INTERVIEW
Interview by : Benoit Georges
Pictures by : Karl Joseph
on Sunday, February 15th 2004 - 13 280 views
Well known to Paris sound system fans, the DJ with the inimitable style welcomes us calmly and takes stock for Reggaefrance.com of his beginnings, his influences and his presence on the dancehall scene.
Reggaefrance / Hi Loo Ranks. Could you first tell us about your musical beginnings, how did you discover reggae?
Loo Ranks / I discovered reggae by chance, with friends. At the time they listened to Nova with Zeljko. Me, I got caught up in the vibe of the time, the dub, the rub-a-dub. I started out as an MC, hosting a bit at friends' parties. It started like that and then I applied myself a bit more, writing lyrics and also beginning to perform Légitime Processus lyrics at first.
Which artists, French or foreign, made you want to pick up the mic?
The first was Nardo Ranks, then Shabba Ranks, Cobra, a lot of Ninjaman, Yellowman at that time, Major Mackerel and all those who came after.
Compared with the rap scene, you're often described as a ragga/hip-hop artist. In reality, did you start out on dancehall or rap instrumentals?
Frankly, at the time I was more influenced by hardcore rap: Team Dog and co. There was Boogie Down Productions, there was Public Enemy, there was Hijack, Pete Rock & CL Smooth. Jamalski arrived with the BDP vibe and that's when I thought that ragga/hip-hop was really something that gets the party going.
How did you come to blend a bass voice and a head voice?
Well, that was a kick up the backside. I used to sing at first and people would say to me: "Loo, you can push yourself further, try to surprise people, push yourself." I got a kick up the backside and out came a voice like that. They told me: "Keep that, don't move." After that I exploited it to the maximum, and when I listened to General Levy, when I listened to the early Bounty, the Mercilesses and the like, I said to myself: "ah yeah, these guys modulate..." I tried to imitate those guys and in the end I tried to find my own style. And little by little, it became Loo Ranks, with high voices, low voices, medium, whatever you want, singing...
Did it take you long to master this style?
Yeah, because at the beginning I had a more robotic, more metallic voice and then I started to soften it. And people often said to me: "I like your style, it sounds like there are several guys." I played with that and it made me laugh every time they said it. And even today people are thrown, so there's no carbon copy, the source comes from here, from me, from my vibe, from what I give off, from what I feel, from what I can perceive around me and from what I listen to, and I'm very influenced by Bounty, actually. I listened to Bounty and he's someone I represent to the maximum and put on a pedestal.
You've been through pretty much every stage of the underground (mixtapes, singles, 45s). Do you have plans for something more structured, more official, like an album?
I have an album project that I'm in the process of putting together. I'm in publishing, so I don't really have the means to produce, to go into the studio and make my demos in good conditions. With my signing to Delabel, at the start the plan was to put out an album and do loads of things, and then in the end they shelved me, and I struggled with various composers I was supposed to collaborate with on the album. In the end I found myself solo at Delabel, for the moment until May 2004, and after that I go into the studio on a one-off basis, I call the people I'd like to do features with, I get certain tracks finished, there are other tracks on hold, and I think this year it will be the right time.
The Paris crowd knows you well, since you've played quite a few dates in Paris…
That's all I did! I was touring with Légitime Processus and, in parallel, with Spartak Dub Commando, a band of musicians, veterans like Jabar who played with Puppa Leslie. And I paid my dues with the dates, the gigs, the free gigs, the gigs paid peanuts… I toured a bit, and it's true that the hip hop crowd knows me and the dancehall crowd knows me too, I get along with everybody.
And how is it outside Paris?
Outside Paris, it's starting. I had a period where I was playing Paris so much that even people were sick of seeing me! Then a bit of a dip, a lull, a crossing of the desert… And then with Azrock, we started to collaborate. He likes what I do, I like what he does, we did a track together, he invites me onto his projects, I invite him onto mine. We started to form an alliance so we could do concrete things together: tours, tracks. We're doing an exchange of favours.
In the French West Indies or abroad?
Abroad, in England when I was with Légitime, in Turkey, in Spain. But not in the French West Indies. I did play there, but that was in 95, back when Beenie Man was big, he was singing Gal Dem Sugar, there was the Playground (actually it was in 98, editor's note). But at the time it was local, I was singing with friends of mine who are "local". It was starting up back then, there was the track by Buju Banton and Wayne Wonder (he sings "Bonafide love" on the Movie star riddim). In Guadeloupe and Martinique, everybody wanted to do Buju and Wayne Wonder. Me, I'll be straight with you: in 1995 I was imitating Mory. When I arrived in Guadeloupe, in France I only sang Mory. At one time I was an actor, so when I saw Sundiata and Mory in front of me I said to myself: "I could turn things around, I can do jump up too, like they do, and take their place."
So I was doing the "manamanama" (he imitates the fast style). It motivated me, I saw that people were into it, so everybody's into it, so there you go, I do it. It's self-taught, you see, I tried by myself to get to their level. And Mory, I'll say it straight, he's the one who inspired me for everything technical. And as for everything to do with vocal texture, that's the Jamaicans.
And are you interested in clashes in France?
Not in France, in Jamaica yeah, because that's where it all starts. Now in France they're fake clashes: you mustn't insult each other, you mustn't do this, you mustn't do that, we're mates but, well…
"Go f*** your mother", "go lick your mother's p***", the insults… You know it's a clash, a battle, so you see, it's hot. I've always listened to clashes on cassette since I was young, back then Kilamanjaro, Black Kat, it was violent, even still today. But clashes in France: don't know them.
Do you make a lot of dubplates?
Now and then, it's still one-off. It depends on demand, I went to Toulouse and did dubplates all night long. In Lille too. In Paris, since they've got everything to hand… They have their singers, their crew. Me, I don't like calling a guy up and saying: "Hey, do you want dubplates?" Outside Paris I do a lot of dubplates, but in Paris not many. Then, I've got no tricks, I'll do dubplates for you even if you've just arrived, your first sound system, I'll do you dubplates, you love what I do, I give you what you've got to cut. But I give myself, I do the thing properly, I don't just get rid of it.
Regarding dubplates, do you think they're important for the exposure of French dancehall, so that people get to know new artists, new lyrics?
Yeah, but there aren't many nights… And apparently people are scared to play their dubplates. It's as if they're waiting for D-Day, the clash of the year, to play their dubplates. Anyway, there's already a boycott of venues in Paris for playing reggae, and frankly, apart from the French championships, I don't see anything. There are things going on underground, in basements, but it's not for the general public. Everybody knows Sean Paul, but when you say "we're going to a sound system", it's always the negative angle, the sleazy one. But that's because we don't anticipate enough. So many riddims come out in Jamaica. Here we have to promote something, we have to spend 3 or 4 months for it to reach its peak. 4 months is still tight, you need the means, you need to know so-and-so, you need to get played on such-and-such a radio station. If a series came out every month… like the Savage. I think it really started with the Savage, dancehall in France and in the French West Indies began to make its way, in the clubs and so on. But it mustn't stay ghettoised, everybody has to benefit. The series we hear, we should see them on TV! That way, through audiovisual media, people know who's who, who does what.
To finish, can you tell us about your plans?
I've got my album that I'm in the middle of finishing. I'm collaborating with Soha on combinations because dancehall needs women too, women who make their mark, so that it doesn't stay a macho thing, between dominant males. So that everybody finds their place in it. I'm not bragging, but I've been in the groove for a long time. So I want to benefit everybody who respects me, even the people who don't respect me… I need my enemies, I need my friends. Everybody has to go in the same direction, that's the final word. There are means in France, there's cash. I think that in Paris it's more like: "we've got everything we want, we've got everything to hand." Whereas outside Paris they struggle to get things and they're hungrier and more motivated than in Paris. Whereas everything starts from Paris…
My plan for the future now is my album and everything that follows, signing with a record company… Well, signing with a record company isn't really my plan for the future either! But still, you need people who can invest in what you do and who believe in you. I've already known the independent route with Légitime...
|
|
© 1999-2026
RSS
