Foreign Beggars Beat Some Bass

Starting out life as a hip hop crew some ten years ago, Foreign Beggars have never been afraid to experiment with the crew they run with as well as the music they make.  With a core group of four, they've DJ'd, produced, rapped, presented and toured relentlessly, the latest big gig being in support of  Skrillex and are known for their dubstep and grime grooves.  Ahead of their date this Saturday at Electric in Brixton (Tickets here) and new releases on their Dented Records label, Helen S caught up with the crew to see what's shaping their world right now.

Pulse: Hello Foreign Beggars, please introduce yourselves.  Foreign Beggars: Hi, we are Foreign Beggars, we’re essentially a four man crew – Orifice and Metropolis on mic, Nonames on the turntables and Dag Nabbit our in house producer. Sometimes we roll with MC Zani; beatboxer and bootleg fashion connoisseur.

You have a really varied musical history from d&b to grime to dubstep- how would you describe your sound now? M- We’re essentially a hip hop group, but our sound sits right in the middle between dubstep, grime, d & b. You could describe it as progressive hip-hop over various strains of bass music.
NN- The Foreign Beggars sound is constantly evolving, the show is a quick-fire, cut up pastiche of mainly new, exciting underground music, with a few classics thrown in there.. We maintain a hip-hop ethos of trying to push it in terms of skills on the turntables, and on the mic. No playback and miming! OV and Tropi are very diverse MCs and never sit in one lane.

Between you you've also lived in a number of different countries from Dubai to the UK to Norway- how do you find your sound goes down abroad and where is it best received?  M – I think crowds abroad have been really happy to hear what we’re doing, even the guys that knew us as a straight hip hop outfit. It’s crazy how when we first started rhyming over dubstep in the set people didn’t really know what it was or how to get down to it, go back to the same place two years later and they're booking us for their own dubstep night. The response has been great all over really. It’s hard to pick one out. I can say it’s surprising how well we were received in the States considering we're British and all, I think they really felt and understood the vibe we try to bring.

You're well known for your live shows, what's been a highlight for you this year?  M- The highlight has to be touring with Skrillex this year, we did 15 dates across the US, our first time out there. It was amazing. Real cool people on the tour, all the roadies, rolling in two huge buses. I don’t think we ever toured so intensely either. Shows every night bar one, when we still threw a party and jumped up on stage anyway. It was a great experience, all the guys on the tour Nadastrom, 12th Planet, Dillon Francis, Steve Duda, and of course Skrillex himself were real cool guys, even down to all the production crew. It was an amazing experience.



Production, radio show presenting, DJ'ing, live shows- you've pretty much done it all! What do you most enjoy and would you consider another stint on the radio?  NN- We presented a radio show on the BBC Asian Network for a couple of years, we’d go to Birmingham every Saturday night and present it live, this was a few years back now. All the touring commitments and other stuff we’re wrapped up in now, it just wouldn’t be possible to do a quality weekly show, let alone on a Saturday night. It was a great experience though and we’re still tight with a lot of the other presenters and crew; Nerm, Reju, Bobby Friction, Pathaan, Kayper, Limelight + Kan D Man.
M- At the moment I’m really getting into production, I have another project I’m working on which I’m finding really enthralling and challenging. It’s completely different to Foreign Beggars. What’s really cool is I find it easier to express myself honestly through production than through lyrics. Words give too much of a definitive meaning, whereas production is all imagery and soundscapes and is open to interpretation.

Tell us a bit about your label, Dented Records?  Really started as a vehicle for our own music as everyone we went to in the beginning was trying to tell us how we should do it differently.  We started releasing in 2003, all our singles then were on 12" albums on CD and 2 x LP. As we grew we started helping our peers release records offering them our distribution network and acting as sort of management. This was with artists like Dr Syntax, Dubbledge, Skrein, SonnyJim, Stig Of The Dump etc.  A few years later we went fully into the distribution side of things until a massive company called EUK and Woolworths crashed, and the closing of Virgin records ensued. This was a really expensive and time consuming blow so we decided to pick up the pieces of what we could and focus more on the group's activities. We still have all the releases out, all 55 and are actually about to re-launch activities so watch this space.
We've had so many ill artists from Guilty Simpson, Oh No, Phat Kat to Scratch Perverts, Task Force, Skinnyman, Bar 9, Machinedrum, Goth Trad, Excision, Plan b, Jehst, Wretch 32 feature, it would be a shame not to continue the legacy so we're gonna go back in for 2012.

Who are you working with at the moment?  M- We just finished recording the vocals for an album with Noisia which is due out next year. We’ve also finished a joint with Flux Pavillion and Skism coming out on Circus Records called ‘Jump Back’. And of course there’s various collabs and works in progress, you’ll be hearing a lot from us next year.

And when can we expect some new material from you?  M -‘Jump Back’ is due out in December, we working on an EP for the early part of next year with a full album to drop just after summer. Busy Beggars.
NN- keep your eyes on the twitter (www.twitter.com/foreignbeggars) you can find new tunes, free downloads and mixes with new/unreleased material on www.soundcloud.com/foreignbeggars as well as www.mixcloud.com/foreignbeggars

What do you think sets you apart as a group?  I think for a hip hop group we’ve never been afraid to work on music outside our given genre, we just used those same hip hop principles superimposed over different types of beats. We’re very versatile and unafraid to experiment. We also have differing influences which come out in the music and also in the live show. We don’t take ourselves toooo seriously and we have a super energized ball of energy and will power called Orifice who spits ill bars and also keeps the whole train in motion.

You've been up for a fair few awards in your time- what's the one that means the most to you?  I think we’ve only actually won one award which was the Lyric Pad newcomer of the year back in 2005. We’ve had a few nominations though. The dubstep forum awards we were nominated for best Dubstep vocalists and came second behind Pokes and in front of Katy B which was cool. That was actually the first time we realized people were beginning to think of us as a dubstep group. Awards are cool that people appreciate you enough to vote for you but it means more to us that people come out to the shows and support our music. That’s what keeps us going.

And finally, when's your next show and what can we expect from you?  Our next London show is in Brixton at Electric on the 10th December. It’s Circus Vs Never Say Die so it’s gonna be a crazy bash. Expect a lot of hype, future beats, crazy basslines, screaming, crowd surfing, circle pit and a wall of death.

Listen to Foreign Beggars on Pulse Radio