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DJ Vadim DJ Vadim is the king of cutting edge hip hop and the master of the sublime Russian Percussion. From an early age he had his heart set on becoming a tennis star but injury forced him to stop. But sport's loss is music's gain, and starting out with “Abstract Hallucinogenic Gases” and “Headz Ain't Ready” released on his own Jazz Fudge label in 1995 Vadim headed for “the far side of Planet Hip Hop” (Echoes) and hasn't looked back...
PIXELSURGEON: Okay, let's dive straight in and talk about the controversy in America surrounding the track you did with Sarah Jones "Your Revolution" (this track has been inexplicably banned by the FCC and a non-commercial radio station in Portland, Oregon may be fined $7,000 for playing the track). Are you as amazed as we are by the FCC's ruling and the resulting mess?
VADIM: America seems to be a country full of contradictions and inconsistancies. Marilyn Manson and his cohorts get heavy promotion, radio play, TV coverage, etc and yet 'your rev' gets banned! That says it all...
Kut Masta Kurt said in Masters of Illusion, "I have excellent news for the world: there's no such thing as trip hop..." I'm guessing you'd agree with that statement, being firmly in the hip hop camp. Do you see what you do as a pure form of hip hop, or do you fit into some kind of sub-genre?
I don’t really know why Kurt said that, whether he was accused of making trip hop or he dislikes that type of music. Regardless, it’s amazing the amount of music that has been influenced one way or another by hip hop today. Jungle, house, techno, reggae, indie rock, pop, soul, r'n'b have all been very much influenced. Just listen to the charts and watch the videos: its hard to escape a song that hasn’t been inspired by or taken something from hip hop, whether it’s sampled scratching, breakdancing, rapping. Everyone is at it, even Robbie Williams!
So the boundaries of what is and is not hip hop have been blurred in the process. Perhaps someone should come out and state what 'hip hop is'. However, sometimes its difficult: we are talking about an art form which is subjective in approach. We are not talking about a mathematical problem where there is one definitive solution. What I like in hip hop, someone else may dislike.
Hip hop is no longer just one style but many: from pop rap like Puff Daddy and Foxy through indie hip hop like Arsonists to experimental/leftfield stuff such as Latyrx, Shadow and Krush
Somewhere in between I want to create my own genre, my own style, sound , feel... I aint a 'playa hater' or hating on people who sell less than a million. For me there is only good and bad music. Unfortunatlely there is too much bland stuff around. But I think Dr Dre, Timbaland are just as incredible as Dilated Peoples or Jurrasic 5. They all live in my world.
There are some people who say that it ain't hip hop unless it comes from the US. You've worked with a ton of talented UK rappers, but what's your take on the the whole US vs The World when it comes to hip hop?
If you study the trends over the last 15 years in hip hop, its been about "representing something". The artists who break into the mainstream sell a brand just like Nike or Pepsi Cola. People buy into that image because it represents them. That’s why Master P is so popular cos he represents all the down and outs and poor black people in the south and they aspire to be like him. Too Short represents Oakland, Coo Coo Cal represents Milwaukee, Jay Z represents the fast life and so on.
That’s what rap has become - an image. So for the people of New Orleans - it ain’t real or phat if it ain’t a Master P joint.
It’s just that in the USA, no one has heard UK rap and if the UK did do anything in US, it would first need to get really big in the here. If Mark B and Blade or Roots Manuva sold like 1 million units in UK, the US would wake up and say shit, we need this.
Remember most people who talk about rap music talk about it from the perspective of sales. If you don’t sell so much you’re not as good as an artist who does. This is true even in the underground. It’s only recently that UK artists have started to sell something...
From a creative perspective I think there is excellent quality in the UK as well as in Europe. Perhaps an even higher standard than America - we have more original stuff, less bland, less poppy and artificial
Who have been your favourite collaborators?
Sarah Jones, Moshun Man, Iriscience... we have all stayed friends
You have quite a unique style, how did that come about? Was it the result of a stripped down studio set-up or did you have nightmares about creaking doors when you were young?
I actually have quite a complicated set up. I strive for a sound and try to make it the best quality I can. I also try to make something as original as possible
A constant theme in your work is the beauty of the stripped down hip hop beat. Do you think you've yet to discover the perfect drum loop or sample in some dusty record store? Do you have one of those mini record players, like Shadow, so that you can be sure of what you're buying?
Searching for the perfect beat - that me! And yes I do have a portable record player to go digging in shops for vinyl!
When you go to Japan are you greeted at the airport by hordes of screaming Japanese girls? How are you treated by your fans in general?
I ain’t a pop star yet! But in Japan artists do get treated in the best of ways!
What do you do to unwind at the end of a hard day scratching? What are you listening to at the moment?
Watch TV, play chess or Connect 4. Listening to stuff like India Irie, Jill Scott, Jay Dee, Capelton, Task Force, Phi Life Cypher, Mary J Blige, a lot of jazz and reggae...
You’re presenting a new eight-part series "Around the World in Eight Relays" on the BBC World Service. How did that come about? Are they secret Jazz Fudge/Ninjatune fans at the BBC?
Well perhaps there are some closet fans! But really it was put together by Sam Moy - a producer from Somethin Else, a large production company behind many cutting edge radio programmes like Gilles Petterson's show. She basically asked me to present it. I guess she thought because I travel and DJ so far afield from Chile to Cardiff I would be the man for the job!
Presumably "Around the World in Eighty Relays" presented you with a vastly different way of working than your normal method. Was it a stressful experience or did you find it liberating working in this new style?
Of course it was very different: both in the medium: World Music which I was not overly familiar with and recording solely with live musicians. So it was a challenge, a music history lesson, fascinating and, above all, fun.
Can you play guitar yet?
Air guitar solos I’m pretty good at!
Your music seems to contain quite a lot of humour, is that an element you think people miss in your work?
Well spotted. I want to convey all kinds of things through my music from social issues to humour. Its all part of life.
Do you still like to see the cockpit when you go flying?
Only if it ain’t a view of the WTC in front of me
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