Like the European salons of the 19th Century and Germany's post war Bauhaus, Gwan Massive is a collective of artist whom every member shares the vision of hip hop. True hip hop. Beginning with Mugabe Tenn and his reggae ensemble, Tribal Style, the group spans various races and genres. Present at REAX's first roundtable interview was Mugabe and his brother TK (also of TS), Dj Blenda (Michael Medulsky), Breakdown (Ryan McGown), SlopFunkDust, Kenny Poland (the d'Visitors), Keith Elite (1/2 of Ruckus) and Jay Giroux (artist w/ Sauver).

With a case of Bud Light (hey! Its only issue 2!) and an hour hanging out at REAX world headquarters, Gwan Massive discussed what its like to live in a Clear Channel hip hop dominated town, the joy of opening for a national act, and what is the secret to their diverse success. But, first, the boys educated REAX staff on the different uses for the word "Gwan" . . .



M= Mugabi Ten, TK= TK Ten, B=Blenda, KE=Keith Elite (Ruckus), KY= Kenny (d’Visitors), SFD= Slop Funk Dust, BD=Breakdown, J= Jay Giroux

REAX: What is “Gwan”?

M: The original term "gwan" is a Jamaican word; it says “go on, get out of here.” Right now, Gwan Massive is a whole 'nother collective.

REAX: Why did you choose Gwan Massive as a name?

B: We thought of it when we were real drunk one night.

M: At first it was me, Blenda, and Slop Funk Dust, and we brought together 3 different styles of music.

REAX: What does Gwan Massive mean to you?

SFD: I guess at this point, Gwan means no boundaries, no limits. It’s funny to see something go from a drunken joke to something really serious. It’s morphed into this thing that you can’t really describe it. It’s just something we do. It’s . . .

M: Gwan!

K: Gwan to me is anything you want it to be, as long as you’re expressing yourself, having a good time, being with the people you want to be with, creating the type of music you want to create.

B: For me, it was just a form of expression. Before the term, most of these people I already knew, and as we got tighter and artistically developed ourselves, it just sort of formulated. The word was always there; we started using it a lot. People outside our group began using the term and then we just fell into the label of Gwan.

REAX: There’re a lot of races represented here. Does that ever cross anyone’s mind, or has hip-hop existed for such a long time, that race doesn’t matter anymore?

M: Nah. I don’t think anybody thinks about race, here.

B: It’s not even about just hip-hop anymore. It’s more of a lifestyle.

M: We share the same culture.

REAX: Breakdown, is the novelty of being a white guy rapper over?

BD: It was never a novelty to me. I used to be made fun of when I first started and I said, “I don’t give a damn, I’m better than you.” It’s to the point now where a lot of people know me, and if not, they see I’m not whack, so people aren’t going to hate on me. People see past all this. Race doesn’t matter. It’s the last thing on my mind and anyone in here. We know what’s underneath all that.

REAX: What about the Latin community and your role with hip-hop there?

K: For me, I grew in a mixed race environment. I grew up on a military base and the kids I grew up with were international. I never really directed myself toward the culture that I’m coming from. I’ve always been more diverse and open minded. So, to be associated with a bunch of people from different cultures and walks of life is not that uncommon to me. I don’t see race as an issue.

REAX: Keith, Mugabi, you guys come from families with musical backgrounds… does anyone else come from similar families?

BD: My mom played piano and sang.

B: My dad sings, plays keyboard and guitar, and had a few bands. I played drums. It’s kind of how I learned my DJ skills, learning the timing of the music from drums.

SFD: My dad and uncles are all DJ’s.

REAX: In Jamaica?

SFD: No matter where we lived. As a kid, I remember sneaking downstairs and steal my dad’s beer out of the fridge while he performed.

REAX: What was it like opening for Blackalicious?

KY: It was the biggest event we’ve done. The other national acts we opened up for before didn’t draw a huge crowd. Blackalicious drew a crowd that was pretty much to capacity. There was some nervous energy there, but we thought we did very well. There were a lot of people there that had never seen us before, and we do a lot of shows around here. That process went through my head—that a lot of people know who we are but there still remain so many more who don’t. And that’s a very a positive thing.

REAX: Can you describe the high from performing?

B: For me, it’s just letting loose musically, like everyone is showing what they’re about. It’s like spreading the vibes of how we feel about music. It’s an energy going out to the people.

K: There are so many times when you are trying to think about getting that good performance. And there are times when you can see the crowd is into it, and what you’re hearing is what you’re still picking apart. But then there are times when you know what’s coming out sounds great and everyone’s loving it and that is like—phew—that is like falling in love.

REAX: That is one thing I notice at the Gwan shows, that there is a wall that is torn down between artist and audience. What’s that like?

BD: A band can get up there and jam. If they want to take a 30 minute break in the middle of the song, they can do that. It’s a lot harder for an MC and a DJ. For us, it’s all about crowd participation.

REAX: What are the advantages of doing hip hop in a town that is primarily known as being associated with hard metal and punk?

SFD: None.

B: None.

BD: I would say that the fans that we do have are so loyal, it’s crazy. Plus, the hip hop that stands out, you know—we’re not the only cats doing hip hop, the stuff that stands out, there are some really talented cats. I think that’s the benefit, that there are so many people from so many different places, that you end up with some really good talent.

B: For me, the music we do is not really a “Top 40” sound that is big out here. So for us, it’s kind of good, because a lot of people into the punk scene, the metal scene, whoever they be, they’re just looking for good music in general. And they know we bring it on. So our shows turn out a whole mixed-up crowd rather than a straightforward hip-hop crowd. They dig what we do more than a hip-hop crowd.

REAX: Jay, how did art become a role in the Gwan Massive movement?

J: I mean, you always need artists. I just got done with Breakdown’s album cover. The other thing that is good about that is I’m a promoter as well. And I grew up with Blenda, when he used to DJ at the skate park I went to when I was like 15. Since then, we’ve been trying to build a community. In the lower east side in New York in the early 80’s, the musicians were fusing—the rockers were mixing with the hip-hop tracks, the punkers were coming to their shows and the artists were designing the album covers. It was a fusion of everything. For me, when you have a different diversity of elements and all these different people come out, the experience you get is that everyone’s feeling it. So, you have an indie rock act that’s going on and hip-hop cats that are feeling it. I mean, they might not want to feel it because someone is looking at them.

REAX: Jay mentioned lower east side NY in the 80’s—do you guys follow history or listen to older sounds to draw inspiration for today?

M: Yeah, like Blondie.

REAX: Really?

M: Mm hm.

J: Clash.

K: Police, Generation X, Dead Kennedys…

B: I was dubbing and playing drums in hardcore bands in Boston at the same time, so like, that was there, graffiti was there. It was something that grew on me. Something I love.

J: And it was a young movement. It was much younger cats rebelling against what family traditions stood for. I think what you see in Florida is we are the first generation that is spending its prominent years in Florida. Whereas in the past it was all retirees. And we are trying to rebel against that and build a community of supporters. Whereas in LA, NY, and now Austin, TX, all those cities are blowing up, and I think Tampa has enough younger people coming to events that we have a real shot at making a run at this shit and making a solid impression.

B: The goal is to keep it moving. It’s a development. It’s a place for people to try and do what we’re doing.

SFD: And it’s a chance to show kids what good music is.

REAX: Well, you live in a town that has 3 hip hop FM stations that do not recognize you or any other local acts.

K: Well, there are the 2 hours you get on WMNF…

REAX: How does that feel? And does it feed the rebellion Jay was talking about?

J: It’s very one sided.

K: Hip hop is a culture, and rap is what is being force-fed to you on the radio.

BD: I heard a good analogy: Mainstream hip hop is in its “hair metal” stage right now. It’s full of clichés, glamour, over-exaggerating everything… and for me, personally, I don’t want to have a child one day and have him strive to be that. I would feel that I failed as a father if that happened. That’s partly why I do this. If I wasn’t rhyming, I’d probably be a teacher, for real.

SFD: Here’s the bottom line: If you are going to say the music sucks, you gotta do something about it. Don’t just complain about it.

REAX: Well, there is the iPod and downloadable music that any band can put out there. K, told me a really good quote that the days of turning in a demo tape to get picked up by a label are over. And, if you never got picked up, and you could still do this for a living—even modestly—would you be happy? Is there hope in that for everyone?

SFD: None of us are counting on radio. Radio is not a promotional tool for us at all. Period.

Other than 88.5, there is not one radio station in this town that has stepped up.

REAX: No one here is praying for a big contract?

SFD: I wouldn’t say that.

K: Oh, we’ll take one.

BD: We all would like one, but that isn’t the goal. Everyone would like to quit our day jobs. Some of us have.

K: There are examples, like The Flaming Lips and Medeski, Martin & Wood. They make a very good living, but do not get radio play.

REAX: Everyone is happy to stay underground?

M: Yeah.

BD: We are comfortable with not being accepted in the mainstream. We are not trying to change that. We want to reach that small percentage of the population that is trying to hear what we’re doing.

REAX: Is there hope that like art, where the gallery system isn’t exclusive—you can show art anywhere and everywhere now—you can still make money? Because of the Internet and downloadable music, that this a true do-it-yourself generation?

SFD: Think of all the tools you have, like… MySpace. You can go to dangermouse.com and it goes straight to a MySpace page. The Internet is probably the most powerful tool for us. Look at all these dumb videos, 30 second of funny clips that millions and millions of people watch everyday.

B: I like the idea of, not necessarily making money off it, but spreading the message and letting people hear what you’re doing… that’s great.