Interview Tonedeff
On stage, Tonedeff is all fun, charisma and precise delivery. But when the lights are off, we meet a surprisingly sensitive and lucid hip-hop craftsman. With us, the MC frankly evokes a career he handles with an ironclad passion, at the crossroads of ambition and resignation.
08/06/2008 | Interview by Aspeum with contributions from JB et zo.
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Abcdr du Son : You talked about the new hip-hop during your concert in Paris, but some people didn't understand everything you said. Can you tell us more about that?
Tonedeff : The New Hip Hop is a movement QN5 has initiated that calls on artists to disregard the divisive lines between "mainstream" and "underground" stereotypes and prejudices, while focusing on quality over quantity. It also calls on them to be musically self-sufficient in their creative process in order to generate new and unique things. It calls on DJs to help advance the music by playing new hip hop music and not just playing the 90's classics – which has been a HUGE problem for years. We set up a set of five rules or "tenets" that, if artists adhere to, will help in the development of the music.
Anyone can be down with the New Hip Hop who chooses to - it's not a strictly QN5-thing. The New Hip Hop movement is meant to give a voice to those of us who still care about Hip Hop music and the culture and value integrity.
A : There's a funny thing about your album, "Archetype". In a way, it's like a prototype of a classic-rap-album: one song about girls, one song about wack MCs with your battle-buddies, one song about friendship and betrayal...
T : [He laughs] Right...
A : ... but at the same time, there's something totally different. Thanks to your production and singing, it sounds like a very unique album. Was it something you aimed to?
T : Yes. My next record will be out there, but with "Archetype", I didn't want to overdo it, because I didn't want people to shy away from the record. I wanted to maintain some traditional hip-hop aspects to it, so that people would open their ears, and not go "Oh, fuck that, that's too weird". I wanted to keep some of the pieces of a traditional hip-hop classic album style...
A : Did you feel you had to?
T : In a way, at the time-period, yes. Remember, I've been putting out my own records since 1997, and I've always played piano and sang on each record. My fans know that about me, but those who don't are saying "What's this guy singing for? That's pussy-R'n'B shit!" It's not. I approach piano songs like a singer/songwriter does, not like [he imitates an average R'n'B singer] "Oh girl, I want to be with you…". Fuck that! I'm singing about real life shit. The theme with "Archetype" was the musicality. I was really upset when I first heard "The College Dropout", because Kanye West was doing all the things that I was already doing on my record! My album was two years old, it was finished. So when "Archetype" went out, everybody was like "Oh, Kanye's already doing strings and choirs"...
A : Why didn't "Archetype" come out when it was finished?
T : It's a very sad, long story. I kept getting fucked over with label deals and distribution deals. QN5 Music is my label, we didn't have any money. I didn't have any money. To play the game, you need money. To put out an underground record, you need at least $20,000 to $40,000. Period. If you don't have that, nobody is going to hear your record. And even then, it's gonna be pretty obscure on the grand scheme of things.
A : Do you need this money to make the record?
T : No, no, to promote the record. You need to pay for publicists, distribution, displays in the stores, banner ads, magazine ads, college radio spins: you've got to pay for that shit! That's why I say in 'Politics': "Everything you see and hear is paid for". Regular people don't understand that. They just think: "If you're good, I'll hear you on the radio". But it's got nothing to do with that. It's all about money - the whole game. And at the time, in 2003, I didn't have money, I didn't have a way to put the record out. I was tired of waiting, so I kind of put it out through an underground label that folded the second after the record dropped. So, when I come to Paris, people go "Oh, you put out a record!?" [He sighs, then smiles] They've only heard me on the internet, but nobody has the album, because it was never distributed out here. The people who were really on it and knew the record was coming, they got it. But the typical hip-hop fan still has no idea that I put out a record. So it's frustrating for me.
A : Giving that you're also an art director, what was your idea while designing the "Archetype" cover?
T : I wanted the cover to be iconic. So, I chose to forego any photography on the cover and make it as sparse and iconographic as possible. The inner-booklet is far more elaborate than the cover for a reason.
The "Tonedeff" logo surrounded by two levels of rings. The thickest ring on the outside represents my outer shell – my skin / my public persona. The thinner inner-ring represents the more fragile layer of my personality – insecurities, pain, emotion and passion. They both come full circle to protect me/my soul which is represented by the logo, my intention held closely inside which is represented by the title. I'm kinda glad you asked me about that, 'cause I believe that's the first time I've ever explained the cover. Most people just think it's a simple logo.
A : Is there one thing about "Archetype" that you're particularly proud of?
'Gathered' by far is the moment I'm most proud of. It's the moment that I feel truly pulled me out of the hoarde of producer/emcees and put me in a new place as an artist. It was a dream come true for me.
Now, every Tonedeff project I've done always has a sung song on it (ie. 'Homecoming King', 'Fast', 'Morethanthis', etc), but "Gathered" is easily the most sweeping of all them. I wrote, played, sung and produced that song and then worked with Jennifer Curtis (J-Quartet) to score it with strings. For me, it was a huge deal – on the grand scheme of things – it's really a huge paradigm shift that a rapper, at least one many consider "underground", would have the balls to follow his heart into territory no one else would have on their debut album. And I feel like it opens alot of doors for others out there who feel that Hip Hop spans more than just beats and rhymes. There is a level of rebellion to that song that really resonates with me and I'm glad that those who heard it feel it too.
