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1.
Artists' name, involvement in the UK hip hop scene?
Matt Inertia. Been a rapper/producer for the last
7 years. In the process of setting up Lancaster based
record label Cash Cow Records. Been performing in
and around the North West for the last 5 years. Released
first album in 2006 – Money and Soul. Used to
be in “The Band that Time Forgot” and
performed with them all over the North West.
Been producing tracks for various North West artists
for the last 5 years.
2. What was your earliest recollection of
being exposed to hip hop?
My earliest recollection of hip hop was at about the
age of 8, or maybe 9, when me and a couple of mates
used to blast an MC Hammer tape. The first album I
ever bought was Vanilla Ice “To The Extreme”,
its embarrassing to mention it now but at least I
was on the right track! After that the next tape I
owned was a rap collection (I think it was “100%
RAP!”). It had loads of cheesy pop/rap hits
but also featured some legends like Tribe Called Quest
and Run DMC. It wasn’t until a couple of years
later that I really got into hip hop. I was well into
the skating scene when I was about 14 and all the
skate vids we’d buy always had sick soundtracks.
The first time I ever heard Guru was “Respect
the Architect” on a skate video, loved it more
than the skating!
3. Which artists did you admire in the early
days of your career?
In the early days of my career I focussed mainly on
what I thought were well produces beats. I used to
analyse anything by DJ Muggs, Dangermouse and Premo.
I remember me and friends analysing the “fatness”
of Premo tracks trying our hardest to figure out the
dynamics of his beats and what he was doing to get
things so chunky.
I never knew who most of the UK hip hop tracks I listened
to were produced by. I just knew them as tracks by
rappers like; Skinny Man, Braintax, Mystro, Rodney
P and Fallacy. As I became more clued up with the
UK hip hop scene I started looking at what UK producers
were doing. People like Vadim, Skitz and Lewis Parker
used to get analysed to hell and back.
4. How were you exposed to the UK hip hop scene?
My first exposure to the UK hip hop scene was the
Mark B and Blade album “The Unknown”,
that was the first UK hip hop album I heard, when
I was about 18. Up until hearing that I didn’t
even know there was a UK hip hop scene. That album
pointed me towards artists such as Skinny Man and
Lewis Parker. I listen to that album now and the standard
of Mark B’s beats is still cutting edge. From
there it was a fairly easy journey into the rest of
the UK hip hop world. One artist leads to another,
you hear a track, you like the guest performer or
the producer and check them out as well, it snowballs.
5. Where do you think the UK hip hop scene
is at the moment? i.e. Many argue that the Scene has
been confused with the grime/garage genre etc.
I think the UK hip hop scene has been living in a
grime / garage shadow for a few years now. I do think
the genres get grouped together far too easily but
there are some very big differences between them,
with each having its own merits. I also think the
US is having more and more influence on new UK hip
hop coming through. There are some really good artists
out there who have trouble getting noticed or cant
make any sort of career from the scene. I think the
UK hip hop scene has lost a lot of its identity and
integrity in recent years.
6. Do you think the UK hip hop scene could
ever have as much success as the US industry?
If you measure success by payroll then no. If you
measure success by standards in music then we are
both a huge success.
7. As a figurehead of UK Hip Hop, do you think
being from outside of London makes progressing in
the scene more of a challenge?
Erm, yes and no. I think people do actually pay you
a bit more attention coz you're not from London, a
rapper with a Northern accent automatically sounds
original, rappers like Asaviour and Spiller have proved
that. But that benefit is far out-weighed by the difficulty
in getting gigs and raising awareness. I know a lot
of Northerners who spend time down in London coz there’s
more opportunity but I don’t think its essential.
8. What current projects are you working on?
I'm working on my 2nd album “Little Big Man”.
That should be ready in the New Year. When that's
done I'm gonna get back into the gigs and try and
push things forward with the label.
9. Where do you see the UK hip hop scene in
ten years time?
To be honest, I really haven’t gotta clue! I
think theres been some better music about recently,
if that keeps on coming through and we try
to stay original and progressive then only good things
can happen
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