Vast Aire of Cannibal Ox Interview & Video

Vast Aire is a part of Cannibal Ox from Def Jux. Here we got a short interview with him. Kinda introductionary.

Every now and again established artists team up with each other for new projects. In hip-hop, it’s not unusual to see one artist ‘featuring’ another, indeed it’s the norm to have a million and one producers profiled on the one album. And occasionally we get collaborations like this one; a top emcee and a top producer with the nerve to call their project The Best Damn Rap Show.

I caught up with Vast Aire, the rapping half best known for Cannibal Ox’s awesome The Cold Vein, to find out how it all came about and if it really is the best damn thing we can expect from the big apple this year…

Wow, what a team up. How did it come about?

We always wanted to do touring projects. Me and Mighty Mi have tour shows, and have worked on solo songs many time before this project [The Best Damn Rap Show]. We have known each other for about 8 years now, and I met Mi shortly after I met El-P of Company Flow.

Were you guys fans of each other’s work?

Yes that’s why we put this EP out. We knew the vibe was right, Mi has always worked with The Weathermen as a whole. He’s worked with El-P, tame one, Cage, Yakk Ballz., Camu Tao, and now me!

At around forty minutes, it’s a pretty short release. Was it a case of quality over quantity?

Yes but it’s a full EP, a short LP but powerful. I like it because the vibe stays light and you get to replay a lot of my stuff. Good music is good music, if it’s long or short.

The Best Damn Rap Show sure is a confident title. Do you feel it’s the best hip-hop out there at the moment?

Yes I do, haha. This is what hip hop is all about, having fun, jamming out with your friends, chilling out. It’s the best damn rap show because of the love I put in to it. All my projects will do the same thing, which is to get under your skin. That’s why it’s the best, when you listen to the EP it all becomes clear… it’s great music.

I’m pretty certain you will have been asked this a million times, but will there be another Cannibal Ox album? I’ll go out on a limb and say The Cold Vein was the best hip-hop album of the last five years, so I needed to hear it from the horse’s mouth.

Yes me and Vordul have music right now, and are planing to put out music soon. Look out for “Cypher Unknown” by Cannibal Ox 06 & Mighty Joseph “Empire State” 06 with Vast Aire and Karniege. It’s on for 2006.

Are you still down with Def Jux?

Yes that’s my family, I’m part of Weathermen and we are Cage, Tame One, Breez Brewin, Aesop Rock, El-P, Camu Tao, Yakk Ballz and Vast Aire.

New York, New York. Is the world’s best hip hop still coming from the subculture’s mecca?

Yes, but there is a lot of great music coming from all over.

You’ve come in for some stick in relation to your rhyme style. Why do you think this is?

I worked hard to get my little flow down, in life you have to work hard, and my style is unique because I put time in. “Nothing becomes great overnight.”

What inspires you to write? A common question, sure, but some of your observations are a little out there.

Anything can make me think of a verse. Another song, a joke, life as a whole… I’m a crazy New York kid that study’s Zen and aikido to keep me grounded. That helps my music a lot… in a strange way! I love life, I’m a cool person, if I’m beating someone up, you know that person is the wrong one… haha. And I put all of that into my music. I try my best to make an “audio movie for your ears.”

Will you guys be promoting the release with an Australian tour? Even if not, do you ever sit back and think it’s a hell of an achievement to make such underground hip hop and still have people on the same wavelength as far away as Australia?

I think a lot more people would love my music if they were given the chance to see it and feel it, that’s all it’s about; getting your music to a wide span of people. I’m underground but I get to tour the world and make good money for doing what I love and nothing is better than that, and we will be touring hard this year…

from inthemix.com.au

Well, as a bonus i also attached Cannibal Ox "Pain Killers" Video.