Kong (Monsta Island Czars)

Nachdem Kwite Def im September letzten Jahres sein Debütalbum “Artz & Craftz” veröffentlich hat, will sein alter Weggefährte Kong aka Kongcrete natürlich nicht ohne Solo-Release in der Diskografie zurückbleiben. Bereits für März ist daher sein Album “Shackles off” auf Classified Recordings angekündigt. Im unserem Interview bringt uns Kong kurz auf den neusten Stand in Sachen Monsta Island Czars. Wirklich mitteilungsfreudig war der – am Mic ja nie um Worte verlegene – New Yorker dabei nicht unbedingt, wir hatten unsere liebe Mühe damit, ihm die Worte aus der Nase zu ziehen. Was bleibt, ist neben der Vorfreude auf das hoffentlich lichterloh brennende Album leider auch der Eindruck, dass wir uns den Gedanken an ein zweites Gruppenalbum vorerst wohl abschminken können. Bilder gab’s wie man sehen kann auch keine – Kong bleibt sich treu und macht auch weiterhin einen auf kamerascheu. Soll er doch, the music is schließlich all that counts.

First of all tell me about Kong as a character within the Monsta Island Click.

Kong is a beast. An animal. Basically when you listen to the album, you understand where I’m coming from. Kong is an animal beast. It’s a nickname they gave me in the streets. In the streets, they call me Kongcrete. I’m a little too hard.

Where have you been since the release of the “Gorilla Warfare EP” six years ago?

I’ve been on tour, doing shows. I’ve still been into music. I was travelling on tour with Backwoodz. And I’ve released some songs through Backwoodz and Sound Ink. There was this song on CX’s album, “Sky Is My Roof”. I got a very good influence behind it. Actually it’s the hottest song on the whole album.

What’s the deal with the MIC – where are all the old members at?

Well, Megalon is doing his own projects. He did “A Penny For Your Thoughts” and he got two other projects in the works right now. Spiega is with me all over the new album. Meglaon is also featured on the album, and a new artist named 5th Element. But I don’t know what Kamackeris and X-Ray are doing, though I actually met X-Ray yesterday.

Who are all these new monsters like Juncclassic or MF Mez?

Oh well, Grimm brang them in. But there’s no leader. ‘Cause when you have everybody focused on one person being the leader, it will be a bunch of followers. But I’m still with the Monstas, my album screams Monsta Island all over it.

What else can we expect from “Shackles Off”?

Versatility. That means: different styles. I’m rhyming fast, I’m rhyming slow. We get all hard all over the place, production comes from Meccagodzilla aka Ravage and Blasta Beatz. But I’m not really trying to bring back the old Monsta Island sound. I’ll probably do after this album is done. I did an album before, “Written In Blood”. At that time, me and X-Ray had a falling out and he didn’t want to give it to me. So I started “Shackles Off” which will be out in March.

Is this the reason why he didn’t produce any song on the new album?

I mean, I wasn’t really socialized with him too much. He has tried to get his working on. And the studio I was in basically loved me. So I could just go in there any time.

How did you end up with Classified Recordings?

They love my music. They came up to some shows. They loved the way I perform. It’s also the label of Ravage/Meccagodzilla and Junclassic.

What will you rap about on the album?

Basically I’m rapping about the streets. I got alot of hardcore rhymes like “Shackles Off”. I’m talkin about songs like “Hate It” and “Broken Safety”. And I got two songs actually dissing MF Doom: “Black Blood” and “Weazel”. Basically disrespecting Doom.

What happened?

We had a verbal contract with MF Doom. Rhymesayers cut us a cheque for alot of money. And Doom ran with it, he robbed us.

So what’s coming up in the future?

Another album called “Masterpiece”. I actually sat down and blueprinted it out. All I have to do is to go into the studio and just record it. This will also be out this year on Classified Recordings. Probably in the summer time.

Do you think that there will be another MIC-album?

Oh, I would love for it to happen. But I basically will have to sit down with the whole Monsta Island and see if we can get something started. It was in discussion before. But Grimm and X-Ray had a falling out, they was arguing, I could’t really tell you what it was about. So it never happened.