What got you
into Hip Hop?
For me personally it was the power and passion that cats like Run DMC, Big Daddy
Kane, Kool G Rap, Krs One [and many more] displayed in their music and delivery.
The confidence, the messages, the stories totally overwhelmed me and I just
knew it was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life, record deal or
no record deal.
How did Crisis
Center form?
We actually met up at a networking event about 2 1/2 - 3 years ago. Undefined
had heard one of my mixtapes and was interested in getting his music to me.
After that everything just kind of fell into place. I started to DJ for his
previous crew (Unsafe Depths), we began working together and a few months later
CCP was up & running. We've been constantly on the grind ever since.
Who are your
influences?
Of course the heads we had mentioned earlier as well as legends like Rakim,
Slick Rick, EPMD down to Nas, Dilated Peoples, Cannibal Ox , Madlib...the list
goes on. Aside from Hip Hop we are influenced by just about every form of music.
Artists like Connie Francis, Dusty Springfield, Grant Green, Bob James, Bjork,
System Of The Down. We pump anyone that puts out creative music from the heart.
What do you
want fans to know about y'all?
For one thing, we're going to continue to release nothing but certified heat,
so definitely support the music cause you won't be disappointed. 2nd, we want
people to know that we're in it for the love. Mad heads claim this but when
it comes down to it, they be putting out half-assed joints. We strive to always
do something fresh and give the industry something new to chew on. As a matter
of fact, if you see CRISIS CENTER on the bill, don't miss it!
Where are y'all
trying to take Hip Hop?
We're trying to take this to a whole different dimension of worldwide exposure.
We've already broken into a bunch of these areas but we're just about ready
to really blast off and step up to a new level. Over the next 10 years we would
love to take Crisis Center Recordings to the heights of Def Jam. People think
you're crazy when you talk like that but if nobody steps up to try and make
it happen then there will never be any new labels of that status. We have a
tremendous amount of drive to make this work. As far as the group we just want
to make sure we keep getting more creative, stay on point with the joints and
drop dope album after album. We definitely want to tour the world and see how
cats around the globe are putting it down so we can learn some Hip Hop culture
from their perspective.
What's been
the response so far to Volume 1?
The response has been almost overwhelming and we definitely feel that our website
has been a tremendous help to us. We came from having absolutely no connections,
to having heads from all over (Italy, Russia, Croatia) supporting our shit.
The list gets very long when we start talking about all the radio & mixtape
love, not to mention all the websites and magazines that have reached out to
us for interviews or reviews. We just stay humble and continue to expand.
What kind of
equipment do you use to make beats?
It's funny nowadays a lot of heads are real trendy about equipment. It's like
whatever the "producer of the moment" is using, people wanna run out
and buy that piece of gear to try and copy their sound. We stick with what we're
comfortable with ASR 10, SP 1200, Triton, and a vault of records that would
make Pete Rock proud. It's not really the equipment, it's the idea behind it.
What would you
do with an hour of airtime at Hot97?
Drop the Funkmaster Flex bomb on our joints. Nah, just bullshiting - We'd probably
let it be known that the " Crisis Center Takeover" is now in effect
and hit the listeners with some real ill joints that they probably never heard
before. Then drop some "nail in the coffin" type freestyles and promote
to death. For the record -- Undefined ripped 2 vicious freestyles live on Hot
97 in 1996 on the Stretch and Bobbito show. [Peep the audio page at www.crisiscenterpro.com
for a listen]
How do you and
Concept approach and make a song?
We both have tons of ideas but we usually work on the early stages alone and
then when something concrete is formed we bring it to the table. Sometimes it's
just an idea, sometimes it's a full song but then we try to vibe together to
get ourselves on the same page. From there we hit the lab and just start putting
in work.
Who are you
listening to now?
The new Camp Lo, System Of The Down, The Gza, Screamin Jay Hawkins, The Down
Low Hip Hop Show [College Radio], God's Son, Supa Dave-The Scenario Mixtape,
Yesterday's New Quintet...Do you want us to go on?
What do you
think of the Hip Hop scene right now?
For a minute there, I think it was really suffering but recently there have
been some strong releases coming out [both in the underground and mainstream].
Being there are so many cats putting out records, I feel you just have to weed
thru them to find the jems. I'm not really feeling the promotional end of the
Hip Hop scene - like what MTV and the major Hip Hop magazines are covering because
it's like the same 5 artists over and over. There are so many crews making moves
you would think the media would want to expose some of them. Everyone knows
the deal...whatever the current trend is the media will ride it to death and
then move on to the next.
05/13 - 
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