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  Scarrs Interview
interview 0434 added
06.07.06 words: Madrox
technical:
QED
A lot of you will be familiar with Scarrs - he's the guy waving the cash
around between two rappers
- trying make them take each others heads
off. Theres a lot more to being Scarrs than being a battle host and
money flaunter though... I caught up with him to find out Jump Off's game
plan over the next couple months and beyond... introducing Scarrs...
"...Yea, I actually battled Stig and Micz when we were on the UK Streetbattles
tour, those dudes are garbage man... they're lucky I'm the host!..."
Madrox:
Good evening Scarrs, jumpoff.tv regulars and battle fans throughout the
UK will no doubt be familiar with your work, but for those that don't
know - Would you care to state your name, where you’re from, and what
you’re about?
Scarrs:
To all those regular battle heads...what's good? Hope you're cool! To
everybody that doesn't know me, I'm Scarrs... original host of the
infamous Jump Off Street Battles. I'm from West London... and this is
just one thing that I do in my effort to push the scene forward and
bridge that gap between Europe and the US.
Madrox:
Ok so first off the bat, Jump Off has recently started up several
exciting new leagues in the form of pairs battling it off against each
other - would you care to elaborate more on this for people who might
not have caught any of them yet?
 Scarrs:
Well we've been doing the 1 on 1 battles for a minute now and the
response has been good both here and in NY, but we're always trying stay
fresh, so... it was probably after a long ass day in the office, when
some creative genius (probably me!) came up with the idea of rap tag
battles... so we put it into effect in the form of Stig/BA vs. Kulez/Arkaic... and
I mean that battle was just ridiculous. It upped the levels on all
fronts, the response was phenomenal and so we decided to launch a league
off the back of it.
Madrox:
How do you feel the battle scene over in America compares to our own
battle scene here in Britain?
Scarrs:
Something you need to understand about the states is that rap over
there, is like football over here. Everybody plays a bit of
football... not everybody is trying be the next Ronaldinho, but they'd
still be happy to kick a ball around on a Sunday right?! In the states
everybody seems to rap to some degree, and in terms of the battling I’ll
tell you straight, those kids are HUNGRY, they just wanna battle, they
don't care who, where, when, they just wanna do it. That's the main
difference over here, people aint as hungry.
Madrox:
Do you feel that too many Americans use pre-writtens? What’s your
opinion?
Scarrs:
Americans have been on this battle shit for like 20+ years, so naturally
they have been through stages that we ain't hit yet. Over here people
don¹t respect battlers who don't freestyle, but in the states they've
been through that stage and now they are more about entertainment. They
would rather see a verse of hot pre-written with a little something off
the top, than see a wack half ass freestyle. Saying that, there are
still some ill freestylers out in the states that will serve your ass
sumin stupid!!
"...Something you need to understand about the states is that rap over there, is
like football over here..."
Madrox:
What has been your favourite battle to date? That you've hosted.
Scarrs:
Wow, that's a hard question man... I’m trying think... Man I got a
couple, honestly I could never name one... but top two would have to be Arkaic/Kulez vs. BA/Stig & Iron Solomon vs. The Saurus.
Madrox:
I've never actually seen the judges before - who are they? And do you
always agree with them?
Scarrs:
Hahaha... nah I don't always agree with the decision, but I’m telling
you man that shit ain't easy, you can sit and watch a battle back and
say "Yeah, he won" or whatever, but when you're out there and the
battles close, you got the crowd trying influence shit... it ain't easy!
As for who the judges are... boy... email 'em yourself, judges@jumpoff.tv.
Madrox:
Where do you see the battle scene in 5/10 years time?
Scarrs:
I hope to see it at the Olympics in 2012... I’m not joking! How you gonna have Archery? Who actually plays shot put? C'mon man... those
sports ain't relevant, this shit here is what people need to be seeing.
Madrox:
Many people feel that the UK was mispresented slightly - and that Stig
and Respek BA amongst others should have gone to America - considering
that - How come they weren't? And will they?
Scarrs:
No doubt Stig and Respek are 2 of the top battlers, not only here in the
UK, but full stop, point blank! You lot need to understand this. I
didn't just call Micz one day like "Yo Micz, you wanna go states? Ok
cool you're on the next flight!" The streetbattle tour was a
competition, and Micz won that shit, he had more wins than Stig and
therefore he earned his trip to the States. I know Micz has been away
from the battle thing for a minute, but at that time he was killing
dudes out here... and nobody weren't complaining when they heard he was gonna go a fly the flag for us. Similarly with Whashisface, he won a
competition, now BA was in that final... but Face won that shit! He
earned his trip! I'm confident that BA and Stig will have their time, we
got a couple big competitions coming up to send people over, so they got
a good chance of being that guy!
Madrox:
What other competitions has Jump Off got cracking at the moment? Rap
battles aside. Can we expect any DJ, Breakin' or Graph events soon?
Scarrs:
Breaking you can see, August 21st, Jump Off 3rd birthday... all regular
battles (MC/Breakin'/Crewdance/Pillow Fight/Booty Shakin').
"...I hope to see it at the Olympics in 2012... I’m not joking! How you gonna
have Archery? Who actually plays shot put?..."
Madrox:
Which two MC's that have never met would you like to go head on with
each other?
Scarrs:
Iron Solomon vs. Stig, The Saurus vs. BA ... If I put that shit together
whose coming?!
Madrox:
Who do you feel is the greatest battle rapper of all time?
Scarrs:
Pro Green obviously...
Madrox:
When can we expect to see some new DVD's from the Jump Off camp?
 Scarrs:
Damn, I get asked this all the time... and I can't tell you exact dates,
but we should have the Streetbattle Tour and Spin the Mic DVD's both out
by August/September.
Madrox:
What were your opinions on the 'Spin the mic' event in NYC recently that
spilled out into violence? And what did you think of our own 'Spin the
mic' event?
Scarrs:
Spin The Mic NY was crazy. When that fight broke out I was pissed! But
in hindsight I think it worked out better for us, because we finished it
on the street, and we proved that even in the face of something
negative, hip hop can prevail and be the over all winner on the night.
Madrox:
Have you ever battled before? Would you?
Scarrs:
Yea, I actually battled Stig and Micz when we were on the UK
Streetbattles tour, those dudes are garbage man... they're lucky I'm the
host! There is some footage of that shit somewhere as well; no doubt it
will be on the DVD.
Madrox:
What’s the best thing you think Jump Off has ever done? Be it an event
or a release or whatever...
Scarrs:
Taking MC's to the states, it raised the UK's profile a lot, no
disrespect to any UK recording artist, but if you went to NY or LA or
somewhere like that right now, I bet you that in terms of this hip hop
shit, the most known dudes out there from the UK would be Jump Off
battlers.
"...Iron Solomon vs. Stig, The Saurus vs. BA... If I put that shit together,
who's coming?!..."
Madrox:
Will you be hitting the road again anytime soon for another nationwide
battle tour? And if so, who do you have in mind for the trip?
Scarrs:
No plans for a road trip just yet, but if the streets want it... let me
know and we can make that happen!
Madrox:
What’s the funniest line you've ever heard used in battle?
Scarrs:
Ahhh, you're killing me! I think I’ll have to go with iLL Maculates flip
during the Whashisface battle in Spin The Mic NY... Face had said a
line about fucking iLL Mac's girl... He flipped it... "You fucked my
bitch, I really hope its true, she's got herpes and the claps... so the
jokes on you!" That's a little exclusive for you man, I know that battle aint out yet!
Madrox:
Have you ever been involved in a battle that got taken 'too far' - and
ended up in a brawl? or anytime it came close?
Scarrs:
I mean you saw the Press1/Arkaic battle, where Press1's boy tried some
feeble attempt at a flying kick! Also another time, in a club battle, a
guy flipped out after losing a battle and punched the other guy. But
nothing major, nothing to get excited about.
Madrox:
Where do you stand on the subjects of 'touching' other MC's mid-battle
and the use/banned use of cuss words in some different battle formats
worldwide?
Scarrs:
NO TOUCHING! This is a non contact sport! Other formats that ban cuss
words, cool with me, but you aint gonna see Jump Off doing that shit
anytime soon!
Madrox:
Lastly, is there anything you'd like to say in parting? Or any shout
outs & thank you's you'd like to give?
Scarrs:
Yep... big up the whole Jump Off team, big up to all those who support,
and big up to all those who hate... you aint nothing till somebody
hates you!
"...we proved that even in the face of something negative, hip hop can prevail
and be the over all winner on the night..."
Madrox:
Thanks very much for your time...
All's well that ends well. If anybody is interested in signing up for
some Jump Off competition I suggest getting yourself over to the site @
www.jumpoff.tv. I just wanted to thank the ukhh.com forums as well for
providing the majority of questions on this one. Thanks all.
Peace.
-
Madrox
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