j*9 interviews DJ Ychuck

J*9: You have an unsual DJ name, how did Where did you get your name from?
DJ Ychuck: My last name is Onyschuk. It’s kind of a difficult last name to pronounce (its Ukrainian) and people are constantly saying it wrong! They have called me 'O-chuck', 'oni-chuck','ychuck.’’ When I said ‘ychuck’, my friends were like 'that's a wicked name...that's your DJ name!' It's a funny name and it's stuck with me through time. Some of my best friends call me Chuckie!

J*9: How did you get into hip-hop?
DJ Ychuck: I started getting into hip-hop when I was at high school. I think I first heard real underground hip-hop on a ninja tune compilation that a nice person who worked at a record store gave to me. I also listened to a lot of college radio, and fell in love with late night underground hip-hop sets. I bought all the Tribe Called Quest records, and kept progressing from there.

J*9: What was the first record you bought?
DJ Ychuck: The first full length 12" I bought was Pussy Galore! On Pussy Foot Records. It’s a great compilation! http://www.discogs.com/Various-Pussy-Galore/release/205196

J*9: How did you first start DJing?
DJ Ychuck: I started DJing when I was seventeen. I actually grew up in the height of North American rave culture, and got into drum and bass before I got into hip-hop. I always used to hang out beside the DJ booth, and I remember being mesmerized by what the DJ was doing with all the knobs and faders. My dad bought me my first DJ mixer as a graduation present, and I set up a bunch of old turntables (they didn't even have pitch control on them!) and tried to start mixing records. Later on I saved up to get some real DJ gear, I spun records with a lot of buddies, played in a lot of people's basements, and made a lot of 'train wreck' mixes along the way while I learned how to make mixtapes!


J*9: Have you played in other parts of the world?
DJ Ychuck: So far, I've been lucky enough to play in the US, and in Europe. In the US, I played in San Francisco. I was actually invited by QBert to appear on his 'Turntable TV' DVD series, and while I was filming down there I played at a club with DJ 8-Ball (DMC West Coast Champion)and Rafik (DMC World Champion) Last year, I was gigging in Germany for six months. The highlight of the trip was playing at the We B Girlz Hip-hop Festival, where I opened up for Bahamadia and Roxanne Shante.

J*9: You are also turntablist DJ, how did u start that?
DJ Ychuck: I was actually really lucky that I discovered turntablism! When I was younger, I used to hang out at a graffiti store. In addition to djing, my little sister was into painting graffiti (she's a dope visual artist, I used to mostly bomb) and we used to go pick up paint and markers and I'd shop for records. I used to buy drum and bass records, while my sister would check out the paint. We met a nice guy who worked at the store, and he knew that I really dug my turntables. He recommended that I check out some ITF videos. I bought an ITF video, and that night my sister and popped the VHS tape in the player and were totally stunned after we watched the first DJ's battle routine. I think it was the first time that we ever saw a DJ scratch and juggle! We must have watched the tape about four times that night. Around this time, (2000-2001) there were still a lot of raves going on in Toronto (my hometown) and I was able to see amazing turntablists at raves in big venues. I was going to raves every weekend to see DJs like Roc Raida, Swamp, Klever, A-Trak and the Funky Teknicianz. It was an incredible time.

After a few months of carefully observing real DJs, I was totally motivated to learn the art of turntablism. I was lucky enough to find a mentor, DJ Labo, who taught me to properly scratch and juggle. This was around 2000-2001, which is now considered to be one of the 'golden eras' of turntablism. He also introduced me to the Toronto battle scene, and to a whole lot of really good DJs (Toronto produces some of the sickest turntablists on the planet!!!) I couldn't get enough of the turntables...I actually dropped out of college (I was studying jazz guitar at the time) so I could have more time to practice scratching!

J*9: What is more important, beats or lyrics?
DJ Ychuck: I used to think it was the beats, because I'm really into listening to productions, and I really enjoy the soundscapes that producers create. However, these days, I'm really feeling lyrics too, although sometimes I listen to the flow of the lyrics more than the words. But I think it's really important to have a strong message you want to communicate as well. I know that lyrics can sometimes 'speak' to people in a way that they can easily understand, and make a song truly memorable. In a well written song, both elements are equally important.

J*9: What are the key ingredients of getting the crowd going?
DJ Ychuck: Playing the right records at the right time and of course making sure that you have some bangers in your crate too. I think that a good DJ really takes his or her time to build up a set, and focuses on taking their audience on a real journey.

J*9: Is it easier for girls being DJs?
DJ Ychuck: I think that it's a challenging for anyone to be a good DJ!

J*9: Does your gender affect the type of music you play?
DJ Ychuck: Absolutely not. I play what I feel is right for the moment. I think that the message that I want to communicate to my audience determines the type of music that I play.

J*9: Do you feel compromised to play other female hip-hop stuff?
DJ Ychuck: No. I really like a lot of female artists (like Missy, M.I.A. Beyonce and Mary J. Blige to name a few), but I play their tracks because they make dope records, not because they're females. I play music if it's good...I'm not concerned with the gender of the person who made it. I do think that women have certain strength to them though, and I like it when female artists channel their funky, soulful vibes into the music they create.

J*9: As women in hip-hop is it our responsibility to support each other to build a community?
DJ Ychuck: I think that people should support each other. Men should support women and vice versa. The only way that the earth will ever really be able to progress is if everyone begins to work and build together.

J*9: What is the future of hip-hop?
DJ Ychuck: I think hip-hop is going to be further influenced by electronica and dubstep. I've been hearing lots of really cool, wonky electronic hip-hop coming out of cities like LA. There are some really good artists out there right now like Nosaj Thing, and Flying Lotus who are pushing the music in a new direction. Today I just heard of this producer called Shlohmo who's really original and makes really spacious, futuristic beats. I also make produce some new school hip-hop beats under the name Sara Simms so you'll want to check out some of my productions in 2010.

Photography, creative direction and makeup and styling by: Melle Oh
Additional styling by: Shehan McLelland
Jewellery by Crushed

Check out DJ Ychuck on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUk3WILeMAY&fmt=22
http://www.djychuck.com
http://www.facebook.com/djychuck
http://www.myspace.com/djychuck

My New Fashion Icon

I have decided that after 10 years of watching the ‘Fresh Prince of Bell-Air’ that the character Hilary had an amazing wardrobe. So to pay homage to this forget style icon, I will try my upmost best to relive her fashion-forward outfits. I squeal in excitement as I write this, I can’t believe her savviness only came to my attention now.

She encapsulated the nineties body-con style that was at a fever pitch from fashion designers like Alaia Azzedine down to every single rap artists music videos. The bold-block-colours, Chanel 2.55 handbags and round-toe-mid-heels all screams 1992.

So, it shall by new look of 2010.

Some Old Skool Fun

Here is some old skool hip-hop tunes I found in my mum's shed. I believe that shed of her's is a Narnia to music of the past. Enjoy.

Can we ever reclaim the word Btich?

This week I had an interesting online discussion with Leddie, she is one half of the hip-hop duo Leddie and Smoggy. The gist of the debate was is the word ‘bitch’ an unacceptable word to use. We both had our own thoughts on the matter, read below to make up your own minds.

Leddie: Don’t agree with it being called "bitches" though ... Kind of shows the misogyny in Hip Hop, lol and how it affected us ... Glad you’ve put in the info it’s about "Bold Individuals That Challenges Hiphop'crisy En Style" though still.

Janine: hmmm...double edge sword. It’s a feminist zine/website for girl’s involved in the five elements of hip-hop culture. I choose to use that word for the exact reason, constantly used by some male rappers to put women down, so I thought fuck it, I’m going to make it mean something, hence the break down. Also tend to find when a woman is described as a 'bitch' it’s because she doing her own thing and not boasting some mans ego...

Leddie: Yeah, that’s true ... But, The Word 'Bitch' is Said in derogatory Manners within Hip Hop, Even if its instead of saying woman they use Bitch like it’s an acceptable thing and we should 'learn' to like being called it, That’s why I don’t agree with women using it in tunes like "Chilling with my bitches" or shit like that .I’m a Woman, and if a man can’t learn to realise that women aren’t objects and are actually human beings, He isn’t a man. Like I said though, at least u broke it down in the info, I just don’t really agree with the name of it.

Janine: You don’t agree with the word 'bitch' because of the context that is used, which I guess in relation to hip-hip tends to be negative. But I feel anyway my blog is not about perpetuating misogyny, I want it to say women are called bitches in a negative way, but let’s reclaim that word to our ownership and mean something else. So it is recognizing its historical use, but changing it to mean something empowering. Cause all the women that I have interviewed or wrote about are females doing their thing in male dominated industry. I will admit I choose to use the name BITCHES for shock value, but it’s not some gimmick, it about showcasing talented women...

Leddie: I don’t agree with the word bitch being used because I think it degrades the whole purpose of what we’re trying to achieve as women within Hip Hop. Our aim is to be seen as the powerful, Strong outspoken women we are ... But were being degraded within commercial Hip Hop, and then were giving into their submission, like a "bitch" is all we are able to...

Janine: I agree, the word 'bitch' is used demandingly, but why can't the word be reclaimed to mean positive. By doing so, is that not a political or feminist statement in itself? You used the word to mean something bad, but I am going to spin it on it to mean something I want it too? The same way the word has been used to negative, can it not be changed to mean something positive, as in all it is a word created by man, therefore can be changed by women?

Leddie: To me the word 'bitch' can never be used positively ... To me, it is like a respectable black male or male, using The "N-Word" ... To me, it’s Disrespectful and although people use it as a Greeting, or casually, to me, it’s a direct negative and violent condemnation of character. It’s the fact that we 'allow' ourselves to be called bitches, by females and males, its lost its bite and we just allow it to happen ... Even women in Hip Hop used the term "bitch", for example, Lil Kim - "Queen Bitch" ... To me, its degrading yourself to their level to fit in to Hip Hop. I don’t want to fit into hip hop, I make Hip Hop music, But the state of the Hip Hop culture, on a whole in my opinion, is Absolutely Disgusting because nobody respects themselves or each other, yet we all act like its fine and get on with it.

J Star 9 interviews Amelia Ideh of Put Me On It

Amelia Ideh runs the influential 'Put Me On It', a blog dedicated to promoting good music from independent artists. She is a little lady, with lot going on, not to mention the fact she works in PR and is also an event co-ordinator. She is responsible for the monthly nights like ‘Pause’ at the Market Place and equally ' at the Gramophone. She is indeed a woman that runs things.


J*9: Describe yourself in three sentences?
Amelia: I'm a workaholic, but I'm half Nigerian so it's genetic - we're born hustlers. I'm creative yet organised - I have a degree in contemporary dance where I specialised in choreography (so it was surprisingly good training for what I do now). I sometimes feel like a cross between a hippie and a Care Bear.

J*9: What is an average day like for you?
Amelia: I work from home so it's pretty boring - get up and get to work! I spend an insane amount of time on the internet and often find myself still working at 3am, I love going out to gigs, contemporary dance and the theatre but I don't seem to have the time I used to for clubbing.

J*9: You run the blog put me on it, how did you start it?
Amelia: It began as a space where my friends and I could share news about music and events - we were constantly calling and emailing each other about it so I thought the blog would make it easier. It was my baby so of course I ended up posting the most but I still run it for the same reasons I started it for.

J*9: What did you hope to achieve?
Amelia: I don't think I had a goal in mind at first; it really was just to save time! After a while things developed and a lot of artists and DJs came back to me saying my support was actually having an impact so now I want to use the blog, events I produce and my networks to share amazing music and support the people who are making it.

J*9: You work in music promotion, as it the industry as tough as it seems?
Amelia: The toughest thing for me has been coming from an arts background where everyone is very nice and supportive - they want to collaborate and nurture each other in order to move forwards as a culture. The music industry seems to be much more of a competitive and male vibe which is just not very me! Luckily I think some people find that refreshing, but I've had to develop a thick skin, people can be unbelievably petty and patronizing.

J*9: How easy is it for you to promote independent artist?
Amelia: I think of PR as being one third of an equation. Good music and good marketing will result in good publicity - plenty of independent artists have had to get good at doing their own marketing which is the whole point of a label really, though the kudos can help.

J*9: What was the initial attraction to the world of PR?
Amelia: I held an artist consultation session at the Roundhouse a while back, and asked a group of musicians, vocalists, producers and DJs what they felt the hardest parts of their jobs were. The overwhelming response was spreading the word. I wanted to develop a company that could make a difference, and I had some experience of working in marketing and PR, so when people started coming to me asking if I could support their projects, I said yes.

J*9: What keeps you motivated with the type of work you do?
Amelia: Good music. I have had offers to work on projects I really don't believe in but I can't do it. I want DJs and journalists to be happy to hear from me, and generally they are which makes my job much easier and more fulfilling. I also don't work on projects I wouldn't want to write about myself, for example I could never write about someone's work just because they were paying me to promote it, because I always blog from the heart. At the moment I'm working with Accidental Records (Matthew Herbert's label), which is my favourite label - so I don't need much motivation - it's a dream come true!

J*9: You won a Performing Arts Fund from the BBC, how has that aided you in your career?
Amelia: The support, the process and the money which come with it are all amazing - but to be honest the biggest deal to me was the sense of affirmation. These people believe in me and my ideas, and they are willing to invest in me - that has made a world of difference to my confidence. The investment money means a new website and some bigger events next year, which I'm really excited about.

J*9: You are also an events manager have there been any nights you have been particularly proud of?
Amelia: Recently my Halloween party at the Market Place "Bitches Brew" was pretty amazing - an all female line up of emerging singers, DJs and artists who were all fantastic, and the place was rammed full of lovely people! I'm proud of everything I've worked on though - Pause (especially the Soul Power party we did this summer), Deviation, and Lookout! Have all been great experiences.

J*9: What are the key ingredients of making a good event?
Amelia: DJs you can trust to respond to the dance-floor instead of ego tripping, inviting the nicest people you can ("cool" people are fickle so don't court them), noticing the details (is the dance floor too bright for people to get comfortable dancing, does it smell nice in here?) and remembering to enjoy the party yourself.

J*9: Tell me about the first record you bought?
Amelia: I'm not quite sure which was the first but it could have been Cliff Richard and The Shadows, Holst "The Planets", Rick Astley or Danni Minogue. I was a strange 6-year-old. Long before that though I just used to listen to my Mum's records - loads of Michael Jackson and Motown.

J*9: Are you working on any projects in the future?
Amelia: Loads, watch this space!

Check out her site: http://www.putmeonit.com

J*9 interviews F.Lady of Cat Fight Magazine

If you have not heard of the influential ‘Cat Fight’ magazine, where have you been?Cat Fight is the first graffiti magazine dedicated to female writers and was created in 2005 by Dutch Graffiti artist FLady. J*9, poses a few questions to this amazing writer check out the interview below.

J*9: What got you involved in graffiti?
F.Lady: Other people’s scribbles in the streets of my old hometown caught my attention when I was about 16. It made me wonder who would do such a thing, how they did it and at what time of day? Their names were weird and the tags had style beyond normal handwriting. I just had to try it.

J*9: How long have you been producing graffiti?
F.Lady: My first illegal piece was in the beginning of 1998.

J*9: How would you describe your style?
F.Lady: Graphic lettering with candy colours. But recently I have started practising tattoo style characters which is more illustrative.

J*9: You are formally trained as Graphic Designer how does that affect your work?
F.Lady: My background has an influence on the colours and forms I choose for pieces and artwork. When designing screen prints having graphic design skills is really practical, even when the original is a drawing I can use the computer to try out some colours before we really start the printing process.


J*9: What graffiti artists have you collaborated with?
FLday: With a lot of nice people from all over Europe and beyond. But I like most to collaborate with my crewmates.

J*9: Tell me how Cat Fight Magazine started?
F.Lady: It started when I finished art school and wanted to get better at Indesign. And I needed to come up with a good project to do so. So I thought of this concept for a magazine. A magazine that had never been made before and I thought it was a good thing to have. There was no medium yet that highlighted female graff. The sites that were there had outdated info and pictures and only a few female writers were really internationally known. So I sent out a mail to every writer I knew and after a few months the first magazine was there.

J*9: What did you hope to achieve with the magazine?
F.Lady: First just to showcase what was out there so people could see. But after the first issue the magazine developed a bit further and issue after issue you could see the quality of the works improving. This was really important to me. Not only the network was getting bigger, more and more girls found Catfight and got inspired.

J*9: How do females use your website?
F.Lady: Mainly to download the mag. There is also a forum connected to Catfight and Graff Girlz where you can show your skills and discuss Graff related things.

J*9: Is it important to have resource like Cat Fight for female graffiti artists?
F.Lady: To answer that is quite hard. But if I wasn't making the magazine, I would definitely check it out to see what other female writers are doing. To get inspired by their styles, techniques but also to see the diversity of what is out there.

J*9: You are also a part of Bitches in Control, how did you two form?
F.Lady: At the time I was still in art school me and some friends had an art gallery for young artists. Lowlita and I were both working there and we hooked up. She was doing a lot of stickering in the streets back then, and I was both into graffiti and stickers and posters. As we were working there we started working on artworks together too. The gallery has been closed for some years now but we still work together.

J*9: What was it like being featured in Graffiti Woman?
F.Lady: Working together with the writer was crap, but the book turned out
quite ok. It is the only book of its kind so you kind of have to appreciate it, and I do think it has a certain value.

J*9: How does your gender affect your work?
F.Lady: It makes me want to use pink in everything I make.... ha ha no way! Gender and graffiti both influence my work. It makes me more versetile as an artist. Being able to make blunt typography is quite a manly quality, but I also make fine feminine illustrations and
typography.

J*9: Is the graff scene still as sexist as it once was?
F.Lady: In every male dominated scene there are macho men and nice men. I tend to hang out with nice guys and put the rest on ignore!

J*9: Are women starting to get some recognition now?
F.Lady: Yes, definitely. There are way more women in the scene nowadays and they get noticed for their skills.

J*9: Do you have any favourite artists in the scene at the moment?
F.Lady: LD crew from Amsterdam and Faith47 from South Africa.

J*9: Tell me about any interesting upcoming projects...
F.Lady: My newest crew the Fly Force is a badass all female hip-hop crew and we are planning to travel to every continent to show our skills. We’ve already been to South Africa this year and our next stop is hopefully Brasil. With the Bitches in Control we have an exhibition planned for May in Paris which is going to be loads of work, but I’m already looking forward to it.

Check out these link for more of F.Lady
www.catfightmagazine.com
www.bitchesincontrol.com
www.theflyforce.com

Jay Star Nine Interviews Street Artist Suzko

J*9: Describe yourself in 3 sentences.
Suzko: I suppose I’d describe myself as a true artist: a bit fucked up, over and under enthusiastic about everything, overly ambitious but lazy, way too sensitive but hardcore. Just one big contradiction.

J*9: Off the creative things to do, why did you choose art?
Suzko: Art has been my life since I can remember. As a kid, I could never go anywhere without a pencil and would scribble and doodle everywhere and on everything, much to the annoyance of my mum. I guess it was kinda a release of thoughts and feelings that maybe I couldn’t express at that age.

J*9: What inspires you to create pieces?
Suzko: The city and London life inspires me in a big way. New trends and sub cultures interest me. I have recently been focusing on the London cycle courier scene which has exploded in the last year and it’s pretty easy to get inspiration as my boyfriend is one of them. Other urban artists inspire me, graffiti artists, manga and also traditional art forms; the renaissance period and the old school Italian masters.

J*9: How would you describe your style?
Suzko: For the last year I have been experimenting with a new style. I have been using posca pens on canvas primarily used by graffiti artists which creates a poster, pop art feel in bright fluro colours. I’ve been doing alot of commissioned portraits which has been great cos it brings in the money and its always cool trying to find that unique look within the subject. But really my true passion is hidden within the darker side of things. I used to paint in oils and would twist and distort figures into mythological creatures and weird fantasy style bird-like characters. There are some pretty freaky things that go on in my imagination and I do my best to recreate them onto canvas.

J*9: How is your style unique?
Suzko: To be honest, I don’t know if any artist could really say that their work is completely unique. All artists take inspiration from other peoples work and hopefully it evolves into something new and different.

J*9: When did you realise you had this talent?
Suzko: I think I’ve always known I had talent but my parents always really supported me as a child and told me how good I was so it probably started there. However, no matter how much natural talent you have, you always have to practise, and continue doing it otherwise you can lose it abit. I never went to uni, so when all my friends were going off to do that, I went to work and lost all enthusiasm for what it is that I love: art. For three years I did nothing so when the time came to get back into it, it was really hard. I had to kinda re-teach myself all the basics, but it does eventually come back to you.

J*9: What other street inspired artists do you admire?
Suzko: There’s a French guy called Amose who covers loads of areas with his collective, Mercurocrom, including digital images, illustrations and graff murals. He creates weird elongated and distorted characters which I love. Another guy from his collective is Erone and his work is right up my street. But these guys have already made it and what I really want is to big up all the unrecognised talent out there. There are so many amateur and outsider artists with so much going for them. Cat Johnston, Zoe Moss, inkfetish and Sichi being but a few.

J*9: What is the best piece of art you have created?
Suzko: It’s really difficult to choose one of my pieces which I think is the best. I spend so much time working on them and staring at them for hours that it’s hard to see them with fresh eyes. When you look at something for so long it strips it of its purity and you can never see it for what it really is. Having said this, I do love one called ‘Baby and Tash’, which is a portrait of my grandfather holding me as a baby. The colours I used give it a real comic book/superhero feel.
I honestly don’t feel like my gender affects my art in any way.

J*9: Where in the world would be your ideal place to produce some art?
Suzko: Two places I’ve never been but have heard are amazing are Berlin and New York. I’d love to go out there, especially Berlin as it full of artists, musician and all creatives. However, probably the most idealic place for me to be to do art would be somewhere like Indonesia. A place where rainforest meets beach, sitting in some broken down little beach hut with no material distractions, just nature. I’m not a hippy, I swear! Ha-ha!

J*9: Tell me about any upcoming projects you may have?
Suzko: No real plans for future projects yet. I wanna get back to my dark side; create some proper twisted characters in oils. I really wanna teach myself to use spray cans as well cos then I could get into doing big murals and stuff. That would be great!

Check Suzko on: http://susielowe.carbonmade.com/

Man, I feel like a Woman

Today, I bought a book called ‘Graffiti Woman’ by Nicholas Ganz. It got me thinking, ‘Does gender make a difference when producing gendered themed book?’ This work of photography features a cross-section of female graffiti artists from all over the world. Each artist brought her own style to graffiti as an art form and was an enjoyable experience to page through. But, this thought still lingered. It would have been more empowering if a female had been the curator of this book; then it would have been a collection of female graffiti art by a female author. It suggests that these women are only worthy because their talents have been recognised by a man. If women were given equal space in the many graffiti books that are focused on men, then essential we would not need a book of this kind. As the man or woman that would make such a collection of work would be mindful if it appears that one gender is dominating the content.Ganz admits in an interview,‘Women are often forgotten or underrepresented in the graffiti and street art related literature. Men didn't take them seriously...graffiti was and still is very sexist and male dominated.’

Getting your Nails Did...

Upon my travels around London, I picked up my trusted friend, 'The Metro' and I found this piece about a Japanese Nail Fair. Well, we all now the Japenese are the most creative brunch. Obviously, it is in the sushi as they have spawned some of the best designers, Yohji Yamamoto, Nigo of Bathing Apes and Rei Kawakubo founder of Comme des Garçons. For cry out loud they have Harajuku district. This is clearly a sign fromm God because I need to get my nails did.

Kid Sister f. Kanye West "Pro Nails"
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Here is Kid Sister for some moral support.