Joe
Snow
Illterviews
– Joe Snow
Joe
Snow is a dope MC from Leeds city. He's part of the rap group
Defenders of Style. We catch up with him to talk about the battle
culture, working with European artists, solo music and much more!
Joe
Snow, introduce yourself; How did you get your name, how long have
you been rapping?
Joe Snow is a name givin to me by a woman that I used to live inside
of! Well, sort of. It's a shortened down version of my real name ‘Joe
Snowden’
My other alias ‘LIP’ has a bit of better story behind it. When I
was about 17 we were playing on a radio show in Newcastle. The night
before we went out to a crazy rave put on by White Elephant Sounds. I
had one of those blow your socks off ding dangs (that are quite hard
to come by these days) and chewed my top lip until it inflated to 5
times its size. The next day on the radio the host ‘Drop Dead Fred’
asked us my name. I didn’t reply in time and the quick witted
little fucker called us LIP, and it has stuck ever since.
I've been rapping since a young teenager, but the first time I played
live was at a Foreign Beggers gig when I was about 17 in York. So I'd
put that as the start of my ‘proffesional’ career.
What
projects have you put out in the past? How have they been received?
I'm part of a crew called Defenders Of Style. Our first album was
‘Thoughts Of The Nameless’ which was an 18 track album that we
released January 2009. This definately got us a lot of respect around
our local scene but I'd say that it was our second album ‘Dolce
Stil Nouvo’ that really started to push our name outside of
Yorkshire. It's only after that we really started capitalising on the
internet. With all these blogs and things like twitter and facebook
it's a lot easier to push your music independently. So our most
successful release so far has definately been our latest ‘Dirty
Sterling’. We released it in January this year and it hits its max
amount of downloads every month and has had a lot of good write ups.
They're
all avalible at www.defendersofstyle.bandcamp.com
and most are free of charge. So no exuses - go download them!!
You're
from Leeds, which has a dope scene, and the whole WY movement is
really making moves at the moment. What do you think has really set
the ball rolling?
In one clichéd and horribly overused word Hunger, It's frustrating
being an independent artist in the North. I mean the talent easily
equals that of the South. Yet I bet most people outside of Yorkshire
couldn't name more than 2 or 3 Yorkshire based MCs. It was quite
clear that we all had to start promoting each other and sharing our
contacts in order to progress as a scene.
Things like WY Cypher really pushed this. I mean as much as its about
having a few beers, getting high and rapping frees about dog shit, It
proper pushed everything to a next level in terms of collabs between
crews and links within the scene.
You've also gotta remember that the heads on WY Cypher are still only
the tip of the iceberg of WY talent and over the next few years I'd
put money on a lot of fresh WY MCs coming out of the woodwork.
You
also work with Defenders of Style. Let us know about that crew, who's
in it etc! Also, do you intend to do any solo work?
Defenders Of Style is Me, Jack Danz, Prys, Disgust and DMC finalist
DJ Sirplus (that he'll hopefully change to DMC champ after the 20th)
Danz does all the production and is a boom bap DON - that’s said
in the most modest way possible.
I am working on a solo album which I'll drop next year.It has beats
from a lot of different producers on it and has some nice collabs
thrown in there as well. So that’s one to watch for.
You've
battled in Don't Flop a couple of times. What inspired you to get
involved in the movement, and what's your opinion of the battle
culture today?
This is a question that is getting asked a lot at the moment, and
quite honestly, my opinion changed with every argument that I read. I
enjoy battling, and I always have, so when I came back from
travelling and all my mates were banging on about this new battle
league, I knew it was something that I'd wanna have a crack at. It's
pushed my music forward and i've had a lot of good weekends getting
drunk, and listening to 2 guys rip the piss out of each other. It
will always take a backseat to my music, but it is something that I
enjoy doing, and it's good to keep you on your toes.
I think it's good in moderation. If you spend your whole time
battling, and ain't putting out good music, I personally think you're
missing the point, and if you think you're above battling because
your music is dope and you don't need the promotion that it brings,
then one of these days a young 17 or 18 year old might just jump up
and make a fool out of you on your own stage.
It's definitely earnt its place in the scene, and doesn't look like
it's going anywhere, so my main ambition is to make these battle fans
buy my music, and turn up at my shows! So far, it's going good!
What
other artists have you worked with in the scene?
We've mainly been working within the WY scene at the moment, so
recently i've been working with heads like Chief Wigz and Fly
Tippers, Jack Flash, Matter, Lego, JND & Teknico.
Who
would you like to work with in the future?
There are a lot of people that i'm meant to be hitting the studio
with over the rest of the year. Granville Sessions, Res, Blizzard,
BTR Fam. They're all in the pipeline, but i'm looking to collab with
some European artists. We've had a lot of good feedback from Europe,
and are looking to plan a tour there for next year. I'm quite a fan
of French Hip Hop, and heard some crazy flows while hitting a few
stages in Paris, so that would be live!
What
are you working on at the moment, any mixtapes or EPs etc? When can
we expect them to come out?
Well this last week i've been finishing off my bars for my battle in
Glasgow against Physiks.
As far as albums, we're going to have a new Defenders Of Style album
out towards the end of the year, and then my solo album next year
sometime. Oh and I'm costantly writing Lego's freestyles for the
cyphers. You're gonna have to start paying us one of these days lad.
Any
shout outs?
DS. WY. BTR. DF
Let us
know where to get in touch with you, and any links you want to
promote!
DOWNLOAD
ALL THE MUSIC AT WWW.DEFENDERSOFSTYLE.BANDCAMP.COM
Follow us on twitter @joesnowds
@dsfam
Interview By
Precinct Phantom
@TheRealPP
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