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Prhymemates Interview
From: prhymemates.com
Interview by: Scuba Gooding Sr. and Mike Dagger
Date: 13th September 2002
Extras: hear the audio of this interview
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Upstairs with the People Under the Stairs (and JazMak)
Friday the 13th in the heart of the "live music capital of the world," (Austin, TX,): the dynamic duo prepared to make their live debut in the Lone Star state. One of L.A.'s best-kept musical secrets, the People Under the Stairs (PUTS, the P), have been gaining momentum and touring the globe since 1998. Following the release of their third album, "OST," the P have finally caught the attention of enough American heads to rock their first tour in the states. As with many of today's underground hip hop phenoms, the American market can be a tough case to crack.
Scuba Gooding Sr. and Mike Dagger of the PRHYMEMATES crew sat down to vibe with "the next big thing" just before they reveal what the majority of Texas heads have been sleeping on. While the crowd slowly filters into the venue, the laid-back Thes One, Double Kay and their hombre JazMak popped the tops on a few cold ones while sharing some thoughts on beats, rhymes and life.
How do you feel about the recent explosion of digging for records and the effect that the internet has had on it?
Thes One: It's becoming trendy and the internet has successfully turned record buying into a commodity. People are hoarding the music and are basically acting like elitists. First off, to appreciate the $300 record on eBay, these cats first need to learn how to appreciate the $1 records from cats like Grover Washington Jr. Digging isn't about getting records and finding loops. Digging is about learning and understanding the contribution of a certain group of people to the musical history of America. If more people were to get out from behind their computers and hit up their local record stores, they'd learn to appreciate it more. Digging provides the opportunity to find records that you have heard about and also the chance to find 3 or 4 records that you weren't looking for. Then when you like the records that you stumbled upon, you end developing YOUR OWN musical taste. This whole internet revolution has people looking for the same thing!
Double K: It's like the little graffiti cats these days that go to the store and buy all of their cans. I mean, I remember the cats that had to steal their paint in order to get up!
Thes One: And that goes back to everything else in hip hop. If you don't adhere to rules that have been established by the cats that have been at this for years and years, then why do it? For me, making a beat is not as important as me knowing about music and having the record collection to back it up. I'm only as good as my record collection. My next album is going to suck if I don't keep record shopping. If you bypass the time, blood, sweat and tears of record shopping, then you're undermining the whole art of production. You're half-stepping man! I don't say this because I'm insecure. I say it because I want to see this art keep going on. I want a cat who's 11 to hear our shit and say, "damn... this old music is dope!" Then they'll go to their parent's record collection and say, "oh this sounds like this one song!" Then to the record store... then you've got a beat digger and a music appreciator for life. Then they'll understand politics and a variety of other things better... just as long as they get into that music first. I care about keeping it going, because they kept me going!
After expressing their thoughts on an obviously heart-felt issue, I felt it deserved a pointless follow-up question.
Do you prefer 40's or cans when it comes to drinking?
Double K: Both! I like cans when I'm at home and I don't feel like finishing a whole 40, but if I'm hanging with the fellas... you know... I'll have some 40's. I just like beer period! Shiiiit! I'll drink it out of a coffee mug!
What's it like being the only hip hop group on a label like Om, whose forte is more in electronic music?
Thes One: It's nice! They've never passed judgement on anything we've done. They understand that we know best about what we do... They trust us... plus we're getting across to a whole group of people who wouldn't normally be exposed to our music.
A conversation quickly ensued about how the P was discovered by Om. Basically, a batch of their 12" single that had the classic b-side cut, "Live at the Fishbucket #1" was shipped to Europe in the late nineties. At one store in particular, every copy flew off the shelf in a matter of one day. The store clerk alerted his allies at Om records, who were looking for a hip hop group, and the rest is history. As a result of this interesting occurrence, the crew has experienced ample success overseas.
Based on your experiences as a group thus far, what's your preference when it comes to performing? The USA or Europe?
Thes One: The UK...
Double K: We love the UK, but we'd prefer if our peoples back at home were digging it the way that they dig us over there!
Thes One: It would be ideal if we could get the energy that we get in the UK... people just going out of their way to rock with us! We've spent 3 or 4 years touring over there and we're just now rocking our first tour in the states this year!
Do you feel that you've blown up in the states, specifically in LA?
Thes One: I don't think that we've blown up in LA yet.
Double K: Naw, not at all. I think it's because we made a good song... "OST" has been getting some play time on the hit radio stations in LA... at peak hours and not just in someone's mix!
Thes One: Until we can fill up huge venues off our own strength, I won't feel that we've hit our peak in LA. It's not like it's going to take more work. Shit, we've been putting in work for however long now. It's like, whichever way the wind blows. All of a sudden people might be like, PUTS...
Double K: Like they did in the UK!
In another conversation in the same room, someone referred to their style as "old school flava." Thes One was quick drop the current topic at hand to express his thoughts on that note.
Thes One: I hate that shit! I don't know about Double...
Double K: (laughing) Damn dude, I don't dig it too much either... (more laughing)... old school flava!
Thes One: To me, old school flava has leather or Fab 5 Freddy somewhere in the background. I don't think that being true to the art means old school. It means that we've studied it (hip hop), we've lived it and now we're making it! There's a lot of cats that come at it form nowhere with this "innovative" approach. Well, the reason they think it's innovative is because they've never heard any hip hop before. They haven't even heard Low End Theory (pointing to Scuba's shirt). The first hip hop they might have heard is "93 till Infinity," but just barely! So if you're coming in out of the woodwork and starting to make hip hop, you better realize that this shit is much bigger than whatever you think it is. If you take your act to New York, they will pull your card...
Double K: Or anywhere else for that matter.
JazMak: NY is the real test!
(In reference to your music) What's your approach to chopping beats as opposed to looping them?
Double K: Let me handle this one! There should be no "there's chopping and there's looping." NO! There's making beats! I can hear a sample and know that I have to chop it because that or this ain't right about it. It's not, "let's make a chopped up beat." That's just corny. You know, I'll chop something if I have to, but there just shouldn't be any, "yeah, were chopping it up!"
Thes One: Let me say something about looping. To a person who doesn't know about the music, looping might seem like a "cat-shit" art. Their impression is, "well, they just looped it... they didn't do anything to it!" However, there's been many times when I've had a so-called "producer" in the studio with me, and I really want them to hear a loop that I found. I'll play the record and then look for them to get that glimmer in their eye, when they hear the start and stop of the loop... and they never catch it! Then I'll play the loop by itself and they get all, "Ahhhh... that shit is dope!" The reason Double K and I can hear it is because we started making beats with nothing!
Another cat in the room asked how the P approaches clearing their samples.
Thes One: Alright. If we could give $500 to the drummer that actually sat alone and played that drum break, we would. He deserves that shit! If we were to clear that sample, he'd never even know. He's not going to get a dime. All the people that actually had a part in creating that sound aren't getting shit from it! So why clear?!? Hip hop still needs to have some guerrilla aspect to it. It's not an art form where you just bend over and take it... you've got to fight for it!
It was obvious that we could have continued on this subject for hours, so it was time to lighten things up.
Alright, I'm going to say a phrase and I want you to say the first thing that comes to your mind.
1. Guest Appearances:
Double K: Freddie Foxxx!
Thes One: Cat shit... whoa... make sure that you let everyone know that those are two separate answers. Freddie Foxxx is not cat shit.
2. Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen:
Double K: Who?
Thes One: The Full House twins.
Double K: Oh... GROWN UP! I saw them not too long ago and they are getting up there.
3. George Dubya:
...you'll have to hear the audio for this one...
4. The Nonce:
Thes One: Classic! One of the greatest.
JazMak: A tour favourite... always!
Double K: Fresh... Fresh... Fuckin' FRESH! They're on my mixtape... peep it out.
Both: Rest in peace Yusef! You're sorely missed!
After that response, I had to switch it up and wind it down, as it was almost time for the P to rock the spot.
What's your favourite moment as a hip hop group?
Double K: Performing with the Beatnuts.
Both: It's always the Beatnuts!
What does the future have in store for PUTS as a group and a label?
Double K: Hopefully a lot of money!
Although Texas is a long haul from the UK, it was time for the P to dish the "wickedness" out to the capital of live American music culture. While their beats are modern interpretations of the dusty, crate-nabbed jewels of our forefathers, the People Under the Stairs are the absolute essence of live energy, cut or looped!
