by SCOTT C

With the release of Répliques aux offusqués, fans of Montreal hip hop group Sans Pression have been introduced to another page in the book of must-have militant music. They've also been reintroduced to SP, one half of the original equation that exploded with 514-50 dans mon réseau back in 1999, and now the sole MC. Taking life and the passage of time into full consideration, SP is forging ahead with his passion for hip hop that leaves you with something to think about.

Mirror: Are you happy about this record, or did it start to pile up on you for a while?

SP: I got to be honest, man. I'm mad happy about this record. I'm especially happy that I didn't put it out last year. I would probably be regretting that shit right now.

M: What where the circumstances around that? Why didn't you put it out last year?

SP: First of all, the record label was going through ups and downs, and I was going through ups and downs myself. My brother died, the group separated and my kid was born, y'know?

M: With all that to shoulder, was it harder for you to crank out songs?

SP: It definitely made it harder for me at first. I don't know - I was going through too much shit and I had to take a break. The writing part is too much sometimes. It's a workout too. Just getting into a thinking mode and going deep is hard. If you want to go deep, you have to put some time into your shit, and I wasn't all there, y'know? I just had to get my shit straight before I went into the booth to record. I did record during that period, but it's nothing compared to where I am now.

M: Did you know that I submitted beats for your record?

SP: (laughs) Really? I didn't know that, man! I listened to so many beats for this record it's insane. It's all about landing on something that just goes BLAOW!

M: I was happy with the production choices that you made though.

SP: Most of the guys who ended up on the record are guys that I hang around a lot. They bring me beats and I'm like, no, no, no, no, but I had to be picky. I made some last-minute changes to beats just before we put this out and it pissed off some people, but you have to make those moves, man. It's not about showing love to your friends, it's about making something that you can be happy and proud of, and sometimes people get that confused.

M: Ultimately you have to have the final say.

SP: You gotta be happy, or you're gonna have a fuckin' hard time pushing your record, man.

M: Do you get open to what goes on in this city as far as hip hop is concerned?

SP: Yeah, but we got a lot of work to do, man, a lot of work. It's coming along though on the English and French sides. I started out in English, but I found I couldn't connect to the people or get my point across the same way as I could in French. People don't want to hear me talk about knowledge in English, but when I see how a lot of these French kids get into my music, man, it really is crazy.

At les Francofolies' la Zone Hip stage, Bleury at De Maisonneuve, on Sunday, July 27, 10pm, free

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