TMB-Music.com: Interview: @JeffSpec Did It For The Kicks ... And More

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Interview: @JeffSpec Did It For The Kicks ... And More

Pic by Omar Khan

OC first put me on to Jeff Spec. It was right before the recent release of SneakerBoxxx from the Vancouver emcee, who has been rhyming since ’93 but only taking it more seriously in the last 10 years or so.

I liked what I heard. It was his track "Microphone Bully" that caught my attention immediately. It led me to check the dude out a little more.

Sneakerboxxx at just 11 tracks is dope from front to back.

But don't let the name mislead you to believe that his entire project will be about his love for sneakers - sure there's a fair amount of references to kicks in his rhymes - it’s more than that. Jeff explains in more detail but his rhymes and the content of the project is a bit conscious Hip-Hop, a bit party and all heartfelt. Jeff rhymes with reason and the dude definitely has something to say.

I reached out to Jeff Spec for a Q&A recently. We talked kicks and music. Check it out.

TMB: So, Jeff it's safe to say you're a sneaker head?

JS: Yes indeed, I love sneakers... I think that's a pretty common thing in Hip-Hop, to at least have a healthy appreciation and maybe different levels of commitment to collecting.

TMB: How many pair of kicks do you have?

JS: I keep anywhere from 20-30 pairs usually... I'm not one of those sneakerheads with an extra room for shoes - anymore, at least. I buy and wear sneakers, so they eventually wear out, because you know you wear the same pair a bunch when you get really into it, or at least I do. My girl and I have a decent size apartment but if I tried to have like 100 pairs I'm pretty sure there'd be an issue with that!

TMB: How long have you been collecting?

JS: I always wanted to have crazy gear and sneakers when I was younger, like some of the kids in school but just never had the budget for that, until I moved out and started actually being self-sufficient. So really it's been within the past 8 years for me or probably a little bit less. I think part of the allure of being well dressed is to make up for lost time for a lot of sneaker heads and just heads in general, because the whole Hip-Hop culture is inherent to a financial class where you're used to having less. When you branch out and come of age, it's like a way of rewarding yourself and also maybe a bit of approval seeking and obsessive compulsiveness, just trying to prove something.

TMB: How does kicks and music work together for you?

JS: It's definitely a big thing to look right when you get on stage for any musician or artist. And, music is a form of expression, just like individual style can be if you take it on like that. Sneakers were a big part of b-boy culture in the 80's, back when the term 'b-boy' just referred to a Hip-Hop head, and I think that stuck. We've always been about rugged individualism and looking unique is a huge part of that, hence the thousands of different styles of all the classic sneakers that came out back in the 80's and earlier.

TMB: Random question and maybe I missed this somewhere on your project but why the extra "x's" in Sneakerboxxx? Is this like the x-rated version of kicks? (LAUGHS)

JS: For one, I was doing a play on the Big Boi album title, which just spoke to me in the sense that it was a spin on something recognizable in the context of modern pop culture... It's not something that I put a ton of thought or time into, as far as the spelling.

Pic by Omar Khan

TMB: So, what's the concept behind Sneakerboxxx?

JS: I'm glad you asked that. A lot of people jump to the conclusion that the whole record is about sneakers - and yes, I have a love song about sneakers, and yeah, I mention sneakers a healthy amount of times on a few of the songs... But the sneaker box is a whole different entity. Even if you're not a sneaker head you can relate, because we all have boxes from old pairs of long gone sneakers with memorabilia stored in them. I have a box in my closet, I think maybe from some old AF1s that has like cassette tapes, photos, CDs, notes I wrote to myself, notebooks, etc. The box takes on a whole new life when the shoes have run their course, and I think this album touches on a lot of things that we can all see in our present and past, because I always make sure to speak from true experience, and from an honest and vulnerable place.

TMB: Who did you work with on Sneakerboxxx?

JS: My good friend and mentor Moka Only is probably the most recognizable name on the album. Also, another friend name Shane Eli produced and appears on "Mic Bully," which is one of my favorites. Then I have some amazing vocal talents that pop up, like Dan Klenner and Omar Khan, and of course NaRai (who you see at the end of the “On My Feet” video), who I have to say is going to be doing some serious things over the next year. The production is mainly the team of myself and a couple guys named Jim Black and Max Zipursky, from a Vancouver soul/jazz band called Star Captains - also some incredibly talented dudes. Last but not least, Tyme One from Toronto did the beat for “Stop”, which is another big tune for me.

TMB: What track on Sneakerboxxx speaks to who you are as an emcee?

JS: “Stop” is definitely an important one for me. I went in on the rhymes, and at the same time, stayed focused on saying something positive and just being open without pushing any kind of stereotypical image on it. “My Story” is another one where you can see that I'm nice with the pen (if I can say that - no ego attached to that statement) and I express a little bit of what I've experienced during my time as an artist.

TMB: What track on Sneakerboxxx speaks to who you are as a person?

JS: I really hope to say all of them, or at least that was the goal. I have songs like “God Knows” where I'm really just being sentimental to my girl, and “Stranger,” where I'm almost pleading with some of the people in my past and present to get their lives back together... Then you take a jam like “Whenever You Fall,” and I'm just feeling like I'm on top of the world, and I think that everyone goes through a spectrum of experience and emotion, so I'm doing what I can to represent as much of that as possible.

Pic by Omar Khan

TMB: What's something you want people to take away from listening to Sneakerboxxx?

JS: I'm happy if everyone can just find any one thing that affects them, in any way, where they feel some kind of emotion or maybe take a moment to think because of something I said. And I'm ecstatic if a group of people can actually say that they felt the record from top to bottom, or most of the way through, because that's why I still make albums as opposed to just doing singles for the rest of forever. The best thing for me is just hearing people's opinions, whatever they are, and trying to learn and grow through that. At the end of the day, music is just one part of everyone's life, but it's really important to me, so I hope to make something that can last, and you can go back to years down the line and say it's still relevant and real to you, and something that can bring you back to where you were when you first heard it.

Jeff Spec "Truck Sh*t"