College Times

Media Credit: Courtesy Decon Media

Rakaa Iriscience is a student of hip-hop. Not only is he one-third of the acclaimed West Coast rap group Dilated Peoples (along with DJ Babu and Evidence), but he’s also a member of the hip-hop movement Universal Zulu Nation and b-boy coalition Rocksteady Crew.

In anticipation of Dilated Peoples’ tour stop in the Valley June 6, Rakaa recently spoke with College Times about the hip-hop industry, “the underground” and the disappearing b-boy.

       

College Times: It seems like a lot of rappers record a single and just let it play to get paid without having to pay any kind of dues. How important is touring to Dilated Peoples?

Rakaa Iriscience: We’re not a pop group. We don’t go out and chase pop radio formulas. We’ve been blessed a couple times to have songs hit the radio naturally, or organically, or whatever the case is, but we don’t go out there and gamble and try to make pop records for the record label. We were already touring before we got a record deal, which is one of the reasons we got offered such a nice record deal in the first place, because we had a base already in place. So, ultimately, Dilated touring is basically our base, as far as how we connect with our people, it’s something that we control. Regardless of whatever record label we happen to be signed to, or what hot video was on MTV or on radio at this particular time, we have a reputation for doing a live show that’s respected for what it is, not just come down and hear the single you hear on the radio all day, and 35 minutes of filler, but come check out a real official, hour-and-a-half boom bap hip-hop set.

The “underground rap” title has been slapped on you guys. Do you embrace that kind of label, or do you shy away from it?

It really just depends. A title like “underground,” it really depends on the intent, the context of how it’s being said. For somebody to come up to me like, ‘yo, I appreciate what you guys are doing for the underground,’ or, ‘All movements begin underground,’ or ‘Thanks for keeping the roots strong’ … to me, that’s a badge of honor. I rock that like a gold medal, you know what I mean, because I know I’ve reached the people I’m trying to reach on that level. At the same time, there’s people that’ll say, ‘oh, you guys are underground. For that reason, we’re not going to play your song on the radio, or you’re not gonna get the proper billing, you’re gonna have to make it hard for these other groups to come on stage after you because you’re not gonna get a top billing spot,’ or ‘we’re only gonna play your song in the mix because you guys are considered “underground.”’ In that respect, I think it’s limiting.

Speaking of respecting your roots, why is it that b-boys and DJs aren’t associated with hip-hop as much as they used to be?

What happened was, the record labels got a hold of the rapper, pumped the rapper’s ego up – which is not very difficult to do – and explained to the rapper that the rapper’s the star. So the DJ is now going to be a stage prop. Just put him in the back, he don’t even have to plug his turntables in. We’ll have our graphic artists in our art department do your artwork, so no need to hang out with your graffiti artist friends. We got staff producers or whatever, so no need to hang out with your beatboxers or even your producer friends. And break dancing is a fad, so let’s get in some modern dance, because all these guys doing acrobatics and stuff, that’s just a fad from the ’80s. They pumped that into the rapper’s mentality, and the rapper, unfortunately, fell for the okie-dokie, and in my opinion; sold out his brothers in hip-hop. … As a rapper, if you know anything about history, and the history of what you’re doing, you would know that, ultimately, the DJ is the backbone of the hip-hop culture. And there were people already DJing and b-boyin’ and doing graffiti well before there was the modern rap movement that we know today. Really, rap is the youngest aspect of hip-hop, and it’s probably the spoiled brat of hip-hop, too, always used to getting its way.

Dilated Peoples w/Alchemist, Aceyalone, 88-Keys, Marquee Theatre, Friday, June 6, 6:30 p.m., $18.75

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