M: Ok let's get back to the beginning, I know that you
have music in your blood, tell us something more about it
W.S: Yes. My father was a guitar player who was heavy into music, so he'd
play records around the house all the time, when I was a kid, and we used to
listen to “Radio Lux” a lot which was a well known radio station with DJ's from
the UK. Tony Prince who's now the founder of DMC aka Disco Mix Club who does
the world DJ mixing championships had shows on this radio called “Top 30 Disco”,
and “Top 20 Disco Imports” where he played all the hot new records from the US
and UK, so listening to him, and hearing my dad play music at the house, and
tell stories about night clubs, and DJ's, is what got me into music, and what
made me want to become a DJ myself when I grew up, so music was always around,
and the first songs I remember I really loved were Isn't She Lovely by Stevie
Wonder, The Hustle by Van McCoy, and Sex Machine by James Brown, and I was a
big fan of Disco when I grew up, like Boney M, Donna Summer, and
Chic...anything Disco.
M: I know
that your father also bought you the first records.
W.S: That's right, he would buy me children’s records at first like the
soundtrack to the Norwegian movie Flåklypa Grand Prix which is a classic in
Norway, that was the first vinyl he bought me, and I still have it, and also
the first Boney M album was probably the first Disco record I had on vinyl. I
used to be into soundtracks because I wasn't old enough to get in at the movies,
so my dad would buy me records from anything from the James Bond movies to Star
Wars, Dracula, and King Kong soundtracks, so I used to listen to them, and look
at the album covers to imagine what it'd be like to actually see those movies,
and I still have them all, and they became useful tools for sampling, when I
started making beats later.
M: I know that you have 20.000 records in your
collection. I also know, that many DJ’s ranks records by a genres, bpms or the
year of release, do you have your favorite method of operation?
W.S: I used to but I sold a lot and narrowed it down to just the great
stuff, so now it's about 10 000, and I sort them by genre, then alphabetical by
artists.
M: Jazzy Jeff in the interview to the "crate
diggers" mentioned that he spend his money for a lunch on a records.
Z-Trip told that he lost a lot of womens because of digging. Could you tell us
how it looked like in your case ?
W.S: I did everything they did and then some haha. I saved up all my
allowance, when I DJ'd at the local youth club my mom used to give me cash to
buy something to drink and eat, I saved it all, so I could buy records every
week. I could afford maybe at the most four 12" singles every week that
way back in the early 80's. I've lost girlfriends over the years cause I was
too busy makin' music to spend time with em, I've gone a day or two without
food cause I copped too many records to be able to afford to eat, yup that whole
nine. Hahaha, but I know I did the right thing. One of my cousins used to call
me the Soundtrack Boy because of that haha
M: Who
was a DJ Fresh ?
W.S: DJ Fresh was one of the earlier DJ names I had. The first was Peter
Jones, then Mike Jones, then I changed my name to DJ Fresh in 1983. Now, my
early names were inspired by English radio DJ's as was my early style of DJ'ing,
which was talking between records more than mixing them, but I changed my name
to DJ Fresh as I started to get more into mixing, and Hip hop in general. I
also won two Norwegian DMC battles as DJ Fresh. I was the Norwegian mixing
champion in 88, and 89. Some kids I went to school with still call me DJ Fresh
now.
M: Ok, could
you tell us when you decided to buy your fist turntables ?
W.S: June 13th. 1986. I had been saving up forever and finally had enough to
buy two Technics 1210's which was a brand new model at the time, and a Vivanco mixer.
Before that I used to borrow the turntables from the local youth club, but
getting my own tables took practice to a whole another level. I still have and
use one of them now, first thing I did after I got them was to make a mixtape
for a friend. I still have a copy of that tape too.
M: How
much time do you spend on practicing, and how it was back in the days?
W.S: Nowadays not so much. Instead I think up scratch routines in my head,
so when I go to the tables to practice them it becomes a lot easier to get them
right fast, but I have a lot of experience now and it took years and years of
hard practice to get to that level. I used to practice up to 15 hours a day at
the very most, and usually 8 to 10 hours a day plus I DJ'd clubs at night. I started
scratching in 1981 after hearing Grandmaster Flash's record “Adventures On The
Wheels Of Steel”, and in the beginning it sounded terrible, and it took time to
get good at it because back then there was no internet with Youtube vids to
learn from, and not even DJ videos until DMC started releasing them in 1987, so
before that it was very hard to get good at it cause we had to just listen to
records with scratching and try to copy it, and listen to tapes by other DJ's,
so I'd say I started getting good at it around 1987, and great at it in the mid
to late 90's.
M: How did you feel, when you won your first DMC ?
W.S: Happy and accomplished. That was my first serious goal of DJ'ing, and
it was a hard competition to win since all the best DJ's in Norway were in it,
so definitely felt great winning that.
M: Nowadays the DMC competitions are online, What do
you think about it ?
W.S: I think that's great, cause everyone can use their own equipment and
compete from the comfort of their own home, which eliminates things like
nerves, and not being familiar with the equipment, which was usually a big
problem in the physical DMC battles, so that's a great idea by DMC, and I hope
they continue forever.
M: I know
also that you decided to move to the USA in the 90's, Could you tell us
something more ?
W.S: I met a woman from New York at the DMC world finals in London in 1990.
We stayed in touch over the phone and I'd send her mixtapes and early beats I
made with the turntables and two tape decks. She hooked me up with Tricky Tee
as well who was an emcee who was down with the Zulu Nation, and released
records on Sleeping Bag Records like Johnny The Fox is a classic that was
produced by Mantronix so he was the first emcee I worked on tracks with back
then in the early 90's. After about a year of doing that we decided, I was
ready to move to New York, so I did, she became my manager, she knew everyone
on the Hip hop scene, and the club scene in New York, so through her and a
friend of hers who was a bouncer and party promoter in New York, I got my first
DJ gigs there, and I got to met and know the DJ's and artists I grew up
listening to, so I became a well known DJ in New York within about six months.
I was also good at mixing by then, so I would mix just a little bit better and
more than most DJ's there which is how I made a name for myself and built my
rep on the New York club, and Hip hop scene. Also I hooked up with BDP (Boogie
Down Productions), and DJ'd some parties with them, and became an extended fam
member of BDP which was great as KRS 1 was one of my heroes from back in the
days and BDP pretty much ruled New York at the time. There was nothing as dope
as a BDP show so I did some parties with them, then I hit the studio with
Jamalski who was also BDP fam where we made the song “Hangin' Tree” on his
first album Roughneck Reality on Sony/Ruffhouse Records. I stayed in New York
on, and off for about 3 years then I decided to move back to Norway, cause I
was more into DJ'ing back then and I had reached my goal which was to make it
as a DJ on the New York club, and Hip hop scene, so when I had done that, and
DJ'd all the clubs there, it was time to move on. I moved back to Norway and
put everything I had learned in New York plus all the inspiration from there
into making beats, so I copped an SP-1200 sampler and lots of records and just
made beats all the time. Anyway we could talk forever about stories from New
York, cause I played all the best clubs, and I played with everyone from BDP to Guru, Masta Ace, Ultramagnetic MC's,
and so on, there was so much great and weird shit going on there it would never
stop haha, so I'll leave it there.
M: I know
that track "Who's in town" was never officialy released. Could you
tell us why ?
W.S: We recorded that at a studio in the Bronx called Rough Luxury where The
UMC's, and LA Star recorded among others, and it was a demo that we shopped to
the record labels in New York but we didn't get signed so it stayed a demo.
It's a dope track though. Very hardcore for it's time too, I sampled everything
from Dennis Coffey to Slayer on that one. We were in touch with labels like
Profile where Funkmaster Flex was the A&R, and he was a friend of mine and
Tricky, and also Tuff City Records, and a couple of others. They all liked it
but not enough to sign us and release it. The same thing happened with me and
other crews I made tracks with in New York. We got close to being signed but it
didn't happen, so I knew I had to step my beat-game up which is why I left the
city to focus on becoming a good producer. I'm the kind a guy who needs peace
and quiet around me to be creative, so I couldn't do that in New York, so the
only right thing to do then I felt was going back home to learn the art of
making beats and producing.
M: What is your relations between BDP members nowadays
?
W.S: We're not in touch so much nowadays but I've talked online recently
with some members like KRS' brother ICU, Jamalski, and KRS through Domingo when
he was in the studio to record his verse for Monumental. BDP ended back in the
90's around the time KRS started releasing solo albums.
M: Track
"Hangin' tree" was also used on the soundtrack to the movie
"Last Action Hero"
W.S: Yeah. The instrumental was used for about 20 minutes in "Last Action
Hero" during the scenes at the police station mostly. When we did the song we
made instrumental mixes of it that lasted about an hour so parts of those mixes
were used in the movie but not on the soundtrack to it. I still have that 1
hour instrumental in the archives though.
M: As you
mentioned, you had also an occasion to meet icons of hip hop culture, can you
tell us what it looked like ? I know that Afrika Bambaataa and Dj Red Alert also
told something about your skills. Tell us something more about it
W.S: That was an honor to meet them, I mean those were the superheroes I
grew up listening to, and especially Bambaataa. I first met Red Alert in London
at the DMC's so I knew him a little before I came to New York. I met him at
clubs again there and just said what up and talked about Hip hop and me moving
to New York to be a part of the scene there, so we DJ'd at a couple of clubs
together after a while, and Red Alert was always around like most people then
would hang out at the clubs, so you got to meet people there. Afrika Bambaata I
met at a BDP show. I DJ'd as the opening act at The Ritz which is more like a
venue that holds about 3000 people and it was packed, and I tore it down. I did
all my best routines that night, and just rocked the party with great music,
and skills on the tables. Bambaata was there, and being a friend of Tricky Tee
introduced us, so Bam shook my hand, and said "I like your scratchin'
son!" hahaha which is like some of the highest props you can get. I mean I
could've probably died a happy man after that night knowing I got props from
the founding Godfather of Hip hop. He also listed me as a member of the Zulu
Nation in New York after that night and I was a member up until they had some
new rules a couple of years ago, so everyone had to get listed again but I'm a
Zulu at heart for life, and meeting Bambaataa and gettin' props for my DJ'ing
from him was definitely one of the best moments of my life. Red Alert was
hosting that BDP show I DJ'd at The Ritz in New York where I met Bambaataa, and
what Red said after I was done DJ'ing before KRS came on stage was "We got
Jesus Christ on the turntables tonight!" lol ...so I guess I really rocked
that show extra hard! haha...also, Clark Kent and DJ Scratch came up in the DJ
area that night and asked me if they could play for about ten minutes, so they
did and we became friends after that, and especially Clark who was known as the
best Hip hop DJ in New York at the time. I used to run into and kick it with at
the clubs all the time and he also hooked me up with free records as he was
working as the A&R at Atlantic Records, and the same with Funkmaster Flex
as he was working at Profile. Flex and I DJ'd several clubs together too after
that, and a couple of gigs with Biz Markie too when he first started DJ'ing
out. He was known more as a human beatbox before that for Roxanne Shante. Good
times! Still...that gig at The Ritz was the peak for me. I played plenty of
clubs after but I soon realized that the Ritz gig couldn't be topped and that
was one very important reason I left New York too because when you can't top
something it's time to move on, and that's the same way I feel now with my
producer albums feat. various artists that when you start getting to a point
where you feel, you can't top yourself the only smart move is to change things
up, and move on.
M: Is
that true that you also met Heavy D (RIP) ?
W.S: Yeah I met Heavy D a couple of times. Once at the premier for the
movie, I think it was either House Party 1 or 2, cause we were in the same row
as him, and Busta Rhymes. That was quite fun watching a comedy with Busta
beside you as he was doing anything but keeping quiet haha. Another time when
we recorded “Hangin' Tree” at Unique Studios. There was a pool room where we
was kickinn’ it between recording sessions, so we ran into Heavy D, Latifah,
Pete Rock, and some more people there. Talking about that I also met and DJ'd
for Guru a few times. I was at the studio with him and DJ Premier when they
recorded the vocals for “Flip The Script” from the “Daily Operation” album and
Preemo would show me the stack of records he sampled from for the album cause
he actually made the beats for it in the studio, that was at D&D studios,
and Guru used to hang out at Giant Step which was a Jazz/Hiphop club. I DJ'd a
lot at and Guru would grab the mic there and freestyle all the time. Actually
his Jazzamatazz project came about because of that club, and his tour DJ for
the Jazzamatazz tours was Jazzy Nice who was a resident DJ at Giant Step and
also a co-producer of “Hangin' Tree”. I gotta add that both Guru and Premier
were very down to earth and nice people who would treat people around them real
well, whether it was a nobody or somebody from their crew, so I have a lot of
respect for Guru and it was sad when he passed away. R.I.P.
M: How Dj Fresh became a White Shadow ?
W.S: The switch happened in New York.
DJ Fresh was a little 80's, so I was lookin' for a new name. People kept
telling me "You're like the White Shadow" and I had no clue what they
were talking about, so I just "Ok" lol, but then my man Mac who was
the bouncer/promoter I talked about who also worked for my manager told me it
was a TV show from the 70's about this white basketball coach, who came to the
hood to teach the people there how to play, and yes it was a little bit cocky
takin' a name with that meaning behind it! haha, but since people called me
that anyway I thought that, ok that's cool I'm the White Shadow. I actually
already called myself DJ Shadow a little before that but then the west coast DJ
Shadow won the unsigned hype in The Source, so I needed a new name too, so New
York named me, not me. lol
M: 10 years ago you released your first EP called "Back To The
Trueschool". Do you plan any reissue
W.S: That's right. It's ten years ago now and I had planned a reissue of a
limited edition of like 50 copies cause that's about what I got left to sell,
but I got so much other stuff coming this year, so I doubt it will happen.
Maybe if I find one distributor who pays me real well for them, or maybe I'll
drop them later or just sell them on ebay, we'll see.
M: When and why you decided to run your own label ?, I know that you had a
lot of offers to sign a deal ?, but you decided to stay independent, why ?
W.S: After New York, I used to hang
out a lot at the major and indie labels there, and with a lot of people who
worked at the labels. It was different back then cause you had people, who were
involved in the Hip hop scene who was the A&R's signing the artists, like
Funk Flex at Profile, Clark Kent at Atlantic, Dante Ross at Elektra, Lyor Cohen
at Tommy Boy and later Def Jam etc. and that's why the good artists had major
deals back then, but it started changing. It got more commercial. Record-execs
tried to sign more commercial artists or they tried to push the Hip hop artists
to go more commercial, naturally cause there was more money to make that way. I
didn't like all that, so I decided I didn't want to be a part of the
established music industry anymore but instead do my own thing independently,
now because of that I have made less money than I probably could have, but I've
been able to make and put out exactly the music that I wanted to, and like
myself, and I think it's better to have a normal life, like not being rich and
famous, but having enough to live well and make the kinda music I like, so to
me it will always be music first, business second but I know the biz and take
care of it well but I never let it get in the way of the music, so that's why I
started and still run my own label, Uncut Productions. The people I just
mentioned were as much responsible for the golden era and also the end of it
happening as the artists themselves cause if they hadn't got signed to the
majors, the world outside of Hip hop would've never known about artists like Wu
Tang, Mobb Deep, De la soul etc. Sean C from the X-ecutioners… Roc Raida and
them... was A&R at Loud Records who signed Wu, Mobb etc and RCA distributed
them.
M: The Scandinavian countries are known that for most of the year is winter
there, many people also suffer from depression because of that. Your
productions perfectly captures this atmosphere and match to your scratches,
which together form a creepy harmonious. Could you tell something more about it
?
W.S: Thanks! I'm
happy to hear that, cause that's how I feel about my music too so you're def
100% on point with that. There's winter about nine months a year here, and the
summers are usually cold, so I'm sure my music reflects that, and I've always
been into dark sounding Hip hop, that's always been my main style, but I'm as
much inspired by my love of Horror movies, plus New York's in my heart too. I
left NY but NY never left me, so the east coast sound is in there, and also the
cold, dark climate in Norway though I actually love the winter and especially
fall. That's my favorite seasons. I'm not really all that much of a running to
the beach as soon as the sun comes out kind a guy, plus that's impossible here
cause the water's so cold anyway it'd freeze your nuts clean off!
M: As we know scandinavian countries also are motherland of black metal. I know
that your also influenced by this genere, correct me if I’m wrong but you also
grew up on it ?
W.S: That peaked
around the time I came back from New York, about 1994. That's when there was
all the talk about church burnings, and the killings and all that, and that was
also the end of it. It got too extreme and people were serving long prison
sentences because of that, but musically that was the best era of Black Metal
too. I was always into metal, and Horror movies, they sorta go together. I grew
up being a fan of Kiss, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Mercufyl Fate, Venom, Slayer,
Kreator, and then the Norwegian Black Metal like Mayhem, Burzum, Darkthrone,
etc… I visited the infamous shop in Oslo named Hell but the shop was closed
down by then, but they still had notes in the window and that Venom album cover
that you can see in documentaries about that era but that's as far as I got,
and I liked the music. It was really anti-music, and very lo-fi, and that's how
Black Metal at it's best was supposed to sound, but you know all the media hype
that surrounded it put an end to it in a lot of ways. It still exists now but
is a respected musical genre now. Can you say boring ? lol. Boring compared to
the golden era of that music anyway which was the early to mid 90's though like
Hip hop a few bands still keep Black Metal alive.
M: In 2004 you helped Malay Sparks on
his album "Graymatter", that was not the first collaboration between
you and him, can we expect more projects in the future ?
W.S: We were gonna do something for my next album “Nightmare Concert”, but
he got at me last week and the album was done then, but yeah we'll probably colab
again in the future. The last thing we did was an EP called “The Horror”. We
did it together with German producer King Katalogas in 2010
M: Could you tell us something more about the album Silje Nergaard -
"LIMOM"
W.S: That was Maylay
Sparks debut album called “Legend In My Own Mind”, and “My Heart” was one of
the singles. That was a re-work of Norwegian Jazz singer Silje Nergaard's song “Be
Still My Heart” which was No. 1 on the charts in Norway. The label, City
Connections, who released Maylay's album knew Silje, and got at her, so we got
permission to use the song, and she also gave us the acapellas, so we could
chop, remix, etc. That was a cool colab right there. Unfortunately the label
decided to shut down just about right after Maylay's album dropped, so it
didn't do nearly as well as it had potential for so that was plain old bad
luck, but heads know about it, and CD copies of the album are very rare now
because only a few 100 were released, and the remaining copies were destroyed
when the label shut down, so it's goin' for a few hundred dollars now I've
heard.
M: Tell something more about DVD
"Molesting Hip Hop"
W.S: That's a CD/DVD combo and it was Majik Most's debut album. He's an
AOTP/Demigodz affiliate who I've worked with a few times. It has the J-Zone
remix of Extra Thug Sauce with me doing the cuts on it that came out on my “Renegades”
album first.
M: In 2005 you decided to release your first full length album
"Renegades". Tell us something more about it ?
W.S: It was originally titled “Let It Be Known”, and had about 3 or 4 more
songs on it, some which are still unreleased. At first I tried to get that
signed to a lot of different labels and I did get signed, but the label fucked
around, I got off that contract and got it signed again, that label ended their
biz right before they were gonna drop it, then another label wanted to release
it, but basically wanted me to pay for it all myself upfront, it was the worst
kinda deal ! lol, and at the beginning of the era where the internet took over
the Hip hop labels had big problems and most of them disappeared, so finally
after a few years of nonsense like that I decided to remix it, add some new
tracks, remove others, and put it out on Uncut Productions, so I renamed it to “Renegades”,
pressed 1000 CD's, distributed them to the Hip hop stores, both physical, and
online stores like ughh.com and sandboxautomatic.com and sold out in no time.
That album got a lot of props, got me a lot of new contacts, and friends too,
so I kept building from there, and finally started producing for various
artists mostly from the US, on the regular. The “Renegades” album was a good
start. It's not my favourite of my own albums now but it had some great songs
on it, featuring among others Celph Titled, J-Zone, Supastition, Wordsworth,
Maylay Sparks, and other well known Hip hop artists.
M: Before your official full length albums you were
released also a 4 mixtapes, I know that they are not available anymore, Could
you tell something more about it ?
W.S: They were posted on my blog at uncutproductions.blogspot.com a while
ago but when Megaupload died, so did the links lol. I might upload them again
some day. They were basically me goin' crazy with DJ techniques for the most
part, a lot of scratchin' and jugglin' and blends of the hot records at the
time in the mid/late 90's. One of them also had segments of a live show in
Norway with Supernatural and DJ Noize, and another from a party with the crew
here back then that sounds a lot like old school tapes from The Bronx in the
early years of Hip hop with Apache, Dance to the drummers beat etc in the mix.
M: Tell something more about your
collaborations with AOTP, about the track „Narrow Grave” and also about samples
that were used in it.
W.S: My man Villa
who I put on as co-producer of the song found the record with the samples for
it at a local library and messed around with it for years. That was a beat he
made that we used to rock when we had parties with the crew, then we forgot
about it until years later when I copped a used computer from someone in the crew
and there was a folder with old beats on that including that sample. I always
liked that so I decided to make a beat of it, I did, and left it in the
archives. A few years later I got in touch with Planetary from Outerspace on
Myspace, and asked if they needed beats. They did so I sent em a CD. There was
a little space left at the end of the CD so I put that old loop from the
archives there to fill the CD, and that's the beat they picked for Narrow
Grave. Thay had decided to have producers outside the crew and from overseas to
produce the Tortute Papers album, so me producing for that also fit the
concept. The Philly scene seems like a rather small one where everybody knows
everybody so I think my man Maylay Sparks who's also from Philly put in a good
word for me to Vinnie Paz cause I had told Maylay I wanted to do a song with
Jedi Mind Tricks around the time when Violent By Design dropped cause I thought
Stoupe and me were into some of the same styles of beats, and sure enough, at
first a lot of people thought Stoupe had produced Narrow Grave lol, but it was
me with my boy Villa on the samples. I had also worked with Celph Titled before
who was an AOTP member too. I'm very happy about having produced Narrow Grave,
and my placement on the Torture Papers album because that album's a classic
now, so even if all the other music I've done would be forgotten, that album
will stand as a Hip hop classic forever, and it was one of my goals to do music
that will be remembered forever, and as long as there's Hip hop that album will
be, so mission accomplished as far as that's concerned.
M: You mentioned also about your unreleased tracks, Could you tell something
more about them ?
W.S: Some were released on other albums at the time. I think two of them on
The Pizdamen's “Red Stars” album. The other two were a couple of R&B type
tracks, so I doubt I'll ever release as they aren't all that great.
M: Aaron Wade, Bobby Brewski and Clark Bent are members of The Pizdamen, they
are also your friends. I know that you were responsible also for the production
on their album "Red Star’s", but you never met them personally, Could
you tell something more about your collaborations with them ?
W.S: Yeah. That all started with me buying one of their albums from
Sandboxautomatic.com. They were called Strange Brew then, their album cover had
an email add on it, I mailed them to ask if they wanted to be featured on my
vinyl EP and 1st album, they did, and they also had a Hip hop radio show in
Milwaukee where they're from, we got along well and became friends, I produced
the follow up to that first Strange Brew album I copped @ Sandbox and the first
Pizdamen album, and they've also been featured on most of my albums. I wanna
give them and Milwaukee a special big shout and props here cause they looked
out for me at a time when not many others did here or in the US so big props to
the Pizda's and Milwaukee!
M: Tell us also who is Myke Perv ?
W.S: Myke Perv is me...on the mic. I've always been rhyming too since about
the mid 80's but it's something I do on the side. Producing and DJ'ing are my
main things but who knows...maybe there will be a full Myke Perv album some
day.
M: Let's get back to the 2004. In this year you won the award for the best
turntablist in Norway, you also helped to made a chapter to the book, tell
something more about those experiences?
W.S: They used to
have the Norwegian Hiphop Awards back then, and I'm the only DJ in Norway to
win a best Turntablist award. They also started a museum in Norway called
Rockheim where they have a Hiphop section with stuff by me on display too like
one of my old turntables and mixer, some gear, pix, medallions, etc so man I
feel jurassic actually being in a museum when I'm still alive! lol...nah
actually it's a big honor man, definitely. They also wrote Hiphop Heads which
is like the Norwegian history book on Hiphop from Norway, and I got my own
chapter in that. I also helped write the chapter on Hiphop used at the
universities in Norway in a book called Wow. They got at me and asked if I
wanted to do it and for sure I wanna be in the history and higher educational
books, hell yeah, lol, so I did it, but it probably needs an update now though
as Hiphop's changed a lot since then. That was in the late 90's I did that, I
think.
M: know that "destini.co.za" was inspired you to make the albumy
"Destiny"
W.S: Yeah, and the same year I made
the “Next Universe” album, they were called “Desteni Universe” so that was
sorta a funny coincidence but I was aware of them during the time I made the “Destiny”
album. I found some of their videos on Youtube, started watching, and found it
interesting about all the interviews they did with beings from other dimensions
and well known people in history who has passed away, etc. and found their
ideas of oneness and equality to be a good way to change the world for the
better, but still I think their mission is very difficult, not impossible, but
very difficult, so it's something I'm not gonna dedicate my life to work for as
I have enough with the music, but I support their ideas however radical they
may be, and I hope they accomplish their goals which is to divide goods equally
all over the planet to make it a more balanced world, which will eventually end
wars, poverty, etc. cause all that boils down to money at the end of the day.
You don't have enough money then you got problems but we have enough money and
resources on earth to divide it all equally all over the planet. Desteni's
ideas, a lot of them are brand new so it's not part of any political or
spiritual movement, and I recommend people to check them out if you are REALLY
open-minded, but as of becoming a full time member of Desteni or dedicate my
life to what they do, I'm not gonna do that cause music is my lifetime mission,
but I support them.
M: Renegades, Untouchable, Victory those albums form together a saga, tell
us something more about it.
W.S: That saga is something to be taken a little lightly. I sorta made that
up as I went along, and I've ended it now as “666” was not a part of that saga,
so instead I'll say that “Renegades” was the beginning and it was good, “Untouchable”
was the follow up and it was ok but I still hadn't found my own style 100% yet,
but I had when I made “Victory” so that's the most important album of my career
as far as finding my styles of production and cuts that I'd build on from
there. I had actually planned to stop after “Untouchable” cause I was diggin'
and diggin' but I just couldn't find that next shit, that next sound and trust
me man, I had dug through all kinds a genres of music and sound...or so I
thought, but then after a couple of years of doing it all came together, and “Victory”
was the result of that, and the turning point of my music. The reason why I
still make albums too.
M: In 2012 you did the scratches on Chief Kamachi’s album "Rise and
Rhyme". Personally to me "Chuck D" was one of the hottest joint
in this year, could you tell something more about your collaborations with
Machi ?
W.S: Yeah I agree, Chuck D was a banger, and that whole album was great. My
personal fav of the tracks I did cuts on for that album is 90's Flow. That's
the closest you can get to the Violent By Design type of sound in recent years
I think, it sounds like a lost track from VBD or something, at least beatswise.
I hooked up with Kamachi online but he's crew with Maylay Sparks too, they used
to be in Ill Advised together back in the 90's and had quite a big hit with the
1986 joint. Kamachi was also on Imperialism from the Savage album. He's a dope
emcee and good peoples, and we've made some bangers together no doubt.
M: Tell something about Mark Deez album
“The Oracle 2”.
W.S: It's the follow up to the first Oracle of course. I did production and
cuts on a few songs on Oracle 2 as well but it was more Mark's album than the
first that was released on my label. Mark had a one album deal with me, so
Oracle 2 was released on Ill-legit Records which is Doc Ill from Grindhouse
Gang's label. A great follow up album in my opinion where Mark stepped it up on
the rhymes quite a few notches from the first one which is also a great album
with dope production by The Snowgoons, Domingo, and myself among others. Fans
of hardcore Hiphop definitely need both albums.
M: Could you tell us something more about your upcoming projects?
W.S: I can tell you
about my next album “Nightmare Concert” a little. It will drop soon in 2013,
and it's my final album in the style of me featuring various artists on the mic
with me on production, and cuts. It's got 11 songs on it featuring a combo of
Hip hop legends and underground artists as usual, and I feel it's my best
album. I think after Victory, then Destiny, then Savage, then 666, and now
Nightmare Concert, my albums have gotten better for every album, but now I've
done 7 albums so it's time to move on after this one, but I'll still do music
as long as I'm alive I think, so after NC I'll still make beats, and sell them
off and online. I'll continue my Instrumental album series, and maybe I'll do
like a concept album or two but my main priority will actually be writing. I'm
planning to write books in the crime/horror genre and hopefully make that a
better living than being an underground Hip hop artist is. I also don't mind
selling out when writing. I don't mind doing that for the money, but I'd never
do that with Hip hop cause it's too important of a life-saving movement to fuck
with like that. Also, I feel accomplished musically. I've done what I wanted
with Hip hop now, made songs featuring 90% of the artists I like, and have in
my opinion anyway, pushed the limits of Hip hop production and scratching, and
it's been one hell of a great and fun mission which is now coming to an end,
but not without a final super-banger, and Nightmare Concert is that.
M: What are your plans for the future as a publisher ?
W.S: As a producer
to release more instrumental Hip hop, as a label publisher, they'll be released
on Uncut Productions, but I most likely won't sign any more artists to the
label unless I hear someone that blows me away, so much I don't have a choice!
lol. I also plan to get at some publishers in a while, cause I'm working on
writing books nowadays. One is a crime/horror series that I just started, the
other one is my bio where I talk about my life as a DJ, producer, in New York,
etc.
M: What do you think about hip hop condition nowadays ?
W.S: Hip hop now is still alive and well. I'm happy to see new generations
of young artists coming up who have respect for Hip hop and know the history of
the culture and make music with the respect that it deserves. There's Hip hop
and then there's Rap music. Jedi Mind Tricks is Hip hop, Lil Wayne is Rap
music, White Shadow is Hip hop, Drake is Rap music, and that's not just me
saying that...everyone agrees that Mozart is classical and Iron Maiden is metal
right?...so word there it is! lmao Not all music with Rap in it is Hip hop!
There's a difference and most people know it, so I wish they'd stop labeling
Rap/Pop music as Hip hop because it gives a fake and bad image of what Hip hop's
about, but yeah Hiphop's generally well off but it's a little stuck in the
golden era of the 90's and I don't know if that's all that good cause if it
never moves on it will die out, outta boredom in the end, and we're already
seeing what could be the end of it cause nowadays...how many good albums drop
in a year ? 5 ? 10 ? Not even that many? That's not a good sign, but I'm sure
someone will keep it moving and there'll always be some dope artists and music
to check for however the best era, when this music was new, exciting, and being
developed is over. Maybe not forever who knows, but I think in recent years
Dance music, House, Dubstep, etc. has a lot more exciting and new stuff
happening and more releases too, so the golden era yeah it's definitely gone
but Hip hop will continue but it has seen better days however, Hip hop's a lot
more than just rhymes and cuts on a beat. House music and Dubstep came from
Electro which again came from hip hop and then again from electronic music and
the Funk so it's all parts of the one as we are.
M: You are also a member of the Guerilla Republic ?
W.S: I'm not a member but they got good things goin' so I support em. My man
Capital X who's originally from Brooklyn, lives in Norway, and runs Guerilla
Republik out here, and I've done songs with him featuring Sadat X, and
Outerspace.
M: You worked with the living legends like G Rap, Masta Ace, Melle Mel, Edo G
etc. You heard from the culture icon that you are a "jesus on the
turntables". You also passed into the history and you are a living legend
in your country. Do you feel satisfied musically ?
W.S: Yes and no. Yes cause I've accomplished a lot of what I wanted to do
musically, and have done songs with a lot of the artists I like though mostly
through the internet now, which is not exactly the same as back in the days
when you actually had to team up in the studio to make music, but yes as far as
hardcore Hip hop featuring a lot of my favorite artists on a lot of my best
beats, I've done about 90% of what I wanted to do, and I'm more than happy with
that so I'm ready to move on now after “Nightnare Concert” drops, and will
probably make more instrumental Hip hop and beats albums then because I've
worked so much with emcee's and it's been great ! I got so much love for every
artist I've worked with, and I am very happy that it could be hooked up and
that it all happened, so a mega huge special big shout out and massive respect
to ALL the artists I've ever worked with. Thank you so much for being featured
on my songs whether it was an exclusive verse or a remix type joint etc. I'm
incredibly grateful for everything that's happened, and everyone I've had the
opportunity to work with, but now I feel it's time to move on and represent me
more as an artist than me featuring other people. I'm not a great emcee, so
I'll probably keep it mostly instrumental from now on, and will continue the
instrumental album series plus sell beats to other people, and also do cuts on
a very rare occasion but I'm tired of cutting to be honest with you, so it will
be extremely rare that I do them, but no, I'll never stop doin' music, and
there might also be a single droppin' sometimes with me on beats and cuts with
featured artists but no more albums in that style after “Nightmare Concert”,
and that's because I'm happy with what I've accomplished so it's time for
change.
M: Ok, what can I wish you for the future ?
W.S: You can wish me a good, long, and healthy life, and I wish you the same
my man!
M: Any shout out at the end ?
W.S: Big shout to my family, friends, and people I make music with. You know
who you are. Much love and respect to y'all, and thanks Marcin for a great
interview! It was fun, and probably the most in-depth interview I've done.
M: Thanks for agreeing to this interview and for your time
sites:
facebook.com/whiteshadowofnorway
youtube.com/TWSUncut
twitter.com/djwhiteshadow69
thewhiteshadowofnorway.bandcamp.com/
Marcin "HBR" Habrowski
