Mikill Do you favor one genre over the other?MGJB Naw, I think with hip-hop it encompasses all styles of music. So it's just having hip-hop as a guide, a template. You know, it kinda lets us venture off into everything. My personal, I like the oldies.
Mikill: I've always loved Native Tongue. How did that all come about?MGJB: It basically happened when we first started. There weren't really as many artists as there are now, and we kinda stood out from the rest of the pack. And De La was one of the groups that stood out as well. And we just kinda linked. Actually, we got to do a show together down in Boston. That's when we first got together. You know, we kinda kicked it. We talked a lot. Our album was out. Their first single had just dropped. We made some connections. We got back in New York and it was kinda like everybody soared more than we did. But you know, It was really natural. We just kinda just started a relationship and it just took off from there.
Mikill: Who is your main influence?MGJB: My main influence? Wow...it would um...that's pretty hard to sum up...heh-heh. But it all comes from the DJs. I think from my early education from hangin' around Red and Bam those are my inspirations in a sense of ear-openers. It's hard for me to just pull out one person, but if I had to say one person I would probably say James Brown.
Mikill: There are artists I'm sure you guys have influenced. Who do you think are really good hip-hop artists out now?MGJB: There are so many. There are so many great artists out here now. I mean I love 'em from East to West. I gotta give Jay-Z some love. Even my guy down there in Texas, Devan. West Coast, Black-Eyed Peas. Mos Def, Talib, Hi-Tek...you know that whole flavor.
Mikill: Would you guys ever mix it up with some other stuff, like some punk?MGJB: Oh yeah, if the vibe is right, you know what I'm sayin'. It's like sometimes you never really know until you get up in the studio and you play it loud.
Mikill You have a new song, "What's the Five-O?" featured in the PS2 game Frequency. Should we be looking for a new album?MGJB Oh yeah. yeah definitely. We recently just finished recording and mixing our new album we worked on with Todd Terry, who's the producer of "What's the Five-O?" on the Frequency game. We got about 12 tracks. We haven't really stuck to a title yet. It's kinda waitin', waitin' to get all our clearances and all that stuff goin'. Hopefully that'll be out by early summer.
Mikill What would you like to pass down or tell those who are getting started in hip-hop or music in general?MGJB Just don't be afraid to mix it up. Definitely don't be afraid to mix it up and keep your identity, you know. Come in with a game plan and know it's about business...heh-heh. I mean you want to have fun. You don't want the business to bump out your love for the music, but definitely take care of your business because it'll make you happier at the end of the day.
Mikill is a radio DJ from the University of California, Irvine. His "Keepin It Right" radio show can be heard locally at 88.9 FM. KUCI is streamed over the Internet for you Real Audio diehards. Check the schedule at KUCI.org for showtimes. You can see more of Frequency at the Sony Computing website. SCEA.com