I recently caught up with BREAX frontman Ruslan via e-mail to discuss that record, how well he believes MTV portrays hip hop culture, and how I got a shout out in the lyrics of this track.
Sketch: Aside from the theme of your When theBREAX Sold Out project a few years ago, I don’t think I would have pegged you guys as a group who developed a dance song in partnership with a soft-drink company. How did this opportunity come about?
Ruslan: The whole point of that project was to push the envelope and show our audience that we refuse to be boxed in as “underground rappers.” The truth is we love mainstream music and we enjoy dance music, [group member] Beleaf in particular really enjoys dancing.
The opportunity came about after Knucklehead finished shooting the Coke Zero video with Perez Hilton and Carmen Electra. He decided he wanted to do an original version of the song that was more reflective of his brand as a dancer and a part of his group Street Kingdom. He got with Beleaf who had Mr. Noise build the foundation of the track in Baltimore over the Memorial Day weekend. Then it was passed onto me, DJ Rek, and JRuckers to finish the track and get the mix right.
Sketch: theBREAX have sort of developed a rep for “positive hip hop.” It’s easy to see how you might plug that into your lyrics, but can how might it also work with the dance element of the culture? Can there even be such a thing as “positive hip hop dancing”?
Ruslan: I think krump dancing in general is very positive. It’s often misunderstood, but the energy behind it, at least from what I’ve learned being around Street Kingdom, is to bring glory to God and express yourself.
Within the context of hip hop culture I think the different dances are actually really positive. It gives people something to do on the dance floor besides bump and grind. It’s like a resurgence of the late 80′s and early 90′s time period of having to know different dances to be “cool.”
Now a days it’s the same thing – every few years a new dance comes out and the “cool kids” all learn it. I’m happy they aren’t Blood/Crip walking or having sex on the dance floor with their clothes on.
Sketch: You recently started connecting with your fans with Freestyle Friday videos where you improv a song based off of suggestions from your followers on various social media outlets. How has that gone for you so far and why did you decide to do this given that freestyle raps often aren’t as polished as full-length songs on albums?
Ruslan: Freestyle Fridays is a lot of fun. We basically love connecting with our Breaxheads [the name the group has given their fans], we love meeting them, and we love interacting with them. We figured if we can do that over the net it’ll allow the connection to feel that much closer.
Sketch: This “Toe Tappy” song connects you with Knucklehead – a dancer who competed with the group Street Kingdom on MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew.” You’ve also done songs, shows, and videos with Fonzworth Bentley who had his own “G’s to Gents” reality show on that network. In your opinion, how well is MTV covering/promoting hip hop culture as a whole? In what ways are they excelling and where do you think they could improve?
Ruslan: MTV’s objective isn’t necessarily to cover hip hop culture accurately. Their objective is entertainment and ratings.
But I do think they do a good job with guys like Sway who is a part of the culture and engaged. They could improve by showing a more balanced version of hip hop – to highlight the independent scene, the positive stuff and what guys like Lecrae and Thi’sl are doing.
At this point our movement isn’t below the radar like it was five years ago. I think MTV can, and hopefully will, come alongside and bring positive/inspiration music more exposure.
Sketch: How’d it come about that I get a shoutout (my Twitter handle at least) around the 1:55 mark of this song? Was it just so that I would write about it? If, it kinda worked.
Ruslan: That came out very naturally in Beleaf’s verse. He was just vibing in my living room as he was writing it and I was like “Was that a SketchtheJ shout out?!? That’s fresh!”
Purchase “Toe Tappy” on iTunes here.
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