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Interview
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Mathematics or
Allah Mathematics is Wu-tang's official DJ and also main
producer as part of the Wu-element's, this is the man that the
Clan members be it solo or as a group turn to when going on tour
or when they want that classic Wu sound. A well rounded artist,
Mathematics does not just produce, DJ, mix or manage new acts,
he was also responsible for drawing the original "W" logo, drew the
artwork for GZA's
Liquid
Swords
album, and written the theme and additional music for Wanda
Sykes' television show, Wanda at Large.
Born Norman Porter in south-side Jamaica, Queens, Mathematics
was exposed to hip-hop culture at an early age. His older
brother brought home mixtapes of Grandmaster Flash & the Furious
Five, Treacherous Three, Cold Crush Brothers, and others jamming
at area block parties. There were no double tape decks at the
time, so Mathematics and his brother made copies by pushing two
boom boxes together, one playing and one recording.
The future producer originally thought of himself as an MC and
imitated Spoonie Gee, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, and other
favourites, but a realization that it was the DJ who controlled
the tempo and flow changed everything. Influenced by early
greats like Grandmaster Flash, Grand Wizard Theodore, and DJ
Charlie Chase, he started DJing block parties in the '80s while
his brother hooked him up with future Wu-Tang member GZA/Genius.
GZA was working with the Cold Chillin' label and needed a DJ,
but this was only the beginning of Mathematics' Wu-Tang
association.
GZA's family lived around the corner from Mathematics, and one
day GZA called the young DJ to go to Queens and watch his cousin
shoot a video. The video was for "Ooh I Love You Rakeem" by
Prince Rakeem, and Mathematics was shocked to find out Prince
Rakeem was actually an old friend, RZA. Over time, RZA taught
Mathematics all he knew about production, like how to use
samplers and how important it is to have your own voice. At the
time, the copyright rules for sampling stated that if you kept a
sample under three seconds you didn't have to get label
clearance. To avoid seeking clearance, Mathematics sped up old
soul records and created a sound that has since become widely
imitated. "Wu Banga 101" from Ghostface Killah's
Supreme
Clientele,
"Rules" from the Wu's
Iron Flag,
and un-credited work on "Must Be Bobby" from RZA's
Bobby Digital: Digital Bullet,
and recently the
Wu-Massacre
project by Method Man, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah are
some of Mathematics' major contributions to the Wu world amongst
others.
In 2003, Mathematics released his first full-length,
Love, Hell & Get Right (Da Come Up)
on his own
Quewisha Records label in conjunction with High Times Records,
which was followed up by
The Problem,
Wu-Tang Clan &
Friends Unreleased,
and
Return Of The Wu &
Friends in
2005, 2007 and 2010 respectively.
A creative force behind Wu and hip-hop in general, Mathematics
has been busy touring, producing, putting together mixtapes,
radio shows, his Mathfiles blog's and a list of other side
projects only this man can do. In continuation with the
Wu-elements series haven chopped it up with Inspectah Deck on
The Manifesto Of A
Rebel Interview last
week, Wu-International presents you this week with the Math-files
interview, find out what the 5th Disciple has been up to, upcoming
projects and more, Enjoy ...
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I like to say thanks first and foremost for
taking the time to answer these questions, highly
appreciated, and will also point out that nothing will be
altered, edited or changed when this is published online.
Wu-International: What's good Math?
Mathematics: I'm good, working hard..
Wu-International: How did the tour go?
Mathematics: Touring for me seems to never stop,
I finished the Method Man European tour which went well
except for the lil' bullsh*t in Germany with the German
police and then stayed in Europe with Deck for 2 more weeks
and got stuck in London when the volcano erupted... we had
to travel by train, but other than that it went well, now
I’m back in the U.S., just did a festival with Redman and
Method Man, so it really never stops.
Wu-International:
Which country or city has been the most fun to play at?
Mathematics: There's so many, of course
Amsterdam because of the trees, but the crowd's been rockin
all over from France to Greece
Wu-International: You are Wu-Tang’s official DJ as
well as producer, does being Wu’s DJ requires you to keep up
to date with all their releases and projects and how do you
manage that?
Mathematics: Of course I have to keep up but it's not
hard they usually send me their instrumentals and new joints
when they get 'em.
Wu-International:
Maybe we can first talk a bit about the Wu Massacre album?
There were rumors the album was rushed, even if the release
date was delayed. What’s your feeling about it?
Mathematics: Rae, Mef or Ghost can better
answer that question as far as me I just did my part on the
Wu-Massacre with the songs I produced.
Wu-International: They apparently sold very well
first week of release; do you feel they could do even better
on a second album if given more time and control?
Mathematics: Of course they could, they did
extremely well for the climate of the record biz & if they
had a lil' more promotion that always helps.
Wu-International: The tracks you provided were very
well received, how did that make you feel?
Mathematics: It makes me feel good! I mean
anytime your work is appreciated is a good thing; I produce
songs and hope that people like them.
Wu-International: Did you produce the bonus song that
didn’t make on the album “Made men” feat Cappadonna too?
It’s not on the CD or I-tunes; are fans going to be able to
get it still and how?
Mathematics: Yes I did produce it, and the fans
will be able to get it soon, it will be on my next project
coming out soon and I’m thinking about releasing it as my
1st single.
Wu-International: How would you define the role of a
producer?
Mathematics:
A lot of people make beats nowadays but a producer has to be
able to make songs and be aware and on top of every detail,
from the music to the content to even the voices on the
song... the finish product is what separates a beat maker
from a producer.
Wu-International: What type of producer are you? How
would you describe your style?
Mathematics:
I’m still growing as a producer, I have a style that I
love to do but at the same time I have become more versatile
for example recently I just did a song with Limp Bizkit and
Paul Wall, which shows that versatility, but I still remain
to keep a signature sound within that song. So I’m still
striving to be the best producer I can be so I guess my type
would be a hard worker.
Wu-International: How has your sound developed or
progressed since you started producing?
Mathematics: That's a question the people can answer
when they start hearing some of my new joints.
Wu-International: How long does it take to make a
track?
Mathematics: Depends, sometimes things just start
flowing and it could happen quickly, sometimes the moulding
of a track may take some time, some tracks I have to step
away from a track for maybe a month or so, time to me really
doesn't matter as long as the finished product is tight!
Wu-International: A lot of producers especially
within the Wu, including you, have hinted that ASR 10 is
their favourite equipment, what is so special about the ASR
10?
Mathematics:
I don't know if it's special for anyone else but it's
defiantly special for me! I’m just comfortable with it.
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Wu-International:
If you had a chance to
produce an entire album for any Wu-Tang general, who would
be your first choice and why?
Mathematics:
Actually that's in the works right now, but I’m not
saying who it is y’all just have to wait and see who
it is when it's actually done. |
Wu-International: When you make beats do you have a
specific Wu member in mind or do you just make it and leave
it up to them to choose which ones they like?
Mathematics: When I make beats for my fellow Clansmen
I basically know who likes what tracks or who voice would
fit on certain tracks that’s just part of being a producer.
Wu-International: Who’s the most challenging Wu
member to work with, or make beats for?
Mathematics: I guess I know 'em well, cuz
they're not challenging for me, but its always a pleasure to
work with any of my brothers
Wu-International: Ok, lets rephrase this then,
who is the easiest to work with then?
Mathematics:
Last answer answers this 1
Wu-International:
Are there any beats we know of that was an accident
initially but came out a hit?
Mathematics:
I remember I
accidentally played "fire in the hole" track off of the
Blackout album by mistake and they loved it and it turned
out a banger.
Wu-International:
You have produced a full album for your protégé Bad luck,
anyone else you have produced a full album for?
Mathematics:
Yes "Love and Loyalty" with my other artist "Eyes Low" which
will be dropping soon, this LP features some Wu members as
well, but he is so incredible I really wanted him to do it
with out a lot of guest appearances, and the Bad Luck LP is
on the way as well, I will keep you posted on that, we
working on that right now.
Wu-International:
There were talks that you have produced almost a full
album for Black knights some years back, do you still have
these recordings and is that something you will be
interested in putting out?
Mathematics:
I did some songs with them early in the days, don't remember
how many and I don't have them but the Knights might have
them and perhaps put them out one day, I just saw Monk
a few days ago in LA, those are my dudes R.I.P. to Doc Doom!
Wu-International:
Have you produced or will you produce songs for other genres
outside hip-hop?
Mathematics:
I definitely plan to; I’ve been
practicing my R&B skills.
Wu-International: Would you rather have been around
in the late eighties / early nineties, where there were no
sampling laws restricting what you could sample?
Mathematics:
I'm
just glad to be here now!
Wu-International: What is the best part of your job?
Mathematics: Loving what I do.
Wu-International: Now I must ask you, what’s the
worst part about it all?
Mathematics:
Loving what I do,
sometimes I wish I could do it non stop!
Wu-International: Fans and critics have called your
last album “The return of Wu & friends” a “Label gold dust
media” as it did not really contain any unreleased or
exclusive tracks as expected, do you have anything to say in
regards to that?
Mathematics:
As long as the people know that gold dust was behind that
and that was not me doing that it's all good! But it had my
name on it so I feel I have to give the people what they
really wanted and trust me its coming soon!
Wu-International: You have been working on “The
solution” for some time now, any reason for the delays?
Mathematics: Good Question, yall have to
wait and see
Wu-International: How would this album differ
from your previous albums?
Mathematics: When I get ready to bring da
solution it has to first of all be with the same supporting
cast, and it has to be better than the problem
Wu-International: Aside from your album, are
there any other projects you are working on that you would
like to share with the fans?
Mathematics:
I’m working on like 3
albums at the moment and I have a documentary being edited
as we speak called "The Art of Entertainment" I will send
you the teaser for that ASAP
Wu-International: The RZA has gone on from
producing albums to scoring movies, would that be something
you would be interested in doing and how would your approach
on scoring a movie differ from producing a song or album?
Mathematics:
Yes that is something I
would like to do, my approach would have to be different
because the music would have to fit into a scene to create
an effect or a whole new dynamic of a scene.
Wu-International: You released an instrumental
album “Soul of a man” in 2006; will there be more
instrumental albums to follow?
Mathematics:
I’m sure there will be
more instrumental albums coming.
Wu-International: If you could remake or remix
any classic hip-hop song. What song would it be? How would
you approach the remake?
Mathematics:
I already did the one I
wanted to do... "All for one" was turned into the wu-banga
101 remix
Wu-International: Why did you start up Mathfiles and
is it still running?
Mathematics:
I started to expand and
bring quality music to people and yes it is still running on
the internet on themathfiles.com new shows will be on
podcast starting in June
Wu-International: Anything else you would like to
share with the fans that have not been covered already?
Mathematics:
Stay tuned! |
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Thanks
for your time and we wish you all the best in your future
endeavours.
Keep up to date with
Maths
www.myspace.com/mathematicswutang
TheMathfiles.com
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