[Exclusive] Lords of Lyrics (L.O.L.) 獨家訪談 Interview 2015

這次受訪對象是來自洛杉磯的饒舌團體L.O.L. (全名Lords of Lyrics)。L.O.L.由JPKoop組成,在九零年代出道,儘管從來沒有在主流市場獲得成功,但一路走來L.O.L.始終堅持G-Funk曲風,讓他們在歐洲、日本等地都累積不少支持者,尤其是"Summer Breeze"一曲,在G-Funk樂迷中可說是為人津津樂道的經典之作。

Lords of Lyrics (JP & Koop)

由於email訪問時,JP及Koop並沒有特別標明是誰在回答問題的,所以就全部混在一起,不過還算淺顯易懂、問題不大。

1. What's the origin of L.O.L.? How did you guys meet and form up a group? 

L.O.L.的起源是什麼?
  • L.O.L:South Central Los Angeles West Side of LA. L.O.L was first known as T.N.G (The New Generation) but there was a group using that slogan/name so we had to come up with a different name, and we came up with Lords of Lyrics! We met in Junior High School (Emerson Jr High in 1983) Jason & Jerry became friends in school, Jason aka Young Koop use to rap at lunch time in school gathering a crowd and Jerry aka J.P was attracted to Jason's personality and rap flow. They started hanging out with each other outside of the school grounds and they decided to form a group which was T.N.G Alliance.
  • L.O.L:我們來自洛杉磯西部的South Central地區。 L.O.L.最早的前身是T.N.G (The New Generation),但當時已經有人使用了這個團名,於是我們決定採用另外一個名稱 - 也就是Lords of Lyrics! 我們兩人是念高中時認識的朋友(1983年,Emerson Jr High),Jason(外號Young Koop)時常在午飯時間饒舌、吸引了一票人圍觀,而Jerry(外號J.P)也被Koop的台風給吸引。於是兩人成為了好朋友、常常一起廝混,並一起組成饒舌雙人組T.N.G Alliance
2. When did you do your first proper recording? 
第一首正式作品是什麼時候推出的?
  • L.O.L:We did our first proper recording in 1991, our first single was entitled "Poppa Didn't Raise No Punks" under the group name T.N.G Alliance.
  • L.O.L:我們的第一支正式單曲是在1991年推出的"Poppa Didn't Raise No Punks",當時我們還是使用T.N.G Alliance這個團名。  
3. What's your biggest musical influence? What kinds of music do you listen to regularly? 你們音樂上最大的啟發是誰?平常都聽什麼樣的音樂?
  • L.O.L:We were born in the 70's so our influences come from groups like The P-Funk Allstars, James Brown, Cameo, Brass Construction, George Clinton, Boosty Collins and so on and so on.
  • L.O.L:我們出生於七零年代。所以我們的影響來自那個年代的放客樂團,像是The P-Funk Allstars, James Brown, Cameo, Brass Construction, George Clinton, Boosty Collins 等等。
4. Lords of Lyrics is a recognizable name in G-Funk music..you got followers from all over the world. What does G-Funk mean to you? 
L.O.L.這個團體受到世界各地的G-Funk樂迷的喜愛,G-Funk對你們而言是什麼?
  • L.O.L:G-Funk is Rap, G-Funk is the format to rap music, it allows you to deliver your words with passion, enthusiasm easy to get your point across. 
  • L.O.L:G-Funk是種饒舌方式。這個樂風,使我們的熱情得以訴諸文字,並且用更容易地方式來讓我們的訊息傳遞出去。
5. "Summer Breeze" is a G-Funk classic in west coast hip hop history! Do you have any fresh memories when making this track? In the music video, you guys were chilling at a party...where was it at? 
Summer Breeze是西岸歷史G-Funk經典作品之一,在做這首歌的時候有什麼特別回憶嗎?在音樂錄影帶中,你們在一個派對裡狂歡,這個地點在哪裡?
  • L.O.L:Ha hah hahaha! Those were the GOOD Ole Days, the days where you thought your group member would be down forever, when we thought we were on our way to BIG THANGS and NO ONE could stop us, we were family we were BROTHERS! The filming of Summer Breeze took place in the Beverly Hills far from my neighborhood. 
  • L.O.L:哈哈哈! 這真的是很棒的老時光!當時我們以為可以風光一世、成功就在不遠處,而且覺得沒有任何人可以阻擋我們,我們一群人都是家人、都是好兄弟。Summer Breeze音樂錄影帶的拍攝地點是在比佛利山 - 離我們居住的地方遠得很。

L.O.L. - Summer Breeze (1996)

6. Another element that LA is famous for is Lowrider culture. Can you talk about the importance of Low rider to LA hip hop culture?
洛杉磯也以Low rider文化聞名,你們可以談論它對洛杉磯嘻哈的重要性嗎?
  • L.O.L:Low riders goes way back, I remember when i was a kid growing up in Watts California i can remember my uncles friends driving up in there low riders playing that G-Funk music so it inspired me a great deal, and it has done so for the greater community of Los Angles.
  • L.O.L:Low riders的文化其實可以追溯到很久以前了。我只記得當我還是小孩、成長於Watts的時候,我的叔叔及長輩朋友們總是駕駛著low riders,並且播放著G-Funk音樂 - 這影響我非常大。這個文化也對洛杉磯的社區有深遠的影響。
7. I lived in LA for three years.. but never had chances to ride a low rider lol. And in Taiwan, we also don't have any low riders here. What's the feeling of riding on a low rider and cruising down the streets?
我以前一直沒機會搭乘low riders。駕駛著low riders、在街上漫遊是什麼樣的感覺?
  • L.O.L:Riding in a low rider is an AMAZING FEELING, like 2Pac Shakur would say "ALL EYE'S ON ME", all eye's are on you when you pull up in a BEAUTIFUL low rider car with nice music coming out the windows and your able to make your car dance to those sounds of G-Funk or Oldies coming from your sound system.
  • L.O.L:在街上開著low rider的感覺棒透了!就像2pac曾說的"All Eyez on Me",當你開著一台美麗的low rider、一邊將美妙的音樂從窗戶播放出去,你的車伴隨著G-Funk或是Oldies音樂一同搖擺慢舞,你就會成為眾人矚目的焦點。
8. I see that you guys are running that "We Gon' Ride T.V." - What is it all about?
我有注意到你們目前正在經營"We Gon' Ride TV" - 這是什麼東西?
  • L.O.L: We Gon' Ride Tv is about the low rider cars, the culture, the life of a low rider. The regular media such as channel 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 they always show us in a negative manner, so we created We Gon' Ride TV from a song on our album entitled We Gon Ride, to show the WORLD that low riders are everyday people, hard working people that are just like you and me, people who all have a interest in cars and making them BEAUTIFUL, and spending our hard earn money to fix these cars up just to ride. 
  • L.O.L:We Gon' Ride TV談論的正是low riders文化,以及low riders的生活方式。一般電視頻道播放的節目常常把我們這種low rider愛好者形容得很負面,於是我們決定自己創立一個We Gon' Ride TV (靈感來自我們的一首歌曲We Gon Ride),目的就是要讓全世界看見low riders愛好者們也是一般人,我們也是刻苦工作的人們、就像你們一樣,只是我們特別愛好車子、並且把辛苦賺來的錢拿來將車子改裝成美麗的模樣。



9. For Taiwanese people who still don't know your music yet. Can you recommend some of your tracks to them? 能否推薦幾首作品給台灣的朋友們?
  • L.O.L:Of course! The first song "Loyalty or Royalty" is a introduction to our LONGEVITY in the Hip-Hop game, our struggle and how easy it is to be distracted from your goals and dreams in life. "We Gon' Ride" which inspired our internet show, riding for peace, riding and enjoying life under the palm trees, and riding against all negativity."West Coast 4Life" "I'm From LA" describes the streets we are from, the life we live in Los Angeles "Sip N Sunday" describes how we love to kick back and chill with our LOVE ONES. 
  • L.O.L:當然!第一首推薦作品是"Loyalty or Royalty",這是一首介紹我們在嘻哈樂界如何歷久不衰、如何奮鬥,以及在我們人生中是如何取捨目標與夢想。 第二首是"We Gon' Ride",這首作品激發了我們的靈感、進一步去錄製網路節目,並且riding for peace,駕駛著low rider、享受在棕梠樹下的美好生活,並且將負面情緒全部拋開。其他推薦曲還有"West Coast 4Life" "I'm From LA",這些作品敘述了我們來自的街頭故事,以及洛杉磯的生活。至於"Sip N Sunday"則是敘述我們如何與所愛的人們相處。
L.O.L. - We Gon Ride

10. Can you talk about the new album Loyalty or Royalty? 
How did you connect with R.T.N from Poland? 
能否談論一下新專輯Loyalty or Royalty?以及是如何聯繫上波蘭的製作人RTN?
  • L.O.L:Loyalty or Royalty is to me a album of taking back whats ours, taking responsibility on our life's journey, taking control of our music being able to say what we want and how we want to. No management that's just out for money, and not taking interest of the creators Jason & Jerry aka Koop & J.P. R.T.N from Poland is an angel sent from HEAVEN that gave the LORDS a brand new start, and he did great wonders in capturing or style and sound, he found us on my-space and told us he was a FAN and could we listen to his beats and from there it's HISTORY.
  • L.O.L: Loyalty or Royalty這張專輯就像是一個對過去人生旅途的審視,這讓我們又能夠重新用音樂來傳遞我們想說的任何事。波蘭的製作人R.T.N就像是從天堂派下來的天使一樣,有了他的幫忙,讓Lords of Lyrics有了一個全新的開始,他完美詮釋了我們想要的風格與聲音。他是在myspace上聯繫我們,當時他對我們說他是個歌迷,我們聽了他的beats之後便一拍即合,剩下的就是歷史了。 

L.O.L. - Sip N Sunday (Produced by RTN)


11. Where can we follow your music?
  • L.O.L:We Gon Ride TV.com, Facebook under Lords of Lyrics, Sound Cloud, iTunes, Amazon& Spotify Radio! We hope we answer all your question Johnny, Thanks for rocking with the LORDS......
Shout out to Taiwan!


<DISCOGRAPHY>
1994 - Do or Die
1996 - Heaven or Hell
2009 - Lost & Found
2015 - Loyalty or Royalty

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