Sage Advice from a Hip-Hop Guru

by Kyle McAfee, Music Editor

The world is in a strange state these days. As the fallout from the Bush administration expediates our progress toward economic nuclear winter (or is it nucular?) people wonder where to turn for relief. For many that relief comes in the form of music. However the contemporary mainstream can lack the substance necessary for solace. Not to worry, that void is being filled in from the edges by Vast Aire. For those of you who have been ignoring hip-hop for the past ten years, Vast Aire has lent his unique and powerful rhymes to a plethora of projects. Whether it’s with groups and collectives like Cannibal Ox, Atoms Family, LXG or on his solo LPs (“Look Mom…. No Hands” & “Deuces Wild”) he never fails to inspire and entertain. In an email interview the New York based MC shares some words of wisdom regarding the current state of music, and some keys to surviving the recession.

High Con: Are you feeling any of the Auto-tuned, T-Pain spawned craze right now?

Vast Aire: YES YES YES!!! But some of these dudes use it too much or  they use it in a corny way!  Let Vast Aire break this down:  All of this voice box stuff comes from the lead singer of ZAPP, Roger Troutman!  {RIP}  Roger used a custom-made talkbox–the Electro Harmonix “Golden Throat,” as well as a Yamaha DX100 FM Synthesizer.  HIP HOPPERS ON THE WEST COAST BLEW THAT SOUND UP!  AND IT’S DOPE!  When it is done right!!!!  I LOVE THE MADD MAX DR. DRE JOINT WITH A 2-PAC “CALIFORNIA.”  BUT NOW WE ARE JUST USING IT TO USE IT!  THERE’S NO STYLE  TO IT ANYMORE.  I CHOP AND SCREW MY VOICE, IF I CAN SEE A CREATIVE LANE FOR IT IN MY SONGS.  I just don’t do it to do it.  It has to have a reason, and a SOUND REASON at that!

High Con: Do you think there’s an overall change that needs to and could occur to flip things to a more thoughtful mode in mainstream modern music, or do you believe pop music & pure escapism music serves a purpose that doesn’t need to change?

Vast Aire: THAT CHANGE IS NOW IT’S ME AND MY CREW LXG!!!  The PEOPLE are ready for new music, they want change, that’s why Obama won, we all want something new and powerful.  VAST AIRE IS THAT POWER.  I’m making music that will last for eons, I’m not making quick little summer hits, I’m making music that people will get married to, I’M MAKING JOINTS so that when people hear my song, it makes them leap back in time and say, “Man that was dope, I remember when…”  I knew I was doing my job when a good fan told me one of my songs kept them from killing themselves!  At that point I was like who cares about Gold Records when you just saved a life?  And who cares about the radio if they don’t play you, the internet killed the radio and the video star…  Remember!!!  The playing field is leveled now because I can do a video on my own and put it on Youtube, we dont’ care about the “major,” we lived before them and will live after them!

High Con: You have a lot of darkness and pain in your work, yet balance it with a sense of humor.  Are these weapons you’ve cultivated consciously, or do they come naturally?

Vast Aire: YES YES YES!  I CAN TELL YOU ARE A LISTENER!  They are weapons, my secret weapons of attraction.  My hook and line!!!  The pain is reral, we all go through pain but we also go through pleasure!  LIFE IS BALANCE!  If you don’t have equality in the life, you’re not truly living.  I use pain to set up all the great things in life!  So we can have a full understanding of real life, it’s not all fun & games but it’s not always bad!  My music is Yin-Yang!  I show the good and the evil side.

High Con: With the recession, there’s a cloud of promise on the horizon for artists, do you feel positive about seizing this opportunity in a time when people turn to storytellers, or have things got you down?

Vast Aire: I’m Vishnu Allah {Vast Aire} I’m never down, I Am the GOD of the Universe.  You have to control your cipher, or your cipher will control you!  take this time to move stronger and more effectively.  I’m a living Cultrure!  I can never be a fad!  I’m HIP HOP!  I WILL ALWAYS BE HERE!

High Con: What are two tracks you consider recession survival music?

Vast Aire: I LOVE “WHOOO” BY RAEKWON {WU-TANG} THAT’S MY JOINT RIGHT NOW!  Very powerful peace to the Gods.  I also like BUSTA RHYMES “ARAB MONEY.”

High Con: What’s a guilty pleasure you indulge?

Vast Aire: MY XBOX, I CAN BE ON THAT FOR HOURS AND I KNOW I COULD BE READING A BOOK OR SOMETHING!

High Con: What can’t you live without?

Vast Aire: PIN UP WOMEN!  KARATE FLICKS AND GOOD TREES.

Vast Aire: Salaam-

Check out the various musical works of Vast Aire by visiting myspace.com/vastaireofcanox, and also make sure to keep your eyes peeled for his newest lp being released sometime this year, The Great Adventures of Vast Aire.