SMIF-N-WESSUN (March 2008)| Interview By: Nima Etminan

       Dubcnn linked up with New York rap duo Smif-N-Wessun (Tek & Steele) for an exclusive video feature while they were on their European tour. In this feature you can watch the highlights of their performance, as well as a video interview which dubcnn conducted with Smif-N-Wessun.

We talked about their self-titled 2007 album, the status of the Boot Camp Click, Duck Down Records, the NY Hip-Hop Scene, their future plans, their views on Hip-Hop, as well as their political views.


Thanks go out to Badaboom Magazine.

As always we have both the transcript and the audio for you to check and please feel free to send any feedback regarding the interview to: nima@dubcnn.com

 

Interview was done in February 2008.

Questions Asked By : Nima Etminan

Full Video Interview: Download Here (98MB, Windows Media)

Smif-N-Wessun Gave Dubcnn A Shoutout: Click Here

Video Stream (Brightcove):

 
 


Download: Click Here

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Check out dubcnn's exclusive picture gallery to this interview: Click here
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Dubcnn: we're right here with Smif-N-Wessun, what's going on with ya'll?

Tek: We're just getting in off the flight, fresh from the hotel, put some nice grub in our bellys, ready to rock and do what it do and tear the stage up like we always do about this time! That's what's happening!


Dubcnn: Ya'll be out in Europe a lot, how did ya'll build the connection and how do you view the european music scene?

Steele: We got a crazy connection with Europe man, big ups to my man Blanca Brown, big ups to my man Manu, Mirko, Karin, it's a lot of people who we have had relationships with throughout the years and who have been continuing to book proper shows and so on. The fans just like good music, and as long as they like good music, and Smif-N-Wessun continue to make good music, we'll always be able to come out to European contries and rock.


Dubcnn: You dropped your fourth album a few months ago. what are your thoughts on the album looking back at it now, a few months later?

Tek: It's a beautiful thang, the momentum of it is just building, it's like a giant snowball coming off an avalanche, just picking up everyday. So we're definitely out here supporting that, giving them some of the joints that we hitting them with, and it's looking great. '08 is gonna be an even brighter star to shine for Boot Camp, Duck Down & Smif-N-Wessun and every part of the family that's included.


Dubcnn: What did ya'll think about the reception of the single with Joell Ortiz and Rock, "Stomp"?

Tek: Yeah that shit was crazy, when we perform that the crowd goes wild, shit goes down, ghetto style, that's our style! That's a big one, our boy Rick Cordero did the "Gotta Say It" video and the "Stomp" video, so that's a nice look for all of us!


Dubcnn: How did you hook up with Joell Ortiz?

Steele: Joell Ortiz is from Brooklyn, he's another Brooklyn artist, and Brooklyn is big but small at the same time, and we've done production with Collen & Webb, we call them the Cocaine Cowboys, and they have also done production with Joell Ortiz, so when you're in this Hip-Hop business, it's really small and you come across a lot of people so it's just a respect thing. We have a big respect from Joell, and Joell is from my hometown, he works with producers that we work with, so they asked us whether we'd like to work with him, and we said yeah! It was simple.


Dubcnn: Did you ever consider switching up your style to appeal to what's hot right now?

Tek: I should smack you just for asking us that question! *laughs*


Dubcnn: I wasn't saying you should do it..

Tek: Nah, we never thought about switching it up to make a club record or a female record, to appeal to the masses. We never knew nothing about that when we came into the business so we stick to our guns tight and still put out classic, timeless good music.

Steele: People gotta remember, we're regular people, you know? We just don't always be on some soldier shit all day long. We like to have fun, we like to enjoy ourselves, for us rhyming is a way to communicate with people worldwide. We just do it through a natural genre, we don't try to say "Okay we're gonna try to communicate to the people who like to dance." or "we're gonna communicate to the people who like to sit in a room and smoke weed all day and think." We just do what we do, it's a natural thing, and that's what Hip-Hop is about, about being who you are and bringing the people who may like you into your world. That's what we do.


Dubcnn: Do you listen to any current new Hip-Hop?

Tek: Oh yeah, as a MC in any type of business you have to stay up on what's right now as we speak, in any genre of music. If you're a lawyer you've gotta know who the top lawyers are, so us as musicians, we gotta know what's hot out there also, so yeah. We bump all that shit.


Dubcnn: What's the current status on Duck Down Records? I just heard that Buckshot is dropping a record with 9th Wonder?

Steele: Yeah! It's on fire man! Duck Down is on fire! First of all, you gotta realize that Duck Down is a record label, right? Duck Down has been dealing with only a few artists for the past ten years. After that tenth year mark, Duck Down has now branched off into a distributing company. They're dealing with Kids In The Hall, they're dealing with Promise, who's an artist from Canada, they're dealing with Rusty Jux, who's an artist from Brooklyn, they're still dealing with Boot Camp, Speacial Teamz with Edo G, big ups. KRS One, Diamond D, it's a lot of things going on. Duck Down is on fire, whoo!


Dubcnn: So what's next for Smif-N-Wessun, when can we expect a new album

Tek: Well as soon as we wrap up this tour, we're going right back into the studio with our comrads the Outlawz, we're working on the new official One Nation album, and then from there Smif-N-Wessun will start on our next album, it just won't stop!


Dubcnn: When do you think we can expect that Outlawz record to come out?

Tek: Realistically, we're looking for a hot summer time release for that, ride through the summer.

Steele: But I'ma tell you man, stop watching the dates, and watch the times. You're watching the days and you're missing out on what you can get within the times. Because within a time, you can experience much much more, so in the beginning of '08, you can expect a lot of things going on. You can look forward to the Heltah Skeltah album, you can look forward to the Rusty Jux album, the Black Moon album, the Buckshot, Black Milk, 9th Wonder, Sean P... As far as Smif-N-Wessun, we don't tell you what dates we coming out. We don't do that. That's old school shit! You're gonna know when we're coming out. When Smif-N-Wessun go in the lab, you're gonna know. But right now, we're just coasting out, we're riding out Smif-N-Wessun the album, we're promoting the DVD, everything is available to you, the videos on YouTube, so we're just coasting right now, riding the wave of what we've done, till the next come up.


Dubcnn: What do you think of the New York Hip-Hop scene right now?

Steele: New York got the game on fire! New York is the epicentre of everything, so when you see some shit come out of New York, don't be surprised, cause we got it all! But I guarantee you, Duck Down for the '08. Duck Down, Boot Camp, Buck Town, it's gonna be a fabolous situation, we please get involved with it!


Dubcnn: Today's Super Tuesday in the United States, do you have a political view, are you gonna be voting this year?

Steele: OBAMA! Obama baby, Obama.

Tek: Yeah, we're riding!


Dubcnn: Is there anything else you'd like to let everybody know?

Steele: DuckDown.com, that's where you wanna get your information from, everyday. Salute.
 

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Full Video Interview: Download Here (98MB)..........................................................................................

Picture Gallery:

Photos taken by Pascal Kerouche (Military Minded Productions)