Why do you love hip hop so much and what does hip hop mean to you?
Le Sous Marin: it's the music I've listened to since I was a kid, my cousin made me listen to my first rap song, I liked it immediately! I remember De La Soul, Heavy D ... then in the years that followed, Bone Thugs, Nas and 2pac. To me, hip hop is foremost the music of protest, the message, the rage and also, musically, I liked drums and rhythm right away.
Krimophonik: It's the music I've been listening to for the past 15 years. I was living in Corsica and mixtapes and other CDs were hard to come by but we managed. The first sounds I heard that really hit me were by Notorious Big, 2Pac, Cypress Hill, Beastie Boys, Public Enemy.
Tell us about your sound, your influences, and your subject matter?
Le Sous Marin: I think I'm in the category of underground MCs, and I love it, this is my territory. I love dark, slow and violent sound. This is the kind of rap I listen to, like Blaq Poet, Sean Price, Papoose, Agallah, and many more. I prefer the serious and hard Hip Hop more than Clun & RnB rap!)
Krimophonik: My influneces come essentially from the East Coast, producers as much as artists. I like sounds that are up and out there, things that are dreamy, things that make me fly and I like MCs that are tough and real in their words while also knowing that this is still a hobby like going hunting.
Is there anything specific you wanted to bring to your new EP Retro Wave produced entirely by Orbeats? Something you felt you wanted to expand on or change in your sound?
Le Sous Marin: At first, we did not even know we were going to produce a maxi; we liked some of the beats and we started on a few tracks. At the time of recording the first songs (Nightwalker and Pixels), we thought that it would be fun to start from an 80's sound, so that we could go the opposite way of the stuff you hear right now.
Krimophonik: As he says, we started on a small-scale project with productions/beats we weren't used to hearing in our own respective projects. The 80's theme was the basis of it because we were both born in 1983.
How did you link up with Orbeats (Krimophonik - MC & Dj Tricks - Dj)? And whose idea was it for the project to have a retro feel?
Le Sous Marin: We live a few miles apart, we all know each other, especially since we are the same age and have roughly the same influences in American rap. I'd been listening to each of their projects for a while so it came naturally to us after a while that we'd work together.
Are you fans of 80’s music?
Krimophonik: We are children of the 80's, me as much as Sous Marin and DJ Tricks.
Le Sous Marin: I was born in 1983, so I've always been interested in these years. It is true that the drum and synths from the 80's have always held my interest. New wave too as I love nerdy space music with long hair behind the neck and synthetic fluorescent tracksuits.
The sounds are diverse and varied
but personally, I like synthpop, new wave, prog electronic, space rok,
progressive symphonic of real druggies' music of those years. That
inspires me a lot for sampling and movies are a big part of our culture,
whether Sci-Fi, stupid action films, Italian flicks, horror films,
Asian films, Arab movies or Blaxploitation. The EP feels very cinematic did you draw inspiration from anything else from the 80’s besides just the music?
Le Sous Marin: No, not particularly, but we wanted to keep the same theme for the entire project, with its retro spirit. It's true we watched some movies to dive into the 80's atmosphere But it is more personal memory that came into play.
Krimophonik: The project itself doesn't incorporate soundtrack samples but we did get inspired a lot by its thematics. The red line for the whole project has been the 80's and we did all we could to stick to that theme and stay within its boundaries.
Are there any songs you recorded with Orbeats for Retro Wave you ended up not releasing?
Le Sous Marin: Yes, one of the first song we did together, it didn't make it into the final album though the beat was heavy too. We will release it probably one of those days, but we're working on a longer new project, so there's no time to lose!
Is the global market something you consider when making music?
Le Sous Marin: No, always through feeling! no unnecessary calculation)
Krimophonik: With Orbeats, we always work from instinct, feeling it. If things must happen, they will happen and onward! Basta!
Advantages and disadvantages of being a hip hop artist in based out of France?
Le Sous Marin: I do not consider myself as a follower, although it is true that the basis of rap is American. Rap in France really has its own identity, and I love it. It’s like us, we grew up with it, I love American rap but I make French rap ! , Yes, it is true that it is not the same life here than in the States, for promotion for example, with feat and mixtapes ... but from the start, I don't rap to earn a living, I've been working for a long time and for me rap is a passion for music and the rebellion against the system, I rap so that my message can be heard and not to be played on the radio to sell my shit there. There are already too many MCs that do that so that they can have their 15minutes of glory, I 've always been realistic , I do not have time to dream or make videos so I can play at being an actor, I prefer to be on this side of music and for my lyrics be coherent . So for those who have hopes, I think France is a hard country for new rappers who want to be stars. But for us, we like it here, we do our work and the message gets through a bit, this is the goal.)
Krimophonik: We're not followers. We get inspired by the ones who came before us but to produce our own work, we believe originality is the key. The problem in France is that, musically, everything sounds the same. There's very little originality and when there is, they piss on it.
Top five favorite French Rappers dead or alive?
Le Sous Marin: In no particular order
La Rumeur
Fils du Béton
Alpha 5.20
Mac Tyer
Ali
Krimophonik :
HIFI
La Rumeur
Le téléphone Arabe
Sat
Karlito
If you could be part of the recording of any hip hop album in history which hip hop album would you choose?
Le Sous Marin: ah, tough question, let me think about it right now,
Shyne: Shyne (Album 2000) it was too heavy!
or Prodigy: HNIC (album 2000), this is a classic.
Nas: It was Written (Album 1996)
Heltah Skeltah: D.I.R.T (album 2008)
Krimophonik: For me, it's pretty close to Sous Marin
Shyne : Shyne (Album 2000)
Prodigy : Product of 80’s
G. Dep : Ghetto of the child
Cam’ron: All of his albums
Ghostface Killah: All of his albums and I forget a ton of others.
What have you got going on this year?
Le Sous Marin: Maybe Paris, but I would prefer to go to Tokyo although I don't have that budget.
Krimophonik: Me, I badly need to travel. In August, I will spend one month back home in Corsica and then at the end of the year, I'll be in the States, more precisely in NYC.
For people interested in your work or want to learn more about you where can they go?
Le Sous Marin: You need to look for « “le sous marin" or " arracheurs de bitume » on youtube.
Arracheursdebitume/blogspot.com et http://arracheursdebitume.bandcamp.com )
Krimophonik: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_l5jA7MvvIpjHqqgdzSvdQ
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/orbeatsmuzik
Official page : Orbeats http://www.orbeatsmuzik.com/
Any chance of us ever seeing you in the states?
Le Sous Marin: I hope one day, it'd really make me happy but I am on Ruste Juxx's album - Adamatine.. so I'm a little bit in the States in that way.
Krimophonik: For me, it's planned for early next year, inchallah!
Do you have any shout outs?
Le Sous Marin: Thanks first to you. Big Up to Team 34 Click, Arracheurs de Bitume, Fils du Beton , Cuzzo Sosay (Brooklyn) and Ruste Juxx (Brooklyn) thank you to the people who read this interview to the end and especially to those who will listen our music. Peace from France!!
Krimophonik: Many thanks to you! Big big up to my team Pur x Dur (Vince, DJ Tricks), Arracheurs de bitume, Fils du béton, Sid Sansas and all the guys who produce real things without licking or swallowing anything. No matter what, keep an eye for what we've got coming next.
