| ||||||
|
| |||||
| ||||||
| ||||||
| ||||||
| ||||||
| ||||||
|
Montreal Hour - The Other Side of Success Offsides - Foul Language [Odouble F Records/URBNET] By Steve Lalla (June 10, 2004) Local hip-hop ensemble take off on their own terms Chipping away for years at the difficult path to hip-hop success, local rap outfit Offsides have taken major strides of late, releasing their first full-length LP this summer and witnessing strong response to Foul Language's first single, 2Def. I sat down with half of the foursome, rapper Bailey and DJ DR One, and spoke about their future plans and the success of the LP to date. "We released a video for 2Def," tells Bailey, "which has been getting really good reception on MTV2, Vibe and MuchMusic, playing all over in Canada and also on MTV Asia, because we went there on tour recently. We actually released everything out there first." Montreal has never been known as a hotbed of anglophone hip-hop, but along with the rest of the Island City Monsters collective - including Eye 2 Eye, Memo & Fat Sak, DFek, Meta4ce, DJ Twitch and DJ Mana (www.islandcitymonsters.com) - Offsides are poised to make a major contribution on an international scale. The effusive Bailey, who speaks as confidently as he raps, explains without any hesitation. "North America is the grounds for English groups to make it in, but we can also make it elsewhere - there's a whole world out there. I've found that we may have something that caters more to the rest of the world, as well as to America also. We approach certain subject matters that we know about. Me and the rest of the crew, we don't go around with red or blue bandannas or shit like that, you know, none of us have ever gone to jail." He pauses and turns to DR One: "I dunno if you ever got caught spray painting...? But we don't deal with the same things that a lot of the rappers glorify in the States right now. A lot of our album is about the determination of trying to succeed in what you do, and everyone has something they're trying to succeed in, whether it's just a pastime, or your career choice in life, or your family, whatever the case may be. But somehow people might be able to associate more to us with our struggle in trying to make it, as opposed to a rapper's struggle, say, in trying to move a pound on the streets." Keeping their long-term goals in perspective, Offsides released Foul Language on their own label, ODoubleF (www.odoublef.com), the group remaining wary of the pitfalls of instant gratification. "Labels out here in Montreal are shysty," says Bailey. "Throughout years of doing this, we've gone to so many labels that have wanted to sign us, and they're always doing stupidity, trying to trick you and trying to screw you, and we said to ourselves, we're just gonna do this ourselves. I don't mind taking three years to get where I could with one year on a major label, because number one, I'll make more money on my own; number two, I'll have a lot more support from my fans; and number three, I'll be around a lot longer."  | ||||||
| ||||||
|
 |