Aza T aka The Podfather lashes out at RWD critics (Thanks for the headline Shy One LOL)

I was bored the other day, so I thought I’d check out this whole Podcast thing going on, I couldn’t find anything that interested me, but then I remembered.....UR MUM VOL. 1 from RWD Forum has a Grime Podcast! After checking them out, I gave The Podfather aka Aza T a ring on the mobile and met him for a drink in the West Ham Hammers pub (No sign of Logan anywhere)

Me and Aza T down the pub



What’s up Aza T?

(Aza lights up a cigarette) A lot man - its exam season, one week left then im free

Whats The Grime Scene Podcast?

Its basically a project that I started around September time of last year; mainly just to push forward the Grime sound. It consists of the latest grime tracks both vocals and instrumentals and each podcast is about 30 minutes long with the mixing done by myself, Aza T

What kinda work do you put into The Grime Scene Podcast? Getting tracks..etc...

Its a lot more than i thought to be honest with you! The hardest part is networking within the scene to bring new artists to the episodes to keep it fresh and exciting for the listeners. The month in between each podcast episode launch sees me about on myspace messaging artists, informing them of the podcast and then sorting out arrangments for tracks if they are so kind as to not pie me out. Then i get the tracks off the artists that I already chat to on msn or via email. Once ive got a few stacked up in the old "My Recieved Folder" then I set up a folder of definite podcast tracks into one folder. While all this is going on I still look at the talent that message me on myspace and chat to me on my podcast account: thegrimescenepodcast@hotmail.co.uk because there are a lot of excellent up and comers that want to feature on the podcast and its unfair if i pay all my attention just to the bigger names... Once i get the tracks I mix them all together in one take and then sort out the artwork tracklisting with the designers: www.v8design.net and www.myspace.com/datboyb .

Once the podcast is a finished mp3 file then i upload it to the Garageband website who currently host my podcast and then once its ready to download, its promotion promotion promotion.

You have a few well known grime artists on there but theres alot of lesser known talented acts on there, like D-Structo, Shy One, Hektik etc......what made you feature these types of Grime acts?

(Downs a pint of Strong Bow and finally answers) D-Structo, Shy One etc were the people that got in touch with me over myspace or msn and showed me some of their tracks and the production levels that, those two especially are pulling out with are very high, as high as some of the bigger names. The podcast is not just aimed at promotion for big names, but also a platform for up and comers as well. The best thing about bringing in new Producers each episode is that it doesn't matter if they dont have a big name, as long as the beat sounds good then what else can a listener complain about.

Any new acts appearing on the next one?

Yeah man theres small batch of new artists that haven't featured on the podcast so far but I don't want to mention any names yet; keep it a suprise...

(During this time, the interview is interrupted by some bloke, who wants to pick up some work from Aza T.... )

When did you start listening to Grime?

Boy, the first time i started listening to grime was when Channel U started. What drew me to U at first was the fact that they played hip hop cause i was a hip hop guy back in the day but when i started to see uk talent doing well on U...i hopped on to limewire and downloaded tracks from people i saw on the TV like Lethal B, Wiley, Crazy Titch, Dizzee Rascal. Everytime i saw a video from a different UK artist i was feeling th e vibes, even people like Akala who aren't what most people call grime... it was the fact that they were from the UK and i could relate to them. How can a 13/14 year old boy relate to 50 cent who talks about guns and bitches and cars? But yeah, i was about 13/14 i think when i first started listening to Grime.

Your top 5 Grime Songs right now?

Right now at this moment in time i would have to say:
Ghetto - Hero (Ft Devlin) (Produced By Merlin)
Random Impulse - Masks (Produced By Maniac)
Skepta - To Be Experienced (Produced By P Jam) The beat alone for this one is ridicously Sick
Ghetto - Menace (Produced By Scorcher)
Fumin - Why U Gotta Act Like That (Ft Black The Ripper, Faction G & Lykez) (Produced By DVA) The concept is sick

Theres alot of debate about what Grime is, so whats Grime to Aza T?

I Love Grime. I love it because it is so versatile and it consists of such converging and altering styles. I love it because i can relate to it myself, as an individual. I myself go through many different moods and feelings and everything I listen to in Good Grime has the ability to portray alteast a few of these feelings in just one song.
i dunno init

War Martial gave me air, when i emailed him about a interview.....is that a par?

No, the thing about emails is sometimes people don't get them. Second of all, I know personally that I get a lot of messages and emails a day, regarding podcast information and new artists etc, and it is so easy to loose track of who you have responded to and who you haven't. I've spoken to war martial a few times and he doesn't really seem like the type of bloke to air someone out purposefully. I think if you still want to do the interview, email him again and you will probably get a response; sometimes its just bad luck that it happens to be your email he forgets to open or forgets to read or forgets to reply because believe me, it does happen. (Aza T offers to handle Paul on the road, but I tell him to allow it)

Whats next for Aza T? Video Podcast, DJing, Production, MCing maybe??.

LOL at mcing, I don't have the patience to sit down and write good bars and then learn them, it sounds too much like revision and i can't even do that. Production is something i would love to be able to do, i have so many ideas for beats and melodies in my head but when it comes to relating that on to fruity, i get lost instantly. Im good with computers, but those programs are next level, especially when you are as impatient as I am and unwilling to start using a "trial and error" method...

I am however starting a lot of new projects un related to the podcast enitrely. For example I am starting an internet released Ep Project with producers and after my exams, i am going to start building the webiste for the podcast with a lot of o ther features that should help the scene grow, as a community as well as bring in new fans from neighbouring genres...

On a scale of 1 to 10, How good was that interview?

I Would probably give you a 8. You didn't really do anything wrong but I reckon you could have asked more specific questions...lmao (Off the record, Aza T says the interview was much better than any of Logan’s interviews on Kiss)

Shy One Interview

As you know by now, I like GRIME music not the bullshit that has been passing for it lately, so I was pleasantly surprised to come across a young producer on RWD Forum (during one of my hate campaigns), most of the time the producers and MCs on RWD doing their self promotion are terrible but Shy One caught my eye!, Not in a Wiley & NY underage sex way but in a respect for her grimy production kinda way......

What Software you using?

FL Studio 6 (Fruity loops) and if I'm sampling i use Wavepad

What's your production process, when you're building a Grime beat? What's essential to the track?

Well because i rarely use samples and am more of a 'from scratch' beat maker i usually start with the melody then go on to do the drums and then bass, then i'll start to build the beat and add all the extra's as i go on. BASS is definitely essential in grime!


Who are your production influences?

My main influences are Wiley, Wookie, Rapid, Target and JME but i listen to quite a lot of other genre's and am influenced by other artists like Skream, Nirvana, Sihlouette Brown and the Neptunes

Do you use samples and loops?

Sometimes i'll use a sample in a beat but to be honest sampling is isn't really my thing. I prefer making beats without them.

There is alot of debate about what Grime actually is right now, So what is Grime to you?

Im not going to say something cliché like Grime isn't just a genre its a lifestyle because I feel by saying that you're basically saying you cant be a true grime fan or artist unless you're working class and from an estate in London. To me grime is a genre created by us for us as its relatively new and audience are mainly under 20. People in my age group seem to be going crazy recently and young people been getting a lot of bad media so grime is also showing that we can be artistic and express ourselves in other positive ways.

What do you think of all these Bait Hip Hop tracks?

I know that grime is influenced by Hip Hop and obviously Hip Hop came first and i don't mind grime tunes that have a slight hip hop feel but are still grimy but i think if you're gonna do a cheap imitation of hip hop and call it grime just make a real hip hop tune. It's annoying a lot of people including me when you but a mix c.d. expecting it to be grime and get some 140bpm hip hop sounding tunes.

Is it any harder for a female producer to get heard in the scene?

It is and it isn't really. I get people either rating me more than they would if i was a boy, because I'm female but then i get people who i can tell don't take me seriously and wouldn't put me in the same class as other male producers. Luckily most people who go on my myspace don't bother to read my profile and automatically think I'm a boy and still give me props lol.

Any plans for some vinyl releases soon?

I would love to. Not just because it would be a big achievement for me as a new up n coming beat maker but also because right now I think grime's slacking with vinyl releases and whenever I take a trip to my local record shop, Im not too impressed if there is anything new, I think producers are getting lazy and just flinging on any old beat sometimes. Hopefully this year Ill do a joint EP with someone though if not one on my own.

You working with any MCs?

You know what, MCs really p*ss me off. You get them asking you to make them or send them beats and if you decline they'll say you're big headed and when i do actually make beats for them do i ever even receive a vocal? The few MC's i have/will be working with are Castro Saint, Shalo Dat Kid, Kwam, Random Impulse and a few others. I've made beats for others but i rarely get any vocals back.

What MCs would you like to work with?

I've got favorite artists but i've never really thought of working with them, it's not too realistic lol. Wiley, Trim, JME and scorcher probably.

What's the feedback from the grime scene been like? The Grime acts, Grime fans, RWD Forum, Myspace users...etc..

I'm lucky to have been receiving some really positive positive feedback on Myspace and even RWD (which we all know isn't the easiest thing). Most of the people who like my stuff say it's because it's different which at first i was unsure was a good thing but i now realise seems to be working in my favor.

Check out Shy One production on Myspace:

www.myspace.com/shyonebeats
www.myspace.com/shyonebeats2

Wiley's videos......

I really hate Wiley's videos, they just piss me off! Is it just me or does everybody look bang on the crack pipe??

Check them out

The Official Carter Review Of Maths & English

World Outside - Under produced mellow track, that doesn’t sound forced, its a nice start to the album! Big bars and beat!

Pussyhole (OldSkool) - I love this song but how is this gonna be a single lol!?! Dizzee Rascal>>>>>>Wiley! Says what everybody from Newham knows “Pussy undercover”

Sirens - Amazing record....nothing else to say.....but Cage can produced!!!

Where’s Da G’s - (ft. UGK) - If The Movement made tracks like this, i wouldn’t have a problem with their Dip Set image!!! Fucking great, its gonna be the next single i think?? You can keep it UK if you try!!!! GRIME!!!!

Paranoid - The beat is massive!! Really deep lyrics, He showed everybody how to make these type of tracks on Boy In Corner! Sounds like old Dizzee Rascal.....i like it when he goes in depth about his feelings like Sittin Here and Brand New Day!

Suk My Dick - I like it, the flow is a lil bit weird though but its not terrible!

Flex - Swag song, beat is good...nothing else to say! This must be the Lemons replacement

Da Feelin’ - This track is sick! The production is tight, some drum and bass ting! Trying something new without sounding fake!

Bubbles - This beat is some next industrial type beat, He makes it look easy to flow over any type of beat! The production is better than most grime out now!!!

Excuse Me Please - Swag!

Hardback (Industry) - Big concept, handles the subject well....its not mindless talk about getting signed for a mill, smart record! The beat kinda drags a lil bit...

Temptation - (ft. Alex Turner) Massive track, the bass is sick......but the original is much better, should’ve gave Footsie the production for this....expected better!

Wanna Be - FUCK OFF! This better not be a single.......Lily Allen is a cunt

U Can’t Tell Me Nuffin’ - Fucking Hell..........still the best in grime! Should’ve had Footsie all over this album!!!!

Carter rating
9/10

If you don’t think this is grime........you’re lost!

Carter The Blogger?????

I just finished my dissertation on English Literature, when i got a PM (Personal Message) from Danny Walker on the RWD Forum.....He said "Carter, you rule doogie, you should have your own column in RWD Mag" but i wasn't really down with the idea, so i started a blog! You can find all "The Official Carter Reviews" on here soon, after I copy and paste them.....if I can be bothered because the joke is already wearing thin!