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The Bassment, Volume Three: Boombox Saints

The Bassment is a weekly article bringing you coverage of the best in Hip Hop and Electronic music from around Vancouver.

If you think there is someone or something that needs coverage in this city in regards to the Hip Hop / Electronic community then get in touch with us.

The Bassment is a weekly article bringing you coverage of the best in Hip Hop and Electronic music from around Vancouver. Weekly interviews, event coverage, album and concert reviews that show how awesome our city's electronic and hip hop scene really is.

The Boombox Saints have been on the local grind for some time: working on rhymes and beats, opening for acts like Kid Cudi and Far East Movement to Talib Kweli and Souls of Mischief, documenting their day in the life's on their youtube channel and now have recently released not one but 2 EPs free for download independently:  the Boombox EP and Bringing the Boom Back EP as well as a single (via Nettwerk records) and video for She Got (off the latter EP). We caught up with Huggy Fresh, Freeky P and Adlib between the two releases for some of their thoughts about getting their work out there, their local collaborators and influences and what's going in the Vancouver hip hop scene in general.

Read the interview below.

VIA: How are you guys feeling about this release as opposed to finishing a single or a show?

Huggy Fresh: The feeling with the release of the Boombox EP and finishing a single or a show are completely different things, i mean all three feel amazing to accomplish but they all have different highs. Either way, we know there's still a lot of work ahead of us so whether its releasing a project, single or finishing a show, we know we gotta keep it movin'.

Freeky P: It feels good to get out a project you been working on for a minute, all the time and energy it takes to put out this can finally be shared and the push we been getting makes it worth it. The high takes a bit, like smoking that kush that creeps up on you. As for performing, its crack, put it in your pipe and smoke it type feel, real fast, real strong, then its gone and you fiending to get back on.

Adlib: Anytime you release something that you know you've worked on and put your heart into, it is always a great feeling. The EP was especially a good feeling because it was an opportunity for us to branch out and show our style of music to a wider audience to people who haven't heard us before and hopefully get acquainted with us, musically and as a brand. But nothing beats doing a live show!!

VIA: Tell me more about the Boombox EP? Who did the production? Any other local collaborations? Any local influences in the song writing, etc?

Freeky P: Dj Hunt did "She Got" and "We Don't Care", K Rec did "Flip It", Pluskratch did "Star", and co produced "Straight Killing Em" with Huggy Fresh who did "I'll be".

We didnt have any features on the EP except collabs with the producers, there's 3 of us so vocally we didn't have much room to share especially on an EP. where were trying to showcase our songwriting and composing as a group.

Huggy Fresh: Collaborations with local artists aren't on the Boombox EP just because we wanted to keep the focus on the group, however we do have an upcoming project with collaborations from Matt Brevner, Jeff Spec and Jaykin so look out for that!

VIA: Tell me about the making of the She Got video. Are you guys feeling more experienced with the music video making thing now?

Adlib: It was a great experience. I think were still in the learning phase of video making though. But i think as a group we want to get on that level, if you know what i mean. Where it just becomes almost natural and second nature. Because the whole video aspect is so important, we want to be as good with the videos as we are in the studio and on stage.

Huggy Fresh: The She Got video is, of course, a song for the ladies (you'll find a lot of our work is influenced by the females lol) and with a pop sound we wanted to give that lounge / party type of feel for the visuals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCIHqZy4UtQ

VIA: What's the timing like right now for Vancouver, hip hop and the BBS?

Huggy Fresh: I've never felt Vancouver hip hop at such an amazing high, there's so many talented artists startin' to break out and help put Vancouver hip hop back on the map, artists like Jeff Spec, Matt Brevner, Jaykin, Son Real, D-City only to name a few..and its not just hip hop, its music in general coming out of Vancouver! Sometimes its not just about timing but its what you do with the opportunity that's given to you so we'll see how far we take this but trust me, this is gonna be an amazing ride!

Freeky P: Vancouver is bubbling right now, everything comes in cycles and its coming back around again. The Rascalz, Swollen, Moka, they put it down and put Van on the map, then there's our generation who's job is to make sure Van stays on the map. There's been some time between generations really to get it poppin, just the way the game has been evolving, with the internet now its very easy to spread your music beyond the province, 2011 will be a pivotal year for us as a group and Vancouver as a scene.

Adlib: I think its definitely a great time for the scene in Vancouver right now. I'm just happy to say that we're a part of the whole movement. There has always been a lot of talent in Vancouver i guess now people are finally recognizing and seeing that. Jeff Spec, Matt Brevner, the whole BSharp camp, Jay kin, Son Real, D-City, Heatwave and the Killawatt fam and thats just to name a few...we're making a lot of noise right now, its definitely an exciting time so look out!!