Hello everyone…I had the chance last month to chat with the people from LOOC, China’s #1 Hip Hop magazine, for their January 2010 issue. We discussed Live From New York, hip hop past to present, and plans for the future. You can read the full interview in English below the pictures.
I want to thank my partners at Et Musique Pour Tous for their continuous support, and for being the first to report on this project.
L: LOOC Magazine K: Kevin Casey
L: First of all congratulations on putting together such a great tape.
K: Thank you very much.
L: On top of everything I wanna know, Live From New York 94-2k1, where does this concept or idea come from? You chose this specific time period, what is the reason?
K: The overall concept was something I had in my head for years before beginning the creative process. It was the music I grew up with, and the music that I knew the most about. With such a large number of classic records to chose from, the material was there, so it was up to me to put it together the right way. As far as the years represented, I chose 2001 as the cutoff before I began the tape. I felt that 2000 and 2001 had a lot of albums that still represented the feel of the 90’s. (Reunion, We Are The Streets, The Blueprint, Kiss Tha Game Goodbye, Supreme Clientele, to name a few) The inclusion of these years is one thing I think separates LFNY from typical 90’s hip hop mixes. The period was originally 1995-2001, until I threw on Method Man “Release Yo’ Delf,” which was the only song released in ’94.
L: Comparing the music of that period with today’s New York Hip-Hop, what is the biggest change?
K: I would have to say the biggest change today is more contrived material. Declined sales got the label executives overly involved in projects, pushing artists in whatever direction they believe will sell records, and in the meantime compromising the artistic vision of the albums. Forcing the issue in any way is hard to hide when you are dealing with rap music, one of the rawest musical art-forms there are. Naturally, the art-form suffered, especially in New York where hardcore hip hop was king. People had to make money, so changes were inevitable.
