Cyphanetik: Personal Triumph or Commercial Suicide
By Andrew Hughes (photography by Davinia Abbott), NZ Musician, December/January2007 (Vol:13, No:3)
We pretend it's cheating us at times, but life is real. Life allows the music to bleed through the speaker and inspire the mind with the energy provided by one artist in one studio. One man, one mic, one crew.
The Breakin Wreckwordz crew has maintained this kind of integrity throughout their time as New Zealand's underground kings over the past four years. With little glamour in their modus operandi, the collective have consistently delivered interestingly grimy, reality-driven music.
Jared Abbott, leader of Breakin Wreckwordz, is an experienced solo artist, established battle-MC and a member of Insomniacs and Oddballz. Abbott (aka Cyphanetik) has now come to the forefront with his own punchy, autobiographical debut album, knowingly titled 'Commercial Suicide'.
"Ever since I started seriously rapping I was always thinking like I was working on an album, but I just didn't have songs that I thought were good enough to be on an album," Cyphanetik states as we start the interview.
"It wasn't until the later period of recording that I started feeling comfortable with what I was doing."
Cyphanetik is his own worst critic. "I've got heaps of songs that didn't make it to the album, and I could have kept going if it was up to me. If I didn't feel like I had a responsibility to release it, due to people waiting on it, I probably would've kept going forever, thinking that (the content) wasn't good enough (for my debut album)."
Think James Gandolfini, but high expectations do help as Cyphanetik's first offering is incredibly cunning, witty and artful, whilst also angry, sadistic and personal at times.
His characteristic vocals project a thorough knowledge of style and technique, lounging with comfort over beats carved by artists Tommy Harmonics, Exile, Nate D, 22, Shadow Squad, 44 and Sam Thorne.
"Every track's different. I hear the beat, then try to visualize in my head what it's gonna sound like. With a lot of the (vocal) concepts, I make them up for tracks without having the beats yet. I was doing multi's (syllable-based rhymes) before I knew what it was, I just used to call it 'rhyming heaps of words'."
'Commercial Suicide' was recorded, mixed and mastered by Dan Mawby at Breakin Wreckwordz' own Bee Dub Studio's in Mt. Albert, Auckland. Mawby also produced the lead single Blaze Em.
The instrumental offers solid, slightly reverberated kicks, twitchy 808 rim shots, bells and vocal sample, making the beat minimal, yet effective and current. Enjoying positive feedback and generous airplay on Flava 96.1 in Auckland, the track's video has also graced television screens in recent months, a nice introduction to second single Rollin With Punches.
"We've just done the Rollin With Punches video actually. We got a video grant, so we got to use film and it looks flash. We filmed it in this massive deserted home in Grey Lynn which used to be a boys hostel. It's a performance video, so there's no story line, and it was directed by Tom Dreaver."
Cyphanetik's battle credentials are some of the most highly regarded in NZ history, standing alongside Mareko as a most daunting opponent to face. Although his title as the 2004 Boost Mobile Battle of Supremacy NZ Champion and his captaincy of the NZ team have gained him notoriety and respect, he insists the battle circuit is but a hobby.
"People have this strange idea that Battle MCs just sit there all day focusing on battles. Personally, I don't know any battle MCs who don't write songs, or haven't got into it through writing songs. I'd been writing, recording and performing songs live for two years before I'd even tried to freestyle and that was in 2000. I picked it up real quick 'cos I had heaps of rhymes, I'd just never really tried it."
'Commercial Suicide' highlights a broad selection of talented local artists including Breakin Wreckwordz' label-mates Usual Suspects, Louie Knuxx, Ethical, Red Eye Society, Tyson Tyler and producer Exile. Further approved craftsmen such as Mareko, Tyna & JB, Maia Rata, D Form and Jabawocki also have input on the album helping cohesion and continuity through the 15 tracks and 51 minutes.
Cyphanetik's ballsy attitude is prominent. An up-close look at the modern day creative, and a middle finger to the straight-laced, 'Commercial Suicide' is a devious and disobedient record, but more importantly, an honest authentic statement from one of our most talented wordsmiths.
"It's real easy to make love songs, or talk about true personal experiences, or how much you love that person and how beautiful they are but... your debut album tells a story from your birth to that point in time, and how much you truly present a realistic image of yourself is a test."
www.myspace.com/cyphanetik
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