CLASS

6
The Future
Of Rap
Future Brown bring their expansive,
eclectic hip hop to Reykjavík
INTERVIEW BY J O H N R O G ER S
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Something that might come as a surprise to many Björk-loving,
Sigur Rós-adoring, Ásgeir-fancying Airwaves newcomers is that
Iceland loves hip-hop. From the rapid rise of local stars like Gísli
Pálmi, Úlfur Úlfur, Reykjavíkurdætur and Emmsjé Gauti to
the emergence of hip-hop and electronica-centric festivals like
Sónar and Secret Solstice (even ATP Iceland drafted in Public
Enemy this year), to an increase in visiting acts like Zebra Katz,
Rae Sremmurd and Frank Ocean—hip-hop culture is super visible
in Reykjavík.
With that in mind, the only overseas
act to feature in this Airwaves special
is one of the most interesting new hiphop
acts on the international scene.
Future Brown is a production quartet
made up of Fatima Al Qadiri, J-Cush,
Asma Maroof and Daniel Pineda,
drawing on everything from dancehall
to grime, bass, footwork and R&B. We
interrupted J-Cush as he was enjoying
a pleasant evening in London, so
we might ask him about how Future
Brown came about and which of their
arsenal of guest rappers will be joining
them onstage at the festival.
How did the four of you get together
to form Future Brown?
We were all friends, going to the same
parties in New York, and we started
talking about it in maybe 2012. We realised
we were all connected to each
other through different projects. I
was working with Fatima, Asma and
Fatima were working on something,
and then Asma and Daniel have their
Nguzunguzu project. We had a lot of
similar tastes that drew us together,
and we realised we could turn all of
these different parts into something.
What do the different members
bring to the table?
In a sense, everyone has a different approach
to how they produce and what
sounds they draw from—then, when
we all come into the studio together,
it really makes a difference because
we react in real time to one another.
Rather than developing ideas remotely
and exchanging them and waiting for
a reaction, you get that real human
experience of building on a drum loop
together while someone’s working
on a keyboard melody—every track is
different, and everyone has varying
tastes, so when you mix it all up you
get varying levels of madness. It works
well.
“This project was essentially
something we did to make
our dreams come true—a
vocal-based album, working
with people we were really big
fans of, both new and old.”
How did it come together with
Warp Records?
Warp was interested, I think, in expanding
into more eclectic stuff that
was different to straight-up rock or
electronica, and they saw something
good in what we were doing. We knew
an A&R there who’d worked on one of
Fatima’s records, and he pushed us a
lot to get this project going. Him pushing
us took us to a level where Warp
was ready to sign us. I was already
into Aphex Twin and Autechre—it’s
cool to see Warp changing up and going
for everything from extremely experimental
through to poppy rap and
songwriters—it’s great to have that
diversity.
Where do you position Future
Brown in the wider spectrum of
music?
This project was essentially something
we did to make our dreams come
true—making a vocal-based album and
working with people we were really
big fans of, both new and old. We’re
from a lot of different areas of music—
not just house, not just rap—all kinds.
So I guess tying us down to one genre
doesn’t really work. Let’s just say: good
music. Something new, something different.
How did you go about taking
Future Brown out of studio and
onto the stage?
We have really open-minded approach
in the studio and we took that onto the
stage. Nothing’s too regimented. We’ll
have a starting point that we might
discuss, but after that anything goes,
really. We’ve been working it out while
we play—how to play off each other
and create a really interesting experience.
We all play our own music, and
we like to incorporate all the different
styles and make it sound like a fluid
mix.
Has there been a best show so
far?
The project is pretty vocal-centric,
so any show where we can have a lot
of vocalists with us is a really magical
time. It’s often in London that
we’ll have a few—last time we played
the ICA in London and brought on
had Ruff Squad, Dirty Danger, Prince
Rapid, Roachee, Riko and 3D Na’tee
from New Orleans—she’s an amazing
rapper on the record. It’s great to have
the grime element and a strong rapper.
Dirty Danger is coming with us for
Airwaves, he’s on the tracks “World’s
Mine”, and “Asbestos”, from the Future
Brown album.
Have you been out to Iceland
before? Will you have much time
here?
I haven’t been to Iceland myself, but
all the others have. I’m looking forward
to Airwaves—I’ve heard great
things about it. I’ll have a few days to
get to know Reykjavík and check it out,
explore and hopefully meet some cool
people.