The Tongue
September 18th, 2007 by Tom Wilson
So… Shock And Awe… I thought it was funny, ‘cause that’s also what they called the first big American bombing campaign of
Well there you go, I mean, there are similarities. And to be honest with you, that’s where the phrase came from. I think that’s what pops into most people’s heads when they hear Shock And Awe. But yeah, I mean, I kinda just like the idea of… I’m very anti-violence and I think war is… the failure of humanity results in a war, basically. The failure to communicate. So I kinda like the idea of using their term against them, really. It was funny because I kinda came up with that title… I don’t know, probably about seventy percent into the record. And then all kinds of shit things were happening to me during the course of the record. And yet, all kind of awesome things were happening as well. Like on the bad side, we had producers pulling out beats, and I’m still looking at taking legal action against one of them… my DJ left, and my cat died… all kinds of shit things, but at the same time all these awesome things were happening. Like we hooked up with all these international dudes, and the tracks just came out great, and that kind of shit. So in the end it was like shock and awe! And that pretty much sums up my last few months of life… So it’s got a few different meanings to it then.
Yeah, okay. So I guess, stylistically, aside from its length, in what ways is Shock And Awe set apart from Bad Education?
You know, with Bad Education, I hadn’t done anything before, you know? Like songs from that EP were seriously like, probably the fifth or sixth songs I’d ever recorded, you know what I mean, so like I was pretty under-experienced. Since then, between the EP and the album, I’ve done some tours with Astronomy Class and a lot more shows, and collaborated with a few dudes and had a lot more experience, so I think I was much better equipped. I guess in times of the style, I just had, you know, like eleven tracks, and had like eleven more chances of doing something fun, basically. That’s the way I look at it, kind of, I approach each track as it’s own little world really. And I just went all out with this album, man, I asked every awesome hip-hop producer in this country for beats for this record, you know? And again, getting back to the ‘awe,’ it was awesome that fuckin’ so many dudes came to the table and threw beats at me, really. But I just wanted to go for something bigger, man, and more sophisticated. I’m so sick of… hip-hop in this country, you know? Like, listen to Butterfingers I Love Work, to me really typically shows the problem with the way hip-hop is perceived in this country. You know, hip-hop is far more intelligent than I Love Work, or you know, something like that. I just kinda wanted to bring out something that was… had more layers to it, man. And had more… excitement to it. That’s the exciting thing about coming into Aussie hip-hop at the moment, is that it’s so young. And the future is unwritten, man, and you know like, there’s only been one number one album in Australian hip-hop history, you know. It’s shown that it can be done, yet who’s going to stand up to the plate, and bring it through for the next generation. I’m getting way off the plot of the question here!
Na, it’s cool. So on a lyrical front, what kind of subject matter do you delve into on this album?
I mean, look man, basically, my vibe is basically… I’m anti-violence, I’m anti… how can I put this? I’m basically… everyone you know, like me, Vents, Pegs, The Herd, even Hilltop Hoods, we’ve all got roughly the same message for the youth, which is basically; wake the fuck up out of your slumber. There’s an ideological war on at the moment, and we need soldiers on the front line. Do you know what I mean? Like this huge push in the media to be something you’re not. You know, and we get these real mixed messages from our government, you know, like you go to jail for violence, unless of course that’s violence against someone your government has told you to kill. In which case you get a fuckin’ badge of honor.
Shock And Awe comes out on the 30th of September.
