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AKIR (July
2006) | Interview By: Zuka
Dubcnn took time out to speak to NYC's Akir while he was in Amsterdam. We
discuss his entrance into HipHop, his opion on labels, his latest release
"Legacy", touring and much more in this in-depth video interview.
As ever you can read or watch
this
exclusive Dubcnn interview and we urge you to leave feedback
on our forums or email them to zuka@dubcnn.com.
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Interview was done in June 2006
Questions
Asked By:
Zuka
Video fragments edited by:
Zuka
Akir Gave Dubcnn.com A Shoutout! Check That
Here
(Audio)
Akir Gave Dubcnn.com A Shoutout! Check That
Here
(Video)
..........................................................................................
“I’m just a kid at heart that loves hip hop music. I happen to be
surrounded by social and political strife and terminal at times, along with
good times and good music. I just like to reflect as much of that as possible
and convey those views to other people to see where they stand.”
“As my name says Always Keep It Real, I just reflect what I happen to be going
through at the time. If I’m feeling happy about eating some food, I might
write a song about that. If I go outside and I see somebody getting punched in
the face I might write a song about that. I think currently content is so
driven towards sales or marketing that people get away from bringing that
content back to the people who support the music. If you look at who are
legendary songwriters, they talk about the simplest things, but it’s something
that’s endearing to several different cultures and types of people everywhere
I go to.”
Akir started relatively late with rapping. He actually didn’t take it
serious until he had dead air on a radio show on WNMH 97.9.
“Me and South Paw, my homebody King Cote and this cat named DJ Siege had a
radio show in high school. One of the things you had to do in order to get on
the radio show was go to a little prep class or what not. One of the things
they tell you is that, #1 when you have dead air on your show you’ll lose your
show. We was on there, everything was good, we was rocking for a couple of
weeks and something happened, either a needle broke or a record skipped, and
it was just dead. The only thing that was working was the mics so South Paw
started beat boxing and he was looking at me like ‘you gotta do something!’ I
started rhyming. I did it [rapping], but mostly I did it as a joke. You know
you just chill with your friends and you start freestyling, but you might not
really be a rapper. You say some funny lines and shit, that was the type of
deal; I never took it seriously, but that same day as I was doing it, the
phone lines were ringing. The next day girls were coming to me, I was like
yeaaaaaaaaaaah! I was hooked after that!”
“Akir came about real simply as we just trying to have a tag cause
everybody that I knew was so immersed in the hip hop culture that we all
shared different elements of it. One of the elements that I wasn’t too
familiar with, but was definitely interested in was graffiti. So I would go
around trying to figure out different tags that I liked. Those letters kinda
stuck with me, I like how it rhymed. That was about the same time I started
rhyming, so people started calling me Akir. That was what I was running with.
I was in the process of making my first album and my homeboy Lazarus was one
of the first people that financially backed me and believed in my art. He was
saying he saw my name and the content of the music that I do, he was saying
‘you should try Always Keep It Real’. It just stuck and it’s good because to
me it’s always a government(?) point. I never had the opportunity to go do no
stupid shit cause I always have to reflect on the fact that this is something
that I represent and I’m wholeheartedly trying to convene that there are
people out there who are not about the nonsense. There’s a time to have good
times and there’s a time to focus and I encompass all of that. With that said
I can’t do no bullshit cause somebody is gonna call me on it immediately. I
appreciate that and I try to run with that.”
That being said, major record labels often force their artists to make
music that sells. Call it corny music if you want. Akir would only go into
business with a major label under certain conditions.
“I would definitely consider going into business with a major label, but it
would definitely have to be on the terms of my partners and I. Most likely to
be some sort of distribution situation. I’m definitely open to suggestions.
I’m a business man as well. I’m open to marketing aspects of it, but I’m not
into selling out knowing that I’m into robbing people off. What I know it’s
now my job that I been selected to give them, which is quality music and what
content and material they can grow from.”
“It’s a positive development in the fact that it’s created a platform for
financial development amongst the colored community,” Akir tells about the
pluses and minuses of rappers who change their style of writing to get more
record sales. “It’s turning into a hustle, but because of that the negative
effect is that nobody wants to talk about anything but the hustle aspect or
something like women causing money or something that shinee that’s gonna track
a lot of attention to create themselves. So from a financial empowerment point
of view, I’m glad that that’s available, that people are making moves to
become entrepreneurs, but from an artistic standpoint I think the value of
music is definitely depreciated.”
In March Akir’s album Legacy came out on Viper Records. The NYC is happy
about the way things are going, but he explained that he;
"would definitely have liked Legacy to sell way more than it has to this
point. I also knew that going into it that it was gonna be a slow grind.
That’s one of the things about Viper Records that I like so much. Whereas
everybody might be more concerned with making a major appeal or a major buzz
and doing something real big, concentrating on first week sales and having
crazy promotional campaigns and being preoccupied with lavish art tools to
improve your image and shit like that, we’re more the grass roots type. I feel
like in order to make a revolution within the record business it has to be
something that comes up a little different and that’s the things that made
Geffen really important, that’s the things that made people like Fish really
important. From a hip hop standpoint people really don’t look at industry in
that way. Hip hop has been reduced to such a cookie cutter format that it’s
kinda like let me see what you did, change it my way and see if I can get a
little bit further. Where it’s like ‘you guys go ahead and do this and do
that, we’re just gonna do this’ and as we bubbling quietly it creates more of
a momentum because you figure if in three years from now I’ve sold a
significant amount of records and plus I created a loyal fanbase that doesn’t
quit on my own much more of a bargaining shit with this album”
“Let’s say my first album out was headed towards a major label. I know
several artists that have been with major labels for years and haven’t been
released. Now in some people’s eyes it might seem the album has not been
successful because of the sales, but I get a much larger chunk of the money, I
know exactly where my product is being sold at and I know that it’s a quality
thing and not a quantity thing. I know the people that are receiving and
purchasing my products are the people that are gonna be with me for a long
time. See, what the major industry is doing right now is because especially of
the whole mp3 movement and pirating and bootlegging they’re getting nervous
cause they have no way to control it, but with us we don’t have no fear of
controlling it because everything that is extra, everything that is bootlegged
or sold comes extra promotional for us. So it’s a win-win situation. The type
of shit that we kicking and the type of people that we attract are also the
type of people who if they really like it will come to a show and buy the
shit. They wanna get it signed or they wanna meet the person. I’m comfortable
with where I’m at, I just realize it’s just gonna be a much longer role then
if I was on MTV and all that type of shit.”
“When I was writing this album, I always had this little tv on the side and
I just tune in whenever I was frustrated with work. I was just watching the
way the election was going,” Akir tells about the track Politricks. “I didn’t
vote the first time that I had the ability to vote, but one of the reasons I
didn’t vote was for complacency. Basically, I felt the shit doesn’t change
anything in any way, my vote really doesn’t count and why am I gonna take this
time out of my day while I could be doing some other shit and fuck that. It’s
not gonna help anyway, fuck it, I’m not gonna vote. Then I started to see how
things were going down after I made that decision, then I also started to get
a little bit more aware of some of the struggles my ancestors had made, so
that we even have the right to vote. So this time when it was time to vote I
felt it was very important to address that because I know there’s thousands,
if not hundreds of thousands of people in my same predicament whether they’re
young or they’re old or whatever with that same mind set that it’s not gonna
help and then look: he [George W. Bush] stole the fucking election anyway.
That song basically just takes you through not only the political situation in
the United States as it was going down, but it also shows you that from the
vantage point of a young black male who feels very complacent about the voting
process and by the end of it he starts to see how the political agendas and/or
direct political actions the powers that be effecting our everyday life. By
the end of it he’s like ‘maybe I will go vote next time’, so that’s what that
song is about.”
Immortal Technique executive produced the Legacy album of the new Viper
Records signee, but Akir and Immortal Technique go way back though.
“I know Immortal Technique since I was about 15-16 years old. We were part
of the same crew in New York. I met him through South Paw and we just used to
be little teenage kids running around causing havoc and shit. Rapping was just
something that we liked to do, while everybody else was just partying. If we
saw each other at the party within like 10-15 minutes we’d be somewhere in a
corner freestyling and shit. If not plotting on some other bullshit to get
into, but we always had a strong bond and obviously we share a strong
responsibility to share to try to do something better for the world and
inspire other people to go out there and make moves.”
"I’m an MC, I’m not a political rapper, I’m not a social rapper. I just
happen to this last particular album the things that were surrounding me that
I needed to address. I’m always gonna address issues that are around me
regardless of what they are. Some of them be it political, some of them are
social and sometimes it might not even be about issues. Sometimes it might
just be about everyday life. I really stay away from those tags, but we’ve
never really had any competing ideas or different thoughts on politics. Not
that I’m a yes-man or he is either, but we seem to share a common view on how
the worlds operate. My main thing is there’s different social structures,
there’s different political systems and different religious beliefs… I don’t
care what it is that you do, I feel people should not impede in other people’s
beliefs and systems. There are ways to recommend things, there are things to
show people by example, but I don’t think that I don’t believe in competing or
stepping on anybody’s toes or forcing them out of lands or starting war and
all that bullshit. I hear that they are creating bombs, so let’s fuck them up
first. If I can stay on my land and grow crops and raise my kids and practice
whatever I want to and you on the other side doing the same shit in your own
way I have no problem with that, but as soon as you start coming over to my
land and we shake hands and we are up under the believe that we’re friends and
what not, but then you fucking raping my land or my people or taking food out
of my children’s mouths or shit like that, then there’s issues."
From the US to Europe to Canada all the way to South America. Akir has
performed all over the world. How does it feel like to be performing at all
these different venues in all these different parts of the world?
“It’s dope. To experience different places and to see different outlooks on
life is amazing. When I’m at home I often sit back and look at the people I
know that have never left. Their outlook on life is very small cause it’s
regulated by a certain perimeter. I know cats in the hood that are very
intelligent, but they don’t have the worldly view to aspire to other parts
outside of what it is they know. Sometimes when you become comfortable with
your surroundings you develop a fear of relating or coming outside of that
particular box because that’s what you know. To be able to see different
environments gives you a whole new perspective on your own. For instance, I
used to litter really bad without even thinking about it. Back in the day my
pops used to work for a New York power authority. I’ve seem them go through
strikes and all that kind of stuff. One of the thing he always told me is
‘conserve conserve conserve’. I’m very good at doing that, but I do little
things like go buy a pack of cigarettes and throw the plastic on the floor or
go up to Subway and throw the stuff on the floor. We went down to Venezuela
and I saw the conditions that people were living in. These To see them be
joyous and just sharing and building amongst each other with having family
around and then go home and see people complain that are rocking new Jordans
and shirts and shit, it really put it in perspective. Seeing all the pollution
that even goes down in Venezuela and see the beautiful people that come out of
it really made me be like ‘yo I live in America, we have certain liberties
that we take for granted everyday’. I stopped dropping shit on the ground. I
mean, I catch myself doing it once in a while cause I been doing it so long,
but there’s little things like that that can affect large change. It
definitely helps to travel because you see the world in a whole different
perspective, even your own small world.”
“There’s plusses and minuses to both of them,” Akir says about the
difference between smaller and bigger venues. “Number one, I’m just
happy to be performing. Number two, I’m happy to be performing and people are
interested enough in hearing what I have to say cause you work so long to get
to that point. In terms of a small venue it’s dope because it’s intimate.
Often times small venues are what keeps me humble. After you go and you rock a
festival with 8000 people in attendance you get on this high and you start
believing the hype like ‘yeah I’m a fucking rockstar! You can’t tell me shit!’
It’s at that moment when God or whoever you believe in kinda puts you back
into perspective. It’s you, your dj and a couple of your homeboys. Then you
realize that was nice, but I still got a lot more work to do. So small venues
are good cause it helps to gain perspective. The larger ones are dope! It’s
such an adrenaline rush to see that many people responding to you. When you’re
in front of that many people it’s almost like you can’t do wrong. They’re
already there for a reason. More than half the battle of being an artist is
having the crowd. Once the crowd is there, 7 times out of 10 -as long as you
done your work to get to that point and you’re polished- it’s gonna be a
beautiful show because of that energy you just feel off of it. The bad thing
about the large venues like that is with me as a lyricist and as tightly
structured as I like to have my rhymes, a lot of the times the pure content
doesn’t get digested. It’s more of the energy and the style and the show that
people are attracted to, whereas with a small crowd they can hear every word
that you’re saying. You can really tell that you’re reaching the people.”
Back to studio work again. There’s a new song out, called Urban Sprawl…
“Urban Sprawl is just a mixtape joint that I did. There’s a song called
Pearly Gates off the Mobb Deep album featuring 50 Cent. It’s just something I
put out. This is a little mixtape promotion for us. I’m not selling it, it’s
just something to get the buzz popping. I also felt like a commentary needed
to be made about judgification in the hood and unfortunately in America, and
I’m sure it’s happening all over the world, it’s becoming harder and harder to
maintain a place of residence in the cities because right now what’s happening
is the people who are more wealthy and well off are seeing opportunities to
renovate or refurbish there already frogging neighborhoods and communities,
which I don’t necessarily have a problem with. What happens when you move
everybody out of that place you displaced them out of their home. It doesn’t
become a choice. It becomes something where I can’t afford to live here
anymore or you tell them that we’re taking this over or you’re saying that ok
your section ate is running out… which is like the projects or what not. We
take the vouches and then move, but the vouches are no good and then you
become homeless. When things like that happen, somebody has to say something.
It’s outrageous, especially when you have gas prices so bad where people who
are actually moved out to the suburbs have harder opportunities coming back to
the city even for work. It’s harder to afford a car then to maintain it, let
alone to survive three dollar and 50 cent gas prices a gallon. I just threw
that out there, just to keep that buzz going.”
“Everybody should come to Amsterdam. It’s hot. I’m having a lot of fun so
far. I haven’t really gotten a chance to dig into the culture, but it seems
very interesting and I’d definitely like to see what’s good. Please pick up
that Legacy. If you don’t have it already, it’s available on
www.viperrecords.com. You can also
check me on Myspace,
www.myspace.com/akir.”
.........................................................................................
Akir Gave Dubcnn.com A Shoutout! Check That
Here
(Audio)
Akir Gave Dubcnn.com A Shoutout! Check That
Here
(Video)
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