 01/11/2005 The Kray TwinZ
Born: Coventry, 1978
Personal motto: If you can’t back it don’t say it!
Musical style: Unique!
Describe yourselves: Hard to please and very ambitious.
You may not know the name yet, but you’ll sure as hell know the beats. The Kray Twinz – aka Jaz and Jat – have more recently been acclaimed as the creators behind the Number 5 UK chart sensation and international club smash ‘Mundian To Bach Ke’ which was released by Punjabi MC. Their previous collaborations with Jadakiss, Jay-Z and Mark Morrison were just a taster of the great things yet to come. But for now, it’s time for the Twinz behind the board to move to the forefront and show the people what they’re really about. Having grown up in a world where r&b and hip hop crashed beside their Indian identity, has led to their signature ease and versatility in experimental yet traditional approaches to production. This stimulating invention may well be the key to their unique musical abilities. As innovators and visionaries within their sphere, The Kray Twinz have shaped a sound that flirts just outside the borders of ‘Asian’ culture. It is undeniably hip hop and r&b but at the same time it embraces everyone, from UK garage kids to the bashment crews. Fusing together club hip hop with the frenzied energy of the Asian music scene, musical originators The Kray Twinz emerge with their adrenaline-fuelled debut single, ‘What We Do’ on GANA Records. It marks the great transition from influential Asian talents, to indisputably one of the UK’s hotly anticipated production duos. ‘What We Do’ is the first track from their long-awaited album, ‘Indian Summer’, which seamlessly combines the illest ragga beats with UK and US hip hop. This collaboration, featuring US heavy weight hip hop giant Twista throwing down with our own homegrown mastermind Lethal Bizzle and the notorious Suncycle dancehall superhero MC Gappy Ranks, marks a milestone in the future of urban music today. And this is just the beginning for this creative tag team. The Kray Twinz’ debut album, ‘Indian Summer’ is a production-led affair that features a cavalry of formidable talent including DMX, Truth Hurts, latest signing to Interscope Records Hayes, Elephant Man, Pharcyde, Mr Vegas and Matt Goss, and is due for release in Spring 2006. We spoke to the inseparable twosome…
What is your biggest achievement so far?
Our debut album, ‘Indian Summer’.
Who are your musical heroes?
Brian McKnight, George Benson and Ronny Jordan.
Tell us about your new projects.
If we tell you that, we would have to kill you.
What are your plans for the future?
All will be revealed in good time. But we have just bought a pad out in LA where we are putting together a state-of-the-art studio. We have a studio in the UK where we can record with UK artists but wanted our own space to record with US artists.
Are there any artists you would like to work with?
Not at the moment. We have all of them featured on our album.
What is catching your ear at the moment?
Old skool soul.
Who would you invite to a dinner party, and why?
Everyone who is working on our project – to show our appreciation to them.
What do you do to chill out after a hectic night performing?
Head straight to bed!
What is your recipe for success?
Hard work. It’s about being a leader not a follower.
What makes you happy?
Good music.
What makes you angry?
Shit music.
What was the last CD/record you bought?
We’re always buying records as we still DJ frequently so there will be too many to list. Rhianna’s ‘Pon Da Replay’ is a recent one we bought though.
What is your favourite song?
Kray Twinz. Featuring Twista, Lethal B & Gappy Ranks!
If not DJs and producers then what?
This is a no brainer; one way or another we would have been doing one of the above and if we didn’t then we would probably be on the dole.
The Kray Twinz’ single ‘What We Do’ is out now on GANA Records.
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