MYSTI: Ok, lets talk 'The Grand Imperials', first and foremost, personally I loved the EP. From Verses, to cuts to beats.. Which leads me to ask. JBL The Titan, how did the partnership happen to come around with him?
TMB: Edd and myself have been working with JBL for a few years on various albums, such as 'Listen here' off Godilla's Altered beast project, and more recently
with Adrian Adonis on 'The Margin' and 'Check game'. Me and Edd talked about a new ROK album and I started asking around for beats and JBL sent me
a folder of beats for me to choose from. I decided that instead of waiting for all the features for an album it would be quicker and easier to break it into a series of EP's and Godilla and Caesar Glomgold had already sent me their verses on the JBL beats so JBL became the first in the series and here we are.
MYSTI: The name 'The Grand Imperials' is very particular, how did you come up with it?
TMB: I came up with it after sample searching for cuts for the first track with Vas and Godilla, It came from the Lord Finesse line that I cut up in 'Listen Here'.
We were going to ask the Facebook world to pick it but I decided that The Grand Imperials suited the project best. There are 3 tracks which have the words 'grand imperial' cuts on them.
MYSTI: What was the process in picking features for this 'feature heavy' EP?
TMB: That was also down to me, I wanted to keep the features a secret, even Edd didn't know the features until I had all the features back, then I sent them all to him for writing his parts. I listened to the beats a few times and kind of knew who I wanted on them, I feel the emcee's fitted the beats perfectly and they all smashed it out the box.
EDD BUNDY: Yeh TMB was the ultimate asshole with this project, I didn't hear the features or the beats really until he got most of the verses in, to be fair, it helped me out by having some guides so its all good at the end of the day.
MYSTI: Bundy, what was your inspiration and motivation for writing for this project? Any different surroundings or techniques?
EDD BUNDY: I just listened to the beats and verses when I got them and tried to vibe and write something that fit with the whole feel of each individual track. Basically I wrote most of the verses taking a shit or watching Babestation so nothing really out of the ordinary.
MYSTI: You guys bring a different vibe to an otherwise samey type of UK scene in the sense that you both work with a majority of US based artists, why is this?
TMB: I've listened to more US artists as a fan since I was a kid, So I kind of aimed at the US as an artist/DJ. I do enjoy a lot of UK Hip hop but I have never really pushed myself into that scene. I working with Edd, Sam Tafari, MoTioN, DarkArts and a few others over here is always a pleasure and it's great spending time with these like-minded heads and good people.
EDD BUNDY: The US has an incredible pool of talent and so does that UK, lyrically if you really listen there's a draw to both. The only reason I'm in the US market more so to speak, is because that's how ive come up, I listen to a majority of US Hip Hop, i talk to more US Hip Hop artists than i do UK ones, and therefore i work more with that scene and that's the type of vibe my verses give off. I've got time for UK dudes all the same Samuel Tafari, Seiza, Killa Mans Biro (original ROK shit) to UK producers MoTioN, Dark Arts, Demon, Mike... I just like making Hip Hop.
MYSTI: Obviously, you are not just an internet crew, you actually get together to chill, rock mics, drink ales. Do you think either of you would be in the same kind of position music wise as you are right now? Do you feel you raise each others game and do you have a good understanding of what the other is gonna feel before you get to work on music?
TMB: Edd, Sam and myself try to meet up as much as possible, both Edd and Sam come over to my home studio to record verses and projects. As far as cuts go, like every track I do, I vibe from either the emcee or the beat or both to get the right samples to suit the track.
EDD BUNDY: Like TMB said, we all hook up as much as possible, when you say England dudes think its so small that were in walking distance of each other, that's not the case, or we'd hook up more and make more music. We put in work and have to spend a lot of money to hook up, and we do, cos were family. Which is really a front, because I hate all of these diabolical bastards.
MYSTI: My favourite track from this EP is Here We Go. What are your favourites?
TMB: I'm more than happy with the entire EP, I don't have favourites.
EDD BUNDY: I think its no secret now that myself and TMB have got a lot of time for everyone on here, especially Godilla who holds us down. Personally I've been looking forward to working with the guys Tone Liv, Capo, Glomgold, Vas for a long time so its a solid list. EVERYONE got busy though, I gotta give a special shout out to Steve Sxaks & Eddie Madrid who bought a completely different flavour to that track and the outcome in my opinion was dope.
TMB: It's a blessing to have all the features we have, I met many of the guys in person and have worked with every one of them on various albums and tracks, every feature we have is built of respect, no money has changed hands in making this EP which is a beautiful thing for the love of Hip hop and the music.
EDD BUNDY: Like I said, everyone got busy on this and if and when we work together again i know they'll get busy again too. The fact that so many dudes willingly took part in this EP shows that the love can come from anywhere (for TMB anyway haha) and to see all these names in one place is definitely helpful for future music ventures for sure.
MYSTI: What's next for ROK MUZIK?
TMB: I'm already putting together the next EP in the series which features Level13 beats. I'm always involved in the Ill of Writes material which is basically ROK Muzik.
EDD BUNDY: Ill Of Writes - FMA3 will be the next project released and TMB is a big part of that as well as myself and Samuel Tafari. In terms of ROK, there will be a good few EP's to come so watch this space.
MYSTI: The EP is very feature heavy as I said earlier, but the solo track 'Time To Buy Ale' you came up with, will there be a video for it?
TMB: Quite possibly.. we meet up a lot and drink Ale a lot so yeah. We have talked about it and I hope our good buddy Ixion Form will help out with the editing if we do.
EDD BUNDY: I can confirm 100% that some sort of video will be released for this, I have numerous ideas BUT in reality the video will probably be the laziest most unthought through video ever, just like the rest of our videos. We keep it diabolical.
MYSTI: For the fans and collectors alike, will there be any physical forms available for purchase of The Grand Imperials?
TMB: I'm working on the cd's as we speak, but the digital downloads are available now from my Bandcamp https://djtmb.bandcamp.com/
EDD BUNDY: Yeh... So go and buy it so we can afford more ale
MYSTI: Will there be any extra merchandise made to promote the EP?
TMB: No just the cd's for now.
EDD BUNDY: I wanted some Grand Imperial g strings made and a whole trading card game based on the ep, but I've seen how badly card games can go for people in Hip Hop. So you'll just have to be content with the CD.
MYSTI: Finally, will we hear another JBL x TMB x Edd Bundy project in the future?
TMB: Yes quite possibly. JBL is a talented and very creative brother. I always enjoy cutting up on his beats. At this point I'd like to thank JBL and everyone who blessed us with a feature for this EP. And of course massive shout out to you Mysti and all the other blogsites for the promo ….We appreciate you.
EDD BUNDY: I'm open to any JBL project where TMB also plays a part, its a solid team and I'm happy how this ep came out.
I want to take this opportunity to shout out Samuel Tafari for being so diabolical, Ganjre 3000, Seiza the professional Bozo, Skinnybonez The Godfather, Melma the Trap King, Cliff Manmeet Clavin, Inph of Heddsnotts, Clever K is still King of New York, Green Sleaze aka Sleaze Nuttz aka Sleazus Christ, all my diabolical dudes and dudettes, Mike, TMB, JBL, all the features and of course MMHHC. Peace.
If you haven't heard or bought the EP yet, here it is Embedded for you who are too lazy to click on the link :)
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