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 Nilly: Tell us a little about yourself.
Messinian: I was born and raised in Los Angeles and for the last decade I've been living in Philadelphia. I am a happy muhfucka that came from lots of hardship.
My whole life is spent making music in the studio with my hip hop producers, touring the world to drum and bass, and spending time with my family who I love very much. I'm a lucky guy that came from jack shit and now does what he loves for a living. Oh yeah... And I'm a Taurus!
Nilly: Where do you get your name from?
Messinian: Well when I was a kid I used to write grafitti and I would put up MESS. People would always call me Messy cause I'm a little rough around the edges and I was always knocking over shit and breaking things. You know, causing a ruckus. I always loved reading about history and I took my MC name from the Messenian culture during the Lyric Age from a book I was reading on the Spartans and Messenians 30 year war. The story is a little long to break down ...but Lets just say at the time I took the name, Hip Hop had been around for about 30 years and I feel that now is a completely different Lyric Age...and I go to war with the mic every time I spit in it. I broke it down one day in a rhyme and it stands for "Metaphysically Educated Sanscript Serenading Indiginous Natives In Artistic Noise". It's kind of funny how deep the name is being that a lot of my songs are really fun and grimey. My style is all across the board. I love all types of rhythms and flows. Nilly: What go you into rhyming or MC-ing?
Messinian: I grew up around a ton of kids that lived and breathed Hip hop. I started off battling with other MC's in cyphers and also writing funny rhymes that were parodies of other songs I really liked. Like instead of LL Cool J saying "I Need Love"...I'd write a whole song called "I need Drugs" but kick this really romantic song about doing coke and heroine just to get laughs. It sounds ridiculous ...and it was. I would write shit like that just to make people crack up in school. But I've always had a deeper side.Writing and rapping have always been a great way to get stress, anger and sadness off my chest. When I noticed that people appreciated when I rapped and told me my shit was hot...I just kept doing it and kept growing with
it. My favorite MC's that inspired me when I was young were Chuck D, Ice Cube, Rakim, and Eazy -E. I felt that every time they rapped they jumped through the speakers and grabbed your attention. that's what I think of every time I spit... Nilly: Having started out rhyming at the tender age of eleven, I'm curious to know what you were rhyming about.
Messinian: Well...I kind of just answered that. I started with funny shit that made my classmates and kids on the block laugh and my raps evolved into really politically conscious poetry and beautiful lyricism. But at times...I just like to rhyme about having fun, getting drunk, and fucking. You can only be serious so much of the time. I like laughing, living, and loving. Nowadays I just spit what I've seen and been through and put my swagger and versatility into it. Nilly: What do you rhyme about now?
Messinian: In May, I'm putting an album on I-tunes that has a lot of fun dance tracks with ill lyricism as well as grimey street shit. A lot of the songs just represent my different moods. Big Songs with catchy hooks that represent where I'm from, but they are different than most shit on the radio. I feel there is a lot stale shit out there now that all sounds the same. I love
Hip Hop music and I'm also a big fan of music that can unite the club and get play on commercial stations. It just has to have a certain swagger behind it. This album represents my swagger and my art form... check it out. Nilly: Your rhyming style is deeply ingrained in hip hop roots and many of your samples and lyrically melodic. How do you adapt this to a drum and bass vibe?
Messinian: A lot of times I incorporate my hip hop lyrics into the drum and bass set, but I tend to freestyle a lot as well. I don’t find it hard to separate drum and bass and hip-hop. I feel very comfortable rhyming to both of them and I love them both very much. I have a lot of respect for all drum and bass MCs...I think that if you compared me to most drum and bass MC's, you would say I'm in a category of my own. meaning that I don’t sound like a lot of people that I've heard rhyme to DnB. I have a very aggressive style that maintains my American roots and shows my heritage. I'm proud of where I come from and I wear my musical influences on my sleeve. Everything I've lived inspires me...and it all comes out in my style and energy. Nilly: A lot of drum and bass MC's improvise with how the crowd is feeling the energy of the music and/ or their connection with the DJ. What's your style? Spontaneous or tried and tested?
Messinian: There are certain lyrics I like to kick just because I feel the message is strong and it can get a club poppin...but for the most part I work with a DJ and read the crowd and try to make it the best party possible. To me, a party is a success when everyone is going bananas and jumping around to each beat like it's the first time they heard drum and bass. I want
to be the voice of the DJ and unite the crowd. I've played all over the world and the one thing that is constant is if the crowd is guided to feel
united...then the energy will be off the hook. Nilly: What's the connection you feel with Dieselboy?
Messinian: He's like my brother man. definitely I'd regard him as a member of my family. We've traveled so long and toured so many cities. He's my homey.... a reliable dude that's a great DJ. We always bring out the best in each other on stage. It almost feels like I'm in a band when I tour with him. We've spent many years fine tuning our sound and it's really easy to rock a set with him. It's more than just a mc spitting on a set when we perform. I feel we do something a little left field that still rips the roof off a club. Nilly: Who are your favourite drum and bass players at the moment?
Messinian: I gotta give love to the people I'm working with on projects...respect to all the Human crew, TekDbz crew, Evol Intent, Fresh...there's too many to name. I havemad respect for everyone in the game that works hard as shit and puts a lot of energy into giving fans at the show their money's worth. There are so many up and coming producers and DJ's that have great skills andmad heart so keep your eyes peeled. Respect to all the forefathers that made this shit too....there's really too many to name. Nilly: How do you feel about this trip to Asia? Have you been out here before?
Messinian: I've played in Japan and South Korea before, but this is my first time in China. You want to know how I feel about coming to Asia?? I fucking love it! I have tremendous amount of respect for Asian culture and think it is such an amazing place to be. the people I've met in Asia are friendly and courteous and the parties are a lot of fun. I have nothing but love for Asia. I have Asian tattoos all over my chest and body too--samurais and dragons...I'll show everyone at the club!! Nilly: What projects are you working on at the moment and what are the plans for the future?
Messinian: As you know the 8th year of the planet of the drums tour featuring Dieselboy, AK1200, dara, and myself is coming up. It's going to be a one of the best ever this year! I'm also really amped about my Rap project, that I mentioned before--I'm working on a Rap album with some major producers. The album will be on I-tunes and will feature tracks by the late, great DiscoD (R.I.P.), Photek and Ho Chi from the TekDbz camp, Skynet, Enemy from Evol Intent, Cardiff Giants from J Records, Big Demi of Rocafella Records fame, Stitch,and many more...really there are so many tracks I'm sitting on and that are being worked into Video games and other avenues. I'm really excited because thetunes are stirring up a buzz amongst people in the industry and I have a strong family of people pushing the product.. I've also got my hands in a Rap DVD by the 4ca$t crew where I interview different talent like rappers, rockers, and skateboarders etc and it will feature my music on it. Also be on the lookout for a video game that me and my homies from Kward Productions in San Diego are designing. It's gonna be dope! Much love to all the Drum and Bass addicts and hip hop heads... Hit me up on myspace at www.myspace.com/messinian to take a listen of some snippets or hit up my website at www.messinian.com. Much love Asia! Can’t wait to see you all at the club! peace! Interview by Nilly C.
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