DX: You took it back as you just said with joints from N.W.A., Nas, Slick Rick. What are your thoughts on the entire “take it back to old school” vs. “keep it current” debate?
M: I think it’s kind of wack. I think that you got to keep shit new. I know it’s completely hypocritical for me to say that and just have released this. This is something I always wanted to do; I just loved the beats and I wanted to rap over them – simple as that. This doesn’t mean I’m flying the flag for the old school. The old school is the old school, we all love it and that’s where we all come from. But it’s 2008. That’s the reason I don’t listen to most of underground independent stuff that’s coming out these days because it just sounds like fans making homage to their favorite rap groups. And if I’m gonna listen to them, I might as well listen to the originals.

Half of everything you hear has an old school sample in the background. I don’t think that’s ever gonna change. I don’t think me having a CD full of old school rap beats is anything out of the ordinary. This is basically what Ghostface [click to read] does. Ghostface just takes an entire old school soul tracks and just raps over it from the beginning to end even with the guy singing in the background. This is not particularly revolutionary or anything, it’s just some people prefer to rap over mad current shit for their mixtape and some people prefer to revert back to the older stuff – and I fall back into the second category. But the whole old school movement I think is a step backwards.

DX: What’s the Cali scene like right now? We’re seeing a lot of diversity in the west coast from The Game to The Grouch, from Del to S.A.S. Any particular trends?
M: Yeah, Detroit has kind of come in and it’s making a big impact on things. J Dilla moved here a few years ago so he was out here for a couple of years and his stuff was circulating big time. And of course since he died, his fan base has exploded, he’s become a saint. And a lot of dudes from Detroit have followed him out here, friends of his and maybe not so close friends of his. And when people come to L.A. from out of town, they come with a mission, they come and they hustle. And these guys are taking over the clubs, and L.A. people are kind of laid back. A lot of guys here kind of got taken by surprise by the Detroit cats who are coming here and kind of monopolizing things. Even down to the sound. A lot of L.A. producers are starting to – you’re starting to hear that Dilla thing lead into their sound: kick, snare, kick, snare. That’s exactly the previous question you asked, it’s that copy-cat shit. People are desecrating the Dilla sound out here in L.A.; big time.

DX: You’re half Iranian, half British. You’ve traveled to and lived in various places world-wide. How has that shaped you as a person, and an artist?
M: I can see things in a way that other people can’t see them. For instance, I have friends who have never left the States; they’ve never been off the continent. And I can’t imagine being them because America is very isolated. And if you’ve only been in America, it doesn’t matter how many books you read, you’re going to be pretty isolated yourself as far as your thinking. I think I got a vantage point not a lot of people have with respect to politics, current affairs; I’m a news junkie. I spend at least two hours a day just cruising news sites and reading up as much as I can…not only have I been around, I keep myself up to date. It gives me a real political flavor – my next project is going to be really political. Not some on Immortal Technique [click to read] shit, not that angry.

DX: You find him angry?
M: Well yeah, he’s definitely…when you hear him rap, you hear anger. And I’ve read his story and I’d probably be angry too. I’ve read about what he’s gone through and I can appreciate that; but that’s not where I come from. I might have come from other side of the world but we were never particularly impoverished; my father’s a linguist. A lot of countries we were in, he was teaching…

DX: Tell us about your upcoming album.
M: It’s due for a release next spring. It’s called Flighty. And I named it Flighty because I’m flighty and I take lots of flights. [Silence; Laughs] I just realized that I can’t commit to anything – not a woman, not a career, not a city, not a religion, a race – I can’t even commit to a lunch item. I can’t even decide what I want for lunch. It’s a mixture of travel stories and general schizophrenia…

DX: We have something in common.
M: I’m glad someone can relate. It means I may sell one record…[Laughs].

As our foreign policy destroys their countries properly/we demonstrate our power to stimulate our economy. Perhaps Talib Kweli gives the best example of the purpose for the album on track “Feel” off of K-Salaam’s and Beatnick’s duo debut, Who’s World is This? Kwa does what he does best, gets political as he stimulates consciousness on a CD whose visionary producers had a little more than just music in mind: a message. K-Salaam & Beatnick showcase their talents as producers (with an added talent of a deejay and engineer) with the aim of raising the bar in the currently dry, repetitive, and label-controlled world of Hip Hop. And they do so with an intent to stimulate people’s consciousness and shift their attention from the violence, materialism and braggadocio that plagues much of Hip Hop (underground and commercial) to the focus on the world and issues facing humanity. To showcase their talents and further their mission, K-Salaam & Beatnick receive help from some of the most potent artists in Hip Hop and Reggae, including Papoose, Young Buck, Sizzla and Dilated Peoples. HipHopDX sits down with the producers to discuss the making of their album (in stores July 29th), the purpose behind their music and the freshly created Common remixes [click to listen].
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