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 Suparnovar Interview
interview 0082 added 08.09.01 words Kate
Spooky Fact:This is the first ever interview with SuparNovar, about his first release ‘When Supar Novar Explodes!’, which is also the first release on Kemet Records….Remember, UKHH.COM - where you see things first.
Unless you live in Skegness, by now you MUST have heard ‘When Supar Novar Explodes’. It was definitely one of the tracks of the Summer in London, pumping out of cars and received enthusiastically by the crowd packed into Subterania when Supar Novar PA’d at the Itch FM 1st Birthday Bash.
The tune is catchy without being bugging and heavy without being off putting to girlies softer than moi, the beats are made by DJ Ill Out, who shows his American blood by risking a bit more bass and choppiness than our homegrown producers usually venture into. The B- Side ‘All I need…’ is marginally mellower but still a nice track, and in case your wondering…all he needs ‘Is a mic in my hands’.
I caught up with Supar Novar, firstly to find out who he was! I knew he was one of the Mud Fam but, doh, which one? And secondly to enlighten heads outside of London to some city based fresh talent.
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So Supar, name, age, number, dues paid, etc?
I’m 18
Hmmm, so how long have you been rapping?
6 years, I always listened to rap music, then I just started freestyling at first, freestylings off the top, it’s different from writing lyrics, I didn’t even write down a lyric until I was 14. A lot of people who write lyrics, they can’t freestyle because it’s a natural thing
So were you into the whole Hip Hop thing from very young?
Kinda, Graf not just music, I was into the graf around the same time I started rhyming. My brother wrote Depo and his mates were well into it: Graf was everywhere then, even as a kid you noticed it. I still go out writing a little bit, put up Mud Fam, I’ll go out bombin with Twisted.
So who is your favourite MC of all time?’ He immediately adopts the usual agonized expression when you ask this question
Tupac Shakur, because he’s deep and covers all type of tracks and moods, he’s versatile
Okay, favourite album of all time?
My favourite album of his is ‘Me against the World’, it’s a laidback kind of vibe where you can chill out and really listen to it. The stuff he did afterwards was just like all the Deathrow releases, same production
What got you listening to UK Hip Hop?
I do see it all as Hip Hop full stop, at the end of the day it’s all the same music. The first British tune which got me into UK Hip Hop was a Mud Fam tune, their first EP, my bredren bought it and then I went out and bought it and that’s what got me into buying UK Hip Hop. Specifically it was the tune Itchy Town because hearing people talk about my area was different: Then Mongo’s verse on The Mud Files - the rhyme pattern was so well built, the way it follows from beginning to end, he’s saying he’s drugs right but you don’t get it, don’t see where he’s coming from, until the end; That made me think because it was such a different way of doing it.
So did that kind of inspire you, that they spoke the same as you, came from down the road?
Yeah, Chester, Skinny, everyone, it made me sit up, from when I heard that it inspired me to look out at my surroundings and rap more suitable to what’s around me
It’s weird for me because being oooold I can remember seeing Cookie Crew on Top of The Pops and thinking WOW! But the people you were influenced by are more my age group, without being funny, it’s like some of you new MC’s are literally a whole new generation, do you notice that?
Yeah, there is a new generation now, but we can still learn from them that came before. More people are doing things now properly whereas before there was only a few of them, it was harder then, they had less backing and everything they were doing they had to start for themselves. They created the whole British thing, I’m in a position of hearing them already.
What do you see your generation as bringing to the table?
(laughs) I ain’t speaking for other people, I only know what I’m bringing. It seems like a lot of people are purely on a battle tip, my 12” is kinda on that level because it’s hardhitting and catches people’s attention but there’s more to me than just that one style. People now ain’t afraid to try new things…
So will there be a garage remix of ‘All I Need’ making it All I Need is a woman who lurves me?
(Absolutely cracks up) Nooooo, but maaaaybe I’d be up for a drum’n’bass remix but only if it fitted my style, not just for the sake of it. At the moment I’m not really up for it at all, I don’t know about later on in the future
So what inspires your lyrics?
I’ve done a lot of punchline raps but I think there’s only so much you can say there. In one tune I’m telling a story about someone who’s on drugs, he’s a crack addict, telling the story of his life and I’m like an observer. I’m trying to show how our relationship as friends changed when I realised how the drugs were affecting him
Who are you working with at the moment?
The crew I’m in is called Flip Tha Script, the other core members are Hybrid and Turbulance (Sorry if there were others) we all went to school together in NW London. We’re about getting on with life, seeing the brighter side of life and not letting things get you down. We say that FLIP stands for Fuck Living In Pain, FLIP is also to turn the page, making a difference. There ain’t no point in getting caught up in things beyond your control, just be happy you’re breathing innit
I stop writing at that point because I thought it was a nice line to finish on which almost captures Supar Novars vibe. He comes across as a quietly complex character, able to debate issues and articulate to me where his ‘generation’ are coming from without being false or braggadocious at any time.
Go and buy the 12” now as there are only a few copies flying about, and keep your ears peeled for his next release because Supar Novar is definitely exploding.
image taken from puremotionmusik.com
 
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