Style 43

Regular visitors to the site will already know that here at Style43 we carry a torch for the Triple Darkness collective and M9ine in particular, thanks to his immense 2008 offering, “144,000″. So when the opportunity for an interview cropped up, we didn’t even have to think about what our answer would be. Here’s what went down:

This year has been non-stop for you and you now seem to be appearing on every compilation that we get sent; how does it feel to be so in demand all of a sudden?

I’m very grateful for every opportunity I get, to be apart of something as great as hip hop keeps what I do in motion.

Is there any particular direction you would like your music to take next, or do you see it more as a case of it evolving naturally as you get more experienced?

I always strive to transcend my lyrical ability over anything else in my life, being an emcee is the only thing my mind won’t allow me to disregard, i love it passionately. One of my main goals is to become more conceptual, i believe that’s where the evolution lies. I heard so many emcees talk about crossing genre’s to evolve, which is total bullshit to me. Conquering everything in your cipher is how you evolve, not running away from it.

I know that your career properly took off after hooking up with the Triple Darkness boys. Did you always think you’d make it, or were the times when you thought about chucking it all in?

Well. I ain’t got the Bentley parked outside of my mansion, so i wouldn’t just say I made it yet but like I said I’m very grateful for my position. The fact that there could be someone in Sweden playing my shit ardently, makes me very happy. Yeah there have been times when I thought what’s the point, but it’s the drive to wanna be as good as your favourite emcee, alongside the issues we face daily, that keeps me writing

In all the reviews I read of your album, there are always people comparing you and the rest of Triple Darkness crew with the Wu-Tang. Were they a big influence when you were growing up and did you intentionally set out to create a Wu style sound with your own music?

When I first started rapping I was in a crew called Anarchy and we wanted to come out like the Wu/Mobb Deep. That style lived in me for years, but after a while I kept hearing people comparing me too close to these legends, which gave me the urge to wanna find myself in this game. What the Wu did was phenomenal and no one can take that away from them. I think the relation TD has with the Wu is the way they are able to incorporate the streets which is dealing with the lower self, along with the spiritual lessons which is dealing with the higher self. I think that’s something a lot of rap acts admired about the Wu and its definitely something we took serious and wanted to do in our own way.

There was a collaboration with Bronze Nazareth on your album, “144,000”; how did that come about and do you have any more American acts lined up to work with in the future?

I admire Bronze Nazareth the most out the Killa Bee camp, lyrically I think he’s the sharpest poet they have to offer right now plus he’s nice on the boards, I respect him musically. I first spoke to him about getting beats, but then i got that Butcha track and thought he’d go nice on that so I asked him to spit instead of making a beat. He likes the TD camp and was down for making it happen. I got tracks with Bronze Nazareth’s brother Kevlarr 7, Hell Razah from Sunz of Man and Lethaface, who was heavily featured on the debut U-God album, all on a compilation album produced by a guy from Nottingham called Endemic, who is set to release this project soon.

Crossovers between genres seem to be happening on the UK music scene a lot more these days with people queuing up to record with the likes of Kate Nash and Mark Ronson. Would you ever consider a venture like that, or do you just see it as a way of generating more sales?

I’m about making real good hip hop, nothing else. If Mark Ronson came to me with something I’d rock, then I’d say lets go. I don’t compromise what I do to generate sales - that’s not an artist. There’s a market for every type of music on this planet, I think people just need to stop looking for the easy way out by making themselves look like monkeys and start making what they really like and market it to the right people.

I noticed on your Myspace that you’re using the alias, 9 Ether. How did that come about?

My name has always been Melanin 9 with the alias 9 Ether. It’s an alias to consolidate with the original name. Those that study ancient Kemetian science will understand what the 9 Ether is for.

And finally, what can we expect from the M9ine camp in 2009?

I got a tour coming in April and hopefully my new solo, along with a Triple Darkness offering.

Dope.

Interview by Fyshh

Tags: hip hop, Interviews, M9, Triple Darkness