Interview with Junkaz Lou : 1/8/08 "Kool Keith aka Tashan Dorrsett" ( Produced by DJ Junkaz Lou ) Here is part 1 of the interview. UltraKeith.net: I got the digital release of Tashan Dorrsett, really nice album man, fresh nice sound , cool shit! Junkaz Lou: THANKS MAN.I'M GLAD YOU LIKE THE ALBUM. IT'S BEEN A LONG WAY COMING UltraKeith.net: We first heard some of the album a while ago, was the album delayed in it's release ? Junkaz Lou: THE RELEASE HASN'T BE DELAYED - WE JUST TOOK ENOUGH TIME TO MAKE IT SOUND THE WAY WE WANTED IT TO SOUND - WE'VE BEEN RECORDING THE ALBUM OVER TWO YEARS... ADDING SONGS , WORKING MIXES...THEN I MUST ADMIT THAT WE BE LOOSING SOME TIME TRYIN TO REACH DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES AND LABELS TO GET THE ALBUM RELEASED. WE WANTED TO PUSH THE ALBUM TO A HIGHER GROUND, WITH REAL GOOD MARKETING, BIG PROMO MOVES AND INTERNATIONAL COVERING ... BUT WE DIDN'T GET THE EXPECTED ANSWERS AND WE JUST DECIDED TO RELEASE IT THROUGH OUR OWN NETWORK ...WE DON'T NEED ANY DEAL TO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN - WE GOT OUR OWN LEAGUE UltraKeith.net: Where abouts did you and Keith record the album? Junkaz Lou: WE RECORDED THE WHOLE ALBUM IN NYC AND ONLY ONE SONG IN PARIS UltraKeith.net: How did you and Keith originally meet? Junkaz Lou: BESIDE OF THE OFFICIAL RELEASES , I USED TO DO A LOT OF MIXTAPES. BACK IN THE DAYS, I WOULD PUT THE LATEST MUSIC ON TAPE, WRITE DOWN THE TRACKLISTING BY MYSELF ON THE TAPE COVER AND PASS IT AROUND IN THE PROJECT BUT I BEEN QUICK TO FIND A WAY TO PRESS THE TAPES IN A PROFESSIONAL WAY, FOR CHEAP, WITH PRINTED ARTWORK AND SHIT ... AND I STARTED PUSHING REAL TAPES AROUND. IN 2002 ( MANY YEARS LATER) I DID THE KOOL KEITH SPACE TAPE ( WHICH WOULD BECOME THE KK OFFICIAL SPACE TAPE) AND IT HAD A CRAZY FEEDBACK... I WAS LIKE WE SHOULD SEND HIM (KEITH) THE TAPE. THIS WAS NOT BUSINESS MINDED , THIS WAS MORE LIKE SENDING MY RESPECT TO A GREAT LEGEND AND ARTIST. SO WE GOT IN TOUCH WITH KEITH PUBLISHER AND GAVE HIM THE TAPE. HE PASSED THE TAPE TO KEITH AND THIS WOULD LEAD ME TO MEET HIM AT SOME SHOW HE DID IN HOLLAND. IT STARTED FROM THERE ... UltraKeith.net: What other artists have you been working with ? Junkaz Lou: I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH ARTISTS SUCH AS RZA ,O.C, COMMON SENSE, JAHLAL FROM THE LAST POETS, JAZZ LEGENDS SUCH AS DAVID MURRAY,CRAIG HARRIS, HERBIE HANCOCK AND THE LIST GOES ON. I'M CURRENTLY WORKING WITH MR SCHE & AL KAPONE OUT OF MEMPHIS, LYRICAL C FROM OAKLAND, CHEM FROM HARLEM AND A FULL LOAD OF FRENCH ARTISTS THAT YOU NEVER HEARD ABOUT (LOL) PEOPLE SHOULD CHECK MY "PORT DE GENNEVILLIERS" ALBUM IT FEATURES A LARGE RANGE OF THE PEOPLE I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH SUCH AS TIM DOG, ICE T, GRAND COMITY FROM PHILLY ETC...ALSO BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR MY NEW ALBUM CALLED OVERSEAS GAMES WHICH WILL BE A NORTH AMERICAN RELEASE ONLY IT WILL FEATURES K-RINO FROM THE SPC IN HOUSTON, K.I.D THE MAYOR,THE WHOLE JUNKADELIC U.S CREW AND MANY MORE ARTISTS THAT I'M NOW WORKING WITH. UltraKeith.net: What is the hip hop scene like in France ? Is there much support? For yourself and artists like Kool Keith ? Junkaz Lou: FRANCE HAS A HUGE HIP-HOP SCENE. PEOPLE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT FRANCE IS THE BIGGEST HIP-HOP COUNTRY RIGHT AFTER THE UNITED STATES. THAT BEING SAID, THE NEGATIVE POINT IS THAT WE CAN'T REALLY EXPORT OUR MUSIC. I MEAN WE GOT FRANCE, BELGIUM, CANADA, AFRICA , BUT MOST OF THE WORLD DOES NOT SPEAK OR UNDERSTAND FRENCH. I WANT MY MUSIC TO BE UNIVERSAL... KEITH IS LOVED IN FRANCE. HE'S PERFORMING IN PARIS ALMOST EVERY YEARS NOW. UltraKeith.net: The Collabs tapes and the Kool Keith Space Tape were nice albums, do you have any more unheard material from Keith we might hear in the future ? Junkaz Lou: YES SIR BUT IT'S UP TO KEITH TO RELEASE THEM. WE'RE WORKING ON THE DIGITAL TAPE RIGHT NOW AND WE GOT MANY SECRET PROJECTS IN THE MAKING... UltraKeith.net: Marc Live ? The lost week end DVD ? Will this be coming out ? Junkaz Lou: MARC LIVE IS A GREAT ARTIST,PERFORMER AND PRODUCER. WE DID THE VALIDATION, KHM, CLAYBORNE FAMILY AND OPERATION INFINITE GRIT ALBUMS TOGETHER. HE STAYED WITH US IN PARIS FOR A WHILE AND WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON SOME MORE PROJECTS. I DID PRODUCE A FEW SONGS FOR HIS UPCOMING KANNADI SPADEZ ALBUM WITH RAADDARR VANN AND FOR HIS REVENGE OF MARC RIPPIN LP. THE LOST WEEK END DVD (AND ALBUM) WILL SEE THE LIGHT FOR SURE BUT WE WANT IT TO BE DOPE AND WE DON'T HAVE ANY DEAD LINE OR TIME FRAME. WE COULD DROP AN ALBUM EVERY MONTH MAN BUT RIGHT NOW I WANNA FOCUS ON GETTING QUALITY PRODUCTS TO THE PEOPLE. NOT JUST RUSHING THINGS AND FUCK EVERYTHING UP. UltraKeith.net: What sort of equipment do you like to use for beat creation/production? Does Keith like to have a say in the beat creation for Tashan Dorrsett ? Junkaz Lou: I'M USING A SP 1200 , A KORG MS2OO, A ROLAND EXPANDER 2080 AND A SE1. I ALSO USE A LOT OF SOFTWARE AND PLUGINS AND I'M WORKING WITH MUSICIANS. AS FAR AS TASHAN DORRSETT... YEAH KEITH GOT HIS PART IN THE MAKING OF THE MUSIC: HE INSPIRED THE WHOLE ALBUM. I DID A WHOLE SET OF TRACKS FOR HIM , HE CHOOSED THE BEATS HE LIKED AND CAME WITH THE TASHAN DORRSETT CONCEPT. HE HAD SPECIFIC REQUESTS AND WE WORKED THE THINGS OUT TOGETHER. KEITH IS A PROFESSIONAL, HE KNOWS EXACTLY WHERE HE WANTS TO GO.