My new book, Independent As F***: Underground Hip-Hop From 1995-2005, comes out this week. To mark the release, I was recently interviewed by hip-hop culture historian and walking encyclopaedia, Dart Adams, who was a huge help in fact-checking the book and providing insightful guidance. Read below, and order Independent As F*** via the Velocity Press website (shipping worldside), Amazon, or anywhere else you get your books, including various physical stores.
Words by Dart Adams
When people usually think of eras of Rap to write books about, they typically focus on the Golden Eras between 1986 and 1996. Why did you choose to instead focus on the decade between 1995 and 2005?
I feel like this was such an exciting time, and definitely the most creative and fruitful period for underground hip-hop. I discovered rap music in early 1993, right in the middle of the early 90s golden era. I had a lot to catch up on while it was happening, and had to go back and do my homework to learn about everything that came before that. But I was in on the ground floor with indie rap from 1995 onwards, living it in real time, and fully immersed. It therefore felt like it was mine, and I was fully part of it.
In what ways did underground and independent Rap begin to diverge from mainstream and major label Rap towards the end of the Golden Era and how noticeable was it to audiences?
From the perspective of themes and subject matter, the biggest divergence was that mainstream artists on major labels were no longer saying anything of depth or meaning, but independent artists were. In terms of the music, indie artists were taking the classic boom bap sound and making it even dustier and less polished, which was the opposite of what was happening on the radio, where everything was becoming flashy, clean, and utterly predictable.
As listeners, it felt like we all had to pick a lane: commercial, or indie. I chose indie. In retrospect, the divide probably wasn’t as pronounced as it seemed, but it felt real at the time, and fuelled an atmosphere of ‘us vs them’, where underground artists began wearing their independence as a badge of pride.
What independent labels best epitomized the spirit and energy of the decade between 1995 and 2005 in your opinion?
Rawkus is the obvious answer, but their roster of artists was very varied, including people like Mos Def (now Yasiin Bey), who was always destined for bigger things than the underground. Plus, it later turned out they were not independent at all!
For me it has to be Fondle ‘Em Records. The releases Bobbito Garcia put out on the label perfectly summed up everything I love about the period: rugged and raw, unpolished and innovative hip-hop, vinyl-only releases, curated with a deep love and understanding of the sub-culture.
What was your biggest challenge or obstacle writing this book?
I wanted to go as deep as possible with who I wrote about, especially so that I could shine a light on artists who dropped excellent records but have long since been forgotten. The challenge, however, was that there isn’t much information out there on such artists. That made it difficult to verify facts and release dates, when all you have to go on is a brief bio on Discogs. It’s one of the reasons why I wanted to make sure I got everything fact-checked by you!
Another challenge was scope. My original plan was to include indie rap scenes from around the world. I quickly realised this was too sprawling, and I ultimately focused on North America.
Finally, what would your ideal takeaway be for readers of Independent As F***: Underground Hip-Hop From 1995-2005?
I’d like for people to go back and re-listen to the music covered, or even better, discover it for the first time. There was so many excellent albums and 12”s released in this period, and hopefully the book serves as a reminder. Its also important to me that, in addition to seeing this as a nostalgic look back at a golden era, readers go and find the latest generation of underground/independent artists keeping the spirit and aesthetic of the movement alive. There’s good new hip-hop coming out every week, and artists need our support.
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Independent As F***: Underground Hip-Hop From 1995-2005 is out now. Buy here, or from anywhere else books are sold. Follow Grown Up Rap on X and Instagram.