Asprin: It was a big adjustment to
say the least. All I knew about the
culture came from movies and television.
That summer, my family stayed with
friends in Silver Spring, Maryland
where I quickly started tuning into
the local rap station (WPGC), BET
on cable and the Arsenio Hall Show
in the evenings. My mornings included
a daily dose of the Price is Right
and Full House.
Ish:
How much of the American pop cultured
had filtered through to you in Ethiopia,
or was it all brand new?
Asprin: Some things made it there.
Being that we had a VCR, we used to
rent a lot of videos. Eddie Murphy
was a family favorite so anything
with him in it, we saw. Michael Jackson
was big. We had the making of Thriller
on video. We also used to catch the
Cosby Show on video. TV came on from
6 to 12 at night. They had some decent
stuff for kids too…Sesame Street,
Scooby-Doo, Banana Split and my favorite…Fraggle
Rock. I can still see them eating
all that glass. Music wise, well,
that’s a whole different story.
Hammer was big. Vanilla Ice was big.
Michael Jackson was big. My sisters
liked U2 and Bobby Brown so we were
hip to that. They also used to play
WHAM, Whiney Houston, Jody Whatley
and George Michael. No BDP or Run
DMC though.
Ish:
How did you get into records?
Asprin: Within a few months of my
arrival, I went out and bought the
first Black Sheep tape at the Kemp
Mill down the street. By the time
I got to high school, I had started
establishing my musical taste with
the current releases from Naughty
by Nature, Gang Starr, Eric Sermon,
EPMD, Redman and so on. Eventually,
I was hired at a grocery store as
a cashier and met mr. Jeigh. Before
long, I was rolling over to his place
to rub the 1200’s. Between those
sessions and seeing the movie "Juice",
I got hooked. Within months, I had
purchased a belt drive turntable and
was frequenting record store. So mr.
Jeigh gets some credit for getting
me into this.
Ish:
Jeigh’s no slouch, he’s
got some records. So, you ended up
in good hands – props to Jeigh
for showing some international love!
Do you remember the first record you
ever bought?
Asprin: Yeah, it was the single "Wrong
Side of the Tracks" by the Artifacts.
Ish: Was there any parental backlash
to you taking a liking to hip-hop?
Asprin: Well, they never liked music
to begin with so when I started rattling
the walls in our 3-bedroom apartment,
things got tense. But we somehow managed
to find some peace. Of course my habit
didn’t really get out of control
until I got to college.
Ish: What were the hot joints in Virginia,
circa ’92?
Asprin: We were pretty much picking
up 12" singles first. I was really
into Keith Murray, Artifacts, Beatnuts,
Biggie, Nas…basically all the
hot joints of the time. Soon enough,
we started picking up the Grover Washington’s
and Super Sessions and slowly moved
deeper and deeper into the digging
world. I’ll admit though, when
I first started buying records, I
was just picking stuff up. I remember
the first record show I went to, I
ended up picking up John Coltrane’s
"A Love Supreme" and Miles
Davis’ "Bitches Brew".
I still have both those records.
Ish:
So, was it hip-hop that introduced
you to jazz?
Asprin: Yeah. Well,
those Blue Note Breaks to be exact.
I picked up a lot of names from there
and that helped me out.
Ish: I guess being a native Ethiopian
beat digger (how many of those are
there?), you know about the Mulatu
record? You probably got boxes of
them joints, no?
[Mulatu
is an Ethiopian vibraphonist, famous
among record collectors for his "Mulatu
of Ethiopia" lp, a "holy
grail" amongst beat diggers and
djs.]
Asprin: Yeah,
my dad knows him so he scored me a
few sealed copies. [Laughs] I’m
just being wishful. I do have the
Ethiopian Quintet lp but I’m
still in search for the Ethiopian
Airlines album. I once saw it for
$30 early in my digging career and
passed it up thinking I’d find
it for less later.
Ish: Oh, that hurts. And you’ve
never seen it since? I would think
if anyone deserves to catch that record,
it’s you?
Asprin: Those were my thoughts exactly.
So if there is anyone reading this
and can drop a gem on a deserving
African, you can reach me through
the contact page.
Ish: What brought you to beat making?
Asprin: I was borrowing a mixer from
mr. Jeigh which had a sampler on it…one
of those Gemini joints. Once I figured
out how to used the banks, I started
messing around on it…nothing
really came of it and I eventually
returned the mixer but that sound,
the loops, hitting the trigger …
all that stuff laid down the ground
work.
Ish: Do you remember the first drum
break you ever looped?
Asprin: I wish I did. Unfortunately,
a lot of my early "excursions"
into beat making were not documented
or preserved. That is a good thing
though.
Ish: And how
bad did your first 6 months of beats suck
[laughs]?
Asprin: Well, what I did back then on the
gemini mixer must have been pretty bad,
I wish I still had the tapes. But at the
time, I was so excited about it that I didn’t
even look at it too critically. But after
that, there was a good 2-year gap during
which I mostly concentrated on buying records
and refining my djing and scratch techniques.
By this time I was attending college in
Richmond, Va and there were plenty of opportunities
for dj gigs. Mr. Jeigh was going to the
same university so we were roomates and
were vibing on our recent digs and scratch
discoveries every day. At this point, he
had picked up a little sampler that Vestax
made that cost about $100 and had about
10 seconds on it. We would loop up drums
and layers and mess around on 4-tracks for
beats. These beats are still around on tapes
so I will have to dust them off on of these
days.
Ish: How much
schoolwork did you neglect to spend time
messing with records?
Asprin: There was and still is a battle
for attention between my artwork and my
beats. When I was going to school, I definitely
made sure school came first. Of course some
classes were skipped for an impromptu trip
to the used record store. My teachers always
told me I will have to pick one or the other
sooner or later but I’ve managed to
juggle both so far.
Ish: But you
got a degree? What was your major?
Asprin: I majored in Communication Arts
and Design and minored in Photography. [Check
out Asprin’s graphic skills: www.tsegadinka.com]
Ish: What were your earlier influences,
in terms of beats and production?
Asprin: I don’t think I had a specific
producer I was influenced with…but
was definitely liking what I was hearing
from Premier, q-tip, T-ray, Mr. Launge,
Pete Rock, RZA etc.
Ish: Let me put it this way then. Whose
style were you biting early on?
Asprin: Primo dun!! Haha, maybe someone
else can pass this sort of judgement but
I’ll stick by my story that I was and
still am all over the place with my beats.
Ish: There
are a lot of beat makers who have absolutely
no sense of pitch. You don’t have that
problem, even the noises you add to your
beats are in harmony with the rest of the
sounds. Did you have any musical training,
or are you just a natural?
Asprin: Not at all… I have zero musical
training and no background with music in
my family. I have tried to teach myself
by listening to records. It’s one of
the best ways to learn in my opinion. I
think a lot can be learned by observation.
Although, one of these days I plan on taking
piano lessons so I can get a good musical
grounding.
Ish:
So when you’re choosing samples, you
just know, by sound, what’s right and
what’s wrong?
Asprin: I guess you can put it that way. A
lot of times I’ll be listening to a record
and hear something I think would be good for
sampling. Once I sample it though, I let the
beat dictate it’s own course instead
of trying to force it into what I originally
had wanted it to be.
Ish: Well, let’s talk about "Revolushun".
How did this song come about?
Asprin: Well, it all started from a Mutabaruka
album titled "any which way … freedom".
This is where the main vocal samples are taken
from. When I heard the monologue, I was captivated
by the unwavering nature of his speech and
his attitude so I had been waiting for the
right opportunity to fully utilize the message.
So one day I was playing around with some
bass samples from a Phil Woods and His European
Jazz Machine record and drum samples from
Eddie Harris’ Live in Newport album.
Once I had the basic beat going, I figured
starting it off with a speech and some applause
would work really well. I went directly to
the Mutabaruka album for the vocals and got
some additional material from the Last Poets.
After some chopping and programming, "Revolushun"
was born.
The song is supposed to mimic a "power"
gathering in a hall somewhere deep in the
ghetto. The revolutionary get on the stage,
makes a speech, the crown applauds. Then the
house band takes over with the organ, bass
and drums slaughter. The crowd is empowered
and advised to carry "guns, and knives
and bombs" … the rest is history.
Ish: Let’s
look at the lyrics. The first half speak on
class struggle for blacks:
"Black People / victims of western democracy
/ Babylon will crush you / our informers are
everywhere / color, class, and creed has no
meaning where the almighty dollar is concerned
/Babylon will crush you / overwork you…
underpay you… bury you!"
"So we can all shout revolution…
revolution! / carry guns, and knives and bombs!"
Asprin: It’s basically a rally speech
going out to the masses.
Ish: What year
was the Mutabaruka record released?
Asprin: 1989. Seems a bit late for that type
of material but it was directed at the Apartheid
Government so it could not have been more
timely.
Ish: And how
much did you rearrange the original dialogue?
Asprin: Quite a bit actually, the original
speech is much longer.
[Listen
to the Mutabaruka speech.]
Ish: It’s
a pretty scathing assault on America.
Asprin: It’s my way of coming to terms
with the realities of life in this world.
It’s a full realization of the injustice
and greed that oils the gears of monetary
gain.
Ish: And the
Last Poets vocals you use are:
"Niggas! / got to get together!
/ what ya gonna do? / got to get together!"
Later in the song, you combined the Last Poets
with Mutabaruka quite perfectly. Together,
the two act as a sort of call to arm. The
Last Poets ask, "What ya gonna do?",
and Mutabaruka replies, "Carry guns and
knives and bombs!" The intention is clear.
Asprin: Indeed, it’s a sort of forced
collaboration between the Last Poets and Mutabaruka.
Their record labels don’t know about
it.
Ish: In today’s
climate, so-called "conscious style"
hip-hop is overshadowed by the bling and gangsta
steez. What connection, if any, do you have
to the "conscious style", and how
does a song like "Revolushun" fair
in the ranks?
Asprin: I definitely feel like there is a
place for all styles of rap. But it seems
like "conscious" hip-hop has itself
to blame for being overshadowed. A lot of
times, what would be considered thought provoking
music just doesn’t have what it takes
musically. I hope that something like "Revolushun"
will engage the listener lyrically as well
as musically.
Ish: What are
your thoughts on these civil rights records?
How much change can a record inspire? How
much can a record incite?
Asprin: I am a firm believer in the artist
as a catalyst for change. Music, be it a repetitive
rhythm or the spoken word, has the power to
mobilize people and that is what happened
with the civil rights movement. Black Power
was adapted as a common theme by a lot of
artists and thus spread the word to all the
boroughs.
Ish: Is that
what you want "Revolushun" to achieve?
Is this a call-to-arm-type song?
Asprin: Well, it’s not a call to arms
in the literal sense, although, that would
not be such a bad idea right about now. In
the least, I want the song to empower people,
inspire them to try and make a difference
on way or another. And maybe, spark a little
fear in the man.
Ish: This thought
process seeps into a lot of your songs, "Listen",
"Panic", "Bullshit", just
to name a few. It also shows in your graphic
design work. Your images are always thought
provoking.
Asprin: I think that comes from a combination
of influences. For one, being an African immigrant
in the US, instead of being born into the
racism and bigotry, I came into it with the
prior knowledge of what it’s like to
exist without it. I think that made me very
aware of the blatant and subtle prejudices
around me. On the other hand, I also got to
experience the "fuck you" mentality
of hip-hop and graffiti as well. Combine all
this with exposure to the civil rights movement
and music associated with it and the results
are what you see in front of you today.
Ish: Let’s talk a bit about the beat
behind "Revolushun". You said the
bass is from Phil Woods. What year, what label?
Asprin: Man, you are asking some dangerous
questions, you know that right? It was released
on Embryo in 1971.
Ish: And what
kind of process did you put on the bass?
Asprin: Just a chop. I usually don’t
process my samples too much. Maybe it’s
laziness or lack of knowledge in that field
but I usually don’t do too much to
my samples except for maybe a bit of compression.
[Listen
to the original bass sound and the reprogrammed
loop]
Ish: And the drums, Eddie Harris’ "Carry
on Brother", you used that nicely.
You’re using one of the sympathetic
snare hits as a sort-of hi-hat?
Asprin: I don’t know how to classify
that hi-hat. I just scanned through the
drum break and picked what I thought would
make a quiet hi-hat type sound. I also use
3 different snares from that break. I think
that helps make the drums sound more natural.
Ish: The beat
is deconstructed quite a bit. Do you have
a general way of processing drums?
Asprin: I usually sample them really loud,
then chop all the sounds I need. Then I
usually pick up some of the dead air between
the drum hits to fill up the background
and program the drums on top of it. I also
try to add a little bit of static for good
measure.
[Listen
to the original drum break and the reprogrammed
pattern]
Ish: Where’s
the organ from?
Asprin: It’s from a Chase record. I
am still surprised that I was able to pick
that up because in the original song, the
organ is really quiet.
[Listen
to the original organ, and the reprogrammed
pattern]
Ish: So the song is weighing in at just
under three-and-a-half minutes. How much
time would you say you put into it?
Asprin: Hmm….about 2 to 3 weeks. It
was worth it though.
Ish: Let me say it again, this song is off
the charts, really. What else can we expect
from Asprin?
Asprin: I will be putting out a album of
remixes and a 45 rpm single with label mate
and partner in crime, Bambouche. Also, be
on the lookout for Off The Records 3 with
my man mr. Jeigh. And last but not least,
I will be featured on a Vinyl Monkeys Compilation
that is scheduled to drop later this year.
So it’s gonna be a busy year to say
the least.
Ish: In closing, let me just say to any
beat diggers reading this, if you got a
copy of the Mulatu record, cough it up.
Asprin surely deserves it more than you,
and you know he’s got plenty of stuff
in the trade pile... Am I right? Asprin,
what would you trade, right here –
right now, for Mulatu?
Asprin: I won’t drop any names here
but I’d be sure to work something out
through email. I like to keep my trades
private.
Ish: You heard
the man!
Thanks for taking the time, I appreciate
it.
Asprin: You’re more than welcome Ish.
And remember to carry knives and guns and
bombs. [laughs]
[Listen
to "Revolushun" in its entirety]
Let Asprin know what you think:
asprin@vanguardsquad.com
