Friday 5 August 2011

Kulez (Interview)


Standup Worldwide were lucky enough to catch up with Kulez about his latest EP, available now to get your hands on.

He's also on tour at the moment too, links are in the interview to check it all out.

SUW - What's Happenin Kulez, Good to see were finally gettin this interview done (All My Fault) but were doin it now, can you introduce yourself to the people that may not have heard of you?

Kulez - do ur research, I have a heap of battles I won and lost. 2 mixtapes deap, on da stand vol 1, vol 2 and a recent e.p out under the alias Kuda brown. That's the official shit, check the freestyles and remixes aswell. I do it all myself, from the management to the bookings to the promotion to the graphics to the press write ups (a hint of journalism there) to some of the production to some extent. Looking to start doing some videos soon. I'm currently going on tour, don't think that's some agency, that's me. 9 U.K dates confirmed, 2 in Europe, looking for more!

SUW - That sounds dope man, so do you feel it's better taking a stand and doing your own thing rather than letting someone take care of your shit?

Kulez - Yeah, I like to see every thing, have full control. I'm currently booking pusha t from clipse for a date in the uk on the 24th of September. I have a p.r and press company working on his p.r for the next 3 months but I still want to screen every thing and work with them closely rather than hand over the links and let them do their magic.

SUW - Ok now how did you first start off in the hip hop scene, did you just start by battling?

Kulez - As dumb as it sounds no. I started making music at like 14 in a crew called empire then moved to a duo called v.o.t.e standing for voice of the east, east being east anglia. Before that I attempted the guitar, played piano, my older brother schooled me on the drum kit and my mum made me sing in church. - it sucked that's y I don't go no more.

SUW - Dyou still work with the guys, and do you plan on using your instrumental skills on making your own backing music?

Kulez - Yeah, I wanna make all kinds of music, not just underground hip hop, that's why I have Kuda brown for my most sincere fan base.

SUW - What happened during 2009 and 2011, you kind went off the radar a bit?

Kulez - How did I go off the radar in that period? I got off the battle radar. I did alot of dubstep hosting at major raves in London. My live P.A show count was over a 100, fully paid events. I dropped a Mixtape sponsored by shmack clothing, had RA the Rugged man live at the vibe bar, t shirt printing, stickers, building the following, a bunch of festivals, not to mention the 10 bags from the BBC. Started getting featured on BBC Introducing Norfolk which led to some air play. Broke twice as many laws and didn't get caught. Freestyled enough verses to last 66 albums. I branched off into loads of other things like events promotion, built up my skills up as a producer, a lot of planing and thinking stuff through and picked up on other technics. Just all round growing up as well, which is always good outside the limelight - come on I was classed one of the top uk freestylers by the age of 16. And that's what turned into reality, alot of plans do fall through in this industry alot of money gets lost, it's not about the losses it's about how you overcome them...

SUW - Now the whole Scribble Jam thing musta filled you with high hopes cos it's a great thing how did you think you would get on at the time?

Kulez - Yeah i won the uk qualifiers 5days after not winning a single battle in the world rap championships. Got put on national radio, loads of press, and got flown out to america to try winning 5000 dollars to insult people. I'd love to go back and do it properly. I flew out the day they had terrorist scares in London, all fights where delayed, had no sleep, missed my transfer from Detroit but the weed I smuggled in my aerosol cap made the touch down in ohio so much better! shame it's stopped, iv always dreamt of resurrecting it in the U.K or something similar.

SUW - Now there was only one video i could find from you time at Scribble Jam, which was you and Deuce Leader, Mad slept on in this battle man there was very little to no crowd reaction on this, What's your thoughts on it?

Kulez - Yeah I wish I won and went further. Reef the lost cause was battling, I wanted in! They had the 1st 3 way battle at scribble that year. Plus illmaculate, thesaurus, nocando. Brother Ali did a live P.A. Iron soloman tlking about he is about to battle Jin. The pizzas...american portions! And ur changing pounds 2 dollars - 06 scribble was big! Check the parking lot battles vs big mox, ikon the mic king was around, the BBQ the next day, where I battled a few heads, tryna find a strib club in cinncinati, the marble bathroom floors in the hotel! Zoop! Zoop!

SUW - Your new EP, you got any surprises in store for us?

Kulez - It's an alias. Kuda brown. I wanted to always have a raw underground avenue to put stuff out even if I do decide to make other kinds of music in the future. The E.P is just an introduction, there is more to come from Kuda brown, as well as more to come from Kulez. Kuda brown is based on the completely stereotypical underground rapper at rock bottom.

SUW - Where can we get a hold of your new EP?

Kulez - Http://www.kudabrown.tk but it is currently sold out! Moved a lot of units in the 1st week. No digital copies, didn't want it to be a this one time at band camp story, it's some underground raw shit which u can only get on compact disc. Nearly put it out on tape only...catch me on tour or make an order and you will probably get it 2 months late!

SUW -You Got any shoutouts for people?

Kulez - My DJ holding it down on tour! My dealer who Kuda brown owes a tick to.

Big thanks to Kulez for doing this interview with me, its taken a while to be put on the internet but it's here and that's the main thing.

Go get the Kuda Brown LP, from his site, it's dope

Peace

Standup Worldwide

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