Diversidad

1.Before Diversidad, had you collaborated with foreign artists? If you have, which artists, which project?
No it was my 1st experience

2.Have you already performed abroad? in Europe? Where?
In Finland, Norway, in NY for my other project called Basutbuded. I also performed at the World Expo 2000 in Hanover with the DJ from Fattaru my other band along with my older brother Magnum.

3.If you have, what’s your best / worst memory while performing abroad?
Best memories were in Norway 6 years ago because the Norwegian crowd was really into our music at that time, we had a big crowd, we were very well taken care of and the country is beautiful, we performed in some very nice locations and great outdoor festivals.
The worst memory was in Norway again a few years later, it was a new cultural center in Stavanger, we got an early slot and there weren’t any people there. Those empty shows are always hard.

4.What would be your dream collaboration if you could pick a European artist to record a track with?
It would probably be a UK artist such as Benga or Lil Silva or Wiley.

5.For the fans who don’t understand your lyrics, can you briefly describe what you usually rap/sing about?
It’s mostly about word play, bragging about skills, trivial everyday stuff for most of the time.

6.Which city are you from? What do you like/hate most about your city?
Stockholm. I love the summertime there because that’s when the city is alive and everybody is out and people go crazy. The summer nights are beautiful. What I don’t like is the mentality of the people sometimes because there is a common mentality of not being appreciative of the local stuff. We look down on ourselves. And I hate the long winter too!

7.What are the coolest hip hop places to hang out in your city (bar, restaurants, clubs, venues, other…)?
There are good shops: Sneakers N Stuff (in Sodermalm), Cali Roots (in the center). For clubs, the Soul Lounge, Stockholmsnatt. I also arrange nights in different clubs in Stockholm and around the country with my crew SAS. There is a nice bar called Marie Laveau where the Soul Lounge organizes parties, it’s a cool restaurant and cocktail bar and they have a nice basement for clubbing. And there are always cool gigs at Berns.

8.What’s your favorite place in Europe and why?
I enjoyed Berlin because there are lots of good restaurants and it’s kind of the trendy place to be right now, there is a great underground culture going on.
Where I want to go next is Barcelona because I heard a lot of good things about it and because I’m interested in lots of different music. I also heard the architecture is very good.
I also want to go to Eastern Europe because I don’t know much about it, it’s like the side of Europe you don’t get to hear much about and I assume it must be interesting.

9.In about 5 words how do you describe the urban culture in your country?
Healthy because there is a lot of new people and new idea coming up now.

10.Could you give the English translation to about 3 or 4 key words from the hip hop culture in your own language/slang?
Kompis : buddy
Va’hander : What’s happening?
Brush : Bro (from Brother)

11.What does Diversidad represent for you?
I think it’s a great experience to meet with people like this and it also brings back some of the hip hop vibe for me coz I’ve been working with lots of other stuff nowadays so it brings me back to my roots.

12.What was your motivation in participating in Diversidad?
I realized it would be fun and I would get to travel to places I haven’t been before.

13.What’s your best and worst memory from the album recording session in Brussels?
The worst was the writers’block because I hadn’t been in the writing mode for a while so I felt stressed because I wanted to be more efficient and quicker because we had a limited time to create.
The best memory was writing a track with Orelsan and nach where we trade verses and translated them but it didn’t make the album. Because that’s the kind of exercise I like to do.

14.Did you know any of the other artists from the Diversidad selection before getting to the Brussels studio in March?
I knew Curse because my rbother has a 12 inch of his from 1999.

15.How do you imagine your music career in 5 years from now?
I think I’ll be doing different kind of musical work: both performing and djaying and writing songs and produncing for other artists.

16.How many albums have you released so far and what are they called?
3 albums with Fattaru : “Fatta Eld“;, “Jordnara“, “Mina Drommars Stad“,
1 album with Majestic 3 “Ill-Batting“,
2 albums with Basutbudet: “Startpaketet“, “Pluspaketet“.

17.Any awards or anything you’re particularly proud of in your music career so far?
Fattaru won 2 Granny Awards for our debute-album in 2001. Basutbudet I produced and recorded everything by myself, 2 cds of futuristic bass-music in 2006!!!!!!