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>>Payz Play aren’t just making electro party
rap, they’re making music you can feel

TUQUES DETACHED: Payz Play

by SCOTT C

Standing tall on the long Montreal hip hop legacy of Atach Tatuq, Payz Play ushers in a brand new sound, marrying dirty drums with analog synths and clever wordplay on their new self-titled LP. Members Egypto, R.U., DJ Naes and DJ Ephiks poured themselves into this new project, which reflects a ripened approach to the creative process and a new upbeat, party-ready sound.

Mirror: How did you decide to not only change the dynamic of your group, but your sound as well?

Egypto: When the mash-ups got big a couple of years ago, I think it opened the minds of a lot of people, and now it’s like pop vs. hip hop vs. rock vs. electro, and a lot of blending is going on. When we released [Atach Tatuq’s] Deluxxx, it was starting to go that way a bit, and Naes and Ephiks’ DJ sets started to become more eclectic. People who’ve listened to rap music for a long time, and love the golden age and the early ’90s sound, they want to listen to this again and again, but at some point you have to move forward.

R.U.: It’s a question of evolution. The music should change, and for me it’s better like that. It’s not an achievement to always do the same thing.

M: Naes, you were here the other day and said that you were a little stressed that you might be losing some old fans, but gaining some new ones, with this new sound.

Naes: When we first started the project, I had 40 or 50 beats similar to Deluxxx and other projects that we’d done, and the guys were like, “No, we’re not doing this again. We’re doing something new.” So we had to start from scratch.

E: It was weird at the beginning. He was worried because he thought he couldn’t produce the type of sound we were talking about, but we were pretty sure we could have a clubby sound and still keep his style.

N: I told them I wasn’t going to produce any new-school stuff, but eventually I came up with a few beats that kept my own style but offered something new. So it really was an evolution.

R.U.: I don’t think it’s that different, if you listen to what we’ve done. You can definitely see the links.

M: I understand this recording process was a little different than in the past.

E: Yeah, man. It’s the first time we’ve had three months full time in the studio. There’s always been work or other things to get in the way of making music, and this time it really changed everything. We worked with Seb Rubin, who is really the fifth member of the group, and a really important part of the record. I think we’ve found our guy.

N: We had like 50 or 60 hours a week at Seb’s studio, from 10 to midnight every day, and then we had one week at Studio Victor, which was really cool. We had that place 24-seven, and we could sleep there, bring your whole family. It was a party every day.

E: We drank a lot of beer, man.

R.U.: And free coffee! It was so nice to be able to watch the Canadiens on a big screen in the studio too.

CD launch at le Gymnase on
Tuesday, May 27, 8 p.m., free