5 Questions with Rags #14 - Chali 2na

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Chali 2na is a hip-hop renaissance man. His artistic output is constant and while it varies many platforms, the quality never does. When you see the 2na name attached to something you know it’s going to be honest, vital and full of passion…which is pretty much all you need from good art. With so many years in the game, the Verbal Herman Munster is a pillar of Hip-Hop culture. He has murals displayed all over the world, is a founding member of both Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli, and continues to release top-shelf hip-hop under his own moniker. Always a pleasure to talk to, full of laughs and insight, Chali was one of the reasons I started to truly love hip-hop nearly two-decades ago and I couldn’t be more stoked or feel more privileged to get some more time with the man. Enjoy our latest, and possibly greatest, chat. Props to the Verbal Dinosaur, Hip-Hop royalty, Chali 2na.

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1. Do you remember the first album you bought with you own money?

Yep. It wasn’t an album, it was a single. It was called “Hey You” by the Rocksteady Crew. I bought it not because I liked the song, Crazy Legs and them might hate me right now, but I didn’t really like the song, but I’m a graffiti artist at heart and the cover of the album was drawn by one of the Rocksteady Crew members named Doze. Doze is helluva graffiti writer and he did characters of each member on the cover. I was in love with and I was like, “Damn, I wanna learn to draw things like that!” So I bought the album and that was the first purchase I made. I had to save up to get it. Then next one I got was “Renegades of Funk.” Once again I saw the cover before I heard the song and thought, “Oooh! This is amazing, I want this!” When I heard the song I was like, “Oh yeah, I’m really getting this on. This is crazy.”

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5 Questions with Rags #13 - DJ Nu-Mark

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It’s kind of amazing how much DJ Nu-Mark has permeated the world inside my ears throughout the majority of my life. Jurassic 5 was one of my big four of hip-hop that made me truly love the genre. “I Know, Didn’t I” from his amazing album with Pharcyde’s Slimkid3 last year, immediately found a special place in my heart, finding me at a particular time in my life. Most importantly, last year at Shambhala he gave my brother and I our “bonding set.” That one special set that both of us were looking forward to more than anything else. Holy shit, it was amazing. The guy put on a damned class in the History of Groove. While the set was criminally under-attended, my brother and I danced our faces off in front of those speakers, loving every single choice the good Uncle Nu made. I was lucky enough to get to talk to him before that set for the Martlet and even luckier to get some of his time here for y’all. Big props to one of the greats in the world of DJs and just an all-around cool cat, DJ Nu-Mark.

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1. Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money? What medium was it? Do you still have it? Does it still hold up for you?

Yeah, the first album I bought was U.T.F.O.'s first self titled LP.  I still have it although it's pretty beaten up from multiple 80's house parties.  Can't really play it out now but it is for sure a Hip Hop classic.  Roxanne Roxanne was the big hit.

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5 Questions with Rags #12 - The Gaff

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For some while now, the Gaff has been one of Western Canada’s foremost purveyors of funky goodness, rocking dancefloors all around our great land. He’s also a really cool, interesting cat. (Peep the profile I wrote about him earlier this year for the Martlet.) I’m still fairly new to the DJ world and sometimes I feel like I’m some kind of infiltrator (Though I’m really just a student) but not talking to the Gaff. Maybe it’s because so much of his roots are here at home base in Victoria and we move at a similar speed, but really who knows. As the Rock would say, “It doesn’t matter!”

The Gaff’s soundcloud is an endless smorgasbord of tasty delights that can get you through any day, good or bad, with an extra bounce in your step. You should listen to it.

You should also check out his other soundcloud, for his label Do It With Soul, because it’s his label and shares his groovy, groovy aesthetic.

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1. Do you remember the first album you purchased with your own money?

The first one that ever purchased…It was N.W.A. Straight Outta Compton. It got  stuck in my parent’s cassette deck in the car and I got in trouble from my parents.

 2. If you had to choose between keeping your sight and your hearing, which one would you go with?

 I’ve thought about that many, many times. I would have to say my sight. If you turn music up loud enough you can feel it anyways. You don’t necessarily feel melody as much but you do feel rhythm, especially if you get a good sound system with lots of bass. I would choose my sight because to function in this world would be so hard and there are so many beautiful things to see. I’d go for sight.

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5 Questions with Rags #11 - Dane Roberts (Victoria Ska Society)

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Dane is a fixture here at homebase in Victoria. He's responsible for bringing some of the most consistently fun, diverse concerts we get every year, and that's not even taking into consideration the annual Victoria Ska Fest, hands down the best week of music in the city every year. I've managed to catch him for a couple conversations here and there but never talked as long as we talked here. Brother is completely delightful and came through with thoughtful responses to my silly little questions. Much respect.

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1. What was the first album that you went out to buy with your own money?

It wasn’t my first album but I do remember one I liked in particular…we used to get tapes…I’m trying to remember…When I was 13 and 12…Jeez, that’s a really tough question. I do remember one significant purchase that even though I had bought albums far before that I can’t remember…I had a tape deck in my car with subs in high school and was always listening to cool music. I had a Datsun P210, ’77 Orange Datsun I used to drive to Cedar Hill Junior Secondary. I used to have a booster cushion because I was pretty short. My mom would say, “Sweetheart, remember your booster cushion.”

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5 Questions with Rags #10 - Chuck Robertson (of the Mad Caddies)

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Confession: Second-wave ska music kind of makes me insane. I want to like it, I really do. Everyone involved with it seems pretty cool and people in the crowds are always jovial and peaceful, but man, something about it makes me want to punch someone in the face. And as a guy who’ll have a big puff and listen to Run the Jewels with no inclination to punch another face, this is really saying something. A couple of years ago the Mad Caddies, a band with 20 years under their belts and a total of zero listens from your truly, headlined the Victoria Ska Fest (the greatest music week on the Victoria calendar) and I was more than pleasantly surprised with what I saw. These cats rock and burn, throwing every genre scrap they can into their “ska” and making something honest and uniquely theirs. The good homey and frontman Chuck was super cool to oblige me with some time while he was waiting for his California hotel room to be ready.

1. What was the first album you went to buy with your own money?

It was at a place called Records, Etc. I think by the time I started shopping there at age 7 or 8 they still had records, but they definitely mostly had cassettes, rock ‘n’ roll posters and posters of Ferraris and stuff. The first tape I bought was Billy Idol’s Vital Idol, if you can believe it. <laugh> That was the first tape I bought with my own lawn-mowing money. After that it was all Guns ‘n’ Roses, Metallica, Poison, lots of glam rock.

Do you still listen to any of that stuff?

Well, a lot of that glam rock didn’t really stand up to the test of time except for Guns ‘n’ Roses and a few Motley Crue tunes.

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