Statik Selektah released his final album, “Lucky 7,” last week and beforehand he dropped a few singles off the album to prepare everyone for the release. Now, he has given us the first video from the project with the track, “Murder Game” featuring Young M.A, Smif N Wessun and Buckshot. Each rapper murders the track over Statik’s bass hitting production. Check it out below.

The post New Video: Statik Selektah Feat. Young M.A, Smif N Wessun & Buckshot – “Murder Game” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

(Photo by Jack Sommer)

This week Statik Selektah and Termanology held an album release party at New York City’s SOBs with special guests Freddie Gibbs and Rapper Big Pooh. The venue hosted the duo, known together as 1982, for their album 2012, which officially released May 22. This is the duo’s second album together.

The conversation with Statik Selektah touched on his role in Kanye West’s MBDTF, telling DJ Premier that Guru passed away, how Q-Tip influenced his sampling method and why people call him the Boom Bap Khaled. Termanology discussed his understanding of the term (no pun intended) ‘underground,’ raising his children around hip-hop and what he would change if he could go back in time.

1982 – the name comes from both you and Termanology being born in this year, in same city (Lawrence, MA) and same hospital. I wanted to know if you guys ever considered naming the duo “Lawrence”?

Statik: (Laughs) Nah, because there’s a lot of history in Lawrence. A lot of the groups that are known for Boston hip-hop actually come from Lawrence. So it would be kind of disrespectful given the city’s legacy.

I learned that you might be contributing to Nas’s upcoming project Life Is Good. Is that right?

Statik: Yeah, we just did a couple new records. I have a couple that we did one or two years ago for it. He’s done over a hundred songs recorded for the album, but we’ll see. His camp just hit me up last week, so I’m really hoping.

Do you know when you’re going to know? July 17th is slowly creeping up.

Statik: I don’t know if he’s gonna meet that date. I know the album is not done.

Now, you started interning at HOT 97 in Boston right?

Statik: When I first got there I was 18 and fresh out of high school. I was real eager. I came from the battle scene and if someone was wack, I’d just let them know. I was on some ‘yo, that DJ is not even cutting it up right’ and I burned a lot of bridges that way – real quick. So I had a lot of good people around me like Clinton Sparks and Chubby Chubb. I found out that I was messing up through a couple different ways and I learned real quick and humbled myself and waited my turn. But instead of waiting, I made them come to me by [me] doing a bunch of mixtapes. I was doing clubs six nights a week in Boston and I made it to the point where people were calling the station like ‘why isn’t he on the radio?’ I was doing a lot of parties with them, so it got to the point where they had to come to me. Shout out to Chubby Chubb. I was already spinning once in a while, but then he went away with Kelis on tour for a long time and he wanted me to do all his shifts and that was huge for me.

Photo by Jack Sommer

When you were working at Boston’s Hot 97, were you able to spin what you wanted?

Statik: Yeah. Never in my life have I had to compromise what I wanted to do. Sometimes I understood that I had to do certain things, so I would throw in a record that I wouldn’t necessarily like, but I knew that if I did it, I could play 5 of what I did like. So it was like a trade-off. At the last commercial radio station where I was, it got to the point where they were basically letting me know that it was getting to a point where I’d have no freedom. And I was like ‘I don’t wanna do this anymore.’ I didn’t really quit and I didn’t really get fired – it was like a mutual agreement. I went from having 6 radio stations to have one on Shade 45, where I spin what I want.

Word. Some people call you the Boom Bap Khaled. How accurate is that moniker to you and what’s your take on it?

Statik: (Laughs) His hustle is amazing. I love the records he puts together, too. I definitely look up to him as far as being a businessman. I consider myself a bit more hardcore when it comes to actually DJing and producing a record. It’s funny because Khaled used to produce a lot of stuff. He would do Fat Joe’s records and a lot of the Miami cats … and then he started making these smash records. He’s still technically a producer because he comes up with the ideas, but I’m hands-on – I mix, master, do all the scratches. I don’t know if it’s a fair comparison, but I know what the fans mean, because I take a lot of people that might not have worked together and put them together.

I know you consider yourself a hip-hop purist and when producers originally started to sample, they wanted to make it so hard so people couldn’t pinpoint the original. Do you have a specific method for finding records to sample?

Statik: It’s always changing. Some of the earliest records I ever found was when I was on tour and I’m inspired to go digging. A lot of the times I get weird sources for samples. I have kids hitting me up with ‘my parents were in this band in the ‘70s’ and I can get samples from wherever.’ Q-Tip is a big part of that. I wouldn’t buy records for a month and I’d go on tour with him and he’d buy $5k on records, then I’ll be like ‘I gotta buy something.’ So I’ll end up go spend a G on some records. I’ll be out in London with Spin Doctor and he’ll be like ‘Yeah, Primo and Alchemist were here last week going crazy.” Ultimately, it comes from everywhere.

You have few projects with Action Bronson who’s known for his odd-sense of slang. What’s your favorite Action Bronson term or ad-lib?

Statik: “Respect the mustache.” It came from the first song we did together, which was “Money Is Reality.” When we were doing the song “Respect The Mustache,” the hooks were empty – so I found that scratch and he was like “cut that!” We laugh a lot in the studio, we bug out … half the time we’re eating. It’s a real natural process.

Is he cooking when you guys are eating?

Statik: Yeah, a lot of times. He’s taught me a lot.

Who say’s your tag “Statik Selektah” on your tracks?

Statik: This girl Erica Clark from Brockton, Massachusetts. It must’ve been 2001 that I had to do it. I started using it on my mixtapes and people always started asking me who it was. And it got to the point where it was just my thing. I try to keep it on records that I produce, but since I DJ so much that I use it on some tracks.

Photo by Jack Sommer

I heard you took part in making Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. What exactly was your role?

Statik: I did additional drums on “Lost In The World.” A lot of confusion came because four people did drums on that song. I didn’t get the credits on there, but it was a great experience. I also worked on “Hell Of A Life” as well. I ended up laying down the drum track and he ended up laying down 100 drum tracks and he used who knows how many.

What was the last album that you bought?

Statik Selektah: Hip-hop? Because the last album I bought was Mayer Hawthorne. Hip-hop wise … the last album I bought was Obie Trice’s, but I produced on that one (“Richard”).

Are you more of a digital buyer or do you still buy CDs?

Statik Selektah: I don’t really buy CDs. I buy vinyl. Oh, I also bought Jeezy’s album. I’m definitely buying K.R.I.T,’s album on Tuesday. I don’t buy shit all the time, but I support cats like him, Gibbs, Kendrick.

How long did it take to complete the entire 2012 album?

Statik: About 6 months. Five of the songs on the album – we did the first night we started it. And the rest were spread out. We did about 25 records for the album and only 16 made it.

Do you have a favorite cut from the album?

Statik: Either “Happy Days” or “Lights Down.”

What’s your take on the game right now?

Statik: I think it’s wide open. You got kids like Mac [Miller] that are becoming cultural phenomenon, coming from Pittsburgh. A lot of people say it’s because Rostrum was behind him, but they weren’t really behind him until he had the ball rolling. The kids now use Internet to get their buzz going, so it’s wide open.

Termanology: I think it’s good, man. I think it’s gotten to a point where it’s gotten so fucked up, that even big artists realize that you gotta do something about it before it really dies. Even MBDTF, that shit was mad hip-hop. Kanye and those types of people are in the position to make what’s cool and everybody will follow them. It’s dope when they do real shit like that.

When it comes to terms like “underground” or “real hip-hop” or “true school,” a lot of artists shy away from being labeled. With underground hip-hop, how do you define it? Is it something that has to do with content, the sound, the style – or is it something completely intangible?

Termanology: I get confused sometimes about what’s underground and what’s not. The term really means that you’re not famous. But somewhere in between, it got turned around to mean that you make music for a certain type of crowd. Like Nas is not underground. He’s a multi-platinum selling artist. Yet, he’s at underground as it gets, but he’s not at the same time. It’s kinda weird. You fall into these weird categories. If someone calls me underground, I don’t get mad at all.

Statik: If someone’s too good at rapping now, they can be considered underground.

Who would you say gets thrown in that box?

Statik: Being biased – Termanology. We can make a record like “You Should Go Home” which is on MTV everyday and people say it’s underground. We had a meeting with Jive and we played that record first. It’s our biggest crossover record. And they asked, “do you have anything that’s less underground?” I think it really comes down to who raps on what because Jay-Z can rap on the most underground beat and it won’t be underground because it’s Jay-Z.

What’s it like having the producers who you look up to – DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Kid Capri – and now having them be your peers in this hip-hop game?

Statik: It still bugs me out sometimes. I’m the one that told Primo that Guru died. I called him at like 7 in the morning saying “that shit ain’t true right?” and he’s like “what do you mean?” Yo, you don’t understand – my whole career is based off Gangstarr. Even Term, our whole concept as a group…and plus I toured with Guru. He was standing right next to me when I blew the candles on my 19th birthday party. It’s so crazy.

You guys toured with Reks in Canada earlier this month. What’s the love like abroad?

Termanology: It’s crazy man. We tour all year around different countries. Over the last two years, between me and Stat, we did 30-40 countries. Japan, Australia, Thailand, China,  Italy, Greece…we’ve been everywhere man. It’s crazy to see how much love we get so far away.

Photo by Jack Sommer

Is there a place you haven’t been that you’re trying to go?

Statik: Africa.

Termanology: I’ve never been to Australia yet, though Stat’s been there mad times.

What does your down time consist of?

Termanology: I try to spend time with my kids. I got two baby girls. And just do regular life shit – pay the bills, chill with the fam. And then it’s right back to the grind.

Having kids and being in the hip-hop world, how do you plan to raise your kids around the culture?

Termanology: We dress hip-hop, talk hip-hop, live hip-hop, dance hip-hop, we are hip-hop, so that’s gonna reflect. But the negative sides – bringing in a bunch of guns and drugs and grimey shit around your kids, we gotta keep that away. You gotta balance it out. Even my daughter, she’s old enough to understand words now, so when we’re in the car, I just have to play instrumentals.

You mentioned that one of your goals in hip-hop was to become a multi-platinum selling artist, and now your goal has shifted to just live off of rap. Would you say that’s your same goal?

Termanology: Man, I don’t even know. I’ve been living off rap for a while now, so I think I’m just trying to do different stuff that I haven’t done.

As far as?

Termanology: I’ve done a little bit of acting. I was an extra in “The Town.” I did a show on HBO called “The Shop.” I played a drug dealer in an AZ video. I’ve been making beats a lot lately, you know, trying to help artists.

Photo by Jack Sommer

You have a Pun tattoo, right? I just saw a dude the other day with “Harlem World” tattooed on his forearms. Growing up, did you ever think that hip-hop could take it this far?

Termanology: I’ve always loved hip-hop that much. I think I used to love it more. I think as it got wacker and it became more of a job instead of me loving it, I started feeling some sort of resentment towards it. You couldn’t tell me nothing about hip-hop when I was younger.

What do you resent about it now?

Termanology: Because it’s a job. Everybody goes to their job, works 40 hours and they’re tired. They don’t wanna go back to work. As a rapper, you don’t really get much rest, especially when you’re out on the road so much.

What would you want the listeners to get from this album?

Termanology: Me and Statik, we’re going to keep hip-hop alive. We’re the future and we still mad young.

On the track “Time Travellin” if you could pick one of those things you mentioned in your songs to change, which one would it be?

Termanology: Wow. That’s fucked up. That’s a hard one. I don’t even know if I can answer that one. But for the sake of hip-hop, I’d bring BIG back to life.

The post Exclusive Interview: 1982 (Statik Selektah x Termanology) Talk New Album, the Recording Process and attempt to Define “Underground” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

The Massachusetts-bred, New York-based producer/DJ Statik Selektah has done nothing but live by creating his own lane. For over the past decade, Statik has established himself as an underground product that pushes the edge of the mainstream, consistently pumping out his boom-bap inspired beats to artists like Nas and Talib Kweli, keeping his turntable skills sharp and running his independent label, Showoff Records.

But let’s not forget his ability to mix records, which has landed him a successful spot as a radio personality on Eminem’s uncut channel Shady 45 every Thursday. As Statik puts it, he’s not there to spin radio-friendly records, but “people are going to bump me to do Biggie, A Tribe Called Quest and Nas.”

It’s safe to say that the hard work has finally paid off.

For the upcoming release of Population Control due out on October 25^th, fans can expect Statik to be running on all cylinders. He has separated himself from his battle scene days of sharing the name DJ Statik (Selekath came shortly after an announcer at a show unknowingly shouted “DJ Statik Selektah!”) to gathering the best new school artists and veterans here. With all original beats, guest spots like Big K.R.I.T., Mac Miller, Nitty Scott, MC, Bun B, Styles P and seasoned DJ co-signs, this final compilation is a classic in a making. You can pre-order Population Control on iTunes now.

Check out the interview, as well as the tracklisting for Population Control after the jump.

Why did you decide to bring together well-established rappers and new artists on this album?

Well, at first, I wanted to keep it strictly new artists. You know the new generation of artists who I co-sign. Towards the middle, you know what … I wanted to put a couple of the dudes I really rocked with. Like Styles, and you know, Lil’ Fame, people like that … I wanted to put of them on there. That’s why there’s a couple of OGs on there, but for the most part, its new artists. I got pretty much who I wanted except for Kendrick Lamar and J.Cole. But we’ll do something in the future.

You have quite a few East Coast up-and-comers on this album, and fans will also appreciate the Dom Kennedy feature. What’s your take on West? It’s been blowing up lately.

On the West Coast? Yeah, Dom’s real dope. I did a couple things with Nipsey, but none of them made the album, but I definitely mess with Nipsey. Kendrick. The West Coast has got a new sound to it – it’s cool.

What do you like about it specifically?

I think it’s a good mix. It’s not regional as some of the west was in the last ten years. I think they sound more like Kendrick; he’s not in any box, he can do any sound. I think it’s cool that the west has got dudes. I’m not saying everyone was one-dimensional before, but a lot of it started to get stagnant like the same way New York did.

So for your new album, why did you title it Population Control?

Just cause everybody thinks they’re a rapper, everybody’s a DJ. It’s really for the kids, man. It’s like a subliminal message. There are a lot of people who are doing it who shouldn’t be doing it and this is who I think meets the par.

I feel like this album showcases the best of the best.

Yeah. I mean they’re a lot of people who do a lot of irresponsible stuff and throw their lives away and their futures. Trying to be what they aren’t really meant to be. You know, I’m not trying to shut down anyone’s dream, but there are a lot of kids who throw away their education to be rappers and they just don’t have it.

I’m assuming like your other albums, you handled all the production.

Yeah, everything. I mixed, mastered, engineered – everything.

You’re mostly known as a DJ, but with this new release, fans are starting to recognize your sound behind the boards. What inspired you to start making beats?

I’ve always been making beats, but I never really took it seriously until about five years ago. I started getting placements kind of by mistake; through remixes I was doing stuff. The first couple placements I got were on with KRS-ONE, Eazy and Foxy Brown. But, I started to take it seriously when I did my first album [Spell My Name Right] then I used the last couple albums kind of business parts.  Artists didn’t even know I had beats. They would hear the records that I was doing, and they be like: ‘Yo, who did that?’ I be like: ‘I did it.’ And they eventually reach out. So now it’s ill that I get requests from like Nas, Talib Kweli, and Styles. I’m on so many albums that are about to come out its real dope. You know, it’s not the easiest transition.

Is there anybody else that’s been hitting you up besides those guys?

I mean everybody has at some point or another – it’s crazy. But I actually have placements with those guys. Like Nas have done a couple of records on my beats recently. I’m on Styles album that’s about to come out. I’m on Kweli’s next album about to come out. I’m on Evidence’s album. I’m on the next … man it’s hard to remember them all.

You really have this talent of matching the right beat with the right artist, and I think they are started to see that.

Thanks, I appreciate that.

I’ve noticed your frequent collaborations with Term, as well as with Freddie Gibbs, Action Bronson, Saigon and Freeway.  Do you enjoy producing mixtapes and albums for one artist, or crafting compilations?

I like both. The compilation thing … like this will probably be my last for a little while. I feel like this is end of the series. I mean, I might do one later down the line like a part two to Population Control, maybe.  I wouldn’t keep doing random albums.  But you know, me and Action Bronson got a whole album about to come out, me and Freeway are going to do something else, me and Saigon are gonna do somethin’, me and Term already finished our next 1982 album.

I like doing full albums with people, but I prefer to just do individual songs that end up on other people’s albums. I rather have the best song on an album, then to do a bunch. Growing up, the reason why Premier and Pete Rock – all those guys – had such a name because when they did a song on album, it was usually the best. I remember I used to buy an album because there was a Primo beat on it. So I had fans say stuff to me like that now. And it’s like bugged out. That was what I was shootin’ for in the beginning.

DJ Premier was one of your influences in becoming a DJ. Is that why you want to have that one track on an album?

Yeah, he was the number one influence growing up. Now, he is a really good friend of mine; we build on stuff all the time. So definitely, he’s one of the big influences there. Him, Pete Rock, Tray, you know, a lot of people.

You have a song with him on your album called “A DJ Saved My Life.”

It’s a song about all the DJ’s that passed away. A lot of were friends of ours, and he shouts ‘em all out and I shout out a couple. This song is a two part song and changes and it’s just like … I got DJ Babu, Scram Jones, Craze scratching crazy. And I’m scratching too, but it’s a DJ record.

So if you had to choose which express you more, what would you choose? DJing or producing?

DJing while playing the records I produce. That’s the best feeling in the world.

Can you describe a moment when you were doing that?

The second time I went to Japan. The first time I went was with Q-Tip. The second time I went to Japan, I was booked as a DJ and it was a six-city tour. And after the first night, the promoter was like: ‘Yeah, they were kind of disappointed.’ And I was like: ‘What? I killed it. What are you talkin’ about?’ She was like: ‘Yeah, but a lot of people want you to only play your records.’ And I was like: ‘What?’ So, the next night I played strictly songs I produced – the whole night. The people were going crazy like it was bananas. That was a whole new experience. That was the first time I ever did a party or a show where all I played was my stuff, it was pretty bugged out.

That’s nice. So after Population Control drops, what’s next for Showoff/Duck Down Music?

I mean as far as the partnership we got, it’s just for this album as of right now. I’m definitely doing something with Sean Price down the line; we’re working on it slowly. As far as Showoff, we got the Action Bronson album that’s coming out in late November and the second 1982 album with Term that’s dropping in December.

But you’re still laying low on the compilations?

Yeah, for right now. Who knows? I’ve said that before.

01 Population Control (feat. Sean Price & Termanology)
02 Play the Game (feat. Big K.R.I.T. & Freddie Gibbs)
03 Groupie Love (feat. Mac Miller & Josh Xantus)
04 New York, New York (feat. Styles P, Saigon & Jared Evan)
05 Sam Jack (feat. XV, Jon Connor & The Kid Daytona)
06 Never a Dull Moment (feat. Action Bronson, Termanology & Bun B)
07 You’re Gone (feat. Talib Kweli, Colin Munroe & Lil Fame)
08 They Don’t Know (feat. Pill & Reks)
09 Down (feat. Push! Montana & LEP Bogus Boys)
10 Let’s Build (feat. Chace Infinite, JFK, Mitchy Slick & Wais P)
11 Smoke On (feat. Dom Kennedy & Strong Arm Steady)
12 The High Life (feat. Kali, GameBoi & Chris Webby)
13 Half Moon Part (feat. Skyzoo, Chuuwee & Tayyib Ali)
14 Black Swan (feat. Nitty Scott MC & Rapsody)
15 Harlem Blues (feat. Smoke DZA)
16 Gold In 3D (feat. STS & Dosage)
17 Damn Right (feat. Joell Ortiz & Brother Ali)
18 Live & Let Live (feat. Lecrae)
19 A DJ Saved My Life (feat. DJ Premier, DJ Babu, Scram Jones & DJ Craze)
20 4Gs (feat. Ea$y Money, Termanology, Scram Jones & Wais P)

The post Raw Hip-Hop Under a DJ’s Control – An Interview With Statik Selektah appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.