ManLikeChez Perspective on Consume / Create
My name is Chez and I'm a UK based rapper, DJ and producer
This song is really a massive rant about capitalism!!
I grew in a working class family in a small town in the North West of the UK, school on a council estate, first one of the family to go to university, money and status being a thing. I guess 45 odd years of it has made me wish there was a better way!
Decent music - my mate (who is also in my crew Multiverse 3) bought a tape over of a jungle DJ called LTJ Bukem back in about 1993. I was into rave / hardcore but had never heard owt like jungle. I fell in love instantly!
It's concious hiphop I would say, old school boom bap sound
Like Lord Finesse and Frank Sidebottom had a baby.
I was a jungle DJ in the mid 90s and we had a little sound system that we used to go and do parties with. We were at one and needed an MC for the jungle set, I'd had a few Stellas and said 'aye go on then'. Rest is history!
Hmm tough one. From my older stuff there's a few Multiverse 3 tunes I really like - Captain's Deck and New Skanker's Anthem are probably two of my favourite. From more recent stuff, Manifesto and Fire in the Peaks I really rate, along with Lazarus which is the new Multiverse track.
He's right good.
(Is that 4 words?)
All sorts....I was in finance in my 20s, was an EFL teacher abroad for most of the 30s and now I work for a UK university. I'm not a full time artist by any means!
Two really.
First, it's a right laugh and I enjoy creating music and seeing what people make of it.
Second, I think that everyone needs a creative outlet. Be that music, painting, writing, gardening, dancing, whatever - in my opinion it's a key part of the human experience and without it your life isnt as full as it could be.
That's kinda part of the idea behind 'Consume / Create' as we're really pushed to just consume consume consume by how things are set up at the minute and in some ways taking time out to create something is an act of rebellion against that.
There's two sides to it really, both influenced by old school hiphop. Rocking a crowd, and educating your people.
So, some of my tracks are straight up party jams designed to be played out live and get people moving. Others it's more about the message. I hesitate to say 'political' rap as political these days seems to mean 2 side tribal bullshit and your football team..err I mean political party, winning at all costs. But yeah, what I mean is saying something about the state of things and what we could do about it
Being myself. A Scots MC called MOG said this in an interview and he's right 'am I the best rapper? Dunno, that's not for me to say. I tell you what though, I'm the best at being me. There isn't anyone else who can be me better than I can'.
So yeah, ain't no-one gonna out-Chez Chez!
A lot of people are trying to sound like summat they're not, because they think that's what people want. But if you want to be Gang Starr or the Wu Tang, well we've already got that, and they're better at it than you are.
So, I wouldn't be bigheaded enough to say I'm gonna change the game, but I am gonna bring something you ain't heard before.
I had written two verses and the hook over another (lease) beat around November last year. I'd then recorded it and freestyled a third verse as the beat was playing out.
A few months after that, D-Peace hit me up with a couple of beats and I felt the atmospherics of this one went right well with the lyrics. So I redid it over his thing and it was loads better. So here we are!
Mixing rap vocals is 85% recording it right and 15% actually mixing it.
Both.
I have my crew Multiverse 3 that I work with regularly, and then for my 'solo' stuff I often have someone else on the beat. I'd like to produce more but time is an issue and I can write raps much faster than I can write beats.
24 hours - collaborating with US producer Krohme, the idea was an entire track from start to finish in a day and we did it and it's fire.
