033 DB: Yeah, I’m doing this film, Hollywood Re-Shuffle, and it’s like – have you seen Hollywood Shuffle? It’s this film by Robert Townsend. G: Oh, ok yeah. DB: It’s about the Hollywood scene with black actors in the 80s, and stereotyping and shit like that. But anyway, I’m doing like a remake called Hollywood Re-Shuffle with a British actor that goes to Hollywood. So yeah, I need to finish it basically. I’m going to work with some people back out there, I need to finish some things... writing an opera with a friend also. There’s a lot to be said for what your brain does when it reacts to unfamiliar surroundings, like there’s something about being in a transitional state where I get the most clarity. And it can even be a transition where you’re having a comedown. I sometimes work the best after we’ve gotten twisted. On a comedown, when you’re blazing up and taking valium to come off it. I’m not saying that’s when music happens, but I get some clarity that’s not affected by anything else. At least in London that’s the way it works. London’s too familiar in general, so I don’t really work here any more, apart from when you and I link up. At the moment it’s definitely when I’m out of this place that things happen. And being back here, I’m happy to connect with a lot of people but a lot of the brothers who try to connect – I just don’t have time for people who haven’t actually put the work in, like in real life... I made up a slang word years ago, and I’ve heard it said by someone else, someone I don’t know. It’s ‘Claf’. ‘C-LA-F’. A Claf is just an idiot. Claf sounds like an idiot. Claf. G: [Laughs] DB: Did any slang originate from south [London]?
G: South is more just how they say things.
kind of black communication is just... people don’t really want to hear that.
DB: South has a different pronunciation or accent.
G: It’s been obscured by capitalism. I’ve kind of moved my own work away from hyper-masculinity.
G: People will take on Jamaican directly. They finesse it man, they finesse it. DB: You know what? East is more cockney, we got all these pub cusses. Proper outside the pub cusses, gobby cusses. G: [Laughs] I think south in general, culturally are quick to take on Americanism. DB: South in general reminds me of Harlem, and I’m talking as far as the black community, because it has more of a West Indian community than Hackney does. Or we’ve got more Turkish. G: Yeah it is like that. DB: East London’s gentrification had many different phases, that’s the thing. The first wave was the one where I met a few interesting people. G: Mmm. DB: That place Alibi used to be called PIER 1. Akon used to come down there a lot, Ja Rule used to go down there, it used to be a proper African hip-hop spot. It used to have a boat sticking out, it was the spot! If it just went through that wave where black music wasn’t being so rinsed round here like it is now, it would have still been a poppin’club in the area. Because people would have still gone to it. It didn’t survive the wave. There was a time long ago when I used to put on nights and they’d be like ‘don’t play hip-hop because it brings in the wrong kind of people’. It happened all the time, any time we’d DJ round there the venue owner would come down from the social club upstairs and tell you off for playing hip-hop because it attracted, you know, ‘trouble’. And it’s funny, because that’s all you hear coming out the same clubs now. I would like another form of popular black music to not be hip-hop, grime or dancehall. Or for there to be more variation of sensibilities. RnB is unfortunately not as popular as it used to be. And there was a time when RnB and hip-hop both co-existed. The fact that we still have black hypermasculinity as the dominant image in popular black music is just like... I’m done with it man, I’ve been done with it. RnB is not looking like it’s going to have a resurgence in that way because that
DB: It’s toxic, because in a short space of time, I mean it’s always been mainstream, but there’s something about it, the performance has become so… normalised. At the same time I don’t think politically about lyrics or whatever, partly cause I think black artists should still have the same freedom as white artists. Warts and all. And they should always exercise that freedom. You know we’re doing that festival innit? In the beginning of May, three days. Got nuff people playing. Pressure and repetition is the main thing, and both help communicate the same thing. The pressure opens you up for the message to come through, and that can happen with different types of music, it doesn’t matter the genre. Just get blazed and go within. Shit is fire. Communicating with the congregation, like a church and it’s just three days of that, with a bell hooks lecture also. And we’re going to do an African martial arts, self-defense class for all black teenagers who want to come get free self-defence. [Babyfather member] Triumph Allah is going to run the classes. When I was a yute, I wish they were teaching that in school. Some agency over the fear. Like growing up in the city, when you were young, and all that shit was going on, if we just knew we had the skill to deal with situations. Imagine in school if that was taught? Just a couple of simple disarming moves? That’s how I got into boxing as a yute. Serious man, it’s essential, the yutes need it b, simple disarming techniques man, just simple tings. G: You’ve got your mandem yeah? DB: Triumph is a master and I still have some boxing friends. G: I’ve got some karate and kickboxing people... DB: Let’s do it man. And teach some yutes how to deal with these punks. G: This time now, times like these – do that bro. Just make people know so they’re ready. Hear Dean Blunt and GAIKA’s collaboration at hackneyvsbrixton.com GAIKA appears at Sónar Barcelona, 15-17 June 2017
MUSIC
G: You’re exactly right. If that’s your position, and you are the people that decide what is or isn’t paramount in this culture, but yet your opinion is driven by the desire to hate yourself and destroy yourself – then actually, no your opinion doesn’t fucking matter. I literally couldn’t give a fuck about what any of those people have to say, because like as you say, it’s kind of mad to be making music or art of any kind in this era where basically, you can make your point heard by just telling the fucking truth, because that automatically makes you different. What are you doing, are you recording anything?