Escape from New York

>> Anti-Pop Consortium talk about the responsibility of musical artists amidst the U.S. crisis

by SCOTT C

The Anti-Pop Consortium are sometimes perceived as the "commercial meatgrinder" of the hip hop world, creating and speaking from vastly different points of view from MC this and that, and the many different market-driven artists that exist in the musical universe. These native New Yorkers seem to have taken on the role of challenging the ears of those who are open to challenge, and after some initial friction, have achieved a healthy cruising speed on an otherwise bumpy road. I was lucky enough to speak to Priest and Beans from Anti-Pop, who had much to say about the state of affairs in their musical world, as well as the state of their New York City home. Here is a small part of the conversation we shared.



Mirror: Without taking the name Anti-Pop Consortium in any kind of literal sense, do you in fact draw influences from the numerous pop acts that are out there today?

Priest: Sure, man. Just keep in mind that it's not a literal or reactionary title. As a group, we are definitely not living in a vacuum and I think we're pretty conscious of everything that's going on out there musically and, as many of us are, affected by pop culture in general.

M: I see what you mean, but I don't know, man. I think a lot of the people who really like your music like it because they do think it's reactionary, and taking on a sort of "buck the system from the inside" sort of attitude, in response to what's out there.

P: Actually, nah. It was never really an agenda-oriented sort of thing. If you take the extremes of hip hop right now, like Nelly or Jay-Z being one of the polar extremes, and take the most underground act, the bandwidth between the two isn't as wide as it may have once been, but there are still similarities.

M: I don't understand...

P: I'm just saying that we take a more individualistic approach than a pop act would. As fans, we've bought records and have been able to say, "This guy's really different from this guy, so let me check him out," and then thinking, "Hmmm, this guy doesn't sound at all like everybody else. Am I gonna take this chance?" If any agenda could be attached to Anti-Pop, it would be simply taking some of the homogeny out of the hip hop bin, and with it, just encouraging individuality.

The 411, post-9-11

M: In conversations I've had recently, it's kind of been bothering me that even with the chain of events that have unfolded over the last few weeks, some people still don't believe that this could very well affect them, even if it's already slightly changed their lives. Has this affected your mindset or the way you plan to approach music?

Beans: Oh, definitely! I think music is a reflection of the times and the attitudes of the people. The World Trade Center crisis is the beginning of a new time, a new era. New York has become a police state. There are checkpoints where you have to be two or more passengers in a car, and I live in Brooklyn.

M: I could see the attitudes coming out in more individualistic artists like yourselves, but do you think it's gonna have an effect on pop music?

B: I don't know. Pop music tends to be a bit self-indulgent.

M: But that's my point. I think Americans are struggling to decide if it's okay to be self-indulgent, in light of this international mess, y'know what I mean?

B: I think people would like to forget, more than they want to deal with the situation, and I also think that in this day and age, people don't look to music for answers. They look to it for an escape. I think the responsibility of the artist should be to address what's happening, but I don't think it's going to change what's happening. I just don't see the artist right now as being that responsible. I don't have faith that they would do it. It's not in their agenda.

M: You seem to be the type of guys who welcome changes into all aspects of your music--

B: From our attitudes starting out and trying to establish some sort of a style, and then being faced with antagonistic forces not being too receptive, to now, when we're being embraced like never before. Having children. It bears in mind that you have kids when you're making music. It does for me anyway. Again, it's responsibility.

With Kid 606, Jetone and more at the FCMM's Media Lounge (SAT) on Saturday, Oct. 13, 10pm, $17.50