Ill Bill believes that his latest record with Vinnie Paz entitled Heavy Metal Kings predicted the recent events in Egypt
Conspiracy theory hip-hop? Think again. Ill Bill believes that his latest record with Vinnie Paz entitled Heavy Metal Kings predicted the recent events in Egypt and that the most interesting part is yet to come as the rest of the year unfolds. "Oh man, we definitely predicted what was going to happen in that country!" laughs the rapper, also known as William Braunstein.
"A lot of the stuff that we talk about on this album. I don’t know if it’s funny or if it’s just strange how it’s actually ended up happening. There’s obviously a lot of chaos, a lot of negative stuff happening there. Some people have put what I talk about in a box where it’s viewed as conspiracy theories or whatever – but a lot of this stuff has started to happen at the moment. We’re talking about a lot of bad stuff that’s really going on in the world. Half of it hasn’t happened – half of it has happened! It will be amusing to see whether the rest of it will probably happen within the next year."
His recent split project with Paz which has seen it result in an upcoming full-length album based on a previous track the duo had collaborated on in the past, Braunstein says fans can get ready to experience the darker side of life.
"’Heavy Metal Kings’ is just that – it’s heavy," he explains. "Vinnie and I, we like to talk about the touchy subjects. We like to question things, as everybody should, and there are a lot of uncomfortable questions being asked on the album. We are trying to spawn a dialogue, really. We make money doing hip-hop but we don’t like talking about shit we buy or how much money we make or all the boring topics everybody else is rapping about. We’ll leave that to them. I think by touching up on more current events and the dark side of life, we’re filling a void that’s been there for a while."
In Braunstein’s own words – ‘Heavy Metal Kings’ is hardcore hip-hop that speaks the uncompromising truth. Throw in the mix a punk-rock and heavy metal attitude, and you get yourself a no-bells-and-whistles, all-killer debut album from the duo. "I’d say we’ve spent a couple of years doing this record," says Braunstein. "With me and Vinnie it makes it hard because we’re both always working on multiple projects at the same time. Maybe it’s also seemed like it’s taken a longer time to finish the album because we’ve been talking about doing it for such a long time."
For Braunstein personally, the most exciting part about ‘Heavy Metal Kings’ was taking chances, taking risks and treating the project as something of a gamble. As opposed to working with close friends and well-known producers as per usual, the rapper claims giving some up-and-coming, new producers a go on the record was one of the highlights of making the album. "Vinnie and I obviously go way back, but we’ve got a lot of new people on this record," he explains. "I think that’s really cool. It gave me a chance to work with producers that I knew very little about, that I’d never met before… We’ve got a couple of new producers who live in France which happened thanks to the internet, of course. Me and Vin were very, very open-minded with this record, and for me that was very different because I normally only work with people I know quite well. I guess the frame of mind behind this record was just not giving a shit and not caring about who these people are, as long as I like their beats!"
Other than the April release of Heavy Metal Kings, Braunstein says his upcoming visit to Australia is most definitely going to be the highlight of 2011. Not only is it going to see the rapper down-under for the very first time, but it will also see a reunion with former Non Phixion members DJ Eclipse and Sabac Red. Once notorious in Brookyln’s underground hip-hop scene, the hardcore group went on non-definite hiatus in 2006 which led to Ill Bill’s consequent solo career.
"Yeah, we’re going to do some Non Phixion stuff because I know a lot of people still want to hear that," says Braunstein. "I can’t wait to see Eclipse and Sabac, it’s going to be like the old days again. I’m not concerned about anything though because for us it’s always been natural when we’re up on the stage. I think we can go for a long, long time without seeing each other and I think it would still be like we never really called it at a day. It’s a rare opportunity to do this because everybody has their fingers in so many different pies."
Ill Bill [US] plays the Corner Hotel on Thursday March 17.
