Fake For Real

ASTRONAUTALIS - Interview

"Astronautalis is definitely a rapper who sings the occasional chorus, as opposed to a singer who dabbles in rap". This is the much relevant way the Floridian guy is introduced in a review from the All Music […]

Dan The Automator is Gorillaz, Deltron 3030, Dr Octagon and many other things. He is a music star, then. He is a very busy man. When someone tells you he is available for an interview, obviously, this does not mean he’ll share a whole afternoon with you. And you finally end up with answers that are even shorter than the related questions. And you don’t learn anything new. Anyway, let’s publish it. That’s Dan The Automator after all.

SHIN OHSAKI - Interview

Hue is already our favourite hip hop label for the year 2006. There, in Japan, on the other side of the world, some people have decided to propose us a kind of best-of of Canadian and Belgian rap. Shin Ohsaki is the […]

COURDEK - Interview

For most of us, Arizona’s hip hop scene is still to be discovered. This year, our entry point to all the exciting and promising artists from Phoenix and its neighbourhood was Avenue of the Arts’ rapper and producer Courdek through his excellent Synchronicity record. A first contact has been the opportunity for us to discover a bit more about his past, musical tastes, projects and fellows rappers from the AOTA crew.

SOSO - Birthday Songs (Japanese Edition)

Last year, soso started getting some attention from music critics. His last album, Tenth Street & Clarence, received some praise from people usually not too familiar with Clothes Horse Records. So it was perfect timing that now, in 2006, Japan's Hue Records decided to rerelease Birthday Songs, the Canadian's best album so far. As usual with its releases, the label didn't publish the record as such, but with a new packaging, including some notes in Japanese, and lyrics in both languages. The rapper contributed as well. He drew the dog on the cover art, to replace the birthday cake of the previous version. And he corrected or added a few tracks.

ASTRONAUTALIS - The Mighty Ocean & Nine Dark Theaters

A small buzz has recently started around Andy Bothwell, a.k.a. Astronautalis, a new rapper who has been presented to the indie audience as a new hero for the intimist folk rap sub-genre, a common practice now. Even […]

JOE RATH - Interview

The highly recommended Don’t Be a Martyr album released in 2004 confirmed it: Joe Rath deserves far more attention than many of his counterparts from the post Year 2K’s indie hip hop explosion. So please read the […]

EIBOL - Interview

Until last year, Fingerprint Records was just a name for me, just a label I had heard of from one or two reviews here and there on the Internet. But one day, I contacted the manager of the label to tell him I had reviewed the latest Nobs album, and he proposed to send me his own solo album. Finally, I found myself with one of 2005’s nicest surprise between my hands and ears, a record named Karma Kingdom that was exactly what I was expecting from hip hop at this moment. Now, I guess there’s no use for me to tell you why I wanted to know more about this talented guy named Eibol.

ZUCCHINI DRIVE - Interview

We can’t stop these men. After launching the Cavemen Speak, Stacs of Stamina and Gunporn projects, Siaz from Belgium and Marcus Graap from Sweden teamed up again under the Zucchini Drive name. Together, they released the Being Kurtwood album, one of the nicest hip hop records for the beginning of this year. Their concert with Bleubird last winter in Paris at La Guinguette Pirate was a first opportunity for us to meet personally this European counterpart of our beloved North American indie rappers.

BLEUBIRD - Interview

The eccentric MC Bleubird is one of the phenomenons that appeared in the shadow of Anticon. Just a few minutes before a crazy show in Paris, Endemik Records’ key MC accepted to tell us a bit more about his international connections, his relationship with Sole’s label, his horrible teeth and the origin of his french name.

LA MANO FRIA - Interview

La Mano Fria is not a musician. But as the key man behind the Beta Bodega Coalition, he plays a major role in Miami’s hip hop. His few days in Paris last February allowed us to ask him a few questions about the history of Miami electronic and hip hop scene, politics and messages, and his core activity: design.

EIBOL - Karma Kingdom

You may not know EiboL (say it "eyeball"). This guy, though, has been active on the New York rap scene since the late 90's. With Losaka, StayInSane and Hippo, his colleagues from the Hand Held Aspects (H2A) […]

SLUG - Biography

Slug is a prominent rapper in the indie hip-hop network, that started to develop by the end of the 90’s. A model for the fast-growing Midwest underground scene, he defined his own way between backpacker conservatism and […]

P-LOVE - Interview

P-Love is quite a good DJ and beatmaker, but he's not that famous yet. The 27th of october, we took the opportunity of his show at Mains d'Oeuvres in Paris' suburbs to ask him some questions about his background and career and to talk about Bully Records, Kid Koala, Q-Bert, The Smiths and classical trumpet.

SLEEP - Interview

In the first half of 2005, Sleep released a new solo record as well as the first real album of the Chicharones, his duo with Josh Martinez. We thought it was the appropriate moment to interview him about all his past, present and future projects. In this interview, Sleep tells us a bit more about his background, Oldominion’s current projects, his many links with the Canadian hip hop scene and what becoming a father changed in his rapper's life.

MAKER - Interview

Beatmakers able to release three excellent albums within a few months aren't too many in the hip hop world. But Maker is one of them. Honestly, The Harvest with Galapagos4’s Qwel and Glue’s Seconds Away with Adeem are […]