http://cre8ingvision.com/awate-the-wide-awake-rapper-by-tashan/
AWATE: THE ‘WIDE AWAKE’ RAPPER by Tashan
An interview with rapper Awate on the music industries ‘imbalance’, letting
go of anger and being true to yourself.
Awate of Eritrean decent and Camden up bringing has been an active and
passionate voice in the underground Hip Hop scene for quite some time. He
has toured with conscious rapper Lowkey between the years of 2008-2012 and
has received acclaim from the likes of DJ Semtex, Jay Z and had Kanye
exclaim;
‘Amazing rhymes. I didn’t know people in the UK could rhyme like that’
Alongside Awate’s witty rhyme schemes, his lyrical content is doused with
Political commentary and swaggering statements that make him hard to
ignore. Although Awate does explain that this Political ‘labelling’ comes
down to interpretation;
“If I’m angry about something, then everything I say is politicised because
of the way I critique it in my head, so when I talk about it, it ends up
sounding like ‘Theory’, but it’s just how I feel about shit”
So there you have it, Anger=Politics! However having met with him, I
observe a more sensitive and tranquil side to him. He approaches the table
with a serene smile and comfy Camden Boy attire, and is ever so polite and
palatable. Awate has a clear and confident sense of who he is and is
unafraid of how he ‘feels. It’s this unapologetic and passionate energy
that I’m intrigued by and how it feeds into his music.
What is your writing process?
At the moment, other than two songs that I’ve written with a guitarist,
everything’s produced by Turkish (Who did Austerity and Bonus Track on
Elements mixtape) He’d send me these pieces of music and I’d listen to
them, sometimes for months, like a long time. Once I kind of understand
where ‘it’ (The music) wants to go, the beat; ‘it’ wants to tell a story,
my role is to tell ‘its’ story, the story that is specific to ‘it’, so that
every line is perfect, melodically in the pocket of the music. By listening
to it I can then figure out the scale, the key, and then I can freestyle
over it. It just needs to fit. The music generally tells me the story, I
just make sure I have enough vocabulary, enough synonyms in my head that I
can have on the ready.
Do you always freestyle your tracks?
I might write just one line, and then save it in my Drafts (Of his phone).
But I never ever read from a phone or paper in the studio. You can hear
when people read. You can sense it when you hear it; they’re not with you
in the moment. It’s disrespectful!
What’s the name of the album?
It’s not set yet, but I’ve got this Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) line, but you’re
not gonna know it, it’s a line he sings in about a seventh of his shows, if
he feels like a song went down well, most likely he’ll sing this phrase,
it’s the first line of that phrase. And one time I met him and asked him if
I could use the line as my album title, and he was like “Do what you want!”
(Awate laughs)
In your track ‘Champion’ (Off of Elements Mixtape), a lot of it’s about
persevering and not giving up? What is the fire that keeps you going?
Around that time of Elements I was really angry. And I was telling ‘that’
to myself. I just wanted to make songs with other people’s songs (He used
their samples) and just go “I’m better than you! I can spit better than
you!”
No one wants to be a good Rapper anymore; no one actually talks about
themselves being good at Rapping. Remember when every other line was like
“I’m nice on the mic…” Has anyone ever said that in the last 3,4 years? Or
do they just talk about “I’ve got more cars than you” or “If you’re girls
around here, watch out my friend” No one actually brags about how good they
are, cos they’re shite.
That’s true, that battle element is kind of lost in mainstream Hip Hop.
Yeah and that’s criminal. This art form was forged in Battle, the Hip Hop
form of Rap was people battling on stage. So with Elements I wanted to
challenge everyone and myself.
For me it’s not ‘fire’ anymore, it was ‘fire’. Now I just feel completely
calm, I’m more confident, I’m just riding this out, and just finishing this
(his album). Right now, any bad line I write, or any bad delivery, could
ruin it all. I wanna make it perfect, I wanna do the best that I can do.
I’m not doing much, I’m not going to many parties, I’m really just keeping
quiet, I’m hanging out in quiet spots, I’ve got my emotions in my
fingertips. I mean obviously the ‘fire’ is maybe me being pissed off that I
haven’t got as much recognition or appraisal from everyone, but I mean that
stuff is just a side effect of the actual aim. The aim is just to do the
‘best thing’.
©Libiszewski/HJL Photography
In your track ‘Kush’ (Off of Elements mixtape), there’s a strong sense of
rebellion and resentment towards authority and the government;
“Letters from the poor, stop sending all our taxes putting Humpty back, we
want our country back”
“The Rulers of the world role around with Satan like a Templar”
If there was a Utopian society, what would your 5 rules/ways of life be?
It would be an anti-Capitalist place
It would be Stateless
Personal freedom is cool, do want you want, don’t judge other people, fight
for your right to do what you want, as long as it doesn’t infringe on other
people’s rights.
If you’re saying ban Burka’s because Muslim women are oppressed, try and
look at your own Patriarchy in your own country first, and don’t talk on
behalf of someone by thinking they’re voiceless, when they have a voice,
and the whole reason why they have become voiceless is because you’re
speaking on behalf of them!
Do you have an example?
Why are white people on the news talking on the behalf of Muslim women and
saying “aww they’re so oppressed and voiceless?” Why did you take the call?
When they booked you why didn’t you take the initiative, and get someone
who is Muslim and can talk from experience!!
But yeah,
Everybody is nice to each other
Nobody is poor and everyone has the ability to learn stuff, eat, and have
fun (he laughs).
Do you feel you have a moral responsibility in your music?
I have a responsibility to be true to myself, that’s the only thing. I
think people who don’t like women are being true to themselves when they
put out songs that show that.( he chuckles) Be you! So we can know what
you’re like, don’t hide it.
But also I really believe, to find out who you are, you make Art, you write
something, I didn’t know who I was until I was writing things down. And I
was like “Rah, is that what I really think!?” And if next time I write
something that is completely contradictory, that’s’ cool, as long as I’m
being true. Human beings are like that, they are contradictory, and I can
appreciate that. The problem is that there’s no balance, I feel there’s a
lack of representation of different types of music or lyrical content (In
mainstream Rap).
What’s next for Awate?
If I don’t go to prison (he laughs). I’m easy, I’m cool, I’ve got lots of
things, I’ve got this album, I’ve got ideas for novels, I’ve got scripts,
I’ve got people who I collaborate with. I dunno, hopefully a ripple of some
sort.
Letting it be in the hands of the wind.
Get the latest from Awate by checking out his site
http://awatewillmakeyourlifebetter.com/bio
Twitter: _at_Awate91
Facebook: Awate
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by: Tashan | July 27, 2014 | News
Received on Fri Nov 07 2014 - 21:04:00 EST