DJ RAP

It was only last October that we last featured Rap in Knowledge. She had just signed a five album deal with Sony and her debut LP for them, "Learning Curve", will be released in August. The first single from it, "Bad Girl" is out in June and, like most of the album tracks, it's a pretty radical departure from the jungle we know her for and she'll probably take equal amounts of flak and praise for this gamble. This new direction is aimed at a much wider audience and it remains to be seen what people inside and outside of jungle will make of it. She knows this as well, but you know what, worrying about what other people think about her isn't going to hold her back.

Even though it isn't really a jungle album, "Learning Curve" is still an important album for the jungle scene. This is the first time an artist previously only known for jungle has released such a non-jungle album and with it being on a high profile label, the words 'sell' and 'out' will also be on many lips. I expected Rap to be on the defensive, but even she surprised me how much to begin with. Firstly, she's brought her own dictaphone to record the interview. She explains this is a mere precaution to prevent misquotes which is fair enough, but it's the first time in a decade of interviewing this has happened to me. Secondly, she answers my first question of 'in your own words, tell me about the album' with a question of her own: 'what did you think of it?' I've got to admit this throws me slightly, but I compose myself and reply that while the style is very different, the sound is familiar. In other words, everyone expects a DJ Rap album to be jungle, so it's very different, but the actual content is mostly 'proper' songs structured very conventionally. It's got a kinda alternative dance feel, there are plenty of strings that give it an emotional quality but this is balanced by some tough breaks and beats. It's also very musical with a lot of emphasis on melody. Definitely pop in places but still in a leftfield way and, while it's commercial enough to be played on daytime Radio 1, in no way is it trying too hard. On the one hand, Madonna springs to mind but so does the lo-fi beats crew the Sneaker Pimps. I'm not totally sure how Rap will react to even being mentioned in the same breath as Madonna, but at least it finally gets the interview going.

"When I first heard "Frozen", which I love, I thought it was similar to what I'm doing, but I'm not holding back on any of it. There are 'poppy' songs on it, but I didn't sit down and think 'I'm going to make a pop record,' it just came out like that. However, there are also songs like "Audio Technica" that have no limits, really dark and I don't think she's gone that deep." It's ironic that Madonna is a mainstream artist going for an underground sound and credibility while it's the reverse for Rap and they're sort of meeting in the middle. Let's be clear about this, pop it may be but it's not cheese: "I'd be mortified if everyone thought the album was cheese, but what can I do? It's true to my heart. I really do love every track. It's the album I play the most and that's really important to me because how the hell is anyone else going to be into it? Credibility and respect are important, but at the end of the day I have to respect myself. Many times in this scene I've gone against the grain and caused a lot of trouble because I've believed in what I believe in. In the end, it turns out I was right about a lot of it and wrong about some of it, but that's the way life goes.

Rap has warmed up now and returns to my initial question: "If someone said to me 'you're going to be DJing and producing jungle for the rest of your life', I think I would die, I'm not a person who can stand still for too long. At the end of the day, I make music. DJing is a natural progression to making your own tunes, to owning your own label, to learning how to engineer your own tunes - one thing follows the other. So it's obviously another natural progression to move on and create my own new thing. I think it's really important that everybody takes what they have and creates their own original sound. I'm not interested in wasting time making what people expect me to make or copying other people either. The main thing is that it's something I want to do, whether it sells or not is irrelevant to me. I understand it's going to be confusing for people but that's what Proper Talent and Low Key are for. It's really important for me to keep those labels ticking over as they keep my finger on the pulse.

"This album is a completely different sound," she continues, "even the jungle on it is taken a step further. I'm interested in trancey kinda vibes, alternative guitar vibes but the beat is the thing I've picked up and taken with me. For this first album, it was really important that the beats were quite hard, I can sometimes go over the top with strings and water everything down but I just put them where they were really needed for this. I consciously tried not to be too self-indulgent. I love it first, but obviously I'm not doing it just for myself. I hope it's popular and it charts. I don't care if people think that's bad, I didn't make it for the bedroom, this is for everyone. I'm not interested in housewives listening to my jungle - they won't get it. The jungle I DJ and make for the street is never going to be accepted like that, never, so what's the point signing a deal for it? As far as I'm concerned, there is no reason why I can't DJ, keep it real, make my music and do something different. After all, these people criticising me aren't paying my bills or helping me live the way I want to live. Most importantly, out of all of it, this is what makes me happy. I'm so happy when I'm in the studio making what I want to and I feel restricted when I'm just expected to do just one thing, so it's not a matter of choice, it's a matter of necessity. I need to do this like I need to breathe. For example, I'm into melody but sometimes you can't put it across in jungle. The jungle I'm known for is quite hard jump-up and people aren't interested in all that melody with it so you have to go a different route. I've made my bed in that, but when I'm making songs now, I can really do whatever I want and it's wonderful. It's like I don't have to worry about things like the arrangement or how big the impact of the drop is. I've created what I really wanted to with this album and that's the whole point, musical freedom."

Did you think about releasing it under a different name? "At first I wanted to and we talked about it, but the record company felt it wasn't the right way to go. I ended up agreeing with them because why should I pretend I'm not associated with this scene? I love it, it's where I've come from and if people can't get their heads round that it's not my problem. When I started DJing, it was never my ultimate goal. It was always a launching pad to the next thing that I wanted to do and this is what I've always wanted to do. It doesn't affect my DJing or tunes I make for that scene, but let's remember it's a very small scene compared to the bigger pie. There is a lot of jungle in this album so it would be really weird for Charissa that no one knows to suddenly have jungle on her album. It was a tricky one and it took a lot of figuring out but we'll go with this because the Rap name has real street cred that has been building for nearly ten years. No one knows whether it's right or wrong until it comes out, so it's a gamble."

If you've been following Rap's career over the years, then this career move won't come as a surprise. Even her 1995 debut album, "Intelligence", had a few different bits people wouldn't have expected and there were also some unusual, eclectic choices on her Journeys By DJ compilation a few years back. She has been preparing us in most interviews for years as well. Still, actually hearing it is still going to freak a lot of people out. The vocal tracks in particular. Not only do we get to hear Rap's vocals for the first time, but also her lyrics. While she likes a lot of other people's vocal jungle she has never been interested in doing any herself, and doesn't sing on any of the jungle tracks. I've heard better voices than Rap's, but in no way does she embarrass herself. Competent is probably the best description and the seductive processed effect actually suits the alternative style of many tracks as well. It was common knowledge she had been singing for fun in a casual band for a few years before signing and one of the most of enjoyable things for her on this album was having the budget to use session musicians. She is going to be rehearsing in the autumn with many of these musicians for a live tour and she would ultimately like her set-up to be structured more like a band with regular members.

You've probably already heard her own or Krust's remix of "Bad Girl" in clubs (or maybe the album mix on Radio 1, or even seen her on television). One very interesting thing about it is the lyrics, so I got Rap to tell me more: "I've done a lot of stupid things in my time, and I've done a lot great things, but I tell you something I know I've done that is wicked. I was the first girl DJ to open my mouth and say 'this isn't good enough, I'm not staying in this little room. I'm in that room and I'm good enough to do it. If you think I'm a bitch for it, I don't give a fuck.' Being like that, I think you are going to be considered a bad girl, look at Demi Moore or Madonna, all these people who are great, hard-working, strong women - they're not bitches. What they do takes an amazing amount of dedication, but if that's what I am, bad, then fine, but you have to be if you want to do something like this. Look at the time that I fell out with the jungle committee. everybody thought I was extremely bad, but I got heard. It's not a girl power thing like 'men are cunts, women are great', fuck all that shit. It's a more mature angle. I happen to respect a lot of things that men do and think that a lot of women can learn from them.

"The beauty of songs is that you can really get to know someone through their songs and you can relate to them," she expands. "There once was a time when I felt like topping myself, but I put on Seal's first album and I felt so much better after that. Like 'damn, someone else has been there too.' To me, that's the whole point. I'm not saying this is an emotional album, but there are a lot of hidden messages in it. A lot of stuff you wouldn't know unless I told you and I don't really want to give it all away, just little hints. I think people can interpret songs how they want."

You can probably tell that Rap has opened up a lot more once she realised I wasn't asking dumb questions like some mainstream journalists had been: ('what sort of model were you?') I've got to say she's an interviewers dream: never afraid to speak her mind, firing off over 300 words a minute - and nearly all of it's quotable. I could have written a hell of a lot more, but I've used up all my space. All that's left to say is, if you only like jungle - stay well clear of this album, but try and broaden your horizons. If you're open-minded and enjoy a bit of leftfield dance pop on the sly, give "Learning Curve" a chance, you might just be pleasantly surprised.