On The Q&A Tip with... Arise King David

On The Q&A Tip with... Arise King David

Psykhomantus: Okay, so first question. Just for the readers to know who you are, Tell us where your from and what you do for a living in Hip Hop?


Arise King David: Im a Ghanaian, born and raised in South London. In Hip Hop Im an MC and producer


P: When did you get into Hip Hop. What or who was your first take on this culture that made you want to take part?


AKD: Early 90's after watching Da Mystery of Chessboxin video I felt Hip Hop had a home for me. I was already listening to rap music, I love kung fu flicks too so when I saw how they put it together I got excited. Their creativity struck a chord with me.
As far as the culture as a whole is concerned its hard for me to pinpoint the exact moment I got into Hip Hop. I remember watching the film Breakin, and dancing in front of the TV trying to copy Turbo's moves. I loved the music the dancing the imagery the whole thing, the culture had me from then I guess.


P: Is there any other music genres you do like besides Rap music?

AKD: I listen to all sorts as long is it sounds good to me. DnB, Soul, Funk, Reggae etc etc.

P: Who helped you put your projects "Free Music" and "Between Projects" together?

AKD: I put the Free Music LP together myself. I sourced a few beats from some big boy producers such as Chairman Maf, DJ Slademan, Kosyne and more. The rest of the LP is self produced. I also collaborated with the likes of Skriblah Dan Gogh, Imam Thug, Tommy Bunnz etc., I'm not going to say the whole track listing here so download the LP from www.arisekingdavid.com for more info (nudge nudge). I did the mixing and mastering, and I worked with a manga artist by the name of Dr Vee to develop the artwork and Free Music comic strip.
The Between Projects mixtape was a mix of tracks I had done as one off’s, and some that didn't make the Free Music LP, I also recorded a few tracks specifically for the mixtape. It was recorded over a mixture of beats already out there, some self produced and a couple from Kosyne and DJ Slademan. Mr. Dex sprinkled his magic over the whole thing with track arrangement and mixing that really brought the project to life. You can also download Between Projects from www.arisekingdavid.com


P: How did you hook up with New York rapper A.G. From D.I.T.C and Australia producer Deepstar?

AKD: I firstly hooked up with Deepstar over the internet through Conspiracy Worldwide Radio's beta social networking site. He saw my profile with some of my tracks and links to 'Free Music'. He hit me up and basically told me he was feeling my work, he was working with various artists and asked if I would feature on one of his tracks with Tragedy Khadafi, Nutso and DJ Rob Swift, obviously I was like 'Hell Yeah' We then worked on a couple more tracks until we decided lets turn this into a full LP, its called 'Universal Language', coming soon. His beats are banging and we clicked so it was a no brainer.
I hooked up with AG online too, I got his contacts from twitter and told him about the project with Deepstar, I sent him some of my previous work as an introduction, he was feeling it and was down to collaborate, just like that. The next thing I know, Im flying over to the Bronx to record a music video with him. It was a great experience. He was very hospitable, showed me around the projects where he grew up and I could see how well respected he is in the community.


P: If you did a world tour, which other two artists would you bring with you?

AKD: Tough one. My boy Nightpro and KRS ONE.

P: Is there a performance that you've done and said to yourself that you could of done that better?

AKD: Oh yes indeed. One in particular springs to mind a few years back at the Xmas Xtravaganza in West London. I had a live band with me who were dope, rehearsals went really well. Basically, on the night due to unforeseen circumstances I ended up running around helping out as a sound engineer as it was my boys event. As a result, I didn't have my head in the performance and it showed.

P: Name 5 Emcee's that you rate and why?

AKD: Ok so in no particular order and not necessarily representing my Top 5 emcee's of all time.
Bustah Rhymes - Crazy untouchable flow.
Skriblah - flow and content.
Nas - flow and content.
Big L - crazy flow, content, story telling.
Ghostface - Flow, wordplay consistency.



P: The Dangerous Question: If you had the power to remove one MC from this rap game, who would it be?

AKD: Hahaaaa! Good one, Drake, or doesn't he count?


P: Last question. What will we be expecting in the future from you?

AKD: The Universal Language LP is imminent, then I'm working on an EP with Cyclonious then another solo project. More goodness, more Hip Hop.