Vast Aire, of Cannibal OX infamy,
is an accomplished martial artist. The top-notch lyricist has studied Aikido
for seven years and Shorinji Kempo,
which means “Shaolin
Fist Way,” for three years. All this is to say not only
can he kick ass on the mic—he dropped Deuces Wild in June, 2008—but you’d also be weary to test him with the knucklegame.
With that in mind we asked Vast for his take on Hip-Hop’s
greatest yet at times unsung pastime, watching Kung-Fu flicks. While Kung-Fu
Theater on Saturday afternoons is a fading memory to many, thanks to DVDs and
even YouTube those classic flicks still thrive. Though he was hesitant at first
(“You know how many movies run through my mind?! First
of all I own nearly 500. Second of all there’s always that new flick that you ain’t seen.”), we got him to list his must
sees.
Oh yeah: “Can Ox is still in effect,” says Vast.” I just got finished doing a song with Vordul and C-Rayz for C-Rayz’ new project. We’re still working on stuff. We don’t
have a current date for the record but we definitely been plotting on putting
some s**t together. I can’t say
it’ll be Def Jux but it will definitely be Can Ox. I
mean, that’s pretty much all it is. I haven’t been on Def Jux
since 2003.”Now, on to the regularly scheduled programming.
KILLER ARMY (Shaw
Brothers, 1980)
“I saw Killer Army
like two weeks ago. Now mind you it’s the same actors that played the Five
Deadly Venoms but they’re younger. That movie was tough. It’s also called Rebel Intruders, it’s also called The Guerillas. It’s one of those movies
that got three names. Killer Army, now you understand what RZA’s
little brother and them were coming [with].”
FIST OF THE WHITE LOTUS (Shaw Brothers, 1980)
“I gotta say this, just to say it.
Fist of the White Lotus, ‘Yo, oh my God.’ That’s a movie I watch once a year, that’s
one of those kung-fu movies. You done seen it 60 times, you know every scene,
and the s**t is still perfect to you. That’s the one with Gordon Liu and he
combined Tiger and Crane to fight the master of the White Lotus clan who was a
pugilist. It’s a Shaw Brother’s jump off with Gordon Liu and the dude that
plays in 5 Fingers of Death [Ed.
Note: Lo Leih aka dude with the mean eyebrows], he
plays the villain.”
ONG BAK: The Thai Warrior (Sahamongkol Film,
2005)
“I’ma pick a new wave one. Ong Bak, that’s Thailand kung-fu. Yo, that movie is
ridiculous. It’s a new standard, it’s a new level. He
does s**t in that like…there’s this one scene, you gotta see the movie for this one scene, he knees a
guy that’s on a bike, the kid had a helmet, his knee breaks through the helmet.
I had to leave the room for 20 minutes.
“And they want to know why we be rhyming mad ill, look what
they put out! [laughing]. Look what they put out for
us to inspire us to come up with mad ill s*t, it’s crazy man.”
HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS (Sony Pictures Classics, 2004)
“I saw this joint not too long ago called the House of Flying Daggers. House of Flying Daggers was crazy. What
was so sick about that movie is the plot and the story equaled all the graphics
and the fighting. It’s a must see for anybody who is into Hong Kong wire work,
the Chinese wire work and all that, in that genre. I’m real with mine.”
THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER (Dimension Films, 2000)
“Drunken Master of
course, Part 2 where he fights the dude in the end with the crazy leg style. Oh
man, that s**t is classic.”
FEARLESS (Rogue Pictures, 2006)
“Speaking of Jackie Chan, let’s bring up some Jet Li. I’m
really into Fearless. Peep that joint
with Jet Li where he’s wilin’ and he’s fighting like
all different styles in a national contest. It’s ridiculous. Good story too.
That’s the jump off right there.”
ENTER THE DRAGON (Warner Bros., 1973)
“I gotta throw Bruce Lee in there.
Out of all of his movies I gotta
put Enter the Dragon. I got to. The mirror fight. Han. Come on, how is your name “Han,” and
you can switch your hand?! Come on man! You got white,
Black, brown and yellow fighting for justice in that movie. The soundtrack is
amazing. The soundtrack makes me write 36 raps.”
MARKED FOR DEATH (20th Century Fox, 1990)
“I gotta rep for my style [Aikido]
that I practiced for a few years, not as many as I liked, but I gotta pick Steven Segal. I gotta pick Marked
for Death when he’s fighting Jamaicans that sell drugs to the kids. It’s
perfect. He has the illest sword fight with Screwface the Rasta drug king at the end. It’s great.”
NINJA SCROLL (Body Taing, 1993)
“I can go in the Anime too. Of course I love Ninja Scroll. Ninja Scroll is stupid. I’ma tell you the
illest part of that movie. The illest
part of that movie was when he was fighting Tessai,
the rock creature. Tessai was going to body him, ok!
He was about to get certified bodied! And then all of a sudden…oh s**t! When he
raped the girl in the very beginning she poisoned him. That was genius. It was
like, That’s what you get for raping her.”
7 GRAND MASTERS (1978) & THE MYSTERY OF CHESS BOXING (1979) & KID
WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (Shaw Brothers, 1979)
“The 7 Grandmasters,
that’s the same actors from Mystery of
Chess Boxing. And put Mystery of Chessboxing
cause that’s where Ghostface Killer is from. I gave
you a nasty list. I gave you the movie that has “Killer Army”
and the movie that’s got “Ghostface” [Chess Boxing]. Chinese chess is serious.
“[The Kid with the
Gold Arm
], that’s The Venoms. That movie has “U-God.” Nahmean?I’d f**k around and give you every movie that’s the Wu-Tang nine. Golden Arm is the s**t, he was a
pugilist, you couldn’t cut him.”
SHOGUN ASSASSIN
(Toho, 1980) & ZATOICHI
“Let me throw some Samurai flicks in there. Lone Wolf
& Cub, yo! Shogun
Assassin
. Slow down! Me and my son against the world.What’s another samurai joint…Zatoichi, amazing. He’s a blind samurai. His movie is
ridiculous.
“Shogun Assassin
was two of them (Lone Wolf & Cub) put together when there’s really five of
them. When you start doing the knowledge on those movies then you get the other
three. Then you even get those two separate. And that’s when you start spazzing and teasing your friends cause they only have the
joined American version which is actually just two joints.”
