Music Monday: #SupportLocal Hip Hop Group at Their EP Launch Party
Back in February, I discovered some local rappers at a show at The Daily Grind. This cafe continues to impress me with their bills of local talent that I find myself becoming more immersed within the Ottawa scene, which I love.
Not only do Poetic Elements have the charm and positive attitude to keep the audience’s attention but they call themselves the Gangsta Troy and Abed - how perfect is that?
Poetic Elements consists of: Nasa Kid Masai, Prophet One and Apollo the Child. This trio is a talented group of producers, rappers and spoken word poets. Their sound is surprisingly calming as the flow moves you effortlessly from lyric to lyric.
The past couple of months have been busy for Poetic Elements and on May 22nd, 2014 their first EP, entitled The Diamond Life will be dropped at their launch party. Luckily, I had some time to interview Prophet One, Khaleefa “Apollo the Child” Hamdan and Curtis “Nasa Kid Masai” Nyarko, about their journey so far.
OC: Why the name Poetic Elements and how long have you been together?
KH: We decided to go with Poetic Elements because we felt that, even though we do have fun with our music at times, a bulk of our material has a purpose. Masai and I have been together since high school so nine years. Prophet One joined us in 2013.
OC: How would you describe your music to people?
CN: Our music embodies not only our everyday life but also how we see the world through our eyes. We all grew up in the inner city so our music embodies that sometimes. But generally we just make good, classic boom bap Hip Hop.
OC: Catchy phrase - when did you realize that you had a passion for music?
PO: My buddy had a Beastie Boys cassette tape which he lent me, I ended up copying it and making my own copy on my dad’s tape deck. That was my first introduction to Rap and it became a staple in my life. It was that experience that led to the birth of my passion for music and Hip Hop.
OC: Do you have a favourite show memory/story?
CN: Yeah, we had a set at Mercury Lounge last August and we performed our song Valley Music for the first time. The crowd enjoyed it so much we performed it again right after we finished it.. The second time around though, people got so into it and rowdy that they started jumping off of the couches.
OC: Are there any artists that influence your sound?
KH: Yes and no. There’s artists that we respect in the city like Atherton, Missin’ Linx, Philly Moves, and G Grand and Jeepz. There’s also artists both Canadian and worldwide that inspired us to start rapping. However, in terms of our sound, we don’t like to compare ourselves to others. As Poetic Elements we try to do our own thing.
OC: What specific themes do you write about?
KH: Like Masai mentioned earlier, we like to write about how we view our world and surroundings. We write about where we are in this moment in time but also where we would like to be.
Here’s their latest single. “Sunshine”
OC: How do you look for inspiration?
CN: By listening to music in general, music plays a key component in our day to day life. Also, as I said before, we write about our life and where we come from. We are from Ottawa and we love our city.
OC: Where you heading in a certain direction with for your debut album?
PO: The overall message in The Diamond Life EP is to value the hard work you put into your craft. Also, life will pressure you sometimes and its up to you on how you handle it. Pressure can bust pipes or make diamonds, we choose to let it make diamonds.
OC: What can listeners expect from your debut EP?
KH: Fans can expect quality Hip Hop. Masai and Prophet One both made amazing beats for this project which Masai and I did justice to. We’re not arrogant but we are confident in our abilities.
OC: So then what makes you stand out from others?
PO: Beyond making great music, when we do our live sets we each bring something to the table which helps us differentiate ourselves.. I do live drumming with my Native Maschine and Apollo & Masai have great chemistry and crowd interaction on stage. We put in a lot of work to help polish our sets.
OC: Describe to me your personal style.
CN: My style is very casual, I won’t lie I look like a generic Hip Hop head. I love Goodwood jewelry but I keep my wardrobe simple. Nothing too crazy, although I wouldn’t mind rocking some gold rope chains!
PO: Like Masai said I keep things pretty simple as well. However, I do like to design my own t shirts and hats.
KH: I’m a tee and jeans guy but I like to rock some plaid and button ups. I’m also a sucker for anything comic, cartoon or video game related. I love that stuff!
OC: How does your sound influence your personal style?
KH: I have a lot of geek references in my verses usually, P EL, we keep it classy.
CN: As a Hip Hop head, I feel like I need to represent myself accordingly. Like you would catch a metal head rocking bell bottoms, it just doesn’t work that way.
PO: To build on what Masai said, as rapper and creators of Hip Hop I feel like how you sound should be in sync with how you look.
OC: Explain to me your songwriting process.
KH: I’m a quick writer which comes from my spoken word background. So usually when I get a beat, my verse will be done overnight. This isn’t always a good thing though. Sometimes Masai will have an idea or a concept after I’ve already wrote my verse. I’ve learned to slow my pace to make cohesive songs.
CN: What I usually do is sit down and let the beat play over and over again, eventually I find out what I want to say. It slowly builds from there until I eventually get the verse or the hook done.
PO: Depending on my mood and the artist, I find a starting point. I grew up sampling and still respect it but I like incorporating as much original music as possible. I have a strong focus on live instruments, I play most of them myself including: guitar, bass, and piano. The song Crimes which is the last song on the EP was constructed entirely by myself with no samples.
OC: Do you ever find yourself going back to certains artist(s)/albums?
PO: For sure, artists/albums like: Wu Tang Clan’s 36 Chambers, Tribesmen’s Paintbrush Tongue, and Heltah Skeltah’s Nocturnal.
KH: Definitely, I love Doomtree and each of the individual members that make up the collective. I find myself bumping their stuff routinely. As well as Cyne, they put out some dope music.
CN: All the time, lately, I’ve found myself going back to Mobb Deep’s Infamous and reminiscing about high school.
OC: Are there any artist(s) and/or producer(s) would you want to work with?
KH: In terms of producers, I’d love to work with: Pete Rock, Lazerbeak, and Headnodic. But if we were to talk rappers I’d have to say Slug, Shad, Elzhi, and Moe Pope.
CN: I’ll name three for each artists and producers starting with producers, I’d also work with Pete Rock, Nottz and Dj Uneek. Now for rappers I’d have to say: AZ, Mos Def, and Rich Kidd.
OC: As radio co-hosts of CKCU’s Home Invasion Show, how important do you think supporting local music is?
KH: Whether it’s myself, Masai, or my older brother Livin’ Large who also hosts the show we all agree on one thing. Supporting local music NEEDS to be done. Masai and I make music ourselves, we know how hard it is to get your stuff on air is sometimes. So local Ottawa artists, we encourage you to send your stuff to [email protected].
OC: Where do you want to end up in five years?
CN: On every goddamn radio station! Jokes aside, just living comfortable and doing music.
KH: To build on what Masai said, I just want to be able to live comfortably off my art; whether its spoken word or Hip Hop.
PO: I want to continue to make art and music.
You can find Poetic Elements at their EP Launch Party: on May 22nd, 2014 at the Daily Grind for FREE!
