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The PLAYBACK:stl Archive Vault
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Home  Archive "Fem Hop You Haven't Heard," An Interview with Northern State
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"Fem Hop You Haven't Heard," An Interview with Northern State |
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Written by Rob Levy
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Friday, 16 December 2005 |
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The ever present NYC hype
machine kicked into full gear, creating a buzz and getting Northern
State some attention.
There is nothing marginal or gimmicky about Northern State. They are
Long Island’s talented, savvy, whipsmart trio of female MCs who now do
their thing in New York City. Northern State is Spero (AKA Guinea
Love), Hesta Prynn and DJ Sprout. The force of their beats and the
passion of their rhymes have led to them being christened as
forerunners of a new sub genre, “fem hop.” Although this could be
written off as yet another useless moniker laid out by The Man, there
is some truth in the genre. Northern State are bringing a loud,
intelligent, urgent femininity to hip-hop at a time when it needs
something new.
The girls knew each other from “back in the
day.” Their families were acquainted and vacationed together. Although
they met during high school, it wasn’t until after they graduated from
college that Northern State was born.
After much discussion
they decided to try their own hand at hip-hop. They met weekly to try
out beats, rhymes and mad styles. Eventually they got the flow they
were looking for and started to play out. This led to other gigs, which
gave way to their 2002 demo Hip Hop You Haven’t Heard.
When a
review of the demo graced Rolling Stone things caught fire. Spin, MTV
and subsequent indie press types began fawning. College radio, clubs
and record stores fell followed in toe. The ever present NYC hype
machine kicked into full gear, creating a buzz and getting Northern
State some attention. On the street the word was out. Northern State
were on their way. Their demo opened the floodgates for gigs with
diverse acts like De La Soul and Le Tigre.
That demo was
followed up early this year with Dying In Stereo, an invigorating
record that combined hip- hop, (now dubbed weirdly by the NYC chic as
“fem hop”) with the more traditional rock instrumentation. Dying In
Stereo was another piece of the puzzle. What began in a small room in
Ithaca subsequently launched a bidding war with major labels that put
the ladies in a unique place, the driver’s seat.
Very few
female rock or hip-hop acts can write their own ticket these days.
Based on the strength of their demo, live shows, and their first
release, Dying In Stereo, Guinea Love, Hesta, Sprout knew what they
wanted and whom they wanted. They were mistresses of their own domain.
They held out until they got paid. After a long process they eventually
signed to Columbia records.
Fast forward to now, more and more
people are discovering the Strong Island trio’s debut CD, Dying In
Stereo. The gigs are sweeter and the travel miles are clicking.
However, Northern State take it all in stride, instead concentrating on
live shows and recording new music.
Despite the rigors of
constant touring and recording a new album, Hesta, Spero and Sprout
made time to talk to Playback St. Louis about fame, recording and being
sought after.
PBSTL: How hard was it to shop for a major label deal?
SPERO: It was pretty hard. We were fortunate in that several labels
were interested, but it’s a difficult time in the industry and a lot of
labels were folding or being swallowed up by other labels right as we
were looking to sign. So we weren’t able to sign with labels that we
thought might be a good match because they were folding right as we
were beginning negotiations. But in the end, we all feel we made a good
decision and things are going well with Columbia. We feel our vision
and independence is being respected, and signing gave us enough money
to be able to continue to do this professionally, and to be able to
record a new album that we think will show a real sonic and artistic
progression.
PBSTL: How much autonomy do you have with the new label?
HESTA PRYNN: You never have COMPLETE autonomy in any situation, however
they signed a certain band and we continue to be that band. We’re not
going to do things that we’re not comfortable with or that aren’t true
to who we are for a label or anyone else.
PBSTL: How is the ‘work’ dolled out? Who does what specifically?
SPERO: It’s hard to say. We all work really hard not only making music,
but also running a business. We are three female CEOs of a company that
has made a lot of progress over the last 3 years and we take that very
seriously. We all have strengths and weaknesses, but oftentimes work
gets done a little on a first come first serve basis. Like whoever gets
to it first, (receives the call, sees the email first) gets stuck doing
it. We try to ask for help from each other when we feel we need it, and
we try to assign projects to whomever we all collectively think might
be the best at each thing. But it’s still a little bit of a free for
all. But in a good way. I think.
PBSTL: What is your creative process in making new songs?
SPROUT: Our creative process varies from song to song. Most times we
start with a beat either that someone has sent us, like a producer or a
friend of ours, or something that we have worked on ourselves or with
our backing band. From there we may start with a vibe or feeling---try
to discuss a theme--what we want to write about--images or ideas that
come into our minds. Then we’ll go off and write and share our rhymes.
We usually work together to come up with chorus ideas and hooks. But
sometimes one of us will write something that ends up being the chorus
or hook of a new song. We work on the music together as well. We are
three ladies with varying tastes and opinions about music. So we don’t
usually agree on certain musical elements. We always build the
arrangement of the song and try to figure out how it will flow best. We
might end up changing the main drum beat or bass line, or dropping a
few elements during the verse, or deciding that the original beat will
be used for the bridge and that we need a whole new beat for the A
part. It’s different every time around, but you get the idea.
PBSTL: Because there are 3 of you, does it become difficult to make rhymes and beats in the studio as an entity?
HESTA PRYNN: We are lucky in that we really complement each other.
Compromise can be difficult in any situation, but it’s great to have
three heads working at once. If one person’s having an off day another
person might be having a creative explosion that day.
PBSTL: Do you think that being female rappers has made it harder for NORTHERN STATE to get heard?
SPERO: I think in some ways it has made it easier, because when we were
starting it really only took hearing about us once for people to
remember who we were, but then it also comes with a set of challenges,
in which people want to dismiss what we are doing as a joke or a
gimmick, or they want to put us in a box of being just cute girls doing
something that’s just fun!! We fight every day to show people that we
are dead serious about what we are doing, that we are in love with hip
hop and feel we have something to contribute to it, and that we are not
about to disappear anytime soon. I think we generally prove this the
first time someone speaks with us or comes to see a show. But it is
always a challenge
PBSTL: NORTHERN STATE references some
serious stuff lyrically. How do you fit issues like politics and
women’s rights into your songs? Do you just try to do it, or does it
just come into play on its own?
SPROUT: It depends. At this
point we are trying to write more thematically in some ways, and kind
of picking a topic or a mood and sticking to it throughout the song.
Sometimes that mood is serious with a message that we feel we need to
express and other times it is more lighthearted and just trying to get
the party started. It’s important when you make a record that the mood
ebbs and flows. There is a time to be serious and say what you have to
say and a time to just nod your head to the beat and feel good. We have
a lot to say about our experiences as feminist women growing up and
living in NYC today and in this world. We definitely have a commitment
to continue to express our beliefs, political and otherwise, but it’s
not like ’oh we have to fit something political into this particular
song.
PBSTL: Do you think that hip-hop is the misogynistic world it is portrayed as?
SPROUT: That’s a good question. It’s certainly portrayed that way.
Whether or not the artists who participate in that sort of imaging
actually live their lives in that manner doesn’t really matter that
much. It’s all over the TV and that’s what kids see all the time. It’d
be nice for them to see an alternative.
PBSTL: Do events like
the Siren festival work very well at gaining exposure for female
artists? Do you think there are too few festivals for female rock or
hip-hop? Should there be separate festivals?
SPROUT: I think
besides us the only female band at Siren this year was the Sahara Hot
Nights. I was so pissed cause I really wanted to see them and we went
on at almost the same time on the other stage. I don’t think there need
to be separate festivals for female bands. It would be nice to see a
little bit more equal representation at the festivals that already
exist.
PBSTL: Bands like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Le Tigre, The
Donnas, Distillers and Sleater Kinney are getting more and more
attention by radio and press types. Is there a specific movement going
on for female music, or is the world just coming around?
SPROUT: I think probably over time there are more and more women
starting bands and coming up with innovative and interesting ways of
making music. When someone (male or female) is doing something new and
important musically, people seem to take notice.
PBSTL: Do you
think that having a lot of focus on New York’s music scenes has
garnered more exposure for NORTHERN STATE than you would have normally
gotten?
SPROUT: While we haven’t really
been a part of the whole scene of music coming out of Williamsburg or
other parts of NYC, I do think the fact that we are three women who
grew up on Long Island and now live in Brooklyn and Manhattan is very
interesting to people. We’re not a while female hip-hop group from
anywhere else.
PBSTL: You have toured with De La Soul and Le
Tigre. Is there a different mindset touring with a rock band as opposed
to a hip-hop crew?
SPROUT: not really. We just go out
there and have a good time and work our hardest to put on the best,
most exciting, innovative, high energy, entertaining show we possibly
can. It has been amazing to open for such a wide variety of legendary
and inspiring artists. De La, Le Tigre, The Roots, Dilated Peoples, The
X-Ecutioners. We have learned something from every show we’ve played
and we’re always getting better at what we do.
PBSTL: Finally, you have been in the studio recently laying down new tracks, how is the new record coming along?
HESTA PRYNN: The new record is coming along great. It’s wonderful to be
able to have the time and money to really create the sound we’ve been
dreaming of, a luxury we didn’t have on Dying in Stereo. It’s also
incredible to be working with some hip-hop heroes we love and respect,
DJ Muggs, ?uestlove, Pete Rock to name a few.
While they are
no longer on the Girlz Garage tour, Northern State remain relevant,
creative and focused. They recently toured Scandinavia and the West
Coast. During the West Coast tour they took time out to record new
tracks with Muggs for their major label debut, which drops next spring.
Hip-hop will not be the same.
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