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"I lost my emotion, I lost my tongue, I travelled across the ocean & found a new one"
- this sentence sums up Mark B very well, having suffered some serious set backs within the UK industry - Marks been looking abroad for talented fresh MC's and come across a doozey in the form of Delta. I caught up with Mark to discuss the past years goings on, his stance on Australian rap and give the industry a good cussing.....presenting Mark B...
Amongst UK hip hop fans you’re a man who needs little introduction, but for the sake of getting this off to a nice start would you care to state your name, where you’re from, and what you’re about?
Mark B, music producer born & raised in Kingston, UK.... I stand for honesty, self-belief, always moving forward as an individual, recognising, sharing & awarding talent.
I currently have a new 12" single out with an Australian MC named Delta which also features Skinnyman on one track & Mojo The Cinematic of Dujeous NYC on the flip. The European full length Mark B & Delta LP drops on August 7th 2006, which also features MURS of Living Legends & Mr. Thing on cuts. Both are released on my own independent 'K Boro' record label in Europe & Delta is signed to "Nuffsaid Records" in Australia who released the LP out there last February to critical acclaim. Other than that to be honest I haven’t made any new music since Delta was here recording his LP last summer.
Reason why is I've just not been too inspired to make any new music ‘cos I just feel like music on a whole right now is going through a very drastic, no quality control change because of the whole internet downloading, sharing thing. All of a sudden everyone who was once a music fan is now either a rapper or producer on myspace & its at a point that because of this everyone expects to get your music for free & it confuses people to whom are actually releasing music & why should they go purchase your single or LP when they can get another artists music for free. Independent record shops such as Mr.Bongo and Headnod have sadly shut down ‘cos music fans have forgotten, or maybe don’t even know what its like to go buy a 12" vinyl record or LP & be a fan of another "artist" ‘cos they think that they are somehow the next big thing ‘cos their best mate & girlfriend told them so.
I couldn't really outline one as being the easiest ‘cos every serious producer who releases music will tell you that every MC comes with their own small drama along the way in some form or another (laughing) The Hardest.. Well I would say the ones that don't show you the credit you deserve at the time of release for all your input & creativity on the whole structure of the songs or LPs you've released, & think its all about them as the plaudits are coming in.
There are two shows in particular that always spring to mind, the first was in 2000-2001 in Aberdeen when the Unknown was all over radio 24-7, the gig was packed & it was one of the rowdiest & most up for it crowds I’d ever witnessed. After the gig we were signing autographs for nearly 2 hours on passports, mortgage bills, books, beer bottles & whatever people could find (laughing). The 2nd was in Newcastle Uni in 2001. It was a Mark B & Blade / Roots Manuva show.. Roots tore it up & before we came on I advised the head security guy that it would be a good idea to put more security inside the stage pit area ‘cos it might get slightly hectic. He replied that we'd never be able to follow what he had just witnessed & his 3-4 guys could easily handle a Uni crowd, the last thing I told him was "Don't say I didn’t warn you". Trust it got a bit heeectic! The security crumbled at the sight of a 100 people stage diving & crowd surfing into the stage pit throughout the whole show (laughing). The same, but now pretty bruised, bleeding & shook up security guy came up & apologised to me after & said he'd never witnessed a hip hop show like ours before.. I guess we both remembered it for more than one reason..
Without a doubt 'Reminisce', but I would have never sampled that music or done all those quite awkward drum patterns & that's why that track stands out in particular, ‘cos of its the organised madness. I guess its not often you hear a saxophone in a hip hop track which is obviously the most memorable part of that track & makes it so unique sounding.
The Mark B presents Delta LP drops on August 7th, it is my finest, most skilled & polished production to date & in my opinion Delta is one of the worlds premiere MCs. I think in the UK people perceive Australians as quite loud mouthed & rude but Delta is the complete opposite, he has a style which is unlike no other. He speaks the truth & can back up his words with facts, has an amazing writing ability & is one of only a handful of battle MCs that can actually hold it down on vinyl also. From what I witnessed first hand from touring Australia with him, their scene is like what it was in UK in the early 90s or 2000s - Its real & real hip hop is still very much alive & appreciated out there which is one of the reasons I made this LP.
The sound has progressed with every release, from releasing the first instrumentals EPs to producing 3 full length LPs with 3 different artists / groups, where the sound has had to individually suite that artist to bring out the best of their ability. With every release I have had to go one better than the last & I think it’s fair to say I have achieved that goal & each LP is unique in sound in its own right.
Personally I don't think I’m happy in where I am at, but I will only put this down to the BS British music industry individuals that have no clue about what fans of music want to hear & are only concerned in playing safe, keeping their jobs & destroying real artists goals with that whole POPtastic BS that goes on.. What radio & TV employees need to realise is that there is a huge outlet for "real" music & not that bubblegum rubbish they try & force upon us everyday. I truly believe that they could pick any artist within reason, force it down the publics’ ears all day long & people would buy into it. Its been shown time & time again especially of late with these BS comedy rap acts that are all over TV & radio. The result of this is it will only make it harder for real artists to get heard, ‘cos they don’t have a gimmick to sell.
Well actually after the Unknown LP Virgin (records) pulled me up with the whole sample clearance thing, so I made a lot of beats without samples & then they turned around & said it didn’t sound like 'The Unknown' or 'Ya Don’t See the Signs' which obviously they wouldn’t in a million years (laughing). On a whole I’m not really into the whole keyboard beat thing unless its done well like what Scott Storch does, ‘cos mostly when its not done correctly, they lack substance & character, & are just a straight bite of the aforementioned producer.
Actually before 1xtra appeared I was asked to present myself forward with Blade for the main hip hop show, but I declined the offer as this wasn’t really the way I wanted the public to perceive me as an artist, ‘cos I knew once I had such a power I would only be pushed into keeping up the listening figures by pushing corny commercial American music that has no relevance to the UK scene & what people really want to hear on the radio once a week.
Yeah maybe a hundred times harder with this new release, ‘cos of the lack of support from radio in the UK & the music industry which is about to die ‘cos of downloading & sharing music.
This may well be my last record so just wanna thank everyone that has supported my music over the years & bought any of the releases I’ve been involved in, or been to any of my shows. Please support homegrown talent by buying artists music.
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© ukhh.com 2006
Mark B Interview
First question and the one put to me most by the folks at UKHH.com and elsewhere is.. What are you up to musically right now? As in.. Who are you working with at this moment in time and when can we expect the fruits of that labour to be dropping?
Well ideally that was always my plan, but unfortunately it doesn't always work out like the way you once visioned. 8 years ago I thought I was building a super group for the future when I was offered to contribute to an American Compilation LP & we made a track called Liquidized Language, but like I said on the previous answer it didn’t quite work out, & when I tried to do it again 2 years later, the same thing happened again. Just to clarify also, all the artists involved have asked to do new LPs with me but as much as I think they are highly talented I have declined their kind offer.
Yeah everyday I get asked for advice, if a person is polite I will reply but maybe 9/10 I wont reply cos most people I cant take too seriously & I feel its just a waste of my time.
To be honest im not actually that into the whole "posse" cut thing but if I were gonna take any 3 MC’s I would take any of the 3 from the 4 MC’s on Delta’s - The End Is Here track which also features Trem of Lyrical Commission, Motion & Prowla. In my opinion this is the nearest a "posse" cut has come to rivalling 'Live At The Barbecue', where no MC sounds out of place, doesn't belong on the track & each comes with his own distinct flow & lyrical content.
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