Articles tagged with ‘freestyling’

• Joelistics

  This 2005 interview with Melbourne-based TZU MC Joelistics took place in Sydney while he was taking part in a Sydney Festival hip-hop event bringing together artists from The Herd, The Bird, Resin Dogs and TZU. In a lengthy conversation, the ever-articulate Joelistics covered a huge range of issues. He spoke about the early influence of Eastern philosophy and its splicing with the influence of hip-hop and freestyle rapping. He also talked about hip-hop as a form given to political polemics and Empty shows (held in empty warehouse and industrial city spaces where artists would converge). Joelistics spoke of the influence of Terrence McKenna on his ideas about language, both in the way that the world forms language and how language forms and structures the world. He talked also of hip-hop workshops, the influence of Jack Kerouac, the orthodoxy of hip-hop and Curse ov Dialect, music labels and the industry, the history of hip-hop and appropriations of the form in terms of aesthetics, identity, place and self-pride.

  Tags: workshops, empty shows, politics, freestyling, language, Melbourne, philosophy, Interviews

• Marcus Guitarkus

  We visited Marcus’ house for a quick interview on the way to interview Music vs Physics at the Evelyn Hotel. Marcus gave us a run down of the genesis of the Symbiotic collective, which emerged from a New Year’s Eve party in 1999 at the house of Pasobionic’s [producer and DJ for TZU and Curse ov Dialect] girlfriend. Marcus spoke of the nature of the way the collective functioned, pooling their diverse talents into shows and performances, often improvised. Marcus also spoke about other collective projects he has been involved in, which managed to incorporate people from the more mainstream hip-hop world. The discussion also covered the issues surrounding the term ‘hip-hop’, its contestation and the problems of limitation, especially in relation to a notions of authenticity and ownership. At the same time as resisting the puritan perspective, Marcus spoke about the ways in which he’s come to understand why the term ‘hip-hop’ is so crucial identity of people who believe they embody hip-hop as a lived reality. This developed into a discussion about the form itself, as a contemporary folk music, and the possibilities for the expression of street-level reality.

  Tags: production, battling, freestyling, instrumental hip-hop, Melbourne, sampling, Interviews

• Muphin

  When Local Noise was in Melbourne we caught the train to Prahan to visit the Obese Records store, where we met up with Muphin and interviewed him in his lunch break. In a long discussion, Muph spoke about being on Obese, working in the store four days a week and seeing it’s growth from the inside. Muph also told us about his childhood in Eltham, the early influences of US hip-hop and being introduced to Australian scene through DJ FX. He talked about the influences of everyday conversation and experiences on his lyrical style, honesty in rapping, as well as the fight hip-hop has had to be accepted in Australia, and the misunderstanding of it by the industry. In a widely ranging interview, Muph also touched on the making if the video ‘Heaps Good’, graffiti culture in Melbourne, the TV show The Heavyweights on Channel 31 in Melbourne and the degeneration of the battling since the release of the Eminem film 8 Mile.

  Tags: Muphin, Muph n Plutonic, Plutonic Lab, The Heavyweights, battling, freestyling, Obese, Melbourne, graffiti, Interviews