Beans: The End Is The Beginning

Anti-Pop Consortium rapper <b>Beans</b> is back with a new solo LP on Anticon – and this time, he’s brought Four Tet, Interpol and his special jumper along for the ride

Feature by Bram Gieben | 02 Feb 2011

Beans is one third of the seminal electronic hip-hop trio Anti-Pop Consortium. Together, APC revolutionized the rap world with their albums Ends Against The Middle and Arrhythmia, both released on Warp Records, expanding the sonic palette of rap to include booming synthetic bass, inventive glitch-y flourishes and deeply experimental rhyme patterns and lyrical techniques. As a solo artist, Beans has released Tomorrow Right Now and Now Soon Someday, and the under-appreciated, mostly self-produced classic Shock City Maverick on Warp. More recently, the self-released Thorns saw the rapper / producer employing a raw, confessional lyrical style. Last year, he released and toured with APC to promote their epic comeback record, Fluorescent Black.

Now, Beans has returned with his latest solo album, the rhyme-focused End It All, to be released by Los Angeles (via Oakland) independent / experimental pioneers Anticon. This time, Beans has brought a raft of guest producers in to provide the beats: ranging from Four Tet to Sam Fogarino of Interpol, Son Lux, and Tobacco. The result? A rhyme-focused, wildly inventive collection of straight-up hip-hop rhymes over exotic, leftfield beats: from the addictive funk-shuffle of the DJ Nobody-produced Deathsweater, to the menacing Mellow You Out, featuring Tunde Adebimpe of TV On The Radio. We caught up with Mr Ballbeam, and quizzed him on End It All, his Anticon move, and what he makes of the current crop of rising hip-hop stars.

Having recently finished the Fluorescent Black tour with the full band, is it very different working on solo material again?

It’s a matter of not having to make those necessary concessions that have to be in place in a group situation. Everything is under my control, and I have to oversee everything, make sure everything is right on my end. So yeah, it’s different – sometimes being in a band situation makes things easier, because you can delegate certain responsibilities, but I kind of like being on my own... watching and overseeing everything. Total control. I kind of enjoy that.

How did you get involved with the producers on End It All?

I knew DJ Nobody, who did Deathsweater, Ade Firth I met through a friend of mine, name of Vincent – he introduced me to him. Sam from Interpol, we were friends, and he reached out. So, you know, it was various people like that – Four Tet, I had toured with him, and with Prefuse 73. So it was kinda like that – people I knew, and people I was a fan of, so I just asked them. Most of the people I asked were pretty cool about it. There was one producer – I’m gonna leave him nameless – I did the track, and then when he actually heard it, he wasn’t cool about the direction it went in, so I decided to leave it off the album. But that was the only one hitch working with different producers – everything else was pretty cool.

Can you explain the thinking behind your move away from Warp, and finally to Anticon?

I left Warp after Shock City Maverick. My last album after that was Thorns, and I had self-released that. I knew, with all these producers, that I had to find a means of putting it out, I couldn’t put it out on my own and have the strength and the muscle behind it that it needed. So I was looking at various labels, and Anticon, they have been around for a long time, doing their own thing. The Tobacco album just came out [on Anticon]... I was seeing the moves they were making with the products that they did, and I saw they were really supportive of their artists. I liked their hustle, and that was what made me decide to try and do the album with them. Also, I met [Anticon rapper] Why? when I was touring Thorns, and we ended up doing a show together. I started talking to him about pursuing Anticon and the various labels I was looking at, and at that point Anticon was my number one choice. So then when they were like, ‘Yeah, let’s go with it,’ I agreed, and that’s kinda how it happened!

Anticon and APC started out in the hip-hop game around the same time. Initially, New York native Beans might have seemed like an odd choice for the Oakland-based label, but with both Beans and Anticon now having more than a decade of releases under their respective belts, the fit seems perfect.

When Anticon came out, I agree with you, we definitely were doing two separate, different things. But we’re both still doing our thing! It’s cool, so far everyone at Anticon has been pretty tight: like, the muscle behind it, the person that I deal with, Shaun [Koplow, manager of Anticon], he’s pretty cool, you know? I like their hustle. I really appreciate how they get down.

Thorns was a very personal album. How does End It All differ?

Honestly, I think End It All differs mainly in that it’s less intense. I wasn’t going through the same things, and I kind of wanted to make End It All less choruses and more rhyme-heavy. My main emphasis was just to spit: I think I achieved that. There are things on there that you could play out in a club, but I definitely wouldn’t say that was the whole focus.

How do you personally find new music these days?

I have my certain sites that I go to, and I check out Pitchfork, Stereogum, Hypetrak, Rap Radar... so yeah, mostly online.

Have you got any nostalgia for the way the music industry was, prior to the internet explosion?  

I kinda miss quality control. I think the act of making music and putting it out there is somewhat easier now, which is cool for people who are just starting out, but I miss a certain amount of quality control. I miss, like, KRS knocking out PM Dawn for being wack! [Laughs] There’s nothing like that anymore, everyone’s so PC now.

Speaking of the new crop of rappers, how do you think their attitude compares to that of their older peers?  

A lot of younger people who are doing music now don’t necessarily acknowledge their past. They’re obsessed with their own work, moving forward with what they are doing. It’s a lack of respect, really, for older emcees. There’s a real lack of acknowledgement for groups that have come before. I’m just noticing that in the lyrics, and how they come off – there’s a lot of arrogance in these young cats.

It’s wild to me, because I think without the knowledge of what has come before, it limits you in terms of what’s happening now. Young cats aren’t really pushing. Although there are some talented emcees, they tend to do a lot of the same things. I know that they want their turn, and because they’re young they feel that they are entitled, but they’re not necessarily doing anything to bring new things to the game. Something’s missing.

Do you rate anyone from the last few years?

I dig Corey Gunz, I think he’s a great writer.

Given that Ends is a lyrics-heavy album, what have you got planned for the follow-up?

I want to expand the palette on the next album. I want to do more of a big sound, you know, with huge horn sections... I want to make an album with longer songs, on a shorter record – as in, a smaller amount of songs. But I want to expand with more progression and changes. More like a progressive Krautrock / hip-hop album.

[The prospect of a Beans Krautrock album so excited this interviewer that he promptly dropped the phone. Upon recovering his composure, the interview was concluded]

Beans, can you tell us what the heck a ‘Deathsweater’ is?

You know the saying: ‘Dressed to kill’? Well, I just personified it in an item of clothing. That’s what a Deathsweater is.

So, you mean it’s an outfit so good, that if you looked at the person wearing it you would die of Awesome?

[Laughs] Yes!

Suits you, sir.

End It All is released on 14 Feb via Anticon

To read more of Bram’s journalism, visit www.weaponizer.co.uk

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