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L-FRESH The LION:
"Australia doesn't take racism seriously enough"

JAKE CLELAND

 

 

 

"Forever Rising Exceeding Sudden Hardships."

That's why you capitalise the FRESH in L-FRESH The Lion, one of the most energising rappers in Australian hip-hop. 

Infusing street-level poetry with a Sikh's love of humanity, Sydney, Australia's L-FRESH first came to our attention last year with the release of 'One'. 10 months later -- last week -- his album of the same name dropped.

In our interview, two phrases come up the most: "empowerment" and "community". Both concepts dominate One.

"I felt so much love in life / I feel spoiled," he says on 'Macquarie Street'. The foundation of his approach is littered with considerations of war-torn countries and refugees, slavery and bondage in corrupt governments as much as substance abuse. And yet for all its darkness, L-FRESH -- a.k.a. Sukhdeep Singh -- always looks towards the sun: his faith in God and people.

This is how L gets down.

*   *   *   *   *

Q (TheVine): The record opens with a freestyle from KRS-One. Can you tell me how that happened?

A (L-FRESH): That was a really awesome experience. KRS was on tour here in 2012 and two mates of mine who were old school MCs in the hip-hop scene, particularly in Sydney, were coordinating with KRS-One to do community events between his gigs -- to go out to communities and give talks and lectures and do meet-and-greets for KRS to build, on a ground level, with communities here.

['KRS' is Lawrence Krisna Parker, an American rapper from The Bronx, better known by his stage names KRS-One and Teacha.]

One of their planned events was for KRS to come to Liverpool in south-west Sydney, to work in a community centre there called Street University. KRS did a three-hour talk about the history of hip-hop and the origins of hip-hop and it was an amazing lecture. There was a room full of 80 people and not a single person left throughout, they were just glued to their seats, hanging on every single word, 'cos it was really valuable knowledge about hip-hop.

Afterwards we were hanging out and I told him a little bit about the album I was part way through piecing together, and he was just like, "Yo close the door, close the door," and he immediately busts into this freestyle rap. Afterwards he's laughing like, "Man use that on the album!" We had a good laugh and shook hands and continued to hang out, and I was like, "Man of course I'm gonna use that on the album, that's amazing."

Q:  Do you know if he's heard it?

A:   I have no idea if he's heard it. He's one of those people you've kinda gotta get in a room to get in touch with, so I'm still trying to figure out how I can get it to him. I hope that he hears it. He did express an interest in wanting to come back to Australia sooner rather than later, I don't know where those plans stand at the moment but if he's ever back here, I'll be sure to give him a copy. But in the meantime I'm just doing my best to filter through those middlemen to get through to him, to say "Hey man, this is what we ended up doing with your freestyle. Check it out." 

Q:   Before KRS-One's verse, you open by saying something in Punjabi ["Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh"]. For someone not fluent in Punjabi, could you explain that?

A:   That's a traditional greeting that Sikhs have with one another. When I see another Sikh person in the street and I can tell they're kinda clued-up then I can approach them with that greeting. It's for both of us to be saying it in unison. So I begin, and the response by that person would be to try to catch up and say it in unison. It's like a very formal greeting. Essentially it translates to "God is with the brotherhood of the Khalsa" which is like the Sikh community but also the brotherhood with human beings, and then, "All victory belongs to God." It's a humble way to greet someone, [to say] we don't own none of this, this is not us, we're just here playing a role. It's a really formal greeting that speaks out for one another. 

Q:   Seems like a good message to start the album with, given the tone of the lyrics, these ideas of community and togetherness.

A:   Yeah, well the concepts on the album are things that I've thought about for a long, long time. Things that I think about all the time, actually. So I thought it was right and appropriate to start the album that way, this formal greeting for people who were listening. So now people who've read this interview will be clued-up as to what it means, if they wanted to say that at the same time, it's like inviting them to engage with the album as well. That sets the tone, the KRS intro sets the tone, that this album is about movement, it's about getting the core of who you are as a person and trying to create music that feels good. 

Q:   At a time when hip-hop production seems to be getting more maximalist, your beats sound more stripped back. I'm curious about where your musical influences come from.

A:   My musical influences are really broad. I grew up in a household that played Punjabi music, Bhangra music, and religious Sikh music and hymns. From the very beginning those were strong influences for me. Then I was introduced to hip-hop in high school and I really explored it from top to bottom, and got a piece of a majority of artists, tastes of stuff here and there.

The music that really resonated with me was the righteous, positive, empowerment music, from Common, The Roots, Public Enemy, KRS, Nas, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Lauryn Hill. That kinda stuff really stuck with me. Oh and Bob Marley played a big influence, and then Bob Dylan played a massive influence on me when it came to thinking about and approaching lyrics and songwriting in general.

It became this broad collection of music that I was being thrown from all directions. I listened to a lot and tried to learn as much as I could from everything I was listening to.

When it came to piecing together the album, before doing the album, or before I write music in general I tend not to listen to a lot of music, particularly music of the time because I try not to be influenced by it. I wanna try to create music that's original and that comes from my own sense of what I think it should sound like, separate from other influences.

Having got those diverse influences in music already, I have a solid foundation for what has influenced me sonically, but then leading up to writing I try not to touch anything, so I'm just creating from what's purely in my head.

Q:   You said that you grew up listening to a lot of hymnal music, and I think that comes across in your lyrics. You've got a lot of very uplifting lyrics, and rather than coming from materialism, that seems to come from personal conviction. Where does that sense of positivity come from?

A:   I just wanna make music that I enjoy listening to. I feel like there's a gap in this day and age of music that's uplifting and positive and empowering. Those types of songs make me fall in love with hip-hop and music in general. Identifying that gap these days, I wanted to try and fill it with music of that kind.

That positivity isn't necessarily conscious like, "I'm gonna make an album that's all positive material." I mean there's concepts on there that are quite challenging as well, that aren't always exactly positive, but at the end of the day it's music that makes you wanna feel good.

I wanted to make music that make my people, when they listen to it, wanna move, and they also wanna feel better about themselves and be better as individuals. It's the type of music you can listen to when you're going to the gym and you're thinking about how you're gonna make the most outta this workout, or the type of music people listen to before they play sport, or sit an exam, or before they go through something that's gonna be challenging.

It's the type of music they listen to when they're on the way home from work and trying to think about how they can push forward towards their dreams and ambitions. That's the kind of music that I really thrive off and look out for, so that's the kind of music I wanted to make. 

Q:   Some of it's quite fatalistic as well though, like you have a line on 'The Heart, The Pen' where you say "Realise that each moment is precious / And it can be gone like first wishes and second guesses." I've found that a lot of the most inspiring people come to that perspective after acknowledging the trauma and transience of existence. Does that resonate with you?

A:   Yeah. We have to realise that we have a short space of time in existence and we have to make the most out of the opportunities that we have. It isn't meant to be easy, it's meant to be a challenge. There's always going to be things that really test us as individuals and we have to be conscious of how we respond so we're ensuring that we're getting the best out of every situation.

But when you realise, "Actually I might not be here tomorrow," like, "Something could happen. I could not wake up tomorrow, I could be in a car accident," or whatever. We have to come to terms with the fact that we have no control over when that time may be. You start to think about the present moment and what you can do to become better at what it is you do. I think that's what I was trying to get across with that line.

Our time is fleeting, we have no control over it and we should make the most of it. 

Q:   I've been thinking a lot lately that merely being an empowering influence in other people's lives isn't enough; instead of just generating posvibes for yourself and other people you have to direct that positive energy into something constructive. So, you have these uplifting lyrics, but you're also involved in community activism, like before you mentioned Street University. Can you tell me about how you got started with that?

A:   It has to come back to cultural roots. As a Sikh I'm always taught to give back to community. It's a legacy that's passed down by my ancestors, to always work hard and honestly, and to give back to those who're less fortunate, to ensure that you are being a valuable member of a community and you're not just driven by your own needs and wants.

Also, growing up in south-west Sydney you can really see the impacts of the things like poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, the social disadvantages. I think about how I can play a role in assisting wherever I can. For me a lot of that comes through music.

Hip-hop as a culture is about empowering community, that's how hip-hop was born. Understanding that as well I feel like I have a social responsibility on that level if I'm going to be benefiting from a culture that was born out of empowerment, that I should also be giving back to others in need as well.


[Courtesy: The Vine]

May 13, 2014

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"Australia doesn't take racism seriously enough""









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