A revolution is brewing in Hip-Hop and it’s the liberating sounds from Minnesotan producers K-Salaam and Beatnick that fight to resurrect the vacant soul of a dying culture. On their debut, conveniently entitled
Whose World Is This? [VP], the duo set out on a mission to find the “answer” to this invigorating question. The result: an uplifting, 18-track, compilation that creates a unified musical discussion between some of the industry’s most talented Hip-Hop (dead prez, Talib Kweli), Reggae (Sizzla, Buju Banton) and spoken word (Black Ice) artists.
On the unconventional but thumping, Sting sampling lead single "Street Life," featuring Buju Banton and Trey Songz, the former wails, “…Oh lawd…what is the meaning of life/If I ain’t got a voice and I ain’t got a choice…” Read on as K-Salaam and Beatnick passionately explain why their messages needs to be heard around the world.
AllHipHop.com:
Whose World is This?, could your timing be any better with an album title so relevant to all the confusion going on in the world right now? Nas asked the question more than 20 years ago on
Illmatic, why did you feel like it was time to readdress such a prominent issue?
K-Salaam: We wanted people to finally start to think for themselves but we definitely borrowed the idea from Nas…
Beatnick: The album points to the answer but each listener is supposed to take what they need and come up with their own answer. All the artists [on the album] come from completely different walks of life and are giving their individual opinions.
AllHipHop.com: Artists’ are debating whether or not Hip-Hop is dead and then you bang them with an even deeper, more thought provoking question, was the timing and relevancy [for this project] a coincidence?
K-Salaam: It’s not a coincidence! If you are a real artist the timing and your relevancy is a part of your art. That’s what makes somebody dope… the title, message, ideas, production…the whole package!
Beatnick: Hip-Hop is at such a low point…the timing of the album is definitely crucial because things can’t go on like this for much longer. People have to step forward, take a chance and do something that’s honest and real!
AllHipHop.com: What were you looking for from the talent you sought out to work with on this project? The list is so diverse, from Papoose to Luciano, why did these people stand out?
Beatnick: It ultimately came down to people who we respected and were feeling…
K-Salaam We’ve been shopping beats and creating relationships for a while now, so with a lot of the featured artists [on the album] it was a mutual thing. We work with good people and good musicians. That’s what we’re about. We reached out like “here’s the message” and they felt it and in turn chose to get down. For some [of the artists] this topic is not [normally] something they would address in their music but it’s still something real that they live every day.
AllHipHop.com: Can you briefly tell me about your individual journeys? How did you two link up and get into music to begin with?
K-Salaam: I been deejaying since the early 90’s and then slowly got into production. My moms’ was a professional piano player. I play the trumpet and mess around on the keys. When I linked up with Beatnick he was already a full-fledged producer. He’s the brains behind the actual musicality of what we create. Nick is a composer, engineer, beat-maker…musically we just click.
Beatnick: My family is a musical family so this is in my blood. My grandfather was a Jazz arranger and I’m a trained musician. I started off playing the guitar and then got into music theory… I went to a high school that specialized in music and was introduced to Hip-Hop and producing in that style… I met K my senior year [of high school] and we’ve been grinding side by side ever since.
