Features

DJ Rap

Over her 15-year career, DJ Rap has moved effortlessly between genres, staking her claim on various styles within the electronic spectrum, while simultaneously pushing the limits of rock and pop.

In February 2010, DJ Rap will release Synthesis on Ministry of Sound, a brand new studio album. Synthesis is a return to the hybridization of styles she brought forward on Learning Curve, her 1999 debut. The album's first single, Give It All Away, will be released this month.

Though it's been three years in the making, Synthesis represents merely one facet of Rap's diversified portfolio. Her drum & bass and breakbeat imprint, Propa Talent, has released over 200 tracks since in 1994. With its recent relaunch, Propa Talent once again returns to the spotlight, offering up new releases from artists like Nebula, Killin' Time, Mark Campbell, DJ CJ, Mezo and Kyshido.

Meanwhile, Impropa Talent, founded in 2008, catalogues Rap's ongoing love affair with house music, and features the work of producers like Mike Hiratzka, Tyler Revata and K-OBA. As owner, manager and A&R, Rap has been busy cultivating fresh new talent for both labels. If that's not enough, in 2010, Rap is launching Metasyn, a live drum 'n' bass band.

Rap has been living in LA for the last seven years so we set up an interview via Skype to talk about all her many different projects...

You seem to have rediscovered your love for drum & bass, how did that come about?

It all began with a gig I did for Drum & Bass Arena last February but my love affair with drum & bass never ended. It didn't really explode here until about two years ago when dubstep started creeping up and it just brought this huge resurgence of drum & bass forums back to life.

I've always kept my finger on the pulse and for the last four years I've been getting my labels ready, finding artists, etc. And then I went back to London for Drum & Bass Arena and that gig was really successful. And they were like... 'You know Rap, you should really think about doing a classics series, bringing it back'.

Going back to England made me realise how much I missed it and how great it really was. The main thing was hearing all the great liquid sounds around. Just seeing that it was about music again and it wasn't this noisy dark boy-only era. It seemed to have come full circle in a way and I thought the music was better than ever. It was great as I could be passionate about it again so I started playing around with the new sounds.

Things go in cycles and that's why I have to be diverse in my own music. I can't survive off one style of music. Maybe if I'd stuck at it and continued but I was playing every toilet that there was and there were 100 people and no-one was having any luck. Which is why going back to London was such a confidence boost, to see that it really is still happening. I really love it and I'm so happy to be back in the studio making fierce beats again. I love house and writing songs but there's nothing like drum & bass that hits you like that.

You're relaunching your Propa Talent label, tell us more about your new single...

It's called Elation and it came about because I heard this vocalist called Mezo and he had done a track with a guy called DJ CJ. The original track was made by Dr Nast-E and Mezo together, so the CJ track is really an after effect of that, although another original composition. It was really cool because Dr Nast-E has done a remix and it's got a liquid sound, while Mezo's mix is more chilled out mix and really showcases his vocals and we did a Metasyn mix on a hard vibe.

I started working closer with Drum & Bass Arena after the gig and the concept was to launch the old catalogue and remind people of what we did, do some remixes and then start bringing through this new sound so I'm not remembered as the old classics girl! We're back in the game full and strong and our new website is launching on November 23rd on the same day as the single and we'll be releasing new tracks every three weeks. The thing is to grow it organically and do about four mixes that caters for everyone.

Tell us more about how Metasyn came about...

I just wanted to create a band, it's been a lifelong dream of mine to be live. I'm coming back and this time not as just a DJ! I want to do this because it makes me happy and it's the way forward for me.

The great thing is we've seen loads of live shows; I'm a huge rock fan and I've seen just about every show that's worth seeing. So we really need to make it great but we don't want to be Pendulum or Chase & Status, we want to be Metasyn but how do we do it that's unique to us? We've coined a way to do that and we're very excited.

We're going to start in small clubs and iron it out and hopefully by next year, by the time Propa Talent is reestablished, people will know who Metasyn are and we'll be ready to hit the festival circuit.

DJ Rap

What's your role in the band?

Normally with drum & bass I just work on my own but in this situation I'm really excited to work with a band. We pretty much have the music done already but what will happen is that it will evolve to a situation where we end up writing as a band. That's where I'd like to get to.

Right now the music is done by myself and Chemical Hero and he is the lead vocalist in this project. I just don't like the sound of my voice over drum & bass. I'm alright with it for everything else but not drum & bass. I really like the way Chemical Hero sounds as well, he's got a bit of Chris Cornell [Soundgarden / Audioslave] in him. If we do a track with me singing that's great but I want him to front this particular sound right now and we'll explore me a bit later.

I'll be on stage doing things like stutter effects, playing all the synths and DJing. I'm very lively on stage even when I DJ so I'll be incorporating myself somehow. I want the sound to be really fucking tough and hard because I love rock and I want to incorporate that but in a different way. It's much more synthesized, which is why we're called Metasyn, which means 'many synths'.

Synthesis, your long awaited follow up to Learning Curve is due out next February...

Yeah, that's a whole different animal, I'll be DJing house on that tour but if we get lucky and the record does well then I'll do a live show for that as well. I did a live show at Winter Music Conference with an orchestra and a piano and did an acoustic version of the single which was wonderful fun. When I sing I have a really gentle side and that is not for drum & bass. There are two sides to me, I'm completely schizophrenic in everything I do. That's why I have my two labels Propa Talent and Impropa Talent, that's why I make house and drum & bass, that's why I do all these different things because I'm musically schizophrenic! There is a very gentle side that only my boyfriend sees that comes out in the music and then there's nutbag side which is where the drum & bass comes out! It's kinda like I need to service all those aspects of my personality otherwise I get very bored and scary!

What can we expect on Synthesis?

I've worked very hard on the vocals because I felt my vocals on Learning Curve were awful. I didn't like them and because I wasn't confident I clouded them in effects and buried myself. So I've really worked hard on the vocals this time and tried to become a better vocalist. So I spent a long time working on a sound and changed my voice, it's amazing what you can do when you try! It's really good vocally, that's the first thing. I'm never going to be a Beyonce but I've found my own style and that's the main thing.

I've written all the songs myself and I could have produced it myself as well but you get so close to the project and so I wanted to get the best live players and the right kind of engineer. Not producer because I already knew how I wanted it to sound and was producing it myself but someone I could work with so I could take a step back and they could put focus on the song rather than what sort of compression shall I use. I don't want to get caught up in that so I found this kid called Chevy who is a machine with what he can do.

The musicians I've worked with are professional session players, they don't tour and they're amazing. Sometimes you just bring a track in and within three minutes they've done their parts. It's cost me $40,000 to do this record. I didn't think I'd have the budget to use these amazing musicians but everybody just loved the record and wanted to be on board so I was really lucky.

Are you still enjoying living in LA?

Yeah, but I do miss England. I miss the pubs, my friends, I miss it all but here's why I don't live there. If you work hard here you get recognized, you don't get shit. People support you, you can make a lot of money here. Where else can a girl go that was known for drum & bass and turn her career into a house DJ? I had to survive, I was doing gigs up and down the motorway in England and nobody knew I existed. I wasn't getting where I wanted to go, I couldn't get any love on Radio 1, the single came out and everyone turned against it. I got so much shit from people for doing Learning Curve and I lost a lot of confidence. I sold two million copies and I really got dissed in a big way by drum & bass. So I moved over here because this is where it sold.

I realized that you can't let people take your confidence away. You have to do what's in your heart - you might fall down and look like an idiot but at least you're happy. I'm actually living my life the way I want to. Whether it's successful or not is a different story. That's the end goal but as clichéd as it sounds it's the journey that's the fun.

Anything else you want to tell us about?

I'm writing a book and the last thing I want do before I retire is publish it. Everyone is in that book. Everything I've ever done bad and everything everyone has ever done bad to me will be in it. It's a fucking wild read but it's also from a different perspective. There's a lot about my childhood and what made me the way I am, because I was quite feisty and how DJing really did save my life. I read it and I can't believe some of the things, like I got thrown out on my arse and kicked in the face at Astoria because I asked for the same money as Fabio & Grooverider! I played the main stage and it was the first time any girl had done that. All these crazy things like that and it's hilarious.

Words: Colin Steven

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