Greetings Turbo

CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR GROUPS?

First, let me talk about SATATIK. SATATIK is one of the oldest bands in Istanbul. It was formed between 1996-97 with Ben and Jemy. Jemy and I had previously been in a crack/hack band. Since we were good with computers, we made our own music. Initially, we played breakbeat because there weren't many rap artists around us. Around that time, while Jemy and I were adding color to the streets of Istanbul, we met the members of Istanbul City Breakers. Suddenly, we found ourselves among b-boys. I started doing freestyle at jams and parties. We met many people at parties. We helped friends who wanted to rap with music. Around that time, we met Fuchs. Jemy and Fuchs met on a basketball court. They had a band called Uçan Silahlar (Flying Weapons). We worked together for a while. Jemy was very helpful to Fuchs. Then Fuchs met Ceza and formed Nefret. For a while, until Yeralti Operasyonu came out, we couldn't focus on ourselves. We spent all our time helping others. Because of the intensity of my work, we started moving very slowly. This laziness was reflected in finding the band's name. We couldn't do anything for a while because of Jemy's school. Because Jemy went to Kütahya to study. Jemy was making beats there, and I was writing lyrics here. We fell quite behind because of Jemy's school. I dedicated myself more to working on the development of rap in Türkiye. Then DJ Mahmut joined the group. As soon as he joined, we went to Paris for a concert. After a very successful concert, we started doing what needed to be done as soon as we returned. That is, the STATIK album. We are currently working on the Statik album.

S2K: I think S2K is the starting point of graffiti in Turkey. When we started, nobody in Turkey knew about graffiti. There wasn't a single tag on the streets. S2K was founded in 1995. Before that, we were writing in Istanbul under the names BADBROTHERS and ZBP, but I can't say we were very active. When S2K was founded and we started bombarding with graffiti, things started to liven up. Many people started writing their names on walls after seeing us. Turkish graffiti artists abroad started joining the group after seeing the colorful graffiti we did here. This was a source of pride for them. Because for years they kept saying why there was no graffiti in Türkiye. As always, there were those who came out and criticized what we did, those who threw mud at us, but we didn't pay attention to any of them. Because we've been bombarding with graffiti as S2K for 6 years. In Germany, trains bearing our group's name are running around, and people abroad know S2K from Türkiye. Because we live and breathe this business; we don't do it just because it's fashionable. S2K is currently actively painting in Germany and Switzerland as well. As S2K, we have achieved many firsts.

Can you tell us a little bit about STATIK's album? When can we listen to it?

Most of the album is complete. Mahmut is coming to Istanbul in September 2001 to handle the mixing and cuts. After that, the release phase will begin. It's difficult to give a date right now, but we're thinking of releasing it around New Year's 2002. If it doesn't come out then, it will be March 2002. Some of the features on the album are; Dush-man, Stress Sirtlan, Yener, Iskastalik, and Makale… the rest will be a surprise. 🙂

GRAFFITI HAS RULES, COULD YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN THE BASICS TO US?

I should explain briefly. First, there's the issue of RESPECT. This exists in music as well. Respect isn't about someone doing it better than you! Respect means they're doing the same work as you, whether good or bad. In Türkiye, as always, instead of support, there's obstruction, so the already limited number of graffiti pieces are being defaced, polluted, and turned into filth. It's already very difficult to spread this kind of work here. People in society think graffiti is environmental pollution. This prevents it from spreading and being done with permission.

Graffiti is done with spray paint. Some people give up on it, saying things like "we don't have caps," or "our paint runs," or they make excuses. We didn't have caps when we started either! Even now, we use paints that normally run, but we've developed our own technique. That's why we receive respect and support from abroad. Here, they ask how we do this with such low-quality materials. Also, graffiti isn't something done for the sake of fashion. It's an art form within hip-hop culture that has its own deep philosophy and culture. Actually, there's much more to write, but I'll keep it short.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DJING?

Actually, I don't say I'm a DJ or anything. It's just a hobby for me. I've been collecting CDs and records for a long time. Right now, I have a huge archive of records and CDs that's not widely known, but it's the subject of much gossip. All originals. I would never collect pirated CDs. At first, people used to invite me to parties because I had so many CDs. I just kept playing. Then I started throwing parties myself. I'd play myself and create opportunities for my friends to play too. Then I got my Technics equipment. Thanks to DJ Mahmut, I improved myself. And I'm still improving. I've received offers from many festivals. I've played in many parts of Türkiye and in many famous discos and bars in Istanbul. DJing is actually something that requires a love of music. It's also related to knowing the fundamentals of the music you listen to and play. I think it's easy sometimes, and difficult sometimes. But I always say, my teacher is DJ Mahmut, and may God give everyone such a teacher.

CAN I LEARN WHAT YOUR BESTS ARE?

Let me tell you the best ones.
Best MCs: Dü$man, Yener, Killa Hakan, Fuat, Ceza
best dj: dj mahmut, dj yesta
Best writer: Homer/s2k
Best freestyle: Yener, Ceza
Best quote: Enemy, Assassination
The most promising MCs: Stress Sirtlan, Sihir, Emir aka Raymer…

WHERE DID THE IDEA OF AN UNDERGROUND OPERATION COME FROM? HOW DID YOU GATHER THE GROUPS TOGETHER, AND DID THE ALBUM REACH THE SALES FIGURES YOU WANTED?

"Underground Operation" was a milestone for Turkey. Everyone knows that. To be honest, the sales of the first one didn't surprise me. Because of the company's distribution policy and the tendency of rap listeners to copy, it stayed around 5,000 copies. But what I wanted wasn't for it to sell a lot. It was to pave the way for other groups. And to some extent, for people in the music industry to see that rap was being made in Türkiye. I achieved that. Even though some people criticize it, it was impossible to do better than that at that time. Nobody knows. The groups there made those songs under impossible conditions. YO2 is coming back stronger and with a larger group…

Thanks Turbo...

Erdene® www.suikast.de / Türkiye