Interview - hiphopcanada.com as interviewed by By: Gladstone What?! Toronto, ON - In the early 90s, Toronto was experiencing its first wave of scratch djs. Groups like the Turnstyles (feat. Lil Jaz, Grouch and D-Styles) were getting attention and a whole roster of djs stepped up to compete. Amongst them was one Dj Apollo who took second place in his first battle the 1991 Metro Mix Off. Two years later Apollo's impresive1993 Monster Jam routine was spotlighted on Much Music. After Much Music Apollo's dj side virtually faded into obscurity. 10 years later while listening to Anonymous Twists' Through The Looking Glass and reading the liner notes memories are sparked. 2003 is a new era. Dj Apollo is now a one-man band handling vocals and beats under the name Anonymous Twist and using Dj Apollo for the cuts. HHC: On Through The Looking Glass you are the producer, mc and dj. Did you handle the mixing and mastering as well? What kind of challenges did you face handling all sides of the production? I did what I could with the mixing at my studio; the mastering was done by Chris Anderson at Definitive Sound. He did a great job. If I trusted my ears more, I'd try mastering it myself. The mixing I'm very apprehensive about. But Chris felt it was good enough to work with so I'm feeling a bit more comfortable with what my ears tell me. Mixing the music is just trial and error for me, with some tips I picked up researching on the Internet about mixing. Mixing the vocals is another story. Ever notice how Raekwon sounded on the Cuban Linx album? He seemed pretty loud, almost like he drowned out the beat. But it sounded perfect. When I mix the vocals with the beat, that's what's going through my head, "How would RZA mix Rae's vocals on this beat?" The biggest challenge I have with the production side of things is wondering whether people will dig this beat that I chose to use for this particular track, or even while I make the beat. My taste in terms of what sounds cool to me has always been a bit off-centre with respect to what's commonly considered dope. That's probably the main reason I never pursued playing out as a DJ. But considering I'm probably the only die-hard Swollen Members fan over the age of 25 and I went to the Snoop concert in Hamilton more to see Choclair and Sauks than the headliner, sometimes I'm not so confident that the music I make will go over well with people who criticize those same artists I'm a fan of. Other times I shake off that paranoia and get on with it. HHC: What does your live stage show consist of? Can you rap, cut and cue beats all at once? Actually, I haven't worked on a live show yet. But I've seen J-Live do that routine where he raps and goes back and forth with the turntables, he might have done a chase juggle too. It's definitely something I'd want to incorporate into a live show, but getting the turntable set up right on stage is a bitch. Shit is always skipping unless you have them up on speaker boxes if you want to do vigorous scratching and juggling. I'd probably need a headset too, like Beavis working at Burger World. HHC: Anonymous Twist produced all of the tracks on Through the Looking Glass and Dj Apollo did all the cuts. Is your dj side an alter ego for you? Why wouldn't you just go by one name? If I could do it again, I would have changed the producer credit to Funky Brewster. I remember when people just knew me as Apollo, and I would try to work with people on a track, they would say, "cool, maybe you can do some cuts on the track?" after they heard my beats. Maybe they really didn't like my beats, but it just seemed like they couldn't see past my Djing. That was going through my head when I was writing up the liner notes. But having alter egos is very liberating in an artistic sense. When people are used to hearing you with a certain sound and you try something different, those initial expectations can hinder the acceptance of whatever artistic growth you undergo. With the way my new production is sounding like, Funky Brewster might produce the next album. It's a more light-hearted side of me. HHC: You have history in Toronto's hip hop scene by competing in the early 90s. What happened to the battling side of Dj Apollo? I like the fact that you have scratch routines in your interludes. It shows a whole next side of you. That competitive spirit was never really in me in the first place. It was very contrived. In around '94-95, I just kind of accepted that I couldn't compete with these guys. The shit they'd come up with was incredible. I'm talking about Grouch, Lil' Jazz and D-Scratch. I love doing scratch routines still, though. I just wished I had more time to do it. In a way, it is a next side of me because sometimes the phrase I scratch is something I would never say in my lyrics. I think if I didn't have that scratching, my album would be so artsy-fartsy. It grounds my music to the street sound, for lack of a better term, that first drew me to hip hop. HHC: Having been in the Toronto scene for a while now what are some of the positive and negative changes that you've seen? As funny as it might sound, Toronto producers learned how to sample and use the right drums. There was a Canadian sound for a while, that you could hear right away. More than being unpolished, it was just lacklustre. With only a few exceptions, production didn't start tightening up till around 94-95 maybe. I'm guessing around the time Frankenstein dropped "Peace & Quiet". I might be wrong, but around that time, it was a renaissance for hip hop in Toronto. Compare the Cold Front compilation to the first Rap Essentials, like night and day, I think it's mainly due to the quality of production. Progress is always good. In terms of negative changes… I remember being at this club, Spectrum, in around '90-91, this crew from Jane & Finch take the stage for an impromptu performance, the 40-ounce crew. One guy goes up, and then all of a sudden 20-25 guys get on stage to represent their crew. A crewmember, Enuf Da Roc grabs the mic, I think that was his name. He rips a verse and just kills it, sending the crowd into a frenzy. The sad thing is, I haven't seen or felt anything like that since, in Toronto. There was a flow, delivery and connection with the crowd that an MC had back then that's lost now. I guess if you never experienced something like that, you're not missing anything. I guess that's the price I pay for being so old. HHC: If you could get rid of one thing/person/perception in the hip hop industry what would it be? That hip hop is dead. If you love this shit and either rap, DJ or make beats, it never dies. Even if that contribution never leaves your basement studio. I only mention the aural elements because that's what most people complain about. They don't even recognize the worldwide impact of b-boying and graffiti. So what the fuck are they talking about "hip hop is dead"? Those same people will go on to impose their idea of what hip hop used to be. And more often than not, they make it out to be more than it is. Like those early parties in the Bronx that hip hop was born from was a catalyst for social change. Then the house parties in Scarborough this past weekend must have been in protest to David Miller cancelling the bridge construction to the island airport. It was just a party, dude. You want complain about how lyrical content has declined? What were Cold Crush or Furious Five rapping about most of the time? How fly they were, how many girls they get, how bad they are on the mic? You also have "The Message" coming out back then. Now you have Chingy's "Holidae Inn" and Kanye's "Through The Wire" on the same airwaves. Every type of music has its place. But there is no place for pretension and ignorance. HHC: In your bio it says that you started producing on Radio Shack gear, what gear are you into now? I picked up quite a few pieces since I graduated and started working a couple years ago. I have an EPS-16, MPC60 and an MPC2000XL, hardware-wise. I use the 60 almost exclusively. I've also been making a lot of beats with Cubase Instruments this past year. HHC: Is through The Looking Glass is your second album? How has your style changed since your Eugenics album? What is the tone of the Eugenics album? Where can people buy Eugenics? Officially, Looking Glass is my first album. Eugenics was practice, and in terms of style, it wasn't me at all. It was on some battle-shit. The whole album. And we all know how well those types of albums go over in the long run. It wasn't me, cuz I'm not a battle-MC either. It was fun to do, cuz that battling shit is pretty easy when you write it. And in '99 when I made, battling was big with Eminem being on the come up with Canibus. But as a representation of who I am, it was totally opposite. Reviews for it were positive, though. But still, it's like one of those old pictures of you that you look at and you say to yourself, "I can't believe I wore those!" HHC: Why are there no collaborations on The Looking Glass? Are you a hip-hop recluse or do you just have a lot to say? Will you be collaborating with any of the Urbnet family? I am a hip hop recluse. The number of people I connect with on a hip hop level and friendship level, is less than what you'd be able to count on one hand. At the same time, I don't think I'm at a level where I'm able to confidently work with other people. HHC: There are a lot of different styles on Through The Looking Glass. There are some hard tracks, some conscious tracks. I found it really hard to classify it. How would you describe your album and the tracks on it? I can't really classify it myself. If I could do that, then I'd be able to picture where it fit in in the grand scheme of rap music. I mean, I listen to Ludacris, Method Man, Gang Starr, Aesop Rock, High & Mighty, Dilated Peoples, Saukrates and Cypress Hill. Not to say I'm anywhere near the level of those artists, but where does it fit in there? I don't know. HHC: Why should people go out and buy Through The Looking Glass? If you're looking for something that isn't about pimps, thugs, guns, using or selling drugs, how wack you are, how I smoke mics, how much money I have, how many cars I bought but haven't driven, sexual escapades, jewellery, escalades, rims and other car accessories, and particularly how hip hop is dead, then this is the perfect Christmas gift for yourself or a loved one. HHC: Which of the tracks is closest to your heart and why? "Respected" is a song I wrote for my fiancee for her birthday this year. In the liner notes I made the wrong track # reference in my dedication to her, I've yet to learn the concept of proofreading, and she very quickly pointed it out to me. I've been with her more than 8 years now, and I've always said I'd put a song about her on an album. I also made it as an antithesis to the misogyny in hip hop, that love isn't a conquest. When you stop fucking around, you can experience something honest and real like this too. Actually, the song right after that on the CD, "Rambling Souls". I get existential on that ass. That was a real personal song to me too. Something personally introspective, but if you're at the stage of life where it feels like the rest of your life is just beginning, you'll get something out of it. So important to me that I have the lyrics printed in the liner notes. HHC: How have you been promoting the album? What has the response been like so far? Will there be an Anonymous Twist Urbnet tour? So far the response has been real promising. We're just waiting on more press and reviews. Anonymous Twist Urbnet tour, that's crazy. Eventually, but not anytime soon, I still got a lot more dues to pay before I headline a show. DL and Classified have so much more performance experience than me. But opening for an Urbnet tour would be a start. HHC: In your liner notes you say, "To all you kiddies, do the knowledge, never forget…" How do you feel about the new generation of hip hoppers and the direction that the music is going in? I'm not worried about the direction the music is taking in the long term. When rap is no longer a commodity, those who still love it will keep it real, for lack of a better term. Back track to the question about misconceptions about hip hop, the term old school is thrown around to refer to the first few rap songs someone's heard, what introduced them to hip hop. It's not relative, old school had a definitive time span in hip hop. Sometime around '87-88 I think, there was a drastic change in the way beats were made and how MC's sounded. Scenario is not old school. Gotcha Open is not old school. Fugee-La is not old school. On top of that, you'll hear new jacks say Kane or Greg Nice are wack. It's just ridiculous. And they need to be schooled. In fact, I'm going to plug a college radio show I have nothing to do with but whenever I tune in, they don't only play new shit, but also pay homage to classics, Masterplan Show on CIUT 89.5FM Saturday 8:30-10:30PM. Other shows either don't play that spectrum of old and new, or are on too late for me to catch. HHC: Will any of the tracks be in rotation on commercial radio or Much music? How can an up and coming artist infiltrate the major radio stations with out being signed to a major? Do you have video plans for any of the tracks? Haven't decided on a track for a video, but that's in progress, trying to find a director to take on the project. How do up and coming artists infiltrate major radio station play lists? How do wack songs get Videofact assistance? Damned if I know. Everybody knows the "format" must fit, but who determines the format? The advertisers I suppose. Ergo, make music that the Apple Ipod marketing manager likes. HHC: This our official question that we ask in all interviews: Is a break-dancer who's maxin, going all out or relaxing? Aaah, I see your trickery, little gnome. By saying maxin, a new jack will extrapolate that to mean "maximizing" or "going all out". But in the glossary to "How To Pop, Lock and Break" out of print since 1984, maxin is relaxing. Hence the phrase, "maxin and relaxin". May I cross the bridge now? HHC: Is there anything that you would like to add in closing? Any messages or shout outs? My message, never stop being a fan of the music. When you start to pick apart songs disguising your criticism as an analysis, imposing your preference as a standard, you stopped being a fan. Just like when I hear people say, " I know where that snare came from, they jacked it from the bridge", I want to call them a pansy. But by that point, they're beyond redemption. That's about it for my rant. Oh yeah, pick up my album, if it isn't in HMV, tell 'em to order it in for you (or buy it online at HipHopCanada.com).