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It’s fairly likely that many people in the UK won’t have heard of Rock Shabazz & Crayon aka The Longshots yet. But with their album "Hunger Music" getting a good reception from various stables and another LP in the post, it’s about time you familiarise yourself with this dope US crew. Hell they’ve even hooked up Funky DL so you’ve got to show some love, read on…
Ok first things first, please introduce yourselves and tell people reading this what you're all about…
[R] We're The Longshots, coming from the streets of Queens, New York. We're bringing that official street-hop, not filtered or watered down.
[R] Yeah it's still important even though it's not the only way anymore. Coming up in the open mic circuit, you sharpen your skills, tighten your stage presence and you learn to develop thicker skin. After rocking in front of a crowd of rival emcees, you appreciate a crowd full of fans.
[C] Yeah it’s cool to do open mic's. It’s definitely a good way to network with other up coming emcees
[R] It does sometimes, because you feel that you are more deserving. Some emcees got to where they are by knowing someone. Sometimes, they're manufactured for success. They'll have ghostwriters, publicists, fake bios, all things to make them more appealing. It's cool though because in the end, skill always outlasts hype!
[C] Yes, that is the case and hell yeah I get pissed! As soon as you say something about the state of Hip Hop you’re labelled a "Hater". All we can do is try to do our own thing, be original and not worry about anyone else.
[C] My man Enot is making noise. He's been my boy since forever and he's working with heat so check him out.
[R] Yes, definitely! I would assume they would feel that they would have something to prove, making themselves that much hungrier. Good music is good music though. As long as you're nice, you don't need to keep yelling "Queens" or "Brooklyn". Just come with the good music.
[C] Repping your hood is part of the hip-hop culture. NYer's in particular pick up quick to the new fads, so if a UK group came out the gate repping Hackney or Brixton or any other spot in the UK hard we'd definitely jump on it.
[R] Overall it was very well received. Considering that we did everything independently, we would be unreasonable to expect double platinum status. However, the media coverage, the sales, the offers to work and also the respect we got from fellow emcees and peers is priceless. The foundation is being laid for platinum sales later.
[C] It was love across the board. My problem was and still is the perception of us that a lot of the reviews took. We been seen as "gun-toting thugs" to "conscious street preachers" and we're neither one. It just was disappointing that a lot of heads just didn't get the message but its cool that's what music is all about. As long as the felt it I'm good.
[R] Definitely. First of all, much respect to the UK. Hip Hop over there is serious! We're definitely going to collaborate with producers and emcees over there. As far as a tour, as soon as we can organise a European schedule, the UK will be the first stop.
[R] The Beat Bandits are a duo of producers from Queens. They came up under Domingo. They are comprised of Dane-Ja and Metaphysic. They've done work with Dead Prez, AZ, Krs-One, Immortal Technique and a lot of other acts in the underground. Dane-Ja has a much harder sound, real East Coast, Primo type. Meta has a more eclectic sound.
[R] I grew up listening to a lot of different types of music. Being an "80's baby" is not like now. You had a lot of different music playing on the same stations, same video shows. Musically, it's going to reflect the upbringing. Lyrically, I try to complete the track. I don't want to out rhyme the track every time, sometimes you have to complement it and fall back.
[C] I love reggae music but I’m a true hip-hop head. I mostly listen to Hip Hop, Old School, New School, True School, I love it all. My influences come from a lot of different places but mostly I try to compete with myself every time I write.
[R] This DJ named DJ Parris, who used to work with Tim Westwood came to live in Queens and we would go to his crib to records tracks. Funky DL came to America and stayed over at Parris' crib so we linked up there. He let us select one beat off his beat CD that he was shopping over here and we turned it into the classic "If You With Me". Funky DL is known for having a very jazzy style but we made that track come out so hard a lot of people were surprised.
[R] It's an EP to keep the fans until the next full-length. It's entirely produced by The White Shadow.
[C] It’s going to have its own flavour aside from what else where doing.
[R] Yeah! Europe has insane music right now. The UK has some crazy production and emcees. So does France, Germany, etc.
[C] We've also hooked up with this producer collective called West Way Beats they are a bunch of producers from all over the place who are pretty dope.
[R] we're hitting the mixtape circuit now. That's a way to get the streets familiar. You'll see a couple of videos from the Hunger Music LP and then we'll follow up with the second LP, "Glory and Drama".
[R] If you haven't done so, check out Hunger Music. It's fire. Also check us out at www.thelongshotsonline.com
[C] Peace & respect!
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© ukhh.com 2006
The Longshots Interview
You two have both paid your dues on the underground circuit doing open mics
and that. Do you feel it's still important for Hip Hop acts to come up that
way?
Alright moving on to your album, "Hunger Music" was on some proper back in
the day NY shit, so I loved the rawness of it. How was it received on the
whole?
Tell us a bit about your new project "The Jungle Book with the White Shadow
from Norway".
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