Gambit – Interview (2011)

With a new album just released we did another interview with Gambit…

Underground United: It’s been three years since the last interview – what happened in the meanwhile?

Gambit: A lot, been working on Shutta Island more than 2 years, had quite a lot gigs as dnb mc,
some rap sets here and there, a few collabs with uk and swiss acts, did some off-hip hop
stuff with a electro group called copy and paste plus I’m workin again with my longtime
partner Dj Taste which is a bloody good thing.

Underground United: New album sounds good to me, what will the style be like? You proved your style variation so what to expect?

Gambit: Well, Shutta Island is explosive, it’s  an album to wake up, it’s rough but innovating
aswell, to me it’s the updated version of Hardcore Rap,..ok I tend to set gipsylike drum
patterns sometimes, but that’s simply cause i’m polish haha. Shutta Island brings back the
dirt, the anger and adrenaline, it’s the perfect album for those who like it rebellious.

Underground United: How would you describe your new album, what’s the difference to the one before?

Gambit: Shutta Island is a place with own rules. It’s dark and menacing there, it’s all about
competition and fighting on Shutta Island. This album reflects my rebellious way of
thinking perfectly, lyric and musicwise. My previous album Another Planet was more
bouncy, more lightfooted, many tracks on it had quite a clubby flair, most of the album
sounded lets say quite optimistic and shiny . Shutta Island is rougher, darker and i’d say
a bit deeper. There’s more serious shit in it this time, tracks like apocalypse now reveal
my view about the present and future of our world, one last time is a story telling track
about retaliation and revenge, another example is m-a-d featuring junior lawless, it’s a
tune about rappers with almost no skills who stalk around like kings just because they
got a contract and a fake image, constructed by their label/agency on their shoulder..
but there’s much more to discover on Shutta Island.

Underground United: What’s your influences? Any particular artists you rate? Is there any artist you would buy an album off without having a listen to it first?

Gambit: Influences? There’s a bright spectrum of genres that I feel, of course I still love all that 90’s
golden era stuff, that list is endless, from Lords Of The Underground to Das EFX, Gunshot to
Blade, Erick Sermon to Chuck D, I could go on and on there..beside that I’m listening to
tradtional polish music and drum n bass still, and if dnb then awfully hard, my favorite
there is still Panacea. Yeah I’d buy everything from Son Doobie without any pre-listening,
I’m a fan of his flows and wordplays.

Underground United: What’s the favourite track of all those you’ve ever done?

Gambit: Really hard to say, i wake up everyday with a new favorite in mind but i tend to keep
coming back to “Lesson” cause it unites many of my inspirations. There’s some old
skool hip hop in it, some ragga, some drum n bass, that mix is totally me, therefore a
personal favorite.

Underground United: The Two Last Resort releases as well as the Hardcore Solution 2 sampler have become  sought after collectors item, how does that feel like? Would you ever have thought that?

Gambit: Yeah it’s cool man, we didn’t really plan anything when the Last Resort stuff came out
but the feedback was tremendous. It was impressive to witness how the scene embraced
our releases. To call it Collectors Items sounds good in my ears, big up all the heads out
there who still support the real shit.

Underground United: How many were pressed of those and how long did it take until they were sold out?

Gambit: Can’t tell you any exact amount, back then our label Hardcore One didnt tell us much
about sales and numbers..ask them, i don’t fucking know lol

Here an unreleased Last Resort tune, another one you can catch on Britcore.Radio.
Download: : Ashes To Phoenix
Gambit: Not absolutely sure about the year but i think we did this one in 2004. That was the first track we did after our Lawless 12″. Ashes to Phoenix is a vibrant mix between Hardcore Rap, Big Beat and DnB, produced on 105bpm but sounds a bit faster than this.

Underground United: How did the deal with Def Jam Digital happen? Would you call it the new way to release Rap?

Gambit: Yea, to make a long story short, some of my tunes appeared on those Coast2Coast
mixtapes from new york/portland and some day later they recommended Def Jam
Digital as online distribution partner for my music. Indeed, releasing music online
is definitely the future, everyhing happens there, even i personaly don’t really buy cd’s
or vinyl anymore. some like it, others hate it, but what can i say,  time goes on.

Underground United: How is the HipHop-Scene in Switzerland like? The few times I’ve been over there to watch gigs I’ve found the swiss scene very young and enthusiastic, the scene looks like it’s more approached by new blood than it’s the case here in Germany.

Gambit: What scene? lol Nah for real, there’s is a bunch of younger people who like it rougher
but that’s a small piece of the cake. i think nowadays the “scene” is much harder to
define, there’s only a minority who’s strickly old skool/hardcore over here. many heads
got “mixed roots”, they feel all the genres from hip hop to dnb, electro to dubstep, they
don’t belong to any scene, they simply like everything that’s underground, so yea, there
is something like a scene but it’s not like it was back in the days, it’s not that strict
anymore. Nevertheless, the hip hop fan base is still the most loyal, i see often last resort
fans at my drum n bass gigs, now that’s real support.

Underground United: I’ve met a lot of MCs that could remember all the lyrics from old old tracks they haven’t played for years and some that did not know lyrics from tracks that are just a few months old, what kind person are you? You’ve done a lot of tracks by now, could you play a track the crowd is aksing for all out of sudden?

Gambit: Most of it yea, I’d need to refresh some of the old Last Resort tracks, but 90% is
still locked in my head. Some memories vanish, lyrics never lol.

Underground United: Did you ever have the chance to measure how many syllables you are able to drop within a minute like the ones like Daddy Freddy or Tung Twista did.

Gambit: uhm no, but I think can keep up with the fastest..

Underground United: No Doubt there! Where will your Album be available?

Gambit: Any itunes across the globe, amazon etc etc..all online platforms..

Heres a foretaste of the new album, Gambit were so nice to give us a tune of the forthcoming album for free downloading:
Jump Up
Gambit: This track got produced right after when I came back from East London..beatwise is it the soundtrack of the East End to me..i wrote the lyrics to another beat first but after this was done it was clear that I must use this one..what came out is a gritty opener for the album, the perfect kick off on 125bpm

Underground United: What’s your plans for the future? I mean after the album has been released?

Gambit: Well my main occupation is working with my man Dj Taste on new tracks, all I can say is
what we’re creating now is big..there’s still a revolt goin’ on..

Underground United: And finally here some space for greets, ackowledgements, cake recipes or anything else you want to let the people know:

Gambit: Yes, I would like say thanks to all the supporters and fans from everywhere..heads from switzerland, england, scotland, germany, holland, usa..big up..this album wasn’t possible without my man Dj Taste, he engineered all the tracks, his skills pushed it to another level! Also big up my man Junior Lawless, working with him is always a pleasure. Also cheers to Defy, Mista Bohze and Krashslaughta, it was great to make a track with them, I grew up with their music, so it was a exciting thing to do it. Respect to Hideouz, was wicked to make “Rudebwoy” with him, Real to Real..and thanks for the chat Boris, nice 1..btw..time to cut your hair..

Underground United: Many thanks for the interview Gambit and good luck with the new album! Off to the barber shop..

click HERE for more Gambit on undergroundunited.

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Published:
20.11.11 / 5pm
Category:
Downloads, Interviews