OzHipHop Interview

We did this interview with the homie Clayton Bennett for the entertaining-but-deeply worrying website that is OzHiphop.com

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Clayton Bennett: In some circles the saying “towards the light” means approaching the afterlife or nearing death although the sound of the album is very uplifting – why then the title?

Nick Lupi: It’s definitely not meant to have any morbid undertones or anything like that. There’s no real concrete meaning behind it, we really just liked the way it sounded. It ties in with the idea of a new, different sound for Australian hip-hop that we, amongst others, are trying to push through.

Just Enuff: A: The title “towards the light” was originally taken from the opening track’s chorus “towards the light I walk that line, one step forward at a time”, and it’s really just a representation of where we aim to take our music or our sound. No real tie to the afterlife just our spin on the path we’re taking.


Clayton: How many years in the making was this album?

NL: Around 2 years I’d say, from when we started getting beats together off different producers and writing to them. It could have come out earlier than it did, we recorded drafts and then final versions, and then had to find a label to release the album, etc. We both went overseas for a bit as well, that was more of a delay.


Clayton: When did you first hook up with Obese to ink a deal? When did you catch their attention?

JE: Despite their success obese have always been on the lookout for promising new additions to their roster but I think more than anything it was our hunger to get our product out during 2006 and 7 and the surrounding buzz that got us signed early 08.

NL: Obese were one of a few labels we were talking to late last year about putting the album out. I’m not sure when we first caught their attention, but I know we had Jase putting in a few kind words for us. We hadn’t had any dialogue with them before we sent out an album sampler to a few different labels.


Clayton: Nick Lupi, is that your actual name?

NL: It is indeed my government name. I never really got around to picking a flashy rap pseudonym; the name that my folks provided me with has always done the job. It’s a funny sounding name though hey. Shit.


Clayton: In the same vein, Just Enuf, why did you choose a pseudonym and what does yours mean to you?

JE: Just enuf came about when I was in school and learnt how to do a lot of cool shit for next to no money, of late I refer to myself as jimmy nice.


Clayton: The production has a real soulful sound, how did you go about getting beats?

NL: We pestered M-Phazes when we were younger and starting out because we loved his shit and wanted to make music with him. So when he came around to our music and started sending us beats, we were cheering. Jase has been one of our favourite producers and having him on board was awesome, he caught our shit and wanted to make some music. A lot of the other production comes courtesy of our friends, people like Adit, Fame, our main Rowan Dix aka DJ Joyride, etc. The production is fairly varied throughout the album but we tried to keep a common element throughout. Or maybe we didn’t. I can’t really remember what we did.

JE: We listen to a lot of soulful shit in our own time which definitely comes through on the record.


Clayton: Having Ro Blvd on the boards was interesting, how did that come to happen?

NL: He actually hit us up on MySpace one day, a long time ago now, and showed a bit of interest in our music and we ended up getting a few beats off him. Some good old online collaboration – it should be noted though, that the beats of his that appear on Towards the Light had some additional (and crucial) production done to them by Fame and Adit.


Clayton: What are some issues or messages you wanted to put forward through your music?

JE: Our music is about what’s going on in our inner circles first and foremost, girls, summer, current affairs, heartbreaks, running game, whatever really. Anyone who knows us personally knows that our tracks don’t stand too far apart from our everyday lives, besides a bit of fly rap talk.

NL: I don’t know if we have any particular messages that we’re trying to put across via our music – a lot of the songs are very personal, emotionally-driven and all that jazz. That sort of stuff tends to bring out the best in us, as it does with a lot of artists. We just try and have some fun with it, too. A lot of Australian hip-hop makes me cringe, if they’re not writing mickey mouse raps, they’re throwing wack sausage fest parties or allowing mediocre shit to flourish by patting each other on the back. There a whole lot of artists who are making some real high quality music though, especially some of the new younger crews coming through.


Clayton: Adit from Horrorshow does a few beats too and Solo appears on ‘On and On’, how long have you known them? Your sounds gel.

NL: I went to high school and have been best friends with Nick and Adit from Horrorshow – they are my homies and it is so good to see them doing well. We all grew up together and to be making music together with them is fucking ill.

JE: We’ve been mates first and foremost since high school days, we grew up together as teens and have pretty similar taste in music. It’s only now that we’re both doing our thing that people see us shining together as this new wave of Sydney talent, Double S and Horrorsquad are the crews, ‘one day’ is the banner we ride under.


Clayton: What is the idea behind so-called “fresh breath” music? A new style?

NL: I don’t know whether it’s a new, distinct and specific style, it’s just the way in which we are making our music – I’ve always said this, I don’t feel like we’re reinventing the wheel or completely flipping shit on it’s head, we just feel like we’re doing something a bit different. We’re certainly not the only ones doing it either, plenty of artists are pushing boundaries at the moment

JE: A new contemporary lease on Australian hip hop, with a well balanced open minded approach. We’ve tried to make the sort of shit we’d listen to.


Clayton: There are many female vocalists featuring, what are your favourite female vocalists in music overall?

NL: That’s a tough question. In terms of established Australian female singers, I’m a huge fan of Sarah Blasko. I think Paris Wells has an amazing voice too.


Clayton: Do you feel any pressure being heralded as the “future of Australian hip hop”?

NL: Nah I don’t really feel too much pressure because we don’t really buy into that shit too much – we’re not really concerned with being the future of Australian hip hop. That’s some record label marketing jazz to catch people’s attention – it’s a big call and we don’t make our music and do shows to be heralded the future of Australian hip hop, we do it because it’s fucking fun and we like doing it. We put pressure on ourselves but it’s got nothing to do with being the future.

JE: Yeah there was a bit of pressure with everyone awaiting the release as well as us awaiting the public’s response, but behind the title is a product that we believe we can push for many years to come and hopefully attract a few unsullied ears.


Clayton: What are your hopes for the future of the scene?

NL: At the moment I feel like, for the first time in a while, the local hip-hop scene is thriving, shit is looking very promising. I’d hope that in the future that the scene will grow as much as possible, more shows and bigger shows, artists and groups playing big festival tours, and shit like that. And that’s going to happen, it’s already on it’s way.


Clayton: Was it easier or harder working on music as a duo?

NL: I’ve never really made many serious songs as a solo artist, we work well together as a duo in terms of putting the songs together and also doing shows. I’m sure there’ll be some solo stuff or side projects at some stage, but not any time soon.

JE: No one pushes me to write like nick does so it was hard on the ego at times but it’s definitely easier having two minds working collectively.


Clayton: ‘Bring It Home (One Day)’ you speak on the different styles you bring, what are your favourite albums of all time in any genre?

NL: I think Dead Prez’s “Let’s Get Free” is one of the best hip-hop albums out. My favourite albums for all different genres changes all the time – I think Bloc Party’s “Weekend in the city” album was pretty close to flawless. I’m a big fan of Santogold, I think her shit is real cool and blends a whole lot of genres well.

JE: That’s too hard, maybe albums that I never get tired of listening to would be:
.Blueprint- jay z
.Silent alarm- Bloc party
.All eyez on me- Tupac
.Any crowded house or Michael Jackson.

Clayton: The lyrics get political on ‘The Lucky Country’, as a leading young hip hop duo what are your thoughts on the youth as the leaders of modern Australia?

NL: The future of the country is in fairly safe hands, a lot of traditional, conservative shit in this country is being ironed out through the generations. That’s a tough question to answer to be honest bro, I can’t say I think too much about the youth as leaders. Someone in NSW needs to fix the fucking trains and whole transport system though, hopefully the youth can do that.


Clayton: The aforementioned track speaks on racism, speaking of which did you cop any flack having the initials SS with their unfortunate historical connection? You solved this by having one S reversed.

NL: No, we’ve never copped any shit for having the same initials as the Nazi death squad – except for a little bit of online ribbing on OHH. Perish the thought hey. The reversed “S” wasn’t to dispel any possible connection between our music and the Nazis – people aren’t that stupid..

JE: haha as the tongue said so eloquently we’re going ‘towards the reich’.


Clayton: How important is the balance between party rhymes and conscious lyricism?

NL: Everyone tries to maintain some sort of balance in the way they make music, even if not necessarily between party rhymes and conscious lyricism. Some get the balance pretty wrong, but I think the best MCs are the ones who can talk about any topic and do it with class and finesse, in terms of getting the balance exactly right.

JE: It’s everything that an emcee needs to stay relevant, finding a balance between fly shit, political shit, personal shit, and keeping it all as advanced and contemporary as possible is a hard thing to do. When you find that you can start making timeless music.


Clayton: Storytelling features on ‘On and On’, who are the best storytellers of our time in your opinion, who influences you when you write stories in song?

JE: Old nas story telling will always be the sharpest. Ghostface and lupe are also crazy at giving you a personal, yet universal take on things.

NL: You can’t really go past Nas, his storytelling game is crazy. Nas is the greatest.


Clayton: On songs such as the aforementioned and ‘Til The World Blow Up’ your love for family and friends and related issues are evident, how has the reaction been from them since the album dropped?

NL: We are both lucky to be blessed with some fantastic friends and family, being thankful for that and letting them know that we got them is a strong, recurring theme in our music. They have a lot of love for Spit Syndicate and we got a whole lot more for them – they’re proud of us and they get behind us 100%, we’re very lucky.

JE: Looking back on it now, the whole process behind making this album was a very family orientated affair. ‘Family’ in the sense that none of us wanted to flood the record with well known guests in the first place, and we also happen to have a long list of extremely talented people who were willing to creatively contribute. Friends and fam mean everything. Period.


Clayton: The light has shone on Spit Syndicate, what’s next for you guys?

JE: A bossy ass, sucker free summer. One dayers!

NL: We’re going on tour to support “Towards the Light” in September, we’ve got some big shows on the cards for the rest of the year. Just trying to keep making music and pushing it as far and as wide as we can while juggling study, work and broads. Thank you for the interview Clayton.

Spit Syndicate - Towards The Light is out now on Obese Records

Interview by Clayton Bennett, 2008 OzHipHop.Com

That's all for now - stay up kids.
Nick.x