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Feb
02
2008
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Forbidden Tongues The Musical Outlaw Interview |
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Saturday, 02 February 2008 |
 The UK Hip Hop scene is one of the most anticipated genres trying to establish a steady market within the music industry, and if it wasn’t for our producers creativity collaborating with artistry and for DJ’s representing this their would be no music. Forbidden Tongues is an aspiring DJ and producer representing his own musical creativity and representing some of the finest UK aptitudes, but his modesty and appreciation for accomplishments to date is like magnetism to a destiny of success.
Forbidden Tongues had carried interests within music for as long as he can remember, although he doesn’t come from a musical family his parents always held house parties with the entertainment from the likes of The Stylistics and Jean Michel Jarre blasting from their stereo. Tungz had his first encounter with musical aspirations with the likes of the King of Pop
“During the late 80’s I was really into Michael Jackson and the whole Quincy Jones sound, listening to albums such as Thriller & Off The Wall really influenced me in my decision to try and be a part of music, but being from a Mersey working class estate it just wasn’t attainable to me or anybody else for that matter.”
Fortunate for him, Tungz took pride in his ambitions and later began to develop the sound of Forbidden Tongues
“Due to the lack of accessibility and an ever-growing dance scene, it wasn’t until the year of 1993 that I really had the chance to appreciate “Non-Commercial” Hip Hop, and with the breakdown of my parent’s marriage and a lot of other issues, I was needing an outlet to release my emotions. Hip Hop was one of them!!... by 1994 I was listening to artists such as Gang Starr, Keith Murray, Wu Tang, Biggie, Tribe Called Quest and Redman via Westwoods Radio 1 Hip Hop Show… I was obsessed with it, especially after finally having enough money to get my first album, ENTER THE WU TANG (36 CHAMBERS). From that point on I started writing lyrics and during the late 90’s I was mingling with a few Hip Hop DJ’s and producers.”
In September 1999 a very close friend who was also a DJ passed away followed by his Gran in 2000, Forbidden Tongues needed time to grieve and put his musical venture on hold until he was able to put 100% into his work effort. 2004 was the year he decided to continue perfecting his musical craft,
“I also decided to move to Manchester to learn about how to produce and record, just so that I could lay down my lyrics. Since April 2006 I have been producing, and well, as they say…. The rest is history”.
Forbidden Tongue describes his music as a blend personal life experiences expressed through art,
“It’s fearless, Passionate, energetic and yet still sombre at times. Every track is a reflection of my mood at any point in time, some might say that my music is too simplistic, but at times, so is life.”
With influences from his West Indian, Native American Indian and Anglo roots, they include Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Michael Jackson, Wu Tang Clan, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Tupac Shakur, Nelson Mandela and surrounding peers,
“Also the Universe…everything that I see, everything that inspires the human spirit. Passionate people inspire me, people who move away from the norm, people who are willing to stand up on their on two feet and make things happen, these are all very influential to both myself and my progression.”
Tungz released his first project, ‘Konnekt’, which consists of his compelling music production and a craft where he has most defiantly perfected versatility. He held an album launch party in April 2007 at Joshua Brooks nightclub in Manchester, which Tungz had independently organised,
“It was stressful due to the fact that I was organising the night and the artists as well as DJ’ing and performing alongside the artists AND trying to sell some CD’s at the same time! But overall it was extremely overwhelming, it felt like the perfect ending to a year worth of work, and if anything it taught me a hard lesson on Live Performance-be prepared!! But I still enjoyed every minute of it as it was just me and my mates doing what we love doing, HIP HOP”
Other events include performing with artists such as Parradox, Brother Ghazi, EJ, Chronicle, Guti, and Guilty & Jaro. Although Forbidden Tongues has only begun his musical venture, he’s already aware of the pressures and expectations of the music industry. And being an independent producer and DJ, he’s marketing and promoting his projects single handily,
‘producing Hip Hop without any help, just sitting there playing with my MPC 1000 & Cubase for hours on end and diggin into records for samples and not knowing anything is a big obsticle. But I do feel that this allows you to develop a style without the influence of outsiders, like if someone knows how to produce like Pete Rock then they gonna teach you how to produce like Pete Rock, well… where’s the originality in that? So I guess with continual practice I have overcome some aspects of production... But it’s a slow process and I’m forever learning!”
Tungz sees that there is no real support for established UK artists let alone the independent,
“we all seem to be just doing it by ourselves and climbing up the ladder one by one. I think the main issue over here in the UK is that most of the major labels are either U.S. companies or created with U.S. investment, they snap up our UK acts and then they re-package us into what they think works! In most cases that means sounding more American in both the sound and in our lyrics, but that ain’t us because we’re British. Either way, nobody really wants to touch us unless we are doing something that they can market, hence the reason why a lot of artists are trying to emulate the U.S. scene. Plus I also feel that the big UK distributors only want to deal with the big names. It’s all about money and we ain’t got it.”
Taking all of the above into consideration, Tungz knows that this is the current state of UK Hip Hop music in particular and accepts that, his determination and will to keep developing his craft already temps fate with longevity within the music industry. With the likes of Forbidden Tongues circling the scene and holding intentions of pushing aspiring artists, a positive impact will no doubt be recognised and highly respected. Tungz modesty is also a characteristic that will be certainly admired,
“My biggest musical achievement is just everything to do with what I’m doing. Every track, every collaboration, being initially played on Dagga G’s Knight Ryder Show on ALL FM to being played on Huw Stephens Radio 1 “INTRODUCING” show. The 3 star reviews in Hip Hop Connection for my debut album “KONNEKT” to interviews like this, it’s a blessing for which I appreciate.”
To date projects have been promoted local and nationally with radio rotation, press reviews and interviews and online networking such as MySpace. Although only one official project has been released, Tungz has worked with many artists and gained a lot of inspiration to pursue his ambitions further,
“Parradox, who’s a Hip Hop MC from Stoke-On-Trent. He’s like the Guru to my Premier, the Rakim to my Eric B, the CL Smooth to my Pete Rock, but mentally more like the Ol’ Dirty Bastard to my Rza hahah, whenever we get in the studio we on some madness, nothing but good vibes to push out there. Every track is a head snap!! BELIEVE!!”
2008 is the second year anniversary of Forbidden Tongues status as a producer and has taken that into account for his next project,
“I decided to come with my 2nd album which is called “360 DEGREES OF REPARATION”, which is gonna be a lot harder and a lot more away from what I feel other people are doing right now in the UK. I love that boom bap sound, crunchy hard drums, off the rail MC’s and yet a slice of conscious vibes at times, and you gonna get that on this next outing. I’ve grown as a producer and as a person since the first LP and I just want people to see that. I’m trying to bring through some more hard working artists such as Fluid, who’s from Manchester and Zimbabwe Guti who’s just turned 17 and is now residing in Stoke-On-Trent. I’ve also got a lot more Brother Ghazi on this next LP, whom I feel is going to set a standard for UK Hip Hop in the next few years, watch out for him. I’ve also been looking to work with established artists in the UK, but they ain’t listening to me right now which is cool be cause I got this far on my own, so we will see. Although saying that, I must admit though ED STRONG from THE IRS has been showing me love since day and he features on this next LP, so… expect a lot! I’m thinking about moving out of Manchester and setting up either a label or a production company, maybe deal with a little promotion and management at the same time after I finish this music business degree. That’s about it really, just more and more progression.”
For further information on Forbidden Tongues and forthcoming projects, check out www.myspace.com/forbiddentongues
Words by : Nina Carmela
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