".
... Marley Marl should be presented an award for sampling the first snare, man. We changed the face of the fuckin' music industry and they don't recognize
it...."
UKHH: Is there anyone out there who amazes you every time you work with them?
(Long pause)
LP: Is there…Klashnekoff does…His lyrics just always blow my head off….Jehst…he's super tight, his lyrics are always sick as hell, vivid as hell. You can't really fault Jehst yknowhatImean? On performance, you can't fault Jehst, he's Don Dappa, man. That's why I know most people in this country will say he's the best MC out here…Supa-T, when he's in the booth and he gets going, there ain't no-one like T, he's like a fuckin' animal. He'll tear you apart mate…For me, I believe that T, if he's in the wrong mood or in the right mood, he could take out any MC in the world, I don't think no-one could fuck with him, As a battle MC comin' out…When the guy freestyles, man I've heard him freestyle sometimes and its fucking infinite, so intricate…He just thinks mad quick….
UKHH: That's what its all about though…Thinking a couple of steps ahead of yourself…
LP: That's what I'm sayin' yknowhatImean, that's the sick shit about T, he's got that edge to his shit which nuff people ain't got….I'm workin on a girl, Lost Soldier at the moment, she's sick as hell. Scribbla…Scribbla Dangov, he's one person…his flow is faultless, same as Kyza…I dunno, man when you get used to people, there'll be nuff times when you're recording tracks and listening for just the eveness and it'll be nuff time, til I catch someone's lyrics….
UKHH: I've always found that the lyrics that stick in your memory will be the one's that you'll listen to 3 or 4 times and they think on another level and one day you're just listening to it and it clicks…
LP: Yeah…yeah
UKHH: Any shout outs you wanna give?
LP: Big up all Terra Firma Crew, all Cloud Steppa Crew, all YNR Crew, Dolo A.M., Mazar, All fam in general, Q Gardiner, Dagger…Lost Soldier
At this point convo turned to a chartered accountants firm in Shropshire, which is also called Lewis Parker and the classic American sitcom 'Parker Lewis' but that just ain't hip-hop, yo…
Shouts go to Lewis Parker, Serena @ Virgin for hooking the interview up and Virgin staff for looking after me…..
- Kobi
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