New interview up on the French earth and animal liberation site Terra de l’abord:
http://laterredabord.fr/?p=1686
Below is the interview in English:
1. Vegan straight edge culture was originally linked to hardcore music. Now it is not the case anymore: hardcore divided into a lot of styles, and others fields of music were touched. That’s the case with hip hop. Can you tell us about what you’re doing, and why you’re doing it?
Vegan straightedge as a culture has produced more record collections and Myspace pages than fur farm liberations or closed vivisection labs, so maybe it’s time to stop worrying about keeping this subculture alive. In the last few years academics have started writing studies about the straightedge subculture, which speaks more to its weakness than its strength. That it can be studied means that it is dead.
We put out Vegan Edge Hip Hop Vol. 2 to give voice to a new wave of vegan straightedge that isn’t interested in reliving the 90’s over and over again. The CD is a benefit for earth and animal liberation prisoners or those facing prison. We’re raising funds for people like Marie Mason, a long-time vegan who is serving 20+ years for destroying genetically modified crops and logging equipment with fire.
2.Hip hop, as a popular culture, put forward a certain number of values and the will of changing things. And to be vegan straight edge is certainly a political thing. Unfortunately, often people that are vegan lack of confidence and are rather pessimist. Is vegan straight edge hip hop there, in a way, to bring back the will of changing all the society, moving away for the hardcore kind of elitist attitude?
Putting out this compilation proved to me that putting out a record is very easy. It’s a question of energy and initiative. This is true for a lot of things that might seem out of reach from a distance. If one jumps in head first, they become less daunting. The project of animal liberation is daunting from a distance as well, but there are immediate tasks and actions that can be achieved by nearly anyone.
The difficult and unresolved question for those seeking animal liberation is how to communicate the idea that animals exist for themselves, not for human use or consumption. How can we effectively communicate this idea to the billions of people around us? How can any idea be communicated? I think it’s past time we became more creative and moved out of the pamphlet/video box the animal liberation milieu has been stuck in for some time. A complete break from animal welfarism would be a good start!
I can’t honestly say that we do not have an elitist attitude
3. Is Dead Prez in a way a “model” for hip hop artists that are vegan straight edge?
No. Dead Prez are not drug free, and from what I understand they are no longer vegan. Their brand of nationalism is a dead-end for those seeking a more liberatory path, and at the end of the day their music is not very good. If we want models, I think we ought to look outside the confines of music scenes and musicians and seek inspiration instead from people opening cages or refusing to talk to grand juries.
4.Can you tell us more about vegan straight edge hip hop artists today, and how they see their work?
I am hesitant to speak for any artists because I think the vegan straightedge hip hop movement contains a multitude of voices and perspectives. The one thing that unifies the movement, beyond a common way of life, is the desire to raise the bar of political hip hop. We hate the cops, but we know hating the cops isn’t enough. Just hating the cops was never enough. Let’s dig deeper and hit harder.
Who dares wins, right?
