Page 27 - Zone Magazine Issue 006

RODNEY P www.soundcloud.com/rodneyp
Lets go way back for a minute. What got you into music before your London Posse days? Any particular musical influences?
I grew up as the youngest of 5 and there was always music in the house. Reggae and Soul music as well as Gospel and little Country & Western are standard stuff in most Jamaican households.
I guess the first scene I got into was the Ska scene in the 80s. The Specials and 2 Tone suits was my thing.
You were a founder member of the seminal hip hop crew: London Posse back in the 80's, how did this come about?
Mostly luck and knowing people who knew people. I had a genuine love of Hip Hop as a culture but never expected to be able to make a career out of it so I’m thankful.
What was the musical landscape back then, obviously there were Reggae Sound systems in London but for Hip Hop, was there other people releasing Hip Hop music before this and probably more importantly were they rapping in London/UK accents?
Sound System culture comes first, that’s were our generation got our training. The first London Posse record was in 1987 and plenty of people had released music before us, some even
having chart success. The difference we made was using our real accents instead of a fake American one. We were the first to come out and really just try and represent where we came from in a real way. That also meant that our sound of Hip Hop had a lot of reggae influences.
Is it true your first international gig was right here in Ireland? Can you tell us a little about the experience.
Yeah ‘Bad Audio Dynamite’ took us on tour in 1986/87 when I was 16 and the first show was in Belfast. That was the very first time we’d every actually all performed on a real stage together. It was also the night I became friends with DJ Mek, Mr Brown and Rira from Scary Eire. #GoodTimes
What or who do you listen to these days? Any current artists that do it for you?
There’s a lot of new music I like but not necessarily Hip Hop. There’s a fair bit of good Hip Hop too but one of the things crate digging taught me was an appreciation for all types of music so I have a large pallet to choose from.
You seem to be doing a lot of TV / Documentary work these days. How does Film / TV compare to music and is this something you are looking to get into more in the future?
It’s all hustle and I honestly feel like I could do most things in life given the
opportunity. The TV/Film stuff were opportunities that me doing music provided and I took them. It’s definitely something I wanna do more of.
Can you tell us a little about the ''Under the influence'' documentary series that you are working on at the moment?
Its basically me trying to set the record start about who I consider to be the pioneers of the scene. And trying to connect the dots between the Hip Hop culture that took hold in the UK in the 80’s and the Scene we have now.
Can we expect any new Rodney P tunes soon?
I have a new long overdue album on the way on Tru Thoughts Records.
You have collaborated with a lot of artists so far in your career. Is there anyone out there that you have not worked with yet?
Yeah loads of people. But I keep it pretty organic so we’ll see what the future holds.
Any final shout outs or plugs?
What’s good for the goose ain’t necessarily good for the gander.
Words By Bazza Pics by Eoin Holland & Courtesy of Rodney P
7) Jinx in Dub Ft. Mc Turner ''High & Low'' (Gold Dubs Remix) FREE DL
https://soundcloud.com/born-on-road/jinx-in-dub-ft-mc-turner-high- and-low-gold-dubs-remix
8) Dirty Stackxdeity ''Just us'' Ft. Clinton Sly
https://soundcloud.com/uprisemusicofficial/dirtystackxdeity-just-us- featclintonsly
9) Aquadrop Ft. Kg man ''High Grade Back Door'' FREE DL
https://soundcloud.com/donermusic/big-fish-aquadrop-feat-kg-man- http://www.reggaeville.com/nc/artist-details/artist/mr-williamz/audio/ high-grade-back-door-001
BAZZA'S TOP TEN
1) Jelashe ''Best things in Life are free''
http://www.reggaeville.com/nc/artist-details/artist/reggaeville/vid/vido-
jelashe-best-things-in-life-are-free/ac/artistVideos.html
2) Shire Roots ''Step it up'' Ft. Clinton Sly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRxMYVyn8RU
mr-williamz-meets-dirty-dubsters-special-request/ac/artistAudio.html
4) Dreadsquad Ft. Thai Stylee ''Badmind Fi Stop'' (Modern Time Riddim)
http://dreadsquad.com/modern-time-riddim-available-exclusively-on- bandcamp-million-stylez-mr-williamz-charlie-p-blackout-ja-and-more/
5) Dirty Dubsters Ft. Demolition Man ''Jah Works''
https://itunes.apple.com/ie/album/special-request/id1048666871
3) Mr Williamz Meets Dirty Dubsters ''Special Request''
10) General Narco ''Natty Narco''
https://soundcloud.com/jungle-strikes/sets/general-narco-jungle- strikes-vol-6-out-19th-oct
***BONUS BEAT: Manu Chau ''Mentira'' Alkalino rework FREE DL
https://soundcloud.com/alkalino/manu-chao-mentira-alkalino-rework
ESSENTIALDANCEMUSIC 27