PERSERVERANCE IS THE NAME OF THE GAME FOR HYDRO. NOW HE'S TAKING HIS DIY ETHIC OVERGROUND..........
Glaswegian rapper Hydro may have only
just unleashed his debut album proper, 'Crucial' but the
entrepreneurial rhymer has already linked up with a clutch of hip-hop's
hugest names.Having supported Nas on tour - Nas producer/ spinner DJ
LES also contributes various beats to 'Crucial' - last years radio hit
'Crowd Goes Wild' featured a star turn by the king of club bangers,
Busta Rhymes, while Clinton Sparks, NORE and Memphis Bleek also feature
on the LP. And with a slot opening up for Rihanna also in the pipeline,
Hydro must be one of Britain's best-connected rappers.
DOES THE ALBUM TITLE SUGGEST THIS IS A CRUCIAL ALBUM FOR THE PEOPLE TO COP?
"Thats exactly it. And it's crucial for me as an artist to bring this
debut album out at this time, so the title speaks for the mucic and
it's a personal thing also. There's a lot of thought in the album and
the direction was to make a good hip-hop album for the fans rather than
a trend or do what's hot right now. It's hip-hop the way it should be."
A FEW TRACKS DATE BACK A COUPLE OF YEARS OR MORE. WAS IT DIFFICULT TO PIECE THE WHOLE THING TOGETHER?
"It was a journey in itself but being an independent label we've got to
take a lot of steps which would take a major label less time. The work
rate and everything was done but as an indie label and an artist also
being a director in the company it's a little bit more time consuming
spreading the work, being sure each project is being done to a high
standard. So it has been a little longer than usual but we waited until
it was perfect in our eyes."
YOU SPENT TIME LIVING IN THE BRONX AND WORKED FOR DEF JAM IN NEW YORK
WHILE YOU WERE STILL A TEENAGER.HOW USEFUL HAS THAT EXPERIENCE BEEN IN
TERMS OF THE RECORDS BUSINESS SIDE?
"Very. It's been a blessing. A lot of the contacts I still had at Def
Jam. Sometimes when you needed advice or even to holler at someone you
could just talk to Def Jam and there's been doors that have been opened
from working there and seeing how the business works. It makes it
easier. I hear a lot of music from guy's that are dope but they dont
have an outlet to get that music out there and really push it th right
way. So that education was very important for me to execute this
professionally."
HOW DID THE BUSTA RHYMES COLLAB OCCUR?
"LES is a very good friend of mine and he had Bus' in the studio. He
played the record to Busta, then we talked over the phone and from then
on he was feeling it. The guy is an absolute pleasure to work with. He
has this real insight into how to make a record a hit. It was
inspiring."
DO YOU SEE YOURSELF ON AN EQUAL LEVEL TO THE BIG NAMES YOU'VE WORKED
WITH LIKE BUSTA RHYMES OR ARE YOU STILL LEARNING FROM COLLABORATING
WITH THOSE ARTISTS?
"As a human being I see everyone equally, but if you want to talk about
what Busta's done for the game, Busta's been i the game since I was a
kid. Busta's a legend. I hope to follow in these guys' footsteps. Right
now I'm establishing myself. I think lyrically I can hold it down with
anyone, including Busta, but what they've done for the game I hope to
do in my own way. I wouldn't say I was up there with the Jays and
Bustas just yet, but maybe ten, 12 albums down the line, who knows?'"
HOW WAS SUPPORTING NAS?
"The world tour with Nas was an amazing experience. There was a lot of
love out there. It just shows you how huge hip-hop is; it was like the
new rock'n'roll. Having Nas coaching you through things and even just
seeing him perform was a great influence. And being onstage with that
audience, who know their music inside out, it was great to get love
from them."
THERE'S TALKS OF A TOUR WITH RIHANNA, WHO YOU MET BY CHANCE, RIGHT?
"Yeah. We were in Los Angeles. This is before 'Umbrella' dropped. I was
in a shopping mall and she was in the mall.We had a little chat and she
wished me the best of luck. We're still hammering out the dates now and
getting all the particulars out the way."
YOU'RE ALSO RUNNING A SCHEME VIA YOUR LABEL UNDERDOGG ENTERTAINMENT, TO
HELP UNDER-PRIVILEGED KIDS GET ON IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS, RIGHT?
" Yeah. We've got a crazy time up here in Glasgow.The murder rate is
insane. The UN described this city as the most violent in the civilized
world. You don't hear about it in the news but you here about it in the
streets;there's a lot of crime going on.We're trying to do a scheme for
all kids, gender doesn't matter, whatever, if they've got talent or
even if they just want to come in and try their hand we can develop
them, give them advice and make them feel there's more than just
hanging about. We show them there's different things in life. And it's
not just music: they can add to the business side, the PR side, as
engineers; there's so many different roles. You'd be surprised how many
kids have got talent and don't have the opportunity to use it.
Hopefully these can be stars for the future. "
WERE YOU MOTIVATED BY THE FACT THAT YOU COULD HAVE TAKEN A MUCH WORSE
ROUTE YOURSELF IN LIFE [HYDRO'S FATHER DIED WHEN HE WAS NINE]?
"Definitely. I was very lucky when I was in the Bronx. It was a
dead-end situation and then Def Jam were giving youths the opportunity
to go into their offices, show their steel and their work rate and get
some money out of it in time. There were always the big people walking
in and out, Damon Dash and stuff. They were in those offices and it was
cool to see it as a reality rather than these guys were superstars. It
gave you about how to do things with your life because because these
were people from the same type of background with the same type of
problems as you and they'd made something of themselves. Hopefully we
can, in our way, help the youths around here"
THE SINGLE 'SWEETIE PIE IS OUT FEBRUARY 15.
THE ALBUM CRUCIAL IS OUT NOW, BOTH ON UNDERDOGG ENTERTAINMENT.'
