#herawin

[jfwillumsen]

Ilu and ur black sails spam thank you so much for brightening my dash with those pirate children (':

thank u ily i just love my gay kids

[slugette]

herawin answered your question “Hmm.. What is Captive Prince?  I saw some beautiful fanart, and the...”

Everyone is gay and it's beautiful. I personally loved it (:

I think your first sentence gave me all the reason to read it. :) 

[peakstreet]

Juggaknots Interview (2008)

Back in 1996 a couple of brothers (with their sister lurking in the background) released an album that nearly fell through the cracks thanks to major label shortsightedness. Luckily Bobbito’s Fondle’Em Records stepped in and pressed up the Juggaknots’ Clear Blue Skies for the vinyl hungry hip hop kids of the time. It became a classic of the ‘NYC backpacker’ era, with Breeze and Buddy Slim weaving their distinct intricate storytelling over an atmospheric bedrock. Then they seemingly disappeared. Sure there were a few 12-inches and Breeze’s starring role in Prince Paul’s hop hop epic A Prince Among Thieves, but no new Juggs album ever materialised – until now. Just what have these three siblings been up to?

  Slim you have been in the game a little longer then both Herawin and Breeze and a lot of your early success as a beatsmith seemed to have really paved the way forward for Juggs as a group. I was just hoping I could a brief history of your work behind the boards.

Buddy Slim: I started doing R&B work, basically just trying to hustle in the early 90’s. I did a lot of R&B work with Billy Lawrence, an artist who was on Elektra Records. Terri & Monica - a girl group who was on Epic who actually dropped a very familiar song back in the day under the name The Girls, that was produced by Teddy Riley. They came out with a debut album in around 93/94. The album was called Systa and I had the first two singles off of it. “Uh Huh” was the first single and “Intentions” was the second one. I just basically tried to get a lot of work around the industry. I did some work with Father MC, did some writing with Angie Stone. Just tried to keep busy. From that and making those relationships and making those contacts that’s what started the whole Juggaknots thing rolling. Basically the production work parlayed for us to have the deal in 1995 with Elektra that kind of got the whole ball rolling with the Juggaknots.

So Breeze I hear that you used to ghostwrite lyrics for some of the groups that Buddy Slim used to produce for, is that right?

Breeze Brewin: Yeah our history did start a lot with Slim’s production for different R&B groups way back in the late 80’s/early 90’s. I had been writing at that point for a couple of years. Definitely not publicly, but I was writing for the people on my block and for some of the older kids, maybe a cute girl. So I was writing, not professionally, but getting out there. So by the time my brother was working with different people, they were like, “We need some rhymes or a hook or something”. So I started doing that real early in conjunction with him, but I was sort of doing it on the side already.

The three of you are siblings. What do you see as the benefits of being family and not just crew?

Breeze: It’s got its advantages and its disadvantages. Sometimes you just want to straight up take a pillow case and put it over their head and pummel them, like when we was kids. That’s really not that productive (laughs) in terms of collaboration. I mean I know cats that are family who don’t talk to each other. They don’t talk to their brother or their sister or whatever, they don’t miss a beat and life goes on. I don’t think it could be that way for us. We are very close, always have been, but it aint easy. It is definitely not easy just being on the same page sometimes.

Herawin: I always think that a positive thing for me and all of us is the support factor. Especially doing stuff on the road and when things get more hectic and we’re away from home. It’s like we’re away from home, but we’re not cause we are with each other. Family is a big thing for us. Being together and being able to create and work together is a wonderful thing.

Now you guys copped yourself a major label deal with EastWest and after some corporate reshuffling found yourselves on Elektra along with the likes of Pete Rock & CL Smooth, KMD, Brand Nubian and Das Efx. It is well documented that that deal turned sour and Juggs parted ways with the label without releasing anything. Is there any chance that those unreleased songs from that time will ever see the light of day?

Breeze: The ones that would have been heard already have been. The stuff we did while signed, that is what ended up on Clear Blue Skies Re:Release. The ones that didn’t end up on Re:Release didn’t need to be heard anyway (laughs). I mean we didn’t have like four albums of material done. We did have a little bit of stuff. But it’s not like; well here are the hidden tracks, nothing like that. There are one or two we could probably leak out there but it wouldn’t benefit the fans or us really.

Out of the ashes of that major deal you dropped Clear Blue Skies with the help of Bobbitto and Fondle’Em. The album has definitely stood the test of time and a lot of cats now rate it as a classic from that era. As an artist though do you find it frustrating being defined by material that is close to a decade old?

Breeze: Yeah, I mean, it’s not that we don’t appreciate that material, but you are right. It’s like we have done other stuff since and we’re doing new stuff, so I just hope cats have an open mind when listening. I don’t fault anybody for their connection to it [Clear Blue Skies], but if they are just dead set focused on that one period or that one effort I think they could be missing out on a lot more stuff. There has been some pretty good music since. Even some of the 12-inches that came out in the interim between this album and the first one, that was some pretty good music.  Some people are like, “If it aint Clear Blue Skies I aint heard it”. That’s okay, but you got to dig a little deeper.

You weren’t as prominent as your brothers on Clear Blue Skies Herawin. When do you feel that your contributions became more important to the shape of the Juggaknots?

Herawin: I would say maybe around the time of 2000. I only say that cause a lot of the involvement, or the heavy involvement came after school for me. My brothers were really focused on handling things and getting stuff done. Even though I was there during that whole time [the recording of Clear Blue Skies] it was just more behind the scenes. People weren’t aware of my presence, but I went to those sessions for the first album. I was there for all of that, I just wasn’t vocally present and I was still honing my craft and getting myself together. I was still rhyming and doing things like that outside of the group with people I was meeting. I was part of a group, a female group called Gypsies. When that Lyricist Lounge situation happened with that song “Weight”, that is really the debut that most people know me for. So this album is a good indication to people who don’t know me or are not familiar with me; they can get a better idea of who Herawin is.

Was it a conscious move to not follow in the footsteps of Clear Blue Skies, or has it just been such a long time since that album that you have moved on anyhow?

B Slim: It has just been growth as an artist. I mean Clear Blue Skies was great for it’s time and I think this music is great for this time. Juggs, as we always do, we talk about what we are exposed to and things that we feel passionate about. So I feel that this album is no different from that. Obviously you are not going to have “Clear Blues Skies” Part 2, but there might be another record that affects you along those lines on another level.

Do you find a lot of your fans sort of romanticize that supposed mid-90’s Golden Era in New York where indie hip hop had a huge resurgence and wax was flying off the shelves?

Breeze: Yeah I mean, I remember working at Fat Beats in 2000 and there was always a single here and a joint there that sounded like it could have come from that era. But some cats are so dead set on this, ‘That was the Golden Era!’. I mean if that was the case I wouldn’t listen to music past ‘93, I wouldn’t listen to music past ’89. There have been so many ‘Golden Era’s’. You got to keep your ears open there could be some hot shit out right now and you could be missing out.

So how long were you working at Fat Beats for Breeze?

Breeze: Off and on for four or five years.

And then you had to bounce and get yourself a regular 9-5?                                     

Breeze: Yeah pretty much, it was like let me try get something a little more respectable in the eyes of the powers that be. That was one of my favourite gigs. I had a lot of fun there, but for a cat who is raising a family and who wanted to show some mature growth going on. I didn’t outgrow it, but the image of being a father and provider didn’t fit. If they had something a little more suit and tie for a cat maybe I could have stayed there. But not under the job description I had when I left. I mean I was basically a fan, but that aint enough when you are trying to feed two kids.

So what have you lot been up to since that classic Fondle’Em release dropped?

Herawin: Well that’s another unique situation. We all teach. I teach, Breeze teaches and so does B Slim. We’re all teachers outside of doing this. Just a couple of months ago now I added myself to the group of parents. I just had a child, she’s doing good. So they both have kids, I’ve got kids, we’ve all got kids now. That’s what we’ve been doing. Between trying to do music we’ve been doing life and it gets hectic sometimes.

So Breeze, you’re teaching Language Arts to kids in The Bronx. Is that something you want to pursue in the future?

Breeze: Well it’s something I am still technically pursuing now. In the upcoming year I’ll definitely be in the classroom. I like it, I like it a lot. There is somewhat of a void in reference to what I wanted to get out of the music thing. I don’t know what the ideal goal is for that, but at the same time, doing both, something is going to suffer. Even this record right here took this long because it’s like – I’m going to go home and grade 75 tests and then I’m going to write a verse (laughs). Right around test 68 (laughs), it’s like – I’m going to write 4 bars (laughs).It’s this weird ratio as far as effort towards outcome. If I’m teaching kids – that’s peoples lives. I aint just coming in and taking a cheque. More then that too, they’re people like me. Where I teach is where I grew up, so I can’t just be like – “Yo kiddies give me the money.” I got to give them something. So it has gotten to the point now where I am going to give it one more year perhaps and then maybe take a little time off. Give the music another year and really try to dumb out. But I wouldn’t shit on those kids man, cause that’s like shitting on me.

Are there parallels between the worlds of teaching and lyricism? Has teaching changed the way you approach songwriting at all?

B Slim: You have to be very articulate and disciplined as to how you are going to go about doing them, how you are going to make it interesting. The whole thing with being a teacher is motivation and I think that’s the same thing when you deal with music. You can’t just have a regular beat and you just can’t have a regular flow, you got to do something a little bit interesting to get them to raise their eyebrows and say, “Hey I want to get into this”.

Breeze: Well it’s cool that you asked that, cause I do see a connection. Being 18, artist wise, it’s like I am locked into this and I don’t need to think about the audience because I am so much of an artist that it’s just going to be what I do. There is a certain selfish nature that goes with being an artist that is cool, I still have that to an extent. Now when you are teaching a lesson you have a plan. So it’s like - when I say this, I actually script out what I feel the class would say while I am actually teaching the lesson. That has started to equate more to the music. Okay, I love it and I’m writing my verse and here I am, I’m an artist and it’s all about me, all about me. But it is more of a challenge as a writer, to envision what you want the crowd to think or say in certain parts of your verse.

So you are trying to more actively engage with your audience now?

Breeze: Exactly and that is one of the keys of education – engagement. Before I was just like, “Well I’m going to come, do my art thing, they will see me as an artist and that will be that”. To some extent it was that and that’s cool. But then there was other cats I would see who was like good teachers, who were just masters of engagement. Sometimes in class I am teaching you one of the classic books. But if I can’t engage that kid to open up Down These Mean Streets, then I might as well have a book with blank sheets of paper, if I can’t get them locked in.  So it’s like the cat with the ultimate verse, but don’t know how to set it up to really hit hard. There is just a difference in how cats set it up to hit a little harder. I believe with this record it’s definitely more,  I don’t want to say engaging, I don’t want to take away from the last effort but there is a difference I believe. I just can’t wait to perform some of this music. A cat might be hearing some of these songs for the first time, but I feel like before I am done doing it they are going to be responding. That is how some of this new stuff is.

Herawin, do you think there is a lack of positive female role models within hip hop at the moment?

Since I started rhyming, which was like 17 years ago now, I think that there’s definitely a whole lot more women involved now then back then. In the last 10-15 years there’s been a lot more women. There has been a surge of that. Like anything else it is not exposed, it is not at the forefront, it is not as visible. I’ve been kind of learning a lot more and educating myself through the internet and realising just how many women are involved. Not just necessarily in the sense of MC’s, but there are so many female DJ’s, so many female producers. There is a lot of stuff out there, but it’s just not in the forefront. So I think that there was probably a time when women were not as involved. Not that they weren’t there. I think women’s presence has always been definitely big in music. Like for me, influence wise, growing up and writing I had MC Lyte and Queen Latifah. It’s definitely not equivalent with men, it’s still dominated by men. But then again, I hate to say it with one of my chauvinistic brothers sitting next to me (laughs), but most of the world is that way. But I think we have stepped up our game in the sense of women becoming a lot more involved in music on a whole.

Thematically how is Use Your Confusion different from Clear Blue Skies? Have the lyrical content matured significantly? Has parenthood changed what subjects you talk on?

Breeze: To a certain extent. I mean I’m not coming out and saying, “Alright, come here kids, sit down”. I aint KRS. It aint “Teacher Teacher”. I’m still a dirtbag. I’m probably more of a dirtbag on this record then I was on every other joint. But when I plan to be a dirtbag everybody can feel it like, “Alright it’s dirtbag time”. As opposed to the first record where it was like, “Well here’s a dude that is kind of a dirtbag”. I don’t know. There is observation going on, but I am really trying to get people to observe and getting people to feel like they are a part of it a little bit more. It’s definitely less of the boy in a bubble thing. It’s like, “Alright I’m popping the bubble and lets all be dirtbags.”

There are some quality collaborations with Oh No, Nine & Sadat X, but you also got the one and only Slick Rick on there too. How did you hook up with The Ruler and what was it like working with him?

B Slim: Well The Ruler is somebody, who for one reason of another, we’ve known periodically through the years. We’ve grown up in The Bronx and Rick actually lives right around the corner from us in a North East part of The Bronx where we’re all from. We grew up here, we were born and raised here and as we got older the word around the neighborhood was – Rick lives among us (laughs), you know The Ruler lives among us. So when we started to put the album together we weren’t purposely trying to go out and do collaborations. Like traditionally in the past anytime Juggs put out our singles or the one album we have to date it’s primarily just been us. So we said, just for diversity’s sake, to do something a little bit different, let’s do a few collabs. The music dictated it. The “30 Something” song we did with Sadat X, we had already cut the record and stuff like that. Then we were like, “You know who would sound great on this? Sadat”. Rick was the same thing, but Rick was a little more personal. I personally myself had to make that happen. I had to be diligent and really get to his house and let him know that we were serious about this and that we were a serious outfit, cause he wasn’t too familiar with our work. Hopefully with the end result he will be pleasantly surprised with this group he knew little or not too much about and that it turns out to be a big thing for us and him as well.

I guess a lot of people would be keen to hear some more material from the Weathermen too Breeze. Are all of you still in touch and are there any plans for more tunes soon?

Breeze: I believe so. Somebody usually sends the word out and it’s like, “Yo there is going to be some shit in a little while so put some verses aside”, or “Here are some ideas to think about”. That might be put out by Cage or El. I’m always honoured to be called for that, that’s definitely a good look for me. That is pretty much more their thing and when I am asked to get down with it I am always excited. But I don’t see me doing a Weathermen joint on my solo joint. I wouldn’t mind having the Weathermen on a track, they are straight up beasts. It aint to the point where just anybody can set that up. That’s more for the cats who sparked that off first.

  www.myspace.com/juggsmusic

www.amalgamdigital.com