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Q&A: FlamesYall Talks A Tribe Called Quest, Working With Co$$ & How His Music Is For Y’all

Interviews by Stone on A Tribe Called Quest FlamesYall Twitter 1.56K views
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FlamesYall is one talented producer. Hailing from the UK, FlamesYall has really made a name for himself as a producer, being featured on KevinNottingham and getting to work with Co$$. We decided to get a word in with him and he gave us very thorough and well thought-out responses, so enjoy the 11th Official Hip Hop Speakeasy interview of FlamesYall below:
Q: Who was your musical idol growing up?
A: “I’ve always loved music. I remember my parents would record, every week, ‘Top Of The Pops’. We must have had 30 VHS tapes full of music videos and live performances, which my Brother and I would watch daily. At the time, it was all UK based, but during the early 80’s there was the emergence of MJ, Whitney, Stevie, etc over here. I loved MJ. Loved him like everyone else loved him. I listened to my ‘Man In The Mirror’ 7″ in my bedroom, until the grooves were flat. (And tried to moonwalk in my socks). My Dad had a collection of 7″ and LPs from the 60’s which included bands such as The Beatles, The Kinks, Mud, The Animals etc, so I would listen to those, too. What I loved about them, was the rawness, the imperfection, the emotion. There was no polish and gloss like today, just the music. Later on, I loved Queen, Dire Straits, and all those late 80’s bands, but the constant throughout my youth was MJ.“
Q: What made you decide to become an artist?
A: “I’m a Taurus, I’m creative. I love the creative process, the journey. It’s not always about the result or the output for me. I remember, I had been listening to Hip Hop since about ’89 and it occurred to me that I was bored of hearing the same Emcees, constantly. I didn’t know who else to check for, because ultimately unless you struck gold, they were all the same. I realised that the one constant, the thing that grabs you, drags you in and holds you, is the music, the beat. I started checking for producers, reading the small print in the centre of the LPs and 12″s and finding out who constructed this sample, these drums, this bassline, and discovered artist upon artist that I would have missed otherwise. Where would the Emcee be without a beat? Would you buy an accapella album?“
Q: Who’s your favorite artist of all time? Why?
A: “Big question, so let’s keep it Hip Hop. A Tribe Called Quest.
I love hundreds of artists, but Quest, they had something. Something perfect. 3 different personalities (And Jarobi), yet the cohesive result was musical perfection. Their music is timeless and not bound to one era. When you hear ‘Electric Relaxation’ or ‘Lyrics To Go’, or even ‘Can I Kick It’ and ‘Bonita Applebum’, you get that feeling, that warmth. And they weren’t all about those ‘hot singles’ – The whole album would be track after track of perfect, strong, beautiful tracks. ‘Midnight Marauders’ and ‘Low End Theory’ are the best Hip Hop albums ever. ‘Lyrics To Go’ is one of the best produced tracks ever.“

Q: What is your inspiration?
A: “Emotion is my inspiration. That feeling you get when you hear or see something that connects with how you feel at that time. When you’re listening to a song with the centre of your brain, and it is part of your being. That’s what inspires me. Can you imagine a world without music? No soundtrack to your day? We’d all kill ourselves.“

Q: When did you start making music? Do you remember the first beat you made?
A: “About 7 years ago. I’ve always been interested, but had never ventured, into music production. As I said above, it took a real ‘penny-drop’ moment to put all the pieces together… Why do I love Hip Hop? What do I actually love about Hip Hop? How can I be part of what I’ve loved for so long? How do I give back..? I started using GarageBand, the production tool on my Mac, and after looping, chopping and experimenting I ended up with a track called ‘SmooooothIsh’. Randomly, I bumped into a dude in WH Smith and he asked what I was listening to on my iPod. It happened to be ‘SmooooothIsh’ and he happened to be an Emcee! I gave him the track, he blessed it and it became ‘Vital Components’. This track has never been heard, never posted, existing only in my iTunes library. I have no idea where the instrumental original is (lost forever I think), but I may post it one day… I might give you the exclusive! (The Emcee was Skanwon, who is amazing. A dude from London. He’s got another beat of mine… I need him to bless me again!).“
Q: What’s it like working with Co$$?
A: “Interesting! The guy is an exceptional talent. His album ‘Instrument Of Emotion’ is amazing. Co$$ himself, is an enigma. We have only communicated via email, so it is only few and far between, so I don’t know him as such. What I will say, is he is a patient perfectionist. He will ask for tweak after tweak on a track until it is done. Which I love, as this pushes me to be better. I think we have completed 3 tracks now. I’m sure he has another couple instrumentals of mine, so you may hear from us in the future…“
Q: How did the name FlamesYall come to being?
A: “Originally, it was just ‘Flames’, which I used when I DJ’d a couple times, and this caught on with my friends and they would refer to me as Flames. I like that when you stand need a flame, it warms you and makes you feel good. It illuminates your environment. The ‘Yall’ was added when I started producing, because the music is for all Yall!“
Q: How would you describe your music?
A: “As it say’s on my Soundcloud… ‘That soulful, creative, warm, head nodding, dusty, boom bap, dope ass ‘ish!Music is the heartbeat in my chest, the rain on the windowpane, the wind in the leaves…’“
Q: What is your favorite record to sample?
A: “Errrrrrrrrrmmmmmm… I listen to so many tracks, from so many genres, and the one I choose, it has to have that warmth, that emotion, that feeling. I like to find a piece of the track and manipulate it. Chop it and twist it. Pull it out of line and rebuild it. I like that you can hear a track and not recognise when it originated from. To chop a random part of a vocal, or leave a part in that shouldn’t be there, or replace the 3rd bar with a different bar from a different place. It’s this creation and process that I expect from a track I choose.“
Q: Which one of your works is your favorite? Why?
A: “I’m going to say one of the latest tracks… ‘StrandedInTheRaiiin’. It feels perfect. Haunting.

My favourite track with Emcees, that would be ‘ScenariYall’, because I managed to get 8 amazing Emcees on one track!

Also, I’m gonna include ‘WishYouWereClearContinued’ featuring Co$$ and Goose, because it’s got the best feedback of any of my tracks http://soundcloud.com/flamesyall/wishyouwereclearcontinued“

Q: What do you want people to get from your music?
A: “I want listeners to feel like I feel when I hear good music. I want them to feel the track, not just hear it… But they won’t unless I put the effort in, evolve and grow. I make music for others, not for me.“
Q: Did you feel there was a risk working with A Tribe Called Quest samples?
A: “Nope. Because I’m not making any monetary advantage from my music. The ATCQ Tribute is made with nothing but love for my favourite band of all time. It’s my salute, my thank you to Quest for being part of my life since 1989… The longest relationship I’ve ever had!
Infact, Ali Shaheed heard it and gave me great feedback, so all is dope! Maybe one day I’ll work with my hero Tip…“

 

Q: What was it like being featured on so many hip hop websites, including KevinNottingham.com?
A: “Man, I’m honoured to be on Kev’s site. I’ve been a daily visitor, so to be featured is perfect. Kev’s site is huge and is continuing to grow, plus it was a really nice community a couple years ago and without it, I wouldn’t have met artists such as Tokyo Cigar, Isjberg, Keb0, Subwoofer Science, Amiri, Co$$, etc… I gotta say, it was a lot of self promotion too. There is a huge value and benefit to simply reaching out to people. Social networking such as Twitter have been massive in hooking up with other artists. Maybe that’s why I’ve only really worked with US Emcees, because Twitter and blog sites have made the world infinitely smaller. Long live Hip Hop blogging!“

 

Q: How do you see the state of hip hop now compared to in the past? What do you hope for the future?

A: “Man, I could write a book on this! As I mentioned in the above answer, the future of Hip Hop is the internet and Twitter. Hip Hop as expanded with universal velocity and will continue to. 20 years ago, a minuscule percentage of people could record and put out their own music. In the past, the only Hip Hop I could find was an hour of ‘Yo! MTV Raps’ at midnight on a Friday. One hour. On MTV! I had to travel into London once a month to find the vinyl I needed, so I could hear the music I loved. I remember one trip, when I bought ‘Bring The Pain’ and ‘Juicy’ on the same day, having heard them both on ‘Yo! Raps’, and had to wait for 4 hours to I got home and put them on my 1210’s, then had to copy them to tape, so I could hear them out and about… Today, everyone has a computer and access to everything they need instantly, which is amazing, but I’m glad I experienced the past… I’m sad that there are millions of Hip Hop fans who will never experience where Hip Hop’s journey has been. I had about 10 artists to worry about in 1992, now, in 2012 I have 100,000 to check for. There is so much to choose from, so much saturation, that there is some very, very good music that is being lost in the mix. Droplets in the ocean. I think (hope) that soon the major labels will realise that listeners are bored with the same sounding Hip Hop/Rap/RnB and begin to look for the alternatives… David Guetta is the tipping point. He is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse that will destroy music. It will be rebuilt with the artists with more to say, give and contribute. Fuck David Guetta and all the artists who work with him.“

Q: Whats on FlamesYall’s iPod?
A: “At the moment, UK Hip Hop. There is some absolute gold in the UK that doesn’t get enough, if any, exposure. Seriously, spread the word, because the talent over here is huge… Specifically, artists such as Uncle Mix, Mr. Drastik, The Quaranteam, Cyclonius, Haze, Nate, Micall Parknsun, K.I.N.E.T.I.K, Locksmyth, Mr. 13, Smiler… Honestly, go and find all these artists at www.lov3hat3u.tumblr.com and check the videos and downloads (free downloads) and understand where the UK is coming from… And… And always… My J. Dilla playlist.“

 

So there you have it, the 11th Official Hip Hop Speakeasy interview of hip hop producer FlamesYall. Be sure to connect with him!
Tags : A Tribe Called QuestFlamesYallTwitter
Stone

The author Stone

Stone is a hip-hop enthusiast residing in NJ/PA. As an aspiring hip-hop producer, Stone studies communications and shares his passion for music by letting the world in on the wonderful world of hip-hop.

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