Supplying The Beats
Lazy Grey is set to consolidate his position as one of Australia’s premier hip hop artists when he supports Raekwon’s, of Wu-Tang Clan fame, upcoming Brisbane show.
What have you been up to following the release of ‘The Soundtrack’?
‘The Soundtrack’ was released about June/ July last year. Rather than doing shows straight away, we sat on it for a few months to let that shit marinate. We did the Melbourne launch in October at the Espy; same night my daughter was born, great fucking timing! And we did the Brizzy launch at the Step Inn about a month later. The Brisbane show was off the hook, sold out show with Bias B featuring Bigfoot, with supports from Fluent Form plus local emcee Dwizofoz. I had DJ Dce, Dave V and Jake Biz on stage performing ‘The Soundtrack’. Just been makin’ beats for nuthin’ in particular and doing a couple verses on other crew members releases since then.
Are you in the market for a distributor for future releases?
At the moment no. Our distribution went to shit quite early in the piece with ‘The Soundtrack’. We’re still workin’ that angle, but for the moment we’re just sittin’ pretty. To be honest, we’re just a little over the shit the industry has been going through in recent years, and don’t see much point in underground hip hop having distro through major chains for now. In fact, I see these dinosaurs dying off in the next five years or so as the industry completely re-invents itself for the new digital era.
Have you been doing much production work or is that still on the backburner?
I’ve got some production on the new Bias B release and a beat on the debut from Jake Biz, both releases that should see light in 2010. A lot of beats I’ve made in the last six months still haven’t found a home as yet. Things will fall into place as releases get finalised; so short answer yeah, staying busy with the beats.
‘The Soundtrack’ featured a bit more conceptual stuff, do you think this did much to dispel myths regarding the supposed beer and bongs focus to your music?
I’d never done a concept album before, and had a lot of fun making the album.
I consciously made the decision to stick to the script and not go wandering off in my usual direction. In saying that, I love my drunk stoner rap more than ever! Whether or not it worked to dispel myths? I think it has to some degree, but that wasn’t the initial intention behind the change of focus on the record. It was just another natural step for me is all.
Are there any more Lazy and Ken Oath gems in the pipeline?
Ken still makes an appearance now and then; him and me haven’t done shit together for a while now but this year you’ll hear him on a couple of releases.
What have 750 Rebels got coming up by way of releases?
The Rebels have got a shitload of tracks recorded, but whether it comes out as a full release or broken up on solo releases as the big posse cuts, we’re still figuring that out. Either way, you’ll definitely be hearing from the Seven Five O in the not too distant future.
The Raekwon show is coming up, have you had any support slots that eclipse that in terms of magnitude?
It doesn’t get much better than Raekwon, but we’ve supported a lot of US rappers over the years. Some have been some of our favourite emcees and others we just happen to be on the bill that night. Recently, Ghostface was Killah!
What are you looking forward to about the show?
I want to see Rae mash it out on stage and get the whole room into a frenzy. I'll be hitting the stage with Jake Biz and DJ Dce with a guest spot from Bigfoot and Sean B droppin’ a new banger off the forthcoming album from The StatesMen, ‘Drama To The Finish’. There’s also The Optimen doing supports. Should be a dope night for all, so get ya tix on Brisbane ‘cause you don’t wanna miss this!
Lazy Grey and The Optimen support Raekwon at The Step Inn Friday March 19. ‘The Soundtrack’ is available from all good record stores.
