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P Brothers & Cappo
interview
0133 added 15.03.03 words
Lady Cook
This tape has unfortunately been lost in the Lady Cook vaults
(ie shoeboxes under bed) for a looong time BUT Sumo's kindly transcribed it for the lazy Lady as it is interesting and explanatory as to what is the Heavy Bronx…. Although unfortunately the time lapse led to the P Brothers being now christened 1 and 2, but erm it adds to the intrigue…..
To set the scene: This interview was conducted outside the Community Recording Studios in Nottingham, in a rather lush car full of rather thick smoke. To a soundtrack of newly bought breaks played on a
Tonka Japanese battery-operated plastic record deck - punctuated by various noises on a voice changing plastic mic, overseen by an 'eccentric' person walking their dog in ever decreasing circles round the car pausing occasionally to peer in at us:
LC: So what is the - Heavy - Bronx?
P Brother 1: The Heavy Bronx is more an entity rather than a sort of place, but at the same time, to us the Bronx is also Nottingham, there's definite parallels between the way Nottingham is in England and the way the Bronx is in New York.
LC: O.K, what is the entity? What is the essence you're trying to express?
P Brother 1: What we're doing is defending something that's dying: Hip Hop, a lot of what you hear today and see today isn't Hip Hop, it's completely far removed from it. What we're doing is really just trying to defend the essence, it's not even trying to be retro or trying to sound old or anything, it's just being Hip Hop. Things have just moved away from it and the essence is just doing Hip Hop the way it's meant to be done, so that generations that come will know how it was, you know what I'm saying? And you can't get any more Bronx than that, that's where it is, it's all around you, the Bronx is all around you.
LC: So the Bronx is the essence of Hip Hop?
P Brother 1: Both of us are beyond thirty, there's a lot of culture and it's important that that comes out in the music, whatever kind of music it is. I think what people would call rap and Hip Hop music nowadays: the majority of it is just throw away music, there's not many records released recently that you'd listen to in a few years time and consider a classic and want to play again.
LC: Your second point was that you thought there are parallels between the Bronx and Nottingham, what do you mean by that? Like in the cultures? The people living and growing up there?
 P Brother 2: Nah not even that, it's like when we took Hip Hop we originally took early on back in the eighties and we were surprised at how advanced people were in terms of like breaking and doing Hip Hop. There was like a strong vibe and relationship between (the U.S and) Europe, they'd come over and visit and get the vibe, so the people of Nottingham have always grown up with that, a lot of people have done advanced things and we feel like they were ahead of their time so, you know Nottingham's been advanced. I mean a guy I worked with worked with Biggie Smalls on his first album. You know people in Nottingham do big moves generally around. It's a small place, but there's a lot of energy here, a little vibe.
P Brother 1: I think because Nottingham's a bit different to any other city in that we've got no media here really, I mean there's Big Daddy magazine now. It's not like… I mean in some areas, they got magazines, radio stations and all that sort of thing, and it self promotes itself and Nottingham's like the Bastard child that just resides up in the Bronx, you know what I'm saying? People just try and ignore it. If you look at breaking we had Rockcity crew, one of the best breaking crews in the whole country, you know and people never really talked about them, you know and emcees, Logic, all these sort of old skool.…and even now you've got people like Cappo, Scor-zay-zee, all the Out Da Ville lot, Joe Buddah, 45 (Mr. 45), you know Joe
Buddah's making records doing L Fudges LP - things like that, no-one ever writes about it, but then everyone you speak to is like "Yeah, you lot, I know what
you're doing, it's some Heavy Science, that's what it's all about, what you lot are doing" but you know no-one ever pays it any mind, it's like you wanna ignore it because, it's hurting what you're doing.
LC: It's like competing…
Cappo: We build off other peoples mistakes
P Brother 2: We just keep it original, we just keeping the vibe in our hearts, just build with that everyday: the original Hip Hop is heavy, the feeling. So the Heavy Bronx experience is like having, when you hear something you have an emotional feeling to it, and it's making you feel a certain way so, it's Heavy Bronx, it's like the original vibe, it's heavy, that's what it means.
P Brother 1: That's how the name started about, when we used to DJ as the P Brothers, when we used to go out of town and go places the selection we'd be playing it wasn't like all they were bringing, they're bringing old records, it's the way we played things. We'd be playing like 80's soul and playing like Breaks and Hip Hop, but playing it… cos that how Hip Hop works.
LC: Like Afrika Bambaataa does, when he does a set he does like Salsa, then Drum and Bass, then Hip Hop, and it's nice!
P Brother 1: And that's what Hip Hop is, you couldn't play Hip Hop records back in the day - cos there weren't any, you were playing all different types of music. But the way you were playing it and the vibe and rocking the crowd and having emcees there… that was Hip Hop.
".... when we deejayed, they said 'Fucking hell, it's like you brought the Bronx with you or
summin'...."
LC: And that creative energy...
P Brother 1: Exactly, and that's what people said when we deejayed, they said "Fucking hell, it's like you brought the Bronx with you or
summin"
P Brother 2: People have said that before, you feel like you're in New York, going to New York and just being, just having a close tie with the culture and just sort of like build from that an' then… Hip Hop was in a state in our minds where it was going in the wrong direction as far as the whole… the culture aspect hadn't gone, but the whole vibe of it has died. It's all just keyboards and just alright you know… Lets just do something and started doing the Heavy Bronx and it's just like a natural chemistry sort of thing and it's worked out, we just started doing records and making a keep.
P Brother 1: I mean as deejays we were buying records, and the amount of records we bought was actually less and less and less. So you're forced to play sort of old things, but you try to get hold of things that you know people haven't heard, and play them differently to make it make it new. The only reason we do EP's is to put records out for the people who think like us, that's the only reason. We wanna have the fun of doing it, do something good, you know, I don't want anyone to say our stuffs wack. Also, even if its just a hundred people around the world that still feel that same vibe as long as they hear it and like it, that's job done. That's it, anything else is a bonus really. And I mean Cappo's like ten years younger than us and he seems to feel exactly the same, you know once he saw that word of Hip Hop…
 Cappo: Yeah I can tell that's how I met people like the P Brothers and other people inside of Nottingham that I respected more than a lot of others that I've met around different situations: because of the way they deal with things and that… I can't explain it cos I haven't got a grasp of it yet but living in Nottingham I know I'm going to or I hope I'm going to…
LC: Are you from here?
Cappo: Yeah
Topic goes a little offkey and random
LC: I just feel like me, I know what Hip Hop means to me right, but when a 16 year old try's to tell me that I don't know about Hip Hop because I can't name the second tune on some Wu Tang Album: it makes me feel pissed off. I've know taught children in New York state and they are Hip Hop, they are what you would call Bronx, they are the essence of Hip Hop and I don't need some… English people don't seem to understand what it means sometimes.
P Brother: What you're saying there is exactly what Nottingham goes through all the time. We're dealing with some deep science, we go to New York regularly, you know what I'm saying with Zulu Nation, that's important, some deep stuff. You know we deejay, couple of emcees, we break, everything, and you know it's just the same to us, if anyone tries to tell us about what Hip Hop is, we've just got to be humble and understand, alright yeah whatever, but then like listen to this: listen to this Heavy Bronx experience record. It just got reviewed in the Village Voice and they said it's like Rakim and M.O.P. mixed, that's some heavy shit!
LC: And that's you lot! You on it? (points a Cappo)
Cappo: Yeah
P Brother 2: Cappo sounds like Kool G Rap!
LC: Who's your favorite rapper then Cappo
Cappo: God, there's a lot of rappers, lot of emcees who are all different.
LC: OK, who can you remember when you were younger particularly inspiring you, perhaps like the story telling angle?
Cappo: Yeah, Kool G Rap, Slick Rick for story telling. Biggie Smalls, I used to listen to Biggie Smalls.
LC: What about if you could work with any other emcees or vocalists?
Cappo: We try to work with a lot.
P Brother 1: Out Of UK Hip Hop?
LC: Yeah, well out of the UK as well…
P Brother 1: I think, to be honest with you: I think by calling UK Hip Hop, UK Hip Hop instead of just Hip Hop, it's kinda backwards: cos you're like saying there's Hip Hop and here's UK Hip Hop, and it's something else from that, it's not… Hip Hop's Hip Hop!
P Brother 2: It can be from anywhere, that's what I'm saying, that's why it's a Heavy Bronx. Y'know we're in Nottingham, the Heavy Bronx experience you know what I'm saying you got some people in London, you've got people like DJ Bizzniss and all those sorts of heads and Rodney P and people like that, they're doing in sort of the proper way.
P Brother 1: I think it's important, I think when you go on about all support UK Hip Hop and that sort of thing, it's some bullshit because it's actually backwards for Hip Hop generally, because what you're doing is you're just supporting it for the reason, because it's UK, not because it's good. So it's just generally for every ten tunes you have out anywhere in New York or London or Nottingham…
LC: No one ever had to say "I support British Drum and Bass", people wanted to support it, no one had to patronise them like "Oh look, it's a charity, buy British Drum and Bass"
P Brother 2: It should be like that, to me a lot of people like British Hip Hop cos they hav' to cos it's blah blah blah. It's bullshit, they should like it cos…
 P Brother 1: It's bad for the music! You should be told if what you're doing's not good enough, you should be told cos it will make you get better, because otherwise if someone's telling you everything all the time "Buy this just cos it's British" you're going to, as I say, get eight out of ten tunes that aren't very good, and people are going to think it's amazing because everyone writes and says it's is.
P Brother 2: You said yourself you can't remember half the names of people you heard so…
P Brother 1: We just do what's natural to us really, we just do what's in our hearts. With the rappers round here it's like got like a certain kinda vibe trying to do what there doing so.
P Brother 2: Massively!
P Brother 1: There's something about Nottingham where the vibe makes it like that, that's all I'm concerned about, I mean as far as other places, as long as they're making good records it's all that matters y'know what I'm saying?
Topic returns onto what Hip Hop has become
P Brother 2: Hip Hop started from one place, and it's gone so far round, outgrown. If you look at it you've got to laugh at it cos it's so mental what it's actually done, it's ridiculous, it's weird so…
P Brother 1: Yeah it started off as a really fit girl and it's now like this small one armed dwarf that wears high heels.
LC: A transvestite almost?
P Brother 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah that's what Hip Hop is!
LC: A deformed transvestite!
P Brother: Yeah Hip Hop is a deformed transvestite!
".... even if we're not recording, we're just doing, just doing Hip Hop …cutting up breaks. We'll it's more than a
hobby...."
LC: Mmm okay, What other artists have you not worked with, well I've kinda asked that question and you kinda answered it. Anyone you've really got your eye on, where your like "Oh I wanna work with him" and it has happened… what about Kool Keith?
P Brother 1: Not now days really, I mean you can't get bigger Ultramagnetic fans than us, you really can't! But erm, not really at the moment. I think the person we really, really want to work with was Sadat X, and thankfully that's come about. To be honest with you I'm happy with the emcees that we got at the moment and anyone else is a bonus like I said.
LC: Kelis? More girly then, or more…
P Brother 1: You need to have Chaka Khan or someone like that, someone with that intensity. Not like with rapping and singing, just like with the same sort of beats, with soul to it.
P Brother 2: But like real heavy, you know that real heavy emotion we got already with the Hip Hop, keeping it the same but kinda of more soul with the singing. I'd like to do something like that.
P Brother 1: Yeah, we got nuffin in the pipeline but it's one thing we'd like to do that we're not doing already. But we're quite happy with the way things are going, but it would be that.
 P Brother 2: To be honest with you we don't go about EP's going "Right we're going to do this and think about these people", cos to be honest with you we record all the time. Not just us, Cappo also does some real phat beats on the MPC, and you know he's rapping all the time. We always get together and even if we're not recording, we're just doing, just doing Hip Hop …cutting up breaks. We'll it's more than a hobby, it's life really innit and then when we come to do an EP when the times right, then we always just take the strongest things we got and put those on there, always just the strongest thing. Cos we're putting the money into the label we're sort of doing it and at the end of the day, you know we're not answering to anyone. That's why it's fun to do what we want to do, because there's no hidden agenda for why we're doing what we're doing, we're just trying to put the strongest thing that we can, and just try and make good Hip Hop. That's it really, and have fun whilst doing it.
LC: What do you enjoy about being an emcee?
Cappo: I've just written since I was about 17, just kept rhyming even if my throat hurt, whatever! Just kept writing and then met up with the P Brothers seen 'em deejaying about, you know and that's it, that's all I can remember really!
LC: Do you feed him weed or something? Ah fucking hell, he's got the short memory loss as well! (I'd had memory issues earlier) If I started asking you the names of tunes you'd be fucked!
P Brother 1: We have no idea, we just got a record company that's all we know. Quote me on this, the P Brothers are bag piping drums back into Hip Hop! Loudly!
LC: There's a guy called Ian in Brighton who's on the drums as well. In fact I think he's your spiritual younger brother you've never met. He's obsessed by drums!
P Brother 1: It's a good thing! It's a good thing to be obsessed by drums.
LC: Do you like Adam F's stuff cos that's got like a heavy feel to it?
P Brother 2: Nah not really…
LC: Why?
P Brother 2: It's too fast
P Brother 1: I don't think his drums are loud enough either, I dunno me personally I just don't like it. I wouldn't play it to my son!
LC: What would you play to your son?
P Brother 1: Public Enemy and Ultramagnetic MC's and erm, probably some Stevie Wonder.
LC: What things do you like rapping about Cappo, what things inspire you to write?
Cappo: Mostly myself, just write about myself a lot.
LC: Like relationships with people, the world and stuff?
Cappo: Yeah, well just everything that I do really. It doesn't come out as mundanity but.
LC: Can you freestyle, do a freestyle……
Cappo then launches into a tremendous freestyle which would've been fire to your eyes but unfortunately proved fire to the dictaphone and came out as a general frazzled sound. Shortly after we decamped to the street for a bit of impromptu block rocking, with Cappo freestyling alongside C-Mone (who I dragged out of her recording session) and me in fits of laughter at the plastic mic and deck.
To do these guys justice UKHH will soon be re-questioning them and getting an update on their moves and grooves since this long ago meeting. I have to say though that they're lovely people who literally made my sides ache from laughter, whilst re-enforcing my belief that Hip Hop and it's surrounding culture is not an entity which can be bought as a commodity - it is a multi-faceted creature which thrives on education and understanding.
Many thanks to the P-Bros and Cappo for their time, pop "Heavy Bronx + P Brothers" in Google as I can't recall their exact web addie - but recall that it had some good articles and flicks on their site.
Many thanks to Trevor Rose for hooking up the interview.
- Lady
Cook
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