Fade
The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
This time, we have chosen to interview a very talented Canadian MC and producer (representing Vancouver, BC): Prizm (Kevin Chung).
What's up Kevin? How are you doing these days? What's new?
What's good IllMuzik, I've been real busy with moving for the past month or so, but things are finally settling down a little bit now. I moved to Toronto just last week, and I'm definitely looking forward to the experience - make no mistake, I'm still repping Vancouver to the fullest and I'll be keeping it moving in the right direction.
Can you please tell us about your childhood? Are there any special stories/events that you remember?
My childhood's definitely been a complicated one, and I went full-circle before I was able to find my proper balance, if you know what I mean. In my early-elementary school years I was a pretty good kid I think, I remember being into dinosaurs at one point too. Then as I got older and began to really see the world for myself, things changed pretty rapidly. Went from being an academic to being rebellious to being obsessed with sports to where I am today. I really tried everything there was to try before I found my passion for music and writing.
How did you start with writing, and what was your main motivation?
I think I was a late bloomer almost destined to pursue this at a higher level. I started writing poetry to express myself when I was 16 or so, about two years ago now, at the suggestion of my girlfriend at the time who was tired of my constant philosophizing on life I guess. When I started writing it was really just a form of venting almost, getting my frustrations out of my system and onto paper. Most of it was free verse and hardly resembled a rap lyric, but there was an instant connection as I rapidly became more in-tune with my inner self and discovered thoughts/moods that I hadn't even been aware of.
How did you start producing? Do you enjoy it as much as emceeing?
I started fooling around with beats about a year ago, just to see if I could do it. To my surprise I found it a lot of fun, to be able to create a soundscape to convey a mood. It was a different form of expression, with perhaps more creativity involved. I fell in love with producing instantly too, and I definitely enjoy it as much as emceeing, though I'm probably a better rapper than a producer right now.
Hey, why Prizm (Prizm: a medium that changes perceptions)?
When I was about to record my first real song in March, 03 ("Night Writer"), I happened to be looking for an alias to go by. Right before I stepped up to the microphone I saw a poster with the word "prism" on it, and I liked the ring of it as I read it aloud. So I joked with my friend that I would call myself that, and that was that. A few days later, I found out the meaning of the word (a medium that changes perceptions) and I thought it really fit what my music stood for, so it stuck.
Please describe us your first album ('This Is Now'), in comparison to the second one ('Surfacing').
"This is Now" (Dec, 03) was pretty raw - and not in a good way either. It was the sum of all the things I felt like saying, but it was written and recorded before I truly had an understanding of either song-writing or rapping (on a technical level). I'd describe it as a learning experience, as the songs on it were literally the first songs I ever did. Part of me wants to say that I shouldn't have released "This is Now" as a professional, manufactured release at age 16, but in retrospect, it definitely jumpstarted my career in all possible aspects and the sales gave me a lot of confidence to move forward and truly commit to music. "Surfacing" is a beautifully put together album, flawed mainly by its redundancy - too many songs were personal and introspective, which made for easy listening but takes away from the album as a dynamic piece of work. The production on "Surfacing" was pretty amazing though, beautiful samples used throughout. "Surfacing" is definitely a 1000% improvement on the first one in terms of presentation on each and every song, and I think my progression and maturation as an artist definitely shines through.
Here's an abstract question: How would you describe what you are doing?
I'm taking bits and pieces from all the music that I'm inspired by, and fusing that with my own unique perspectives of the world around me to showcase myself to the world.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Married to a beautiful woman, and living with our beautiful baby girl. Moving enough records and dropping enough production to be financially stable.
What kind of gear do you own?
I just finished putting together all my new equipment this past week. Prior to the move, I didn't really have any equipment besides a Shure dynamic that was given to me as a gift. Now I'm operating off a brand new self-built computer made to handle demanding audio-recording and production platforms. I have an Emu1212m audio soundcard, a pair of M-Audio Studiophile DX4 monitors, a Behringer Eurorack MX 602A mixer, and an Apex condensor mic. I will be adding a Presonus TUBE Preamp and an Audio Technica 3035 condenser in the upcoming months though. I'll be set for a while after those two, I hope.
What's your recording process like (for both beats and rhymes)?
I make all of my beats in Acid 4.0 and Cool Edit Pro 2, oddly enough. I actually have a variety of different "better" programs for production but old habits die hard and Acid is still my favourite software sequencer, despite its limited capabilities. I used to record in my buddy's basement with just a Shure Sm58 (nobody believes me - but its true!) plugged into the back of a computer, but I can say I won't have to spend hours cleaning my noise-filled, muffled vocals anymore. I've also had extensive experience with ProTools and Nuendo, so I will probably be recording and mixing in Nuendo exclusively from now on.
Do you collect music? How many records do you have? What kind of records?
Nope, I haven't gotten into the wax craze yet, probably a good thing too considering I hear it's an addiction for most. I have hundreds upon hundreds of tapes back home in Vancouver, though. My best friend (Christina) and I have quite a collection going on, she's probably dug for most of the rare or hard-to-find pieces though. In terms of CDs, I have about a hundred or so back home also. CDs don't interest me as much as tapes do though, especially nowadays with the prevalence of generic wack shit (lol). As of right now I'm collecting as many professionally-pressed releases with my name on it. I'm on 9 manufactured albums/compilations as either an emcee or producer, and that number should be at about 15 by the end of the year. I won't even count the number of CD-R "albums" that I'm on though.
Do you sample? What are your thoughts regarding sampling?
Most definitely, there's nothing I love more about production than finding a beautiful break and re-creating it into a new masterpiece. I prefer sampled beats over keyboard-generated beats because of the smoothness I think. Real instruments and orchestras will always sound more "right" to me than a synth-driven track. I think sampling is dope, and I don't think the art of sampling is given as much respect as it ought to be - sure, sometimes you luck out in terms of how little manipulation you need to do to a beat to make it hot (think "Jesus Walks") but sampling from various sources and arranging it into a new track often takes a lot of creativity and vision to do well. I have a profound respect for greats like Premier, Pete Rock, Alchemist, RJD2, Dr. Dre, etc', as a result.
How do you see the Hip-Hop scene (worldwide, in the US and in Canada)?
I went through my elitist backpacker stage already, and I enjoy commercial rap more than ever these days - as long as it's good. In terms of the indie scene, I'm far more familiar with things in Canada than in the States or worldwide per se. As a culture, I think Hip-Hop is continuing to grow and expand, it has gotten to the point where I'm confident in saying that it will never die. All the naysayers can check themselves, there's still an abundance of amazing music being made, even if it might not be selling as well as it should be.
Have you ever visited IllMuzik? And what do you think about the site?
Yep, I think it's a great resource for music-lovers on both sides of the boards. It's a great place to exchange ideas and build with one another - that's the great thing about the internet, the possibilities are almost boundless.
Let's play a word association game:
- Commercial- Ludacris
- Futuristic - Aesop Rock
- Intangible - Ghostface Killah
- Underground - I don't buy into the concept of "being underground" anymore, but I'll say J-Live
- Live Performance - Immortal Technique
- Poetry - Nas
- Israel - I'd love to see it for myself one day... along with many other beautiful places in the world.
- Politics - Cyclical mayhem that I've never let myself truly get into. Pessimistic as it may seem, I try to focus more on improving the balance in my own life and the lives of those I love first - I've given up on politics as a whole. If I had a say in it, things might get ugly real quick for a lot of the people in power currently.
- Racism - Not as bad as it used to be, but still worse than people think it is.
- Life - Beautiful from any angle, and too short to be taken for granted.
- Struggle - It's part of life (for most), the measure of an individual is how we cope with it.
- Beautiful> - Children.
- Women - Amazing, mine is at least.
- Love - The only thing that keeps me sane and living. True for the rest of the world as well, I'd assume. I don't know, everyone knows that I'm a helpless romantic.
- Ghetto - Builds character like few other environments can.
Shouts go out to all of the driven artists workin on their respective crafts at IllMuzik.com - keey ya head up, believe in ya self, and stay creative. I also gotta give props to all of my producers for believing in me and allowing me to do my thing by tossing me dope beats day after day. Last but not least, much love goes out to my manager Christina and my girl Sharon for putting up with me every step of the way. One love y'all.
Kevin, thank you for your time. The IllMuzik fam wishes you the best of luck! Everybody, don't forget to visit: http://www.emceeprizm.com