emceeKilla Interview

Certified Banger: For those who haven’t heard your music; introduce yourself and describe your music:

emceeKilla: I’m emceeKilla; a rapper originally from North London but have lived in the sticks and Nottingham too over the years. My music is conscious, deep and heartfelt and focuses on the reality of social pressures and political issues and many other types of high rank buggery. I am versatile though and do like to move away from that when I can and want to.

CB: What inspires you to write and record?

eK: Everyday situations are the main thing that inspire me; anything that I feel is interesting to rap about I tend to rap about. I’m not really a materialistic person so fashion and jewellery aren’t things that inspire me to write - I write a lot more about the ups and downs of the life we lead whether it be through my eyes or another person’s. My surroundings also play a big part, I live in the city and gain a lot of inspiration from just witnessing things walking down the road but also have people in the countryside I see which again inspires me to write as things are seen from a totally different perspective there. Beats are also a great inspiration.

CB: Why do you think many people are not interested in politics and the events going on around the world?

eK: People have enough on their own plates to sort out so the last thing you want to try and concentrate on is another person’s struggle across the world, we like to spare that sympathetic thought but will then subconsciously drift back into the world of you and what you are going to do to eat and live. Sometimes I feel fear also plays a big part, people see it as daunting, maybe because they don’t fully understand it or aren’t able to look at the bigger picture to see what the effects are when certain events happen or decisions are made. I don’t want to be patronising to anyone because you are your own person but maybe when things are presented to you it could be blocked out because it’s seen as preaching.

If this is my opportunity to silence that thought then here goes: I never want to preach that what I think is best - my main purpose is to at least bring something to your table which may not have been there before and allow you to make your own decision on it. These are only things I have concluded myself or through my own research, that’s not to say its gospel, it’s just an idea. You may then take my idea and turn it into something else, if that’s the case then my job is done.

I didn’t start rapping about political issues to fill a gap in the market or try and revive a market that may have been dormant since Public Enemy. I’m solely writing about what I want to write about which is what Hip Hop has always been about. Not G-Rap, Political rap, Ganster rap, G-Funk…just Hip Hop as a whole; that’s where I am.

CB: Your dad must be an influence? Tell us about him:

eK: He’s an influence on so many levels. He’s lived a mad life. He left home when he was 17 to get an education. My Grandad thought learning was for pussy’s so told him to either join the armed forces or leave so he left with no support from his family and managed to get a uni degree in London. He was also part of the communist party in the UK and fought with them in the Brixton riots against the fascists, he lived on Electric Avenue. He then began a career as an investigative journalist which led him to uncover huge scandals within Mi5 amongst other things. That’s just a very brief description of the things he’s done.

The effect this has on me is that I’m able to look up to someone who has constantly fought for rights of people in this country and for himself. He’s also taught me a lot of things in life and supported me in whatever I chose to do. I was never a school person, my grades showed as someone who wasn’t intelligent, who was a failure I suppose I constantly battled to get into colleges and uni was just a waste of time so I dropped out. I still didn’t lose support from my old man because he just wanted to see me be happy and if that meant following my own dreams then he was there to help me with that by showing support, this also goes for my mum too. Intelligence isn’t about remembering facts to write in an exam its about grasping things and understanding them and using them to aid you in being successful in life, schools aren’t the be all and end all of that, so due to my parents I’ve seen that you can be clever in other ways apart from an academic way.

CB: What are your ‘top 5’ occurrences (for want of a better phrase) that have shocked you and provoked you to write?

eK:

1. White phosphorous being dropped in Faluja and other places in Iraq by American soldiers, leaving scores of women and children dead and blackened by the chemicals. White phosphorous is a chemical which burns your skin and pretty much melts your entire body whilst leaving clothes in tact, a substance banned at the Geneva Convention.
2. British colonialism – the most recent of empires with a dirty hidden agenda. What is taught in schools about this is far from the truth so please read into exactly what happened in Ireland, The Americas and Africa to name a few.
3. Britain and America’s Middle Eastern adventures – We are using the most amount of oil that can be consumed by all humans at one time (peak oil) meaning the only way to go is down, unless the west secures new sources of oil for a cheap price. You do the maths.
4. 9/11 & 7/7 – Isn’t great having abbreviated terms for such atrocities? We can now pass these events off as a bunch of numbers. As much as its been spoken about and is still being spoken about, anyone of my generation will always remember those days and so will your ancestors so to say they didn’t shock me would be a complete lie.
5. Israel and Palestine – The trouble that’s persistently happened over there has shocked me and provoked me to write a lot of time. Again this all started from western military tactics of divide and rule. Give a nation a reason to fight each other which will then allow you rule that land unprovoked. It happens everywhere even in Britain. Politics was only ever meant to divide us.

CB: Do you think we will ever know exactly what goes on behind the government’s closed doors? There’s a fine line between truth and conspiracy theories…

eK: The only possible way we would know what exactly happens is if we were to break into Downing street ourselves, or root through the years of cover ups in the Vatican vaults. Things are protected for a reason, the Catholic Church has hidden a lot of things to protect its identity and I’m sure other religions have too. I don’t think we’d ever get to the bottom of what really has happened over the years and even if we started to we’d open up so many cans of worms.

I’d love to see people using the words conspiracy and theory in a more positive light, we all conspire on a daily basis. If your girlfriends acting strangely, you’ll start to conspire she’s cheating on you, even though she may not be. If you’re not getting served at a bar you start to conspire that the barman/lady doesn’t like you, we all do it, in a way its called using your brain and thinking a bit deeper into something, whether you’re right or not is besides the point, the fact is you’re exploring options which aren’t laid out in front of you but are behind closed doors. Conspiring doesn’t have to be a bad thing, we should all embrace it more than anything and appreciate someone going down that route. Shall we all just blame life or co-incidence every time these people fuck something up? Do you not think we should credit ourselves as human beings a little and think the unthinkable…? Many people do but then they’ll find themselves falling back into their daily routine. Strength is found when you explore the un-explorable.

I’ve got people who strongly believe that the Haiti earthquake was a government thing, I won’t go into detail or say if I agree or not but I’m not going to tell them to grow up or be real because if they have reason to believe that or have figured it out in their heads then I want them to enlighten me and I’ll listen to them. Things like that interest me.

CB: What needs to happen in your opinion on May 6th?

eK: Nowadays things are all too much the same when it comes to our own politics, you’re pretty much voting for minor differences in referendums/manifesto’s but the main aim of each party is all in a very similar stance. 30 years ago, Labour was a party for the socially aware, the people who wanted an equal society and believed that the rich should be taxed more than the poor, they stood up for so many people with a similar view but ever since New Labour formed those ideologies have gone, I was brought up a Labour supporter so I don’t ever really see things another way. I think with whoever gets in power, we will still be in a war, the economy will still be down and slowly picking up, our taxes will be raised and the poor will still be hit the hardest. All views aside I would like to see Liberal Democrats get the vote just to give them a chance, what have we got to lose?

CB: Who have been musical influences to you? Which Hip Hop artists are you currently listening to?

eK: My main influences have been The Clash, Peter Tosh, Bob Marley, The Pogues, Public enemy, Wu Tang Clan, 2 Pac and Biggie, Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, Eminem, Nas, Task Force, Jehst, Karizma, Scorzayzee, Roots Manuva, Blak Twang…these are all those I can think of straight away but there is more….I just feel I heard these artists at certain times in my life when they did inspire me, a lot of UK rappers don’t want to bow down and accept inspiration came from people in their own country but I’ll hold my hands up and say thanks to all those named for making music and influencing me in one way or another.

People I’m listening to at the moment is Cee Banger – ‘On the Radar’, Krate Krusaders (‘Psience’ is an amazing track), Cappo, Foreign Beggars, YT, Mad Skillz, Large Professor, the Inkrument, The Elementz….I’m a bit behind with new stuff mainly because nothing is really grabbing me at the moment but I’m always open to hear new music.

CB: Give us a top 5 of socio-political tracks from any genre to get us thinking:

eK:

YT – ‘Wicked Act’
Damien Dempsey – ‘Colony’
Peter Tosh – ‘Here Comes the Judge’
The Clash – ‘London’s Burning’
Pink Floyd – ‘Another Brick in the Wall’

CB: Finally what will the future hold for you as an artist?

eK: For me, I’m currently working on an EP to be released through the same label hopefully. At the same time have started recorded some mix tape type tracks with well known beats to try and add some variation. My next project is set to be completely away from the world politics of my last album and I’m aiming to bring it back a little and keep it raw, maybe get some features on there as well.

I’m also working with Damien Dempsey (mentioned earlier) who is an Irish Folk singer from North Dublin. Have started on a remix of one his tracks called Patience which should hopefully pave the way for some new tracks as well. I’m also looking to work with as many people as I can so get in touch if you think things can work.

I’ve got a blog site which I try and update as much as possible so please check there for new projects etc. www.emceekilla.blogspot.com