DJ Rap Interview
by
Steven Ratz, Jr.
November 2003
(Article Exclusive to Disc Jockey
101)
With her chameleonic nature,
the ever adapting DJ Rap stays one step ahead by continually
reinventing herself, while dragging the whole drum 'n' bass movement
into a new age with her. During these difficult times in the
music industry, the now legendary DJ Rap (otherwise known as
Charissa Saverio) displays the leadership acquired from her years
of hard won knowledge as a skilled DJ, remixer, producer, label
owner, and perhaps most importantly inspiration to her legions
of fans, by recognizing the realities of the current state of
dance music, and doing whatever it takes to adjust to new
tastes and technology.
DJ Rap's latest audio offering is entitled Touching Bass,
released domestically on the Surge imprint in June 2003. A double
CD set, it consists of mixes that should pleasantly surprise her
fans, showcasing her versatility. "This one again was a
chance to do something a little different because it's breaks
as well as drum 'n' bass. So it was fun to do that, and it kind
of represents my show on XM. And just doing something a little
eclectic," she explained. "I like to do things
that are a little different. It's not totally what you expect
but it's different, and the cool thing is that the people that
have grown up listening to my music know that I do all kinds
of different things. It's not just about drum 'n' bass, so that
was my main reason for doing it. I'm not a huge mix CD person,
I don't really believe in churning them out, putting them out.
I think the market's really weird right now. So it was just nice
to do something a little different in between the artist record
coming out, and it gives you a good excuse to tour and do stuff!
So it was good to do for those reasons."
The idea for Touching Bass came from DJ Rap's hugely
popular underground club night in L.A., appropriately
called Hush Hush. DJ Rap elaborated, "I do a club
night, whenever I feel like it I throw it. Generally when a good
DJ's in town I'll throw a party, and it's called Hush Hush
because we don't do any press, we don't do any promotion, and
it's sold out every time. It's a really good night, and I start
it off playing breaks there. I don't do drum 'n' bass there."
Word of the Hush Hush events eventually spread to
the XM Radio people, who approached DJ Rap about the possibility of
doing a three hour mixshow, featuring house, drum 'n' bass,
and breaks. Incorporating varied genres into the satellite radio
show, DJ Rap is especially happy to add another element as well.
"I do the old school house from 1988 to 1990 which is my
best part of the show. My favorite part, playing records which
got me into the scene," she raves, adding, "and
then probably I'll have a guest DJ on which I've found, or up
and coming, or it'll be someone like DJ Dan or, you know a big
DJ. It depends. So again it's a very eclectic show, so that's
why I was like, well if I do a CD, I want to do something like
what I'm already doing. Something that's a little different."
Reminiscing a bit more on where she came from, the "queen
of the jungle" DJ Rap shared more about her pioneering days
in dance music, about what is now affectionately referred
to as old school house. "In fact every DJ really who's
been in the game as long as I have probably started off spinning
house, and that's how it was," she insists. "My
first record, which was on Perfecto, Oakenfold signed it, was
actually a house tune. So it makes me laugh when all these drum
'n' bass guys are like 'I hate house,' I'm like 'duh hate your
roots then, I guess.' In fact my first PA was with Fast Eddie
and Tyree Cooper, 'Dancing.' I have a collection you wouldn't
believe right now. I have a prized collection in my house that
is like, you could not pay me millions for those records, because
each one holds a memory of a rave or something. It's like 5000
records that are just precious cargo."
Not wanting to be pigeonholed as a strictly drum 'n'
bass artist, and building on her varied interests in dance music,
has led DJ Rap to secure a coveted spot on XM Radio, which has
in turn created even more opportunities. "The show
on XM then led to the Playstation Tour with Ferry Corsten
which is all breaks, and doing Spundae. So the breaks thing seems
to have really taken off now, which is really cool, it's refreshing
to do something a little different." In addition to the
XM show and world tours, DJ Rap is included in Bad Boy Bill's
current Billboard charting CD/DVD Behind The Decks, has
been selected to host Spike TV's new DJ themed show Remix,
and secured a mixshow in her current city of residence, Chicago,
on Q101 FM.
Featured in a national ad campaign for Twix candy bar all
Summer, DJ Rap explained why she really agreed to appear in television
commercials for the global confectioner. "The reason for
doing the Twix commercial, apart from getting a lifetime supply
of chocolate, which every girl wants, is I'm actually filming
a documentary in Africa and London about big corporations like
Nestle," she revealed. "80 percent of your chocolate
probably comes from the Ivory Coast in Africa, places like that,
and there's a lot of child slave labor being used. And so you
have these ten year olds who are walking every day with massive
sacks of cocoa beans on their backs, getting kind of whipped
and kicked, and treated in a really bad way. So I'm off to Africa
to expose this, and it's my good deed for the year, and it's
a good thing to do. So I thought it would be a cool thing to
do, especially after I've received letters from kids who are
going through a really hard time. I used to live in West Africa,
so I'm kind of all about those different things, and I think
it would be a life changing experience to go and actually do
something that isn't really affiliated with DJing, but nevertheless
would be a life changing experience. So that's really what's
underneath the whole Twix thing. It's a big project, but it's
something that's kind of close to my heart."
Making a move to the States from the UK was a complete
leap of faith for the adventurous DJ Rap, where she's in a unique
position to compare the distinct differences between the
two dance music cultures, especially in the area of working with
others in the scene. "Actually I'm into collaborating with
everybody. I'm really into working with other people and collaborating
because you come up with such great stuff. I'm friends with all
the DJs. What's not to like? They're so cool. They're a lot more
friendly than the drum 'n' bass DJs were initially. It's kind
of like a very close club where people don't step out of their
drum 'n' bass box. But we're all tight and it's like a huge family
and I fell in lust with those guys, you know what I mean? There's
a lot of history," she said of the UK scene. "But
coming to America, I'll be here two years in February, I didn't
have to go through this like blood, sweat and tears. Except it's
like a fraternity with drum 'n' bass. You're like, you go through
enough crap, you're in. Whereas with the American guys, they're
just so nice straight off. They don't care what scene you come
from. It's just like, 'yeah let's do a tune together it'll be
great!' Like I'm doing the tour with Ferry Corsten, and next
year it's myself and DJ Irene doing Chicks With Decks,
then it's Dieselboy for a whole month doing the drum 'n' bass
tour with MC Armanis, then I'm going on the road with DJ Dan,
myself and DJ Irene doing a DVD tour for three weeks in a bus,
which is fun. And it's just like cool, no one cares what scene,
let's just pop in and out, and you know doing videos with BT,
and hopping in and out. I love that. I think that's why jungle
is probably this big, and other music is a lot bigger, and hip
hop is huge because people integrate, collaborate, and I would
like to see that happen a lot more with drum 'n' bass. I don't
think they're quite ready for that, but I think they will be
eventually. Because you can't keep the same flavor forever. You've
got to keep moving and doing stuff."
Staying interactive is important for the forward looking DJ Rap,
as evidenced by her website, where she shares thoughts and solicits
feedback with her fans. "I think in this day and age where
music is free and downloadable, I think the thing that isn't
downloadable is your personality. And I don't think DJs can afford
to be the superstar DJs that are so far removed from their fans.
I just think that's a thing from the past now," she reasons. "I
think it's much better to be up front, close and personal. Let's
give you and example. Wouldn't it be cool if you could go to
a website and speak to Brad Pitt? (laughs with a devilish grin)
It's not going to happen, but wouldn't it be cool if you could
be a little closer to the person that maybe you're interested
in their craft or something? That's my whole thing, it's like
with actors, their DVDs will be downloadable soon so they're
going to go through the same thing we're all going through. And
we're completely internalizing, cannibalizing ourselves right
now. So it's interesting where it's going."
With the advent of file sharing programs and CD burning so prevalent,
DJ Rap recognizes the reality, and endorses a shift in the
way an artist maintains a relationship with their fans,
and a slight change in the way of doing business, for discovering
the key to success in this new environment in which everyone
in the music industry finds themselves. "I think you
have to have a little vision and see that the music is now going
to be the small portion of everything. I'm all about have the
music, take it, and here's what you can't download. So I'd rather
you support me at my shows, and come and check all that side
of things out," muses DJ Rap. "I think for me
it's very important to be interactive, on the interact page,
and it's just cool talking to people. It's nice. You're not so
far away from it all. I think that's probably the reason my website
gets so many hits, they know that when I'm a little trashed I'll
get on there and talk to people, and when I'm not trashed and
on tour it's nice to talk to people. It gets lonely touring,
so it's nice being able to hook up to people at the end of the
night and say 'what did you think of the show,' and blah, blah,
blah. I actually get very respectful fans, so I get people who
give me really good feedback. So it's cool. And the website is
fully interactive, and there's a lot of stuff on there. I'm excited
about it."
Busy in the production studio, DJ Rap is working fervently on
her new original artist album, where she hopes to build on the
success of her previous offering, Learning Curve. "The
last record was out on Sony. I've since then left Sony and have
five record labels that are interested right now in signing.
So we're in a good place, and I've had the luxury of taking three
years to make this new album, and I'm super anal about it. I've
always had the privilege of working with some of the best song
writers in the world, like Matrix and people like that who are
super hot. And I feel that my craft is really much better now.
This time around it's all about the songs. The songs are super
strong and they're amazing, they're really good, and now we're
working with producers which is exciting. We've got all different
people, from Uberzone, to rock producers, like five or six different
producers right now as we speak, working on stuff. So it's exciting
because I'm starting to see it take shape, and we're about to
go and decide which label we want to be with," she enthused.
Like an expectant mother waiting for her newborn child to
finally see the light of day, DJ Rap promises to continue her
trend of varied influences, world-class production, and keeping
her fanbase in mind as she puts the finishing touches
on her new album. "It'll be ready for next year. It
has to come out next year!" she predicts. "It's
exciting, it's a lot of electronic, it's a lot of guitar, it's
really big sounding, it's very epic, and the songs are just dope
songs. I'm super excited. It's my whole three years of work.
It's like the longest labor, and I'm like ready to pop right
now. Do you know what I mean? That's how it feels. With no Epidural!"
For more information please visit:
www.propertalent.co.uk
US/North American Bookings -
Joel Zimmerman @ The Collective Agency
Industry
News
* Due to increased security at
airports, many DJ's are being asked to open their record cases
for security personnel. This is because the compressed stack
of vinyl scans as a large black bulky object. To remedy this
situation, many international DJ's (such as Paul
van Dyk) are turning to Stanton's
Final Scratch (digital vinyl via a laptop computer loaded
with digital audio files).
* What's the hook gonna be? Speaking
to Club DJ class at Scottsdale Community College, DJ
Fashen (who recently won West
Coast DJ of the Year 2003) stated that the typical hip hop
hit is comprised of three hooks (the chorus of a song) and two
verses. As results from a recent study by the University
of Cincinnati College of Business show, some songs get stuck
in our head because they create a "brain itch" that
can only be scratched by repeating a tune over and over. Is a
hook the cognitive itch described in the study? Perhaps this
also explains the popularity of loop (repetitive) based electronic
hits.i
Tip
of the Month