Introducing: Gramatik
Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at 4:33PM 
A lot of you may not know about this guy, and if you don’t; then you are about to find out. Gramatik is a Hip-Hop producer from Slovenia who is signed to Cold Busted - one of the most exceptional and consistent labels around right now. However; I shan’t do much talking here. Below you can listen to a track from his latest release, ‘Street Bangerz Vol. 3’ and after the jump you can read the interview I did with him about all things to do with good music. Enjoy.
1. So; for those people who don’t know who you are - how would you describe yourself briefly?
I’m a dude that enjoys life and I always look at everything from a philosophical point of view. I’m always down for an intellectual debate with people who are thinkers, clever comedy is an essential part of my day, music is my fuel right now and i’ll definitely keep doing it until something else catches my attention. :)
2. Regarding your overall sound - what genre/category would you put yourself under? Downtempo, Funk/Soul, Instrumental Hip-Hop, Lounge, Trip-Hop or a culmination of them all?
Definitely a culmination of all those genres… I was never a fan of putting myself in to a specific genre compartment, I always considered myself to be an artist that likes to produce any electronic music genre that evolved form Blues, Jazz, Soul & Funk. so pretty much anything that’s got ”the groove”. :)
3. One thing I’ve always wondered about producers like yourself is who are your main influences? Because on Street Soul 101 from Street Bangerz you flipped ‘As Long as I’ve Got You’ by the Charmels, which is the sample RZA used on Wu-Tangs ‘C.R.E.A.M’ (personally think you did a better job by the way) - was it your love of Soul/Funk or Hip-Hop that made you want to get into producing?
It was my love for Hip-Hop first and foremost. When I first got into Hop-Hop I was a kid in elementary school so I didn’t even realize what sampling is at the time, I had no clue all those Hip-Hop tracks I was listening to had portions of old Funk/Soul tracks in them, so by the time I got to high school and discovered sampling, I really started to appreciate Soul, Funk, Jazz, Blues, Classical Music and all those ”father” genres. and of course, I started sampling the f**k out of everything I liked. :)
4. Having listened to Street Bangerz Vol. 3 last night, it seems as though you have used more obscure samples this time round. What did you want to achieve with this album and how does it differ from the previous 2?
I wanted to deliver something raw but at the same time something that has an emphasis on live instruments, I kinda fell into a phase where I like to combine chopped up samples with live guitars, keys, brass played over it by myself and my musician friends, so this album is something of a hybrid between original and sampled music.
5. Something else that I’ve wanted to ask you is where do you stand on people rapping over your beats? Also; do you produce for artists and/or is that an area you would like to go into in the future?
Well, I got into Hop-Hop by being an MC first, I only started producing like a year later. I formed a rap group called 5th Element in 2001 and i produced our first album in 2006, it came out as a street release and we rapped in our native language of course. So yeah, i’m totally down with people rapping on my beats, personally I don’t pursue rappers but if someone were to approach me and i would find him/her a dope MC, I would definitely be down.
6. What lies ahead for you and Cold Busted in 2010/2011?
A lot of cool stuff! CB signed a lot of dope artists in the past year so expect a ton of dope releases in the year to come. As for me I have another project dropping in early fall this year called ”No Shortcuts” which will be something a bit different from the SB series, a culmination of Soul/Funk samples mixed with heavy electro basslines & synths all layered on massive Hip-Hop drums. After the album drops I’m embarking on my second US tour for about 2 months starting late October so it’s definitely gonna be a fun end of the year. :)
7. With a lot of new producers (across all genre’s) popping up everywhere these days - what advice would you give them?
Know your weakness and your strength. Work on the skills 24/7 and try to compare your stuff with top notch production so you can keep an objective mind on where you are. If you’re a perfectionist, the sound will never be good enough to you so don’t bother yourself with that too much, just keep working and remember, greatness resides in the DETAILS!
8. And finally; after such a strong year so far in 2010, where do you see Hip-Hop going in the next 5-10 years?
Regarding the mainstream, I wish it would come back a bit, to the times when lyrics had some relevance, when you couldn’t have a #1 single if your lyrics didn’t have any substance. Nowadays is just the opposite, the dumber the track the better it does on the chart. The evident de-evolution of mainstream Hip-Hop is quite sad in my opinion. As for the indie/underground scene, there are a bunch of artists that shine with immense potential right now, production and lyrics wise and I feel they’ll do a substantial amount of damage in the years to come, maybe even get some mainstream exposure, hopefully.
Reader Comments (1)
hey man would you be able to get me some contact info to get in touch with this guy? I'm a rapper and I've used around 7 of his beats for an upcoming mixtape, I want to contact him about working on something in the future, if you could hit my email up with an email for him or his management so I could link him to my stuff that would be brilliant, thanks.