SOUTH PARK COALITION

with friendly permission by the german hip-hop site www.hiphop-jam.net

text and interview by Gordon Wuellner

the original of the germanophone interview can be read here:

Interview part 1

Next to your new album „Solitary Confinement“, which will be released on the 27thOctober,  another new CD of you hits the stores on the 21st September: “Speed Of Thought”, which is a collaboration with the UK Label Wolfpack. What makes the connection between Late and you so special?

We started to meat about 9 or 10 years ago, when they just had release done of their early albums. Always liked their music, always liked their production. They had some South Park sound. And Late was just a straight forward type of rapper, that spit a lot of knowledge in his lyrics. Me made the connection and never looked back.

Except for UK Rap, do you know about rap from other European countries?

A good friend of mine in Germany, a guy named Psycomatic. I was on his album “Im Angesicht des Bösens” and also I worked with one of the best producers in Germany in my opinion: Keyza Soze. He produced about probably 4 of my albums, including the new that I’m working on now. So, I always had a strong affiliation with German rappers or producers… and definitely German fans. Because Germany is one of the biggest international markets for the SPC.

You have released more than 16 albums and you are featured on many Underground records, but you always shine with new ideas in your songs. It never gets boring. Where you get all these ideas and inspirations from?

Well, I have to get a credit to god. All the inspiration comes from god. All thought and originality comes from god. So,when I’m just sitting around and come up with a new idea, I just give him the credit and give him thanks that he was able to let me walk into the thought,into the idea and then use a talent that he blessed me with. Manifested to bring it to life, just try to be the best I could be. And also we have to lookat what’s going on in the industry. Everyone tries to sounds like everybodyelse and that’s a motivational factor for me to try to go in a different direction. I don’t want to do what everybody else is doing. I try to speak on topics that nobody has ever touched before. And if I do touch something that has touched before, than I try to make sure that I do it in a different way.That’s my motivation.

You have a few songs like “Waste Man” or “Years Just Pass”, where you criticise somebody’s lifestyle. Do you want to awake people with songs like that by showing them their own reflection?

Yeah, you have to do it sometimes. It’s a thin line from you to the people you clean up. See, because the first thing you have to do when you do a song with that nature, is to look at yourself. You have to put the mirror in front of your own face. Because we all have short coming to the falls.

But also, there are different degrees of that type of songs. You have songs where you kind of patting people on the back, advise ‘em to to better. Then you have songs where you dealing with low down, low good people that you have to address in their fashion. Because lyrics that you hear on songs like “Waste Man” are a result of a hypo tactical situation, where we try to put a guy right for years. He past the point of tryna talk sweet to ‘em and talk nice to ‘em. Now we just got to let ‘em have it. And if he take it the wrong way, take it the wrong way.

Your vocabulary is gigantic and you play with words like a child plays with its toys. How would you describe your rapture and love for words?

I try to be different. I try to push my mind as far as it can go. And if I know that I push my mind as far as it can go then it’s automatically going to force the listener to push his mind, because he’s is going to have to research what I’m talking about, whatever for an topic it is. He is going to have to look up a particular word that I use. And in a industry where all the music is been gone down andeverybody is trying to rap more basic, I’m trying to make people think. I don’t wanna dumb you down, I wanna increase your intelligence.

If you’re not in a situation, where you wanna be educated and learn something, than my album is the wrong album.

Ok, but If I listen to a song like “BreakIt Down”, than I think that words are your hobby, that you love nothing more than complicated words.

Oh yeah, I mean It’s a part of a challenge. Especially when I write a song like “Break It Down”. I think of all the great rappers: Past, Present and Future. And I have to make sure that I lay down a standard that everybody else is going to live up to. Just like when Rakim wrote “FollowThe Leader”. Or when KRS One wrote “Poetry”, or when Canibus writes a greatsong… when they write a good song, it sets a standard. All the other rappers have to reach up to their standard now. So, It’s a competition. A friendly competition, because it’s like: “You know what? I am going to do something that hasn’t been done.” So if people hear it I want ‘em to say: “I wish I had the thought to do that!” So, but if they still will do it, they have to work hard to reach it on that level that I have it done.

Describe the process you had to go through to get your treasury of words. What did you do for that?

Years of reading and study. If you read something and you read a word that you’ve never seen before, you look it up, than you learn what the meaning of it is. So once I got into this rap game I analysed rappers like T La Rock, Kool Moe Dee or KRS One, the intelligent rappers who used big words. Especially T La Rock. It was a motivation for me.

So I couldn’t take credits for it like I invented it, but I do feel like I grabbed the whole of it and mastered it really good. But it’s jut a process of wanting to acquire more knowledge. You have to wanna learn. You have to wanna be able to t use more than just the basic words that your  language exists of.

And also I have to credit my parent, because I feel that I come from some pretty intelligent genetics.

Political and social criticisms are one of the many topics you talk about in your songs. If it’s in a funny way like in“President K” or in a serious way like in “Blood Doctrine”.

Are you even a little bit happier with the political situation of your country since the new president moved in the whitehouse?

It’s not much of a difference, man! The truth of the matter is, that we have several respect for Barack Obama, but the fact is, that he has an unfixable situation. Because previous regimes left so much damage, that is such a blow to the countries: Economy, the staff of steam, the unemployment, the war, the drugs. All these things been going on for years! And then one guy comes in and is expected to clean that up overnight. You can’t just drop a bomb on him.

So nothing will change if we vote for President K next time?

[Laughs] Ay, a few things will change if y’all votefor me, man! Because first: I’m going to break everything back down to it slowest compound and we going to start this thing all over. But Staff! They might not agree with my staff! Cats like Bil O’reily, a lot of these racist foxnew reporters, they wouldn’t be to happy with my staff.

[Laughs] Alright! As somebody who is in the game for more than 20 years, how do you see your own development as an artist from the C.O.D. album to now?

It’s a long way, man! I’m happy, because I feel like Ihave grown as an artist, grown as a person. I thing you have to grow as a person, before you grow as an artist. Because, you know, those life experience stranslate over to your music, so the development been good, it’s been good. No was far as it’s getting better in my craft as a writer: That’s a NEVER ending process. Feel like as long as you in it, you can get better. As long as you work on your skill and push to get better, you can always get better. But take me in 2009 compared to me in 1990, when we drop the first C.O.D. The 1990-K-Rino was a little bit meaner. I’m kind of made back know, I wish I kind of head that passion I had back when I was younger.

Let’s talk about your feature with Scarface on his last album “Emeritus”. Do you have the feeling that more people know you since you were featured on the song? Or has nothing changed?

I don’t feel a big change! If it would have happened 10 years ago, it would have been a bigger difference. You got an artist like ‘Face, who is one of the greatest of all time and a lot of people not really knowing that he put a new album out and his album was one of the greatest to come out. It’s a shame how messed up the industry is now. All of these wack rap, that we got going on out here now. So I know that back in the days, when the game was still real. If I then made the appearance on that album, then It would have big impact on me, my career and on my future projects… Instantly! Now, it’s like, you know the die-hard Face fans,they go out and get it and if people know me they’ll say “Ok, I heard K’ on that”… I got a lot of props! Don’t get me wrong, but for the people who don’t know me, they might just well say “Oh there is some new guy rapping with him and Slim Thug.”

But I mean, we really waited on that. You even had a song names “The Set Up” back in the days, where Scarface was involved in a story. I was like: “He even has a song with Scarface involved in a story, but they don’t even have a song together!” I was like: Damn!

[Laughs]Yeah, you know me and Face been cool for a long time. But sometimes it’s leaving; the music side of it is leaving. Because it’ll be two artist that never worked together and people will feel like “They must not know each other, must not be cool with each other”. It is a different situation, you know. The label issues or something like that. It’s some kind of things that might keep two artists working together, but all over all, behind the scene, we always been cool.

Interview part 2

Is it the same with the Screwed Up Click? Because I mean the SUCand SPC are the biggest rap groups in Texas, but except for Hawk, Z-Ro& Trae I never see you really working with them. For example: Not with Lil’ KeKe, ESG, Grace… why was that?

In certain situations it’s just the case that other guys just don’t knoweach other like that. You know we have neutral respect and we greeteach other when we see us, but we never really just were cool likethat. KeKe is in my opinion one of the top 5 artist that ever came outof Houston. We were justnever in a situation where we were close likethat, that we made a song together. And there are other guys that Idon’t even know. Mentioning Grace, I don’t even know Grace personally like that. I don’t even know if we met, if we did it may be once or twice. But ESG, and myself we go way back. ESG is a example like it was with Face, we go waaay back, back to the “Swanging and Banging” days. We always been cool, but we never actually did a song together. He is in one of my videos! I have a song called “On My Side” from the “TimeTraveler” album and ESG makes a cameo. It was cool for a lot of people to see me with cats, that they normally not would affiliate me with, wouldn’t connect with.

So the relationship between SUC and SPC wasn’t really different before DJ Screw died? Because I think he was a link between SPC and SUC. Am Iright?

I mean he was definitely a link,because I knew Screw before he started the SPC. And I had actually madehim honour to the SPC. So with that being said: By us being so tight,because we went to high school together. He would have introduced thepeople in his click to our music and intern he introduced us to theirmusic and indirectly to his work, putting out the tapes! You know FatPat went to high school with me, but I didn’t know that he was arapper. Fat Pat was a clown class type of dude. But through Screw I learned about Fat Pat, I learned about KeKe, about the whole Screwed UpClick. So he was definitely a link. 

But putting all these samples from Screw or Pat in songs, you’re not a fan of this, right?

People been sampling since the rap game began, when they just let the record play. Freak out play on a record and some guys just picked the mic up and started to rapping on the instrumental. So, I have no problem with that. It’s cool in proper channels, but I’m not a fan of that, because when I do a song with you, I wanna know that we actually worked together. I don’t want a verse from you, because you are in jail, or because somebody died and they gave you a verse. That’s for a few cool,but if I do a verse with Face, I wanna know: We sat in the lap and we put this together. Or we did it just the modern way and he sent me averse. But we definitely put that together, naturally. But a sample? Like a line or a hook or some? Not a fan, but I don’t see a problem with that.

In2008 you released 4 albums. What can you tell us about the feedback, the listeners gave you? Do you just heard positive feedback or were some people like “Mhmmm…. Please, less quantity more quality next time”?

I didn’t get any negativity for that. If there was some out there, thanit is what it is,but I got a lot of positivity, because really I got alot of gratefulness from the fans. They were just happy, that an artist will be willing to provide them with that much music in a 365 day period. Actually less than a year’s time. Because in this day and age,where you hear from rappers In might not 2 years. And then if they do drop every year, than are just like one or two songs good and the rest of the album is weak. …. You know, my goal is to always try to make sure that I give you a quality album in terms of content. It’s going to be like: Somebody’s inviting you to your house for dinner and they just won’t stop feeding you, but you had enough. The food is very good, but you had enough. But they say: “You know what? I’m going to rep’ some ofthis up and give it to you and you can take it with you and eat it later!”

This is what I did last year: I’m sending you off with a bunch of food that you can just eat when you want to eat.

I think your self-titled album“K-Rino” from 1998 was the hardest record you have ever done. It’s a bit different comparing to other of yourworks. Can we see you changing your style a bit in your future projects like you did it in the hard way on the LP“K-Rino”? Or can’t you see it happening?

The thing about that album is that that album didn’t even come out the way it’s supposed to come out. The label really took the creative control on that project. The lyrics spoke for themselves, because where I was standing, was still were Iwas standing, but you never saw me doing an album with just 10 tracks on it. And that album only had 10 songs. They might have been remixedto make it eleven. But they really just had 10 songs on that, because they left a lot of my songs. There were a lot of songs that never made it on that album. Those were great songs, that people would have liked a lot. Ah, and do you saw the covers? Some like a sun with my name going through it- I don’t know what that was! Because when they pissed me off and I told ‘em I wouldn’t do no more work for ‘em, I did not take the album picture. So they had to do the album cover in another form. That was their best thing to put together! A lot of people liked the album. It got my lyrics on that, my concepts on it. So you know, Igot some pride about the album. But I mean, I feel like I’ve done way better.

I had to send them the songs, because I was under a label. I had to summit the songs with ‘em. By them thinking that theywere some rap experts, they thought they could pick and chose what songthey going to use. Now, I never did my work like that, because always had my own label and had creative control of what I wanted to put out,so that was new to me. I didn’t do it like that. They left like 6 songs off my album. A lot of people felt like “That’s my favourite one”, but I would not even put it in my Top 5. May not even crack the top 10 to be honest with you.

And to say that it’s notin your top 5, is a good bridge to our next question: What is your favourite song o fall the songs you’ve recorded? And what is your own favourite album?

To say my favourite song would be impossible. I don’t think I have a favourite song. A couple of years ago somebody asked me my favourite album and I would always say “Fear No Evil” is my favourite album, because I think that album was more reflective of my range, my skills as a writer. I think that album expressed it more than any of ‘em. But since “Fear No Evil” I done“Book # 7”, “BloodDoctrine”, “Triple Darkness Vol. 1” and those albums kind of moved up in the ranking. “Book # 7” may been moving it out the way, so I would probably say “Fear No Evil” and “Book #7”, but it’s very hard.  And you know: Before I dropped “Book Nr. 7”, might thought that I had one black book. And I just revealed the secret on the cover of  “Book Nr. 7” and laid ‘em all out, so people knew how many I had: 7rhyme books full of lyrics.

But if it comes to the best song I got a nomination: What about “What If”? I really loved that song. Best from you I think.

“What If” is one of the best concepts that I came up with.. It was a topic alot of people might have interest on; it’s something that anybody can relate to. Cause we all have that in us. Thinking: “Man, I wish I could go back in time and change a situation. Because if I knew than, what I know now, I’d have done everything in a different way.” But this doesn’t mean, that it would came out for the better.Everything happens for a reason. Best concept!

If you ever stop rapping, what will you do with your Black Books?

[Laughs] Iprobably would buy a safe, would lock ‘em up real tight in it.

And I would pull ‘em out sometimes and just read in it, cuz I do that now any way. Read some of my older stuff. I have pretty much any rhyme Iever wrote in my life in them. Back in high school, middle school,everywhere I ever wrote. I saved ‘em, I can always go back and read all my writes. If it’s from ’84, or June of ’88. I like doing that, I like to know where my mind was back then.

What about selling it on eBay? [laughs]

If somebody wanted to buy my Black Book, it would cost ‘em!

It would not be cheap [laughs]. It’s nothing they can get for under 10.000 dollars. They will have to be come real strong, if they wanted  to purchase my life’s work.

You know somebody that will do this? Tell ‘em to get their bread up and we can talk.

[Laughs]

What are your other future projects next to “Solitary Confinment”? TheC.O.D. album is coming out very soon, right? And I read something about a Z-Ro collaboration. Please bring a little bit light in the dark.

TheC.O.D. album will be out on November! It’s actually an album that meand Dope-E recorded in 2006, but because of certain circumstances i tnever came out, so I’m a go head and put it out by myself. The Z-Ro collaboration is something that we talk about a lot, but it goes back because of several situation.

Z-Ro is a busy man, right?

Yeah,he’s weeeeeight busier than me. He got a lot going on. We recorded songs in there, we got several songs that nobody has ever heard, but we wanted to sit down and come up with a masterpiece. We don’t wanna rush. We want to make sure that people feel like it was worth to wait when they hear this.

Do you think you’ll come to Germany or Austria in the future?

Man, I’m ready to come to Germany!I t’s a shame. It’s one of our biggest markets and nobody has reach us, to bring us over there, man. I been in Australia, just different places. It got to be somebody in Germany that wants to book this SPCshow or K-Rino show or whatever, we can work out. If they wanna see us, then I definitely wanna see them.

Make it happen, Gordon, make it happen! [laughs]

I would support it, for real.

Thank you for the interview, great answers. Really appreciate that.

I appreciate you, man. Let everybody know in Germany, I got much love.One day I’m a come up there, rip it up and we  have some fun there. In the meantime: Buy the album, don’t bootleg it! Join the 1.000 list, anybody who read this. Send me your E-Mail address to my myspace:myspace.com/spckrino, if you want to order the new album when it drops.And I got you covered. We looking for a thousand names, we almost there, but we need some more. And the website is back up:southparkcoalition.webs.com.

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