CREAM INTERVIEW

Beat Diarya is a remix album. Can you explain why you chose these tracks and guests?

Beat Diarya was a way to experiment, showcase my production skills and get my stuff out there. All the rappers on there are were guys with a lot of skill and people I wanted to work with. The remixes were from some of my favorite 12" acapellas.

Who´s Corvid Lorax? Can you tell a few words about him?

Corvid Lorax and I went to the same highschool in Edmonton and he's a dope rapper. He released an album last year called “Kalashni-Cancerous" which got a lot of attention in western Canada. He's part of a popular band in Edmonton called Eshod Ibn Wyza which is fusion group of sorts. They've got a couple of emcees, singers, guitar players and a drummer. Anyway, Lorax is always working on lyrics; I mean he writes lyrics on cigarette packs, bus transfers, scraps of paper, anything...he's always writing and he's impossible to miss on the street.

You are about to shoot videos to some of the tracks off the album. Can you tell when the videos will be released and what songs have been chosen?

I'm thinking about doing 2 videos: one for the Big L warp on the album, which will be a kind of “video remix" and the big one I'm thinking about is the Mindbender song called “Maximum Supremacy." My life is pretty hectic right now with making/promoting my music, other film/video projects and school. School eats up a huge amount of my time, but I can tell you one of them is in the pre-production stages as we speak, since I'll likely be using film for the project, everything has to be planned properly.

In one review of Beat Diarya, they said that remix of Busta Rhymes´Woo Haa is a “Timbaland-inspired beat perfect for Missay Elliot". Based on the quality of her music, would you make a beat for her?

Haha, I noticed that. I would make like 20 beats for Missy Elliot ­ I'll give her a call tomorrow. In the end, I'm flattered to be compared to Timbaland and I think it's an interesting comparison because I had no intention of “sounding like" anyone other than myself when I made the song. Shout outs to Henry Mancini!

Today´s mixtape is not what a mixtape used to be. Now some put together their unreleased tracks and call it a mixtape. What´s your opinion on today´s mixtape market and form of mixtapes in general?

I find people are hustling a lot of shitty CDRs (with no labels, poor quality inserts) in slim cases and most of them aren't worth the plastic they're burnt on. I ignore guys who try to sell a CDR for $10 because usually the “tape" is a big disappointment. If Emily Post had some rules on hip hop eitquette, she would say that CDRs should be no more than $5 ­ unless the disk is packaged nicely like mine is. I charge $5.

What´s your opinion on DJ Drama issue?

Oh yeah, that shit's wack. I'm on Drama's side for sure. There are people out there who are putting out professional, high-quality mixtapes that put people on. Multi-national corporations are scared shitless about them for some reason, it's like elephants afraid of mice or girls afraid of spiders...it makes no sense. It's one aspect of the biz that multi-nationals don't have their fingers in. When they see an independent moving 100, 000+ copies, they want a slice of the pie. Personally, I don't think that being on a mixtape will translate to more sales, but I've been on a few mixtapes and I think they're an effective way to get your shit out there.

You released an album with Max Prime two years ago. Can we expect a follow-up?

Yes, one day there will be a follow up. Hardly Novices really put independent music in perspective for us and I think Max is a little more discouraged about the prospect of underground rap. I don't blame him, it's like climbing a shitty rope-ladder.

You ´re an editor of UGSmag. When and by whom was the magazine started? Any other underground hip hop magazines in Canada?

I'm actually not an editor of Ugsmag, just a contributor. The magazine was started by Noyz (and a couple of others) in 2000 when underground rap was more fashionable. They used to sell the best independent music on it too. Over the past year or two, I saw the magazine waning a bit and decided that it was time to get it started again. I think it's starting to get into pretty good shape, but we need more quality contributors and more consistent content. Ugsmag is the best indpendent hip hop magazine in Canada, I don't see why you'd want to read another one!

What´s next for Jon B?

I'm working on resurrecting the careers of Saafir and Mic Geronimo, reuniting Nas and Primo, venerating Chubb Rock and Prince Paul, getting more underground talents on Ugsmag, producing beats for my hip hop bretheren, a film career and a new concept album with an unknown rapper. An EP with Birdapres? Some songs for Epic? A Max Prime/Jon B LP. A Corvid Lorax/Jon B EP. Plus, I really need a record deal, indie labels contact me ­ seriously. I'll be waiting by the phone.

Cream Magazine (Czech Version)