HIEROGLYPHICS FREEDUMBU
he Hieroglyphics crew, including That shit always put a feeling in me every time I So part Words and Photo by True 54
Del, Souls of Mischief, Casual, and hear that shit. I'm envisioning that fool Short of being a dope MC is having a sick live
Del, Souls of Mischief, Casual, and hear that shit I'm envisioning fool
the
for a few years in the mid-90s before they
were unexpectedly, inexplicably dropped
from their respective record labels. They
found themselves stranded in music indus-
try no man's land and decided to take mat-
ters into their own hands. They now handle
almost everything themselves; in fact,
when I arrived at Casual's house to do
this interview, Tajai, A-Plus and Jay Biz
were busy filling orders for
Hieroglyphics B-sides compilation, Del's
Future Development, Casual's Meanwhile,
Souls' Focus and the various other items
available from the Hieroglyphics
Emporium.
Despite setbacks, the new
Hieroglyphics album, Third Eye Vision,
should be available in stores now, featuring
songs from all of the groups that make up
the crew, including The Prose, who've
been playing the back since the start bút
are now primed to shine.
Hiero are ready to take hip-hop into the
next century with a musical maturity
acquired through adversity and a fully func-
tioning site in cyberspace: www.hiero-
glyphics.com. Someday there might even
be a Hiero videogame. "It would have to
come with a mic that plugs into the front
of the Playstation and you just gotta battle
your way up through hella people. Have
like a freestyle meter; Del'll be the last
master. There would be a little beep that
lets you know if you're really busting off
the top of the head or if the machine had
heard it before." The manual that came
with the game would have instructions on
what it takes to be a great MC. It might
read something like this:
Del: Vocab, delivery, style, cleverness, and
finesse are all essentials. Sometimes it matters
how your voice is. I look a lot for vocab and
style-how people put lyrics together, how
clever they are. I like MCs that are funny; I
don't really like MCs that are always hella serious
and shit, or mad-face MCs, always complaining.
It's cool, some of it. We all have our own opin-
ions, I don't know what everybody else thinks.
Who's your favorite non-Hiero MC?
Del: That's tough. It's mex guess.
Domino. Rakim
fi
Casual: Mine is Lord Finesse. Just at the time
that you're asking right now.
Del: I'll agree with Cas. Lord Finesse.
What about your favorite song of all time?
Some song that'll just hit you every time
and you'll just be like, "goddamn
that shit is dope."
Domino: "Rebel.
Without a Pause."
Opio: Dope
Fiend Beat."
What's your definition of a freestyle?
Tajai, Del, Casual: Off the top.
Opio: Off the top o of your head, you know? Just
thinkin' shit up right there. No written shit.
People can try to add like, their little written
intro or whatever. I mean, if you're at a show
and you gotta do a "throw your hands in the
air" before you get to your shit, just to get the
crowd pumped, that's all good.
Because I'll talk to MCs and they'll be
like, "to me, a freestyle is just a song
without a concept. It's like a verse that
doesn't go with a song." To me, that's
not even a freestyle.
Tajai: That's what I'm saying.
show. 'Cause for example, I've never seen
Rakim in concert but, to me, that's the God.
But I've heard his live show is kinda weak.
Tajai: Yeah, I see what you're saying. To me,
being a real MC, not a dope-ass rapper, but
being an MC, Master of Ceremonies, all that
bullshit, is you gotta be able to rock a show.
Period. The record is like the books and the show
is like the lecture; you get the most of the meat.
and pull everything together at the show, you
know? That's where it really goes down. This was
a performance art before it was on records. I
don't give a fuck how much respect you get on
tapes and shit; if you can't rock a show or if your
show is wack, that really detracts from you being
the greatest. KRS-One, to me, is the ultimate MC
'cause he has lyrical content, he has maybe the
dopest show in hip hop, plus he does all kinds of
other shit. He has content, styles, a fresh show,
and longevity: That, to
to me, is
the total package.
Opio: The MC category encompasses hella shit.
Just cause you have dope lyrics, if you're slackin'
in other areas, then you ain't really the dopest
MC. You're just the dopest lyricist. Other fools
have hits too, and they ain't comin' off as pow-
erful as KRS when he's on stage. So it ain't just
his songs. If he didn't have that powerful voice
and all that shit that's going on while he's
rockingthe show...he wouldn't be him. He
wouldn't be as great as he is to me if his show.
some other album... 1 I wasn't as tight. When you go to a show, you
variations on shit. You wanna see people per-
Domino: When a jazz musician is freestylin',
he's just goin' Improvisation. That's what a
jazz freestyle is. Everybody's just going with
what they feel..
Opio: The way I was introduced to a freestyle
was that it was off the top of the head. If we
used to say "kick a freestyle," or "that's
freestyle," there was always, even if they was
lyin' about it, the assumption that you was just
makin' shit up right then?
I
Casual said he thinks Lord Finesse is a great
MC. So if you went up to Finesse and you
were like, "yo, man, kick a freestyle," and
then he kicked some verse off of Funky
TechnicYou understand, that's our definition, ain't tryin' to just hear a record. You like to see-
Tajai:
you know? That ain't everybody's.
Yeah, but, if he couldn't go off the top of, form, anlusive shit that's just on the spot. Part
his head, would that change your opinion) part of that performance is doing
of him as a great MC?
Domino: I think it comes down to this: that's
just one of the things that make a great
MC.
The bottom line is your greatness is deter-
mined on record. You can freestyle forever,
but if you can't get on record and have
something worthwhile, worth listening to,
then who cares? Kane, Rakim, Run DMC, and
whoever else if they can't freestyle, does
that take away their greatness? Y 9
Opio: Freestylin' doesn't define an MC. It just
gives you a little extra something. [But] if that's
all youa lot, you know?
all you can do, is freestyle, then you ain't really
What about your live show? Does that have
to do with your greatness as an MC?
Tajai: Hell yeah. That's like criteria #2.
of making your show dope fs being able to
freestyle too. That's something extra.
Domino: It all starts with making dope records,
and then everything past that falls into place.
KRS wouldn't be rockin' like he is if he didn't
have "The Bridge is Over" and "South Bronx
and "My Philosophy."
Jajai: Hell no. But as far as rappers gettin'
on stage and just rappin', to me that detracts...
from anybody's greatness. I'm a performer as
well as just a lyricist or somebody who gets
in a booth and raps the mic, you know? This
shit is to make people body rock and do the
hustle, you know?
Doming: That's the most important element.
You can't say that you can rock a show without
a dope song.
Opio: Of course you gotta have a hit song,
definitely, but look at the Roots, you know
what I'm sayin? Look at how powerful
their show is. That group's greatness has
to do with their
show. 'Cause their
show is sortight
That shit be
counting.
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