Extra Dope Interview With 'Phill Most Chill' *highly recommend checking this*
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Welcome back to our second installment of The 7 Questions of Culture series where we bounce from Harlem to Illadelphia with my man, Phill Most Chill aka The SoulMan! This dude has been around writing about our beloved culture and music since well over two decades and going strong for the third. If you have not spent some time with That Real Schitt he writes about, you ain’t down by law! How can you be? Real recognizes real! You are what you eat, so grab a fork and a bowl and start digging in!
1. What does the Hip Hop culture, and its elements, mean to you, and why is it your passion?
Well, I don’t know. While I do acknowledge that in my mind Hip Hop is a culture, and it is something you live as opposed to something you just do, as KRS says, it is still about people doing things that they love doing. I think the word LOVE is the key.
A lot of people pick up something for the moment; maybe just during the time when it’s in vogue, and it’s the cool, trendy thing to do. You find out who’s real with it and who’s fake when that thing isn’t so trendy anymore. The fake people cast it aside and move on to whatever the new cool thing is. You really see it now, now that traditional Hip Hop and the so-called “elements” are seen as outdated by a lot of people. But for me, to paraphrase the words of the great Dizzy Gillespie, the truth has no expiration date. The truth is forever!
I have never dedicated my life to Hip Hop as far as it being a conscious decision; to be honest, there have been a lot of times where I wished I could just be done with it. I’d like to be done with it right now, to tell you the truth! But it truly is a part of who I am, and so now even in my mid 40′s I’m still listening to Hip Hop music, old and new. I’m still writing rhymes and recording songs whenever I’m inspired to do so; not at all to make records and make money or receive any type of adulation. [It's] just because I still have that creative fire, and I love the music. I still look for stuff to sample from rare old records, even though I haven’t banged out a beat on the MPC in years. I’m still involved for the same reasons that I was compelled to go see the Funky Four rock at my neighborhood community center back in 1980; the same reason I still scribble out graff pieces at my desk at work just like I did when I was a teenager; the same reason I started collecting breaks back in the 80′s and ended up with over 20,000 records in my collection.
I just love traditional Hip Hop! It’s a part of my DNA, and I don’t think it’s something that will ever leave me.
2. Describe any memorable experiences that made you fall in love with Hip Hop; made you proud of it; and/or changed your life?
I was introduced to Hip Hop back as a teenager, before there were any records even out or any of the commercialization that you have now. It was a whole different thing back then; just a neighborhood thing. So my love of Hip Hop came very gradually and naturally. There was no one moment that made me fall in love with the music or culture as a whole. But there were a couple of things that had a pretty big effect on me. One was that party I went to back in 1980 with Bambaataa, Zulu Nation, Funky Four, Disco Four and some other crews.
I’d been going to parties since about 1977 or 1978, but back then it was just going to a party to me. Nothing special. By 1980, emcees were making records, and I started looking at these guys like this isn’t just some everyday ? with dudes you see in school or on the bus everyday. This is something special! Seeing Jazzy Jay cutting; seeing the Funky Four rocking the mic standing on lunch tables; seeing Ikey Cee down on his knees rhyming his heart out… yeah, that whole thing was big! I went to plenty of other parties and shows after that, but that one really stands out for me.
The other big thing for me was hearing Run DMC’s “Sucker MC’s” on the radio for the first time. That was the best representation of Hip Hop music on record up to that time, and what was really great was that it was so un-polished! You’d hear a Grandmaster Flash record and didn’t really think you could do anything like that. The old school cats still had that mentality of being kinda on a level above the audience. Run DMC was the audience! They were dope but didn’t sound all that special. They sounded (and later we found out also looked) like regular dudes from around the way!
That was when I felt like maybe I could make a record, too. I know a lot of other people felt that way after Sucker MC’s.
3. Who has been a major influence or inspiration to you in the Hip Hop culture and why?
Everybody that’s dope with what they do has inspired me. Everybody! No one person stands out. Take it from Melle Mel to Eminem to Dilla to Kanye and everybody who ever made an ill record, or rhyme, or beat before or after them. I wish I could say I learned from somebody personally who took me under their wing, but that’s not the case. Other than my man Scratchmaster Rob teaching me how to cut, I learned everything on my own; how to rhyme, how to make beats, everything!
I just soaked in all the great music that I heard other people making, and that fueled my own creativity.
CARRIED ON IN PT2 -
PT2 CONTINUED
4. What are some of your most memorable experiences where you believe you made an impression in the culture and its elements, or how you touched people’s lives?
I can’t even tell you how touched I am when somebody tells me I had an effect on them because of something I did in Hip Hop. The World Of Beats column that I used to write for Rap Sheet magazine back in the 90′s really got a lot of people into digging for beats and old records, and subsequently helped them gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of not only Hip Hop, but music as a whole. It’s especially gratifying to hear that from dudes who have gone on to do way bigger things than I have ever done in Hip Hop. There’s nothing better than getting the respect of people who you feel really understand this ? and are extremely talented in their own right.
I don’t know exactly how much of an impression I’ve really made, but I think I’ve done a lot of small things that have mattered on some level; selling records to all the top producers at the New York record shows back in the 90′s; being one of the first break-and-sample mixtape dudes; the aforementioned World Of Beats column; and also being one of the names in the whole “random rap” collector’s craze.
Yeah, I think I helped break ground in a number of ways with these little Hip Hop subcultures. I’ve never done anything huge, and I’m far from a household name; even a Hip Hop household name. But I do think all those little things add up to something, and I’m proud to have done whatever it is that I’ve done.
5. How should the Hip Hop culture be imparted or passed down to the next generation?
Just by doing it and making sure that the history; the REAL history; is known. There are a lot of people out there today who for some reason are on a mission to revise Hip Hop history. I’ve heard some people try to sell some really ridiculous ? as being fact when they have NO idea what they are talking about. You can dismiss some things as just idiots on the internet talking nonsense, but I take that kind of ? serious. It’s dangerous!
History gets twisted all the time, man. We have to guard that history and care about it or else fifty years from now it’s all gonna be fiction. We older cats can only hope that the next generation will give a damn, but I can’t say that I’m real optimistic. I’m not so sure that most of them care very much about things that are way more important like the Civil Rights Movement of the 60′s. So how can I feel like they’re gonna care about Hip Hop history? People today care about right now, and that’s about it. But right now is already gone, and the future isn’t promised. So what is it really all about? I don’t know. You can only hope that the youth will pay attention to some of the good things; the good lessons from the past. But ultimately, they have to forge their own path and make their own history, and I know in their own way they’ll be okay.
Old people always think the young people are gonna run society into the ground, but society keeps marching along regardless… things just become a little different.
6. Where does Hip Hop need improvement or change, and/or how should it evolve from your perspective?
Well, if we’re just talking about rap music, you can’t control it or dictate what it should or shouldn’t be. People are gonna make the music they feel like making, and that’s just what they should do. They shouldn’t adhere to any rules about how something’s supposed to sound. They should say whatever they want to say and make whatever kind of music they want to make. But let me be clear on where I stand on this; to me, just because somebody’s rapping to music does NOT make it Hip Hop in my eyes. Some people may not agree with that. Even some of the pioneers may disagree.
I debated this with Grandmaster Flash himself a long time ago. To me, Hip Hop music does contain some elements that make it what it is. When you eliminate the deejay and the scratching from the equation, I think you get away from the very core of what makes it Hip Hop. When the music gets too melodic and arranged like a regular R&B or rock or whatever record, again I think you’re getting away from the essence of what Hip Hop is. There are no set in stone rules on what makes a song Hip Hop or not Hip Hop, but I think there is a feeling there. Hard to explain, but as they say, real recognizes real.
If you’re calling what you do Hip Hop, then I think you should have that feeling and you should be trying to carry on that tradition that started with Herc and was taken and enhanced by hundreds of other deejays, rappers and beatmakers over the years. If your attitude is “? that old ? ! We changing things and doing something different!” You know what? I’m not mad at that either, but if you’re doing something different than Hip Hop, CALL it something different than Hip Hop!
That’s all I’m saying.
7. What special projects are you doing today you would like the world to know about?
My mans and them from the great label DWG (Diggers With Gratitude), and myself, are now putting together the long awaited Phill Most Chill “All Cuts Recorded Raw” limited edition, double vinyl album. We selected a bunch of my unreleased tracks; demos etc. from the 1987-1990 era; got them remastered and will be pressing them up on wax. We’re also doing a full color gate-fold jacket featuring some of my artwork, so I think it’s gonna be real dope if I do say so myself. Raw, uncut, gritty classic era Hip Hop! Should be available later this year, so check the forum over at Diggers With Gratitude so you don’t miss it!
Other than that, I’m still doing some Soulman mixes when I get a chance. Got some nice concepts in the works, so keep an eye out! And I’ve been AWOL for a minute, but I’m getting back to adding content to my blog, That Real Schitt, and I’ve got a few good things lined up.
I’m not dead yet! -
His answers in Question 5 and 6 get A BIG consign from Me, that is some real ? ...
I hope this thread gets some real views, I know alot of dumb ? dont/cant be assed to read on this site, but still, hope some real heads come thru... -
When the music gets too melodic and arranged like a regular R&B or rock or whatever record, again I think you’re getting away from the essence of what Hip Hop is. There are no set in stone rules on what makes a song Hip Hop or not Hip Hop, but I think there is a feeling there. Hard to explain, but as they say, real recognizes real.
Great piece Water...from start to finish, keep up the good work.
Hey you younguns, if you into culture and not fads then read this ish here and learn something for the day... -
Wsup Daz
Yeah man, Phil dropped some real jewels in this piece... No surprise in the poor results in this thread lol I should of titled it something like 'Is Lil Wayne The Goat'
