BEFORE WE GET INTO THIS: i’m saying it this time and this time only (probably): check out the artists mentioned in this interview. seriously. look into something new, the styles that these cats have range from out there to crazy, but it’s all good. maybe you won’t like all of them, shit maybe only one will sound aight to you. go from there. this is progression.
big, big thanks to the Crate Creator Himself and to backwoods.
* all flicks taken at SpaceBase 2031
** videos done by DubLab, not me (…yet)
Ras_G: Whattup world, Ras_G, Crate Creator Music, Poo Bah Records, ya know? All of that Beat Music Worldwide, shout out to the fam, here to there, US and Abroad.
What are the aliases?
Ras_G: Ras G aka Black Dusty Rhodes aka Brother There Somewhere Over There aka Stony O’Hara.
When did you first get involved in being part of a music community?
Ras_G: I just started making beats man. It really started, as far as hookin’ up with people, like at Aaron’s Records, at record stores, just seeing people over the years and then I started making music.
When did you first actually start making beats? I don’t mean like exactly but..
Ras_G: I tell you exactly, it’s been about six years.
Oh really? I would actually think it’s been longer. But you’ve been a DJ for a minute right?
Ras_G: Yeah I’ve been DJing for a minute, I’ve been DJing since back in the days, high school, for my homies and shit. I got my first 1200’s like in 1998.
You used to DJ a lot at Project Blowed right?
Ras_G: Project Blowed, and this spot back in the day called Five On The Black Hand Side. Those were my main spots.
So about 6 years ago, you switched the focus to beats?
Ras_G: Yeah, I always wanted to make beats, my cousin had an SP 1200, shout out to Wolverine. He had an SP 1200 back in the day and he’d just leave it at my house some times. My grandma lived around the court so he’d go around there and I’d still be at my house fucking with the SP 1200, and from there I got ideas.
Last time we spoke you mentioned how you got inspired to make beats because of the lack of shit that was out there that you were feelin…
Ras_G: Yeah I mean, at the time when I didn’t have no gear, no MP, I would go over to people’s houses and they would be making some stuff and I’d be like ‘that ain’t it’ kinda shit. I know the machine could do a lot more, but then I realized it wasn’t the machine it was the person. It really wasn’t for them, so I just picked up on that shit, okay, y’all got dust on y’all machines, y’all making wack shit on the MPC’s and the SP 1200’s and the ASR 10. I feel like I could bring something to this music.
Was the MPC the first thing you got?
Yup, the first thing I bought, MPC 2000 XL.
How would you describe the first kind of music you were making?
Ras_G: Just your traditional boom bap shit, two bar loop shit, one bar loop shit. Shit I’ll still be doing. You gotta start off…I mean, it’s like a thin line between inspiration and biting. Time will tell which side you on, nahmsayin.
Nah, I’ve heard the same thing. A lot of people started by imitating what they heard, in a way that’s the only way you learn. If you were to say, I started out trying to do what these dudes were doing, who would it be?
Ras_G: Cats that were really getting at records, the Diamond D’s, you know, shit like that, taking samples and drums, and putting shit together and making it funky. A lot of early 90’s shit, that feeling and vibe.
Speaking of feeling and vibe, you touch on that with your name, Ras_G Brother There. I feel like you can best describe that kind of buggin’ out vibe. Like, the whole beat scene in LA has a similar direction, but everyone kind of has their own thing. I don’t like to ask, ‘describe your sound,’ because it’s such an open question…
Ras_G: I just like to bug out. I don’t like to have no rules or order to my music. I like melody, I like rhythmn, then again I like disorganization within that. I’m heavy into Sun-Ra shit, I’m heavy into experimental noise shit, a lot of experimental psych shit, a lot of free jazz, avant shit. All that plays into my music, that’s where Brother There comes from. It’s also my club alias, whenever I’m at a club I’m always brother there, meaning I’m somewhere over there, outside in the weed smoking section. I’m never where I’m supposed to be, in the people eyes.
When did you start working at Poo Bah Records?
Ras_G: I started working at Poo Bah five years ago.
Was your ten inch the first in the Poo Bah series?
Ras_G: Yes it was.
And when was that?
Ras_G: Shiiiit.
A minute ago too?
Ras_G: It was about a year.
That wasn’t your first vinyl though was it?
Ras_G: Nah, my first joint was the Day and Night EP that me and Black Monk did. It’s bout to be re-issued on Jazzysport. Shout out to my people in Japan.
Really? I didn’t know about that, when is that coming out?
Ras_G: About 2 or 3 months.
How did that first joint come about with Black Monk?
Ras_G: It was an idea between me and Black Monk where we would do a split record. We didn’t have no money, I had no money to do a full vynil piece. I had a couple of joints that I felt were strong for a record, and he had a few joints he felt were strong so we was gonna get our money together but then my man Ron at Poo Bah was like, ‘fuck it, I’ll just put it out and we can split the profits.’ We put it out, 300 copies, that shit sold out. That was five years ago. Now we back, it’s coming back out again.
And people are still getting on it. You hear that now and it still sounds fresh.
Ras_G: One of those joints was featured on Dwight Trible’s album on Ninja Tunes, called Love Is The Answer.
Oh really?
Ras_G: Yeah, a beat I made for the Day and Night EP is on that album. You get Day and Night, and you get the instrumental.
So first you had that split with Black Monk and then you had the Poo Bah ten inch or did you have the Overcast 12” before that?
Ras_G: Overcast came out between that. That came out about three years ago on my birthday, like my birthday present. It just got out of print right now, sold out. 1000 copies in the world.
Oh shit, last time I was at Poo Bah, actually the first time I’ve been there, that was one of the joints I picked up.
Ras_G: Smart move, people are still coming looking for it. I keep making music and people want the old stuff, but there’s so much new stuff to put out.
Speaking of your new shit, what’s been your most recent vinyl release?
Ras_G: The last vinyl that I did was the seven inch I did, Ras G meets Black Dusty Rhodes in the beat cipher. So it’s me against my alias, me doing my straight ahead, chop up ill loops shit, and the other side is me getting kinda crazy with the heavy synths and just breakin out.
And the crazy side is Dusty Rhodes?
Ras_G: Yep. Black Dusty is all about ugly music. If it ain’t ugly he don’t like it.
Is there gonna be any more Black Dusty shit?
Ras_G: Yeah. Black Dusty got an EP done. Just waiting on someone to step up and put they bid in, cuz you do it for free yourself, how you gonna give it to someone else for nothing?
How does it feel to have someone across the world in Japan feel your shit moreso than some people here, where you’re from?
Ras_G: Jay love Japan, and G love Japan too. That’s all I gotta say.
Does it ever get to you though? The fact that you get demands for your shit in Japan but here in LA, which is supposed to be some kind of big center of culture and shit, you don’t get the same response?
Ras_G: It’s cool cuz my peers get it, my folks get it. Certain kind of people who get it, I feel like they’re the right people. I’d rather a limited amount of people get it than a bunch of boring ass, don’t-know-what-it-is people. The music is more than a product, it’s a piece of me. My feelings, my emotions, what I envoke at that moment.
How do you translate yourself on record? Or does that just happen?
Ras_G: I go to stores, I go buy some records, I come home, I throw on records, I roll up blunts and shit just happens. Look up, an hour, maybe 5, maybe 10 minutes, whatever, however long it takes, I look up, I’m standing up and my head is nodding to my shit. Like I ain’t even in it, it’s like out of body experience.
Do you record your shit live?
Ras_G: It’s two different ways. My peoples Flying Lotus, Eric Coleman, Dibiase aka Diabolic and the kid SamIAm, they got me heavy on this (SP) 303 shit.
Aaaah yeah.
Ras_G: In doing that, I have to be more musical. It’s not as up to date and it’s not as fast as the MPC. You have to be more music with that shit. Everything I do on the MP I just map it out, but on the 303 I’m just an arranger. I’m just arranging everything on that, the 303 makes me a musician. I gotta know whats playing and what’s coming and imma do this and imma do that.
So is that what’s attractive about the 303 to you?
Ras_G: Yeah, the musicianship. That kind of shit. I was telling somebody, if you could freak a lil bitty room, if you could freak a lil apartment, once you’re in a big house, it’s crazy, you can just flip it out. It’s like going from a closet to a room.
When you’re listening to shit, what kinds of sounds attract you?
Ras_G: Static, dust, pops, hiss, shit like that. Crazy shit. Music is all experimental to me so I’m just experimenting.
Tell me a little about the Secondhand Sureshots joint you have
Ras_G: Secondhand Sureshots with me, my man J Rocc, Daedelus, and my man Nobody. They all my mans. It’s a documentary put together by my man Frosty, lab rat cats over at Dublab. He gave us all 5 bucks, took us to out of the closet, made us buy 5 records, and he kept the records, it’s not like we got to actually hold the records down and make beats on our own time, nah. They came to our house with the cameras, brought the records with them and recorded us hearing the records for the first time. I can’t wait till it come out, when you see it peep it out. There’s a couple of clips on youtube and all that, look it up on youtube, secondhand sureshot.
How did that come about? That sounds like a crazy set up
Ras_G: The mastermind and genius of DubLab. My man Frosty, that dude is always crazy with the ideas. Like the Dream Scene, where he had people make their own imaginary shows, to everybody doing album jackets. Everybody doing customized record sleeves, dude is a genius, I’m glad he’s around in LA. For the beatheads, the experimental heads, everyone.
Dope, when is that sureshot shit coming out?
Ras_G: Man, to be announced. I don’t even know, I’m waiting like everybody else.
When did you guys actually film it?
Ras_G: Early last year
Early 2006?
Ras_G: Yeah. Early, late. *laughs* 2006.
Do you have any other upcoming projects?
Ras_G: I got a new joint coming out it’s called the Afrikan Space Program. Everybody’s waiting on it, but I’m taking my time with it. The music is done, I’m just trying to make sure it gets to the correct place. The artwork, all that shit is done, I just want to make sure it’s in the right hands and it comes out correctly. I’m putting so much into it.
Is everything going good with that? With that coming out?
Ras_G: Oh it’s gonna come out. It’s coming out. Everybody gonna know about it. It’s gonna be like when people see UFO. ‘I heard it was a UFO,’ but not till they see it, footage and all that shit [do they believe it], like that.
Last time we also talked a little about other like-minded artists, like Nobody and…
Ras_G: Nobody, SamIAm, Gaslamp Killer, Dibiase aka Diabolic, that kid Afta-1, Kas One, DJ Sacred.
That’s a lot of people.
Ras_G: That’s just the tip of my list. Like you was asking me earlier, what I listen to, I’m listening to everybody around me. Everybody, everything. It’s a big influence around each other.
Now where can people get stuff like this, because I know, I mean even for myself it’s not too easy to find stuff like this if you don’t know where to look, I mean Poo Bah of course carries this kind of stuff…
Ras_G: Come down to the shop, Poo Bah Records. I work there, that’s like my big thing. I push this beat music to the world. I’ve sold stuff to all kinds of people, Jneiro Jarel Dr. Who Dat? the Beat Journey, I done sold that to old ass white ladies. Flying Lotus, selling his shit to old ass truck driver dudes. Ge-Ology to teachers, just spread the music.
That’s dope.
Ras_G: They don’t get to hear it, so when they get to hear it, it really fucks they head up.
I like that people still go into record shops like that, looking for new shit. That’s something you don’t get going into Sam Goody
Ras_G: Exactly. That’s what I’m sayin, that’s the duty of the record stores. Which is kinda why a lot of record stores are closed, you gotta be breakin new music to people to have them coming back. Like, ‘what is that?,’ and every time they get that fresh feeling, like
‘I ain’t ever heard that. Who is that?’ Then you get on that then you come back again and you might hear something else and that might draw you to something else. That’s what the record store is about.
A record stores should be like a good DJ
Ras_G: Pretty much, yeah. Like I said, I sell…matter of fact, one of my favorites. This lady came in, she had the fake titties, the fake lips, she was like 6’3. I’m bumping one of my little beat soup mix CDs where I put everybody’s beats on there, I play them in the shop. She hearin this shit and she’s like ‘what is this?’ she bought like a hundred, a hundred and fifty dollars worth of shit.
Oh shit.
Ras_G: She bought Kutmah’s mix and Take’s mix and Dr. Who Dat. Shit like that man.
That’s crazy! Do you have any one particular record store memory that sticks out?
Ras_G: I got one, this is a good one. This is my Jay Dilla shit. I used to go to Aaron’s, anyone know me from back in the day they know me from Aaron’s, I used to go like three or four times a week. So I walk in and my man’s like, ‘yo, Dilla’s in the house.’ I look up and he’s over there somewhere in the soul section or some shit. I was on some, I don’t even wanna come in the store kind of shit. I don’t want to go near dude. That was the first time I was ever like I don’t wanna look for no records right now. I was like let him do what he do. I saw him there a few times and I had to give it up. One time I seen him up in there with Madlib and shit, Madlib’s around, he knows my shit, we good. I just had to give it up, yo man, respect Dilla Dawg. Let him do what he do, keep hitting them crates. That was my craziest record store shit, I was not expecting it and I’ve seen mad people in stores.
Anything else you wanna say before we’re out?
Ras_G: Support this beat music man, support all these ill producers. It’s like a progressive instrumental hip hop—instrumental music thing going on right now. It’s a lot like jazz, man, everybody’s programming and putting together compositions and it’s starting to grow and move, beyond the 2 bar and the 4 and the 8.
Beyond the standard.
Ras_G: Yeah, exactly. It’s going somewhere else, and that’s pushing creativity, pushing the music making the listeners to think.
Yeah, cuz shit isn’t supposed to sound the same 10, 15, even 5 years apart.
Ras_G: Everything has it’s place in time, but now, the time now, it’s a beat music time, it’s a beat movement time. LA, I call this the beat mecca. I go outside, I hear some shit and I’m ready to go back home. I seen this sister down at Low End Theory, they had this beat invitational, they had SamYiam, this sister named Musina, from DC. She played some shit, she played two joints, it’s like time stood still or some shit, it just blew my wig. I left, I had to go. I was like I’m out, I can’t be listening to this good ass shit, it’s like it’s too good, I’m too high. So I went home, and you know she’s a myspace friend and she sent me a message like, ‘yo I was out there but I ain’t seen you nowhere.’ I was like, ‘I was at the shit, but you fucked my head up. I had to go, I had to go home and do something.’ It’s all around, it’s males, females, it ain’t none of that sexist shit, ill is ill. No matter where it’s at, where you at, who you are.
Exclusive (and i hate that fuckin word)
