DJ Vokal

When did you start DJ'ing and what was the first releases you brought?
I started DJing Hip Hop around 4 years ago. I actually listened to more US stuff back then and because I used to do parties I spent my only cash on commercial Hip Hop. I can’t; quite remember when I really started to get into the UK stuff but after that I’ve always listened to more UK and US. So probably the first release I bought was regarding Hip Hop was some commercial track by Clipse or Jay Z.

Do you prefer vinyl or CD?
Vinyl all the way, you can’t beat that! I’ve used both and I still do in a way. I’ve got a copy of Serato Scratch which I use for the radio shows live events and its works brilliantly, it’s the best purchase I think I’ve ever made! It means I can play CD’s and MP3’s using vinyl.

Do you play UK and US Hip-Hop or just UK?
For the radio shows, I tend to play mostly UK. If I’m in a live event situation it’d be different. I still think the US have gems that really get the floor moving and I play the classics so that people not fully into UK Hip Hop can have a good time and they can relate to what’s playing out.

Who is the best rapper in the world and why?
This is a tough one; I guess your all expecting me to say who I grew up listening to. Well, there are so many good artists right now; it’d be hard to narrow it down to one. I’m feeling the Mystro, Antourage, Lethal aka Harry Shotta, The Elementz, Rusty Jukebox, Mr Ti2bs, Phoenix Quarter… So many peeps. Not forgetting the Occupy Your mind Camp, Check out Kid Radikal – he’s just turned 16 and shows a hella lot of talent so there’s big things to come from him, truss me!

What do you love about being involved in the music industry?
The most exciting thing is seeing the scene progress, and it has since I began to get more involved within it. It’s always good to know your helping to support what people want to do. That’s how I’ve always felt regarding HHBRadio. It ain’t no cash making thing, its all about supporting UK talent and trying to give our artists more of a spotlight than the US, cause we have got talent, we’ve just got nowhere to show it.

What do you hate the most about being involved in the music industry?
I’d have to say the egos involved within the industry. We have had a couple of incidents where artists aren’t happy with what we are doing. For an example, we’ve asked for exclusive tracks for the HHB Volume 2 Mix CD. Due to the massive response we got with tracks being submitted, we had to cut some off the final mix. The thing that’s most irritating is that I personally try to do my best for each artist we represent on HHB, and when we get slack of them for not representing them to their standard (not ours), it puts a downer on any work we do. We do try as much as possible to promote their music, but we try and do that with every artist we come in contact with, but we use our own money to fund this project and there is a limit to what we can do.

What is your involvement with Hip-Hp Basement Radio and Occupy Your Mind Records?
I’m joint C.E.O. of both with Lunatrix. I control more of the radio than the label though. We have a team of people helping us with the site and I help out with that. I am the official DJ for Occupy Your Mind Records and you can catch me and our artists (Lunatrix, Kid Radikal, Izzy G & Reload) at a number of shows around the UK next year.

Okay, HHB Radio Volume 2 is out, mixed by your self and hosted by Joe Gutta. How did your debut mixtape go? Enjoy it?
Yeah man, it’s been a long time coming but after finally seeing the finished product it has been worth it! It’s cool to know so many artists around the UK back HHB up as the number 1 station for UK Hip Hop.

Was it hard to chose the tracks with so much music around at the moment? It’s cool to know so many artists around the UK back HHB up as the number 1 station for UK Hip Hop. We had loads of tracks submitted; only thing I’m gutted about is not getting them all on! Make sure you cop it @ www.hhbradio.com – its 73 tracks deep and all the tracks are exclusive to us.

Tell us who features and what your top three tracks on the mix are?
Blade, Karizma, TB, Phoenix Quarter, Sonny Jim & Kosyne, Conspicuous The Coroner, Laurissa, Mr Ti2bs and the OYM/HHB Crew all feature on this mix CD. I’m feeling all the tracks on this CD and I’m not just saying that cause its mine! I had very strict quality control in place when compiling the CD, which is why a lot of tracks didn’t get on. I feel that this CD is n excellent portrayal into the current status if UK Hip Hop and I would recommend it to lovers of UK Hip Hop and outsides of the scene as I think they’d enjoy listening to it just as much.

What did you record it on?
It was really good using Serato for the CD; it enabled me to properly mix all the tracks in to the CD. A lot of the tapes out aren’t actually mixed at all and I think our CD has a great selling point because of this. I also had Lunatrix doing the engineering side for me as far as recording the mix was concerned.

I hear Baby J was involved in the mix. Tell us more.
Well, after the mix was finished we sent it off to Baby J studios in Derby for it to be professionally mastered. We’ve none J for time and he’s supported us throughout. Personally I rate him so much as a producer, we thought it would be good to get him to help out with the CD. He did a real nice job and I’d recommend his work to any-one interested.

Are you planning a Volume 3?
Yeah, this is currently in production right now. We’re about half way through. Lil exclusive news here… The next host will be Lethal AKA Harry Shotta. Big, big things! Lethal seemed ideal for a host and he is making the right moves - we rate him fully as an artist. Me and Luna are compiling this as a joint project and once all the tracks are together I’ll be mixing it.

What else is in store for the label?
I can’t give any release dates as such but I can tell you as well as HHB Volume 3 there’s Reloads “Burning Desire”, Izzy G’s currently working on “Mad Chapters”, Kroscene’s bringing a double LP album to the table called “Amalgamation” which features him on the beats and guest MC’s. There’s also my bro Kid Radikal who is currently recording “Radikal Measures” & “Gathering Thoughts”. Big things to watch out for in 2007, you can catch us on HHBRadio.com for all the exclusives.

Interview by Tricksta