Friday, February 23, 2007

LORDZ of BROOKLYN interview (12/3/2003)

Flatline: So here we are, 8 years after "All In The Family"..."Graffiti Roc" is finally here...what have you and the Lordz been up to since the first album was out?

Kaves: Shit, it's been a rollercoaster fuckin' ride and we just stopped for a second and got our popcorn and then back on the rollercoaster. Since we last talked we did that world tour with Sublime and we definitely got recognized...it was hot for a minute. We did a second video with Ted Demme, who passed away, for "Lake Of Fire" with Everlast and that was a record label later because the record company we were on went under...

Flatline: What happened with that?

Kaves: American was rocky for a minute and I don't know if they were losing their deal but they dropped the Venture Records which was a side label. So pretty much from there we were kinda fucked. We were on our own. And then some of the cats in the group wasn't feeling the letdown and they went off to do their own thing. Just because the record business throws you a little curve ball...you don't let that stop you. We're still from Brooklyn and we're still givin' back to our neighborhood and we're still doin' our thing.

Flatline: In 95, when we first talked, you mentioned you might be going into the studio with Biggie and Junior Mafia. Did that ever go down?

Kaves: That never happened...it was in the works with our record company and took longer than expected. It would have been amazing if we would've got Biggie and us, you know what I'm sayin'? Biggie definitely gave us props for that "Saturday Nite Fever" song and loved the line "It's our pizzeria".

Flatline: Man, the "Sucker MC" cover on the new album with Everlast is incredible. Did you ever get any feedback from Jam Master Jay on that?

Kaves: No, actually when we were mixing down that song Run was in the next room and we were able to grab him and bring him in to hear it and he flipped out over it. He was callin' me the next 3 or 4 days wanting to be in the video but Universal Records never did one. Run was a big fan of it...he thought it was the best Run DMC cover EVER DONE. I got to meet Jam Master Jay at a party a little while before he passed away and we didn't get to kick it about that song and...and that happened...and it was a true loss for hiphop. I felt like hiphop died when Jam Master Jay died.

Flatline: Absolutely...it certainly affected me more than even Biggie or Tupac cause...Jam Master Jay...Run DMC...that's what you grew up on, ya know?

Kaves: Yeh, that's what we really grew up on and that's what really gave us that adrenaline rush...like P.E. did. If it wasn't for Public Enemy and Run DMC and early LL...that's what set it off. That early Def Jam shit is what fuckin' made me wanna fight, know what I mean?

Flatline: (laughing) I hear you...

Kaves: I got to meet them (Run DMC) when I was a young kid. I was actually an extra in a movie called "Krush Groove"...

Flatline: You were in "Krush Groove" too?!!

Kaves: Yeh yeh yeh....

Flatline: Damn, you do everything!! You're in the book "Spraycan Art"...you're in "Krush Groove"......

Kaves: I'm tellin' you man, we walk the walk, we talk the talk, you know?

Flatline: That's fuckin' dope...

Kaves: I'm a graffiti artist...I was definitely out there at an early age and I was definitely runnin' around Manhatten. We got into breakdancin' and we got hooked up with an agent and the next thing you know she has us auditioning for "Krush Groove" and the Chaka Khan video "I Feel For You". So we were breakin' and stuff and I get to hang out with all those guys. I'm takin' an elevator ride and who the fuck gets on the elevator but Run DMC and Jam Master Jay. And ofcourse I got my little piece book cause I'm a writer and I open it up to the dopest piece in the book. They were flippin' through it and they seen this one that had the cotton club and it had a pimp character swingin' a chain and they autographed it for me and I still have it to this day.

Flatline: Wow...are you gonna show shots of that on the upcoming Lordz DVD?

Kaves: Yeh, we're gonna show it there. I also got to meet LL that day as well. They definitely was cool and definitely were more than happy to sign the book and gimme a pound. That set it off man...that was the adrenaline rush...that's what I wanted to be. Public Enemy solidified it you know what I'm sayin'? It was crazy to be into hiphop in that period of time. So that's what set it off. And then, you know, you put a little of your own meat sauce in the sauce and 15 years later, here we are.

Flatline: 8 years ago there was House Of Pain, Mad Flava and Miilkbone. Now we got Eminem and people like The High & Mighty, Bubba Sparxxx and Ugly Duckling. What are some of your thoughts on the cats I mentioned there?

Kaves: It was always there...the presence was always there. It's just that you only heard about a few people but there was always white kids rhyming. I think now...who can top Eminem? He raised the fuckin' bar...I gotta give him a lot of props. I think Everlast and House Of Pain broke open the door cause for a minute it was painted cause of the whole Vanilla Ice thing. If you were a white guy doin' hiphop, right away there was a snicker about Vanilla Ice and that was gettin' old because 3rd Bass was blowin' up the spot before the Vanilla Ice thing came along. But then House Of Pain fuckin' blew that door right back open. Miilkbone and all those other guys were doin' their thing and then Eminem comes and fuckin' fucks everybody up.

Flatline: Anyone else who you think is really raising the bar in hiphop?

Kaves: I'm really feelin' The Roots...Outkast...and all those other groups that try and do something different.

Flatline: Right...not tryin' to make the same beat as the next man and make the same song over and over again.

Kaves: That shit's gettin' tired already....

Flatline: No doubt...especially recently, you know what I'm sayin'? Even since the last time we talked in 95, hiphop has changed SO much...and it's not for the better.

Kaves: No, it fuckin' got.....where's the fuckin' angst in it??!? Where's the backbone??

Flatline: Where's the creativity?

Kaves: Yea man...I'm tired of hearin' about the shine and the fuckin' cristal...not to say people can't enjoy themselves man, but you know what?...fuckin' turn the page already!

Flatline: I love your line on the new album "Rip the ice off any industry bitch"....

Kaves: Yea! You know, like, play something fuckin' different for a change. Make some shit that isn't fuckin' done on a triton keyboard!! What the fuck.....

Flatline: So we move on to "Graffiti Roc"...8 years in the making...

Kaves: Well "Graffiti Roc" was kinda...I mean, that's bringing it back to the roots of where it all came from. Graffiti was our first love and it kinda opened all this shit up for us. We just bring it back man and put a spin on it and fuck everybody's head up...and bring it back to when hiphop was little bit more experimental. We wanted to capture that early New York vibe...the whole early 80's when New York was kinda grimy and hot and shit. The album kinda has party jams and feel good hooks and shit just because the summer of 83 for us was that way.

Flatline: A lot of projects are rushed...from the beats to the lyrics to the artwork. It's obvious you guys spent a lot of time on the packaging and the photos and all that...so design-wise, it's real nice...

Kaves: Yeh, we dug into the archives and we have the old breakdancing photos...that was when the energy was there in 83...that was when we first got a pair of Adidas...breakdancing for quarters outside of fuckin' Century 21.

Flatline: It seems funny for me to say this, but I think Lordz Of Brooklyn created a beautiful song and that song would be "Mama's Boy"...do you wanna speak on that?

Kaves: Yeh, well...that song tells you, gives you a little taste of our life...how life can throw you a curve ball and take away your most prized possession...your mother. We lost our mother and sister right before the "All In The Family" album so we kinda put our heads up and went strong but somewhere a few years later it caught up and took its toll on us. My verse on "Mama's Boy" was probably written over a bottle of scotch and some fuckin' rough nights...

Flatline: No doubt....it's a great GREAT song....

Kaves: Thanks man...and my brother through a few years wrote one verse and ended it a few years later with the other verse. It's a timeline of what's in the gut. That gives you a real look at what we're all about...our families. We actually did the song in 97 and then came back to it in 99 and put the third verse on it. So you can kinda date back the music and say, hey they were doin' something ahead of their time. A lot of people hear that song and say, oh that sounds like the Eminem song with Dido...well that's cool, but check the liner notes and see when we originally recorded it.

Flatline: Also on "Mama's Boy" there's a line ADM has that says "talks about war, there's still bodies unfound"...which I'm assuming is a reference to 9/11...is that correct?

Kaves: Yeh, pretty much...that's hysterical because you could put it to 9/11, you could put it to vietnam, you could put it to all of them. No one ever gets a straight answer and then you're onto the next war. It just so happened that 9/11 happened AFTER that song was written...

Flatline: Wow....

Kaves: You can definitely look at that song and trip out on that.

Flatline: What was it like for you in Brooklyn on 9/11?

Kaves: Panic...ya know, everyone went and found some guns and got on their motorcycles and didn't know what the fuck to do. New York took a fuckin' terrible loss. It affected everyone personally because of that six degrees of separation shit...imagine that all around you. It kinda makes you put everything in perspective...we didn't give a fuck if we was makin' music...we just wanted to survive.

Flatline: How was it working with some of the guests on the album like Freddie Foxxx, OC and Lord Finesse?

Kaves: Freddie Foxxx is like family with us...he's a big supporter of us. He was a fan of the "Saturday Nite Fever" video and we did some artwork for him and became close friends. When he blazed that track it was all from the heart. Then OC and Lord Finesse and all those cats...street legends...in the same boat as us tryin' to get theirs. Shit, Finesse is a legend...OC is incredible...that was a no-brainer.

Flatline: I heard that "Straight Outta Brooklyn" track at www.lordzofbrooklyn.com...any chance of that being released sometime?

Kaves: Well, what we're gonna do is put all those songs you never heard before on the DVD and on there we're gonna have a video for "Straight Outta Brooklyn". We originally did that for Pony...for one of their trade shows.

Flatline: Back in 95, you were listening to Meth, Raekwon and Biggie. What are you listening to these days?

Kaves: Um...shit...what are we listening to now? What are we listening to? Shit! I'm just gonna...you know what....I'm not gonna big up anybody but the Lordz Of Brooklyn!! Fuck everybody! (laughs) LORDZ OF BROOKLYN!!!

- Flatline for rapstation.com

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