Moka Only

Moka Only hat sich in den vergangenen Jahren vor allem durch seine Releases über Battle Axe Records einen großen Namen gemacht. Anlässlich der Veröffentlichung seines neuesten Albums “The Desired Effect” bat ugrap.de-Mitarbeiter Matt.2.9 den vielbeschäftigten Mann kürzlich zum Gespräch. Bringt euch auf den neuesten Stand über den kanadischen Emcee und vergesst nicht das Audio anzuklicken…

Alright, Moka, please introduce yourself to the German audience.

Uhm, I’m Moka Only, and I’m from Vancouver BC, and I do Hip-Hop Music (laughs).

So far, you’ve released 5 Albums on Battle Axe Records…

“Lowdown Suite”, “Lime Green”, “Flood (Limited Edition)”, “Ron Contour” and “Codename Scorpion”.

… and “The Desired Effect” was released today in Canada, wasn’t it?

Yes it was, today is the day.

I actually read on the internet that you are going to drop that album called “Dirty Jazz” for the Japanese market, is that true?

Yep.

So why is it only going to be available for the Japanese market?

I wanna do something special for the different markets all over the world. I’m going to be releasing an exclusive Album for Germany. But I can’t give you the details yet because we’re working them out right now. There will be one coming for Germany sometime later this year, or early next year.

Apart from the Albums on Battle Axe Records and Underworld Industries, you’ve also released around 15 entire albums that were released independently, right?

Yeah, those were my street albums.

Then, why did you release so much of your music only locally? I mean, you’ve got fans all over the world… ?

Well, that’s all I had at the time. I didn’t have a label to get with, so that was my only option. I used to do those albums and I’d go everywhere you know?! California, Australia, it didn’t matter I just used to go all over the place and sell them. So that’s how I got a fan base initially.

It’s a matter of fact that 15 albums are quite a bit of output. How come, and where do you get your inspiration for all the music from?

Ah, in everyday living… I do music as if it was a diary. So, basically, if I’m at home, I just record 1 or 2 brand new songs and it’s just talking about my everyday life or what not. It’s easy, it’s just my way of keeping a personal journal, you know?!

Do you think you were able to keep the quality of the music on a certain level with so many releases in such a small space of time?

Yeah I think at all it makes me get better though, because I’m learning more techniques especially with producing, you know?! I think maybe sometimes the raps are not as interesting, but over all, the product is getting better and I know more and more what to do.

Your music is influenced by a lot of different styles of music. You often don’t only rap but you sing as well. So, did you have any kind of musical education for your voice, singing lessons or anything?

No, I took lessons for guitar when I was a kid. And, as I got a little bit older I took trumpet lessons, but that was about it, I never took any vocal training or anything.

Is anybody in your family except from you doing music as well?

Nobody in my family does music at all.

Then, how did you get to making music?

It landed on me, I really have no idea. I really don’t know.

Do you play any instruments? There are some instruments shown on the cover of the “Lowdown Suite”…

Yeah, I play a lot of instruments. Keyboard’s my favourite. I have a lot of vintage synthesizers, I collect them. So that’s my favourite stuff. And I play a bit of drums, a little bit of bass, guitar, anything really, you know?! Flute, whatever. I don’t play any instrument really well. I just know how to put things together in a studio and I like to challenge myself.

What kind of music do you prefer personally? Whose music are you listening to?

I listen to my own mostly. Because, like I said, it’s like a journal or a diary. I mean, I’m the only person in the world who knows how to make exactly what I want to hear, right?! I can just image it and dream it and then make it. Other than that, I listen to Jazz, a lot of Jazz.

Please, tell us something about the other projects your working on or you have been working on. Who have you been working with? I’m thinking about “Codename Scorpion”, “Super Future Stars” or the whole “City Planners”-thing for example…

Yeah, the City Planners thing is done. There is no more of that. I’ve just recently worked with Oh No from Stones Throw Records. I worked with MF Doom, J. Dilla from Detroit, from Slum Village. Yeah it’s just a few people but mostly I’m on my own. I’m working on an instrumental album right know. I don’t have a title for it. But, it’s gonna be a lot of fun, really short songs.

A friend told me about “Golden Section” and “Busted Wigs”, names I’ve never heard of before. Are those projects that are ready to be unleashed?

Oh! Golden Section is an old project from 1996 and, no, I never released it. Didn’t do anything with it.

Talking about Vancouver and its music scene: Are there any talents you can recommend from your local music-scene that are coming up? Or can you recommend a certain website that represents the Canadian Hip-Hop scene?

I’m not really involved with a whole lot of people. So I don’t know what website I can guide you to. But I know another group in Vancouver that’s really talented, it’s called Sweatshop Union.

How’s life in Vancouver? What happens on a day in the life of Moka Only? What are you doing when you’re not making music?

I’m always making music (laughs)… I wake up, eat some cereal and make some music and then maybe go downtown, drink some coffee, look at people, you know?! Hang out with my girlfriend. Ah… it’s pretty boring stuff actually, a lot of record shopping. I try to record-shop as often as I can, sometimes every day. Just, you know, diggin’ in the crates and stuff, looking for samples.

So you mentioned “drinking coffee”, is that where your name is actually from? Like, do you have a passion for coffee or something?

Yeah, pretty much. It’s pretty much from coffee. You know, it’s just a part of my life, always has been. I find inspiration in coffee.

Did you grow up in Vancouver?

I grew up in Vancouver and a small town called Langford. And it’s pretty close to Vancouver.

Alright, back to your music. I recently got to talk to Deceo Ellipsis, who has produced the beats for some of your albums (like “Apenuts”, “Mr. Behaviour”, “Mount Unpleasant” & “Flowtorch”). Who else has done the music for your lyrics?

Uhm, there are not a lot of people that I work with as far as producers. I do everything for myself now, unless, you know, I’m doing something special.

The beats on your newer albums were mainly produced by yourself. So, how do you start working on a song? Do you have the lyrics first and then comes the beat or vice versa, or how does it work?

I do the beats first because that’s sets the mood and makes me wanna write the lyrics.

What’s the difference between making music all alone and working with someone else?

All alone, that gives me all the creative freedom I want. I do not have to make any compromises and that’s my favourite thing. You know, I can do anything I want. But if I work with somebody, you know, it’s more restrictive, and, we have to come to some sort of agreement, usually like… it’s kinda like 50/50.

Coming back to your new album, please tell us something about it. I’ve just seen the “Once Again”-video, it was on high rotation on MuchMusic.com and it seems as if the entire album is becoming more and more popular. How do you think fans reactions to the album would be after hearing the new single? Will your music reach out to other audiences, while leaving other ones behind?

I’m singing a lot on the new album. I think melody reaches people. It’s just, you know, this is only one project out of many. I decided to use a lot of singing on the songs on it.

As we said before, today is the day when “The Desired Effect” gets officially released, are you excited about it? What are you expecting?

Yeah I’m excited. But I don’t have any expectations. There’s more… I shouldn’t have any disappointment, you know what I mean?! I really hope everybody goes and gets it and really enjoys it. I’d like to get some feedback I wanna know what people think about the songs. You know, it’s just another day in my life, but it’s a happy day (laughs).

Generally speaking, what do you think of today’s music scene and the business behind that whole industry? And how do you manage to cope with it?

I don’t like the industry at all, man, but I need to work with the industry, you know?! I don’t like the fact that people are closed minded and that they are really scared to try things that are different. You know, that’s really disappointing. But, you know, I try to stay on top of my business. I just… I bang my head and try to ignore all the rest of the music that’s coming out, like commercial music, I don’t really like it that much. I just try to ignore that.

Final question: You already mentioned that you are coming to Europe. When is that going to be?

It’ll be early in the new year. I’m sure. I’m not certain when.

Alright, so, Moka, thanks a lot for the interview! Do you have any last words you’d like to drop?

Ahh, you know, just look out. Just look out for my new album and look out for the album that I’ll be releasing exclusively, and I’ll see you next year on the show, you know?!