“One of the smoothest cuts Sweatshop Union ever laid down.” – Infinite
Rolling up on a Superfly groove that aims straight for the lower half of the soul, Infinite is one of the smoothest cuts Sweatshop Union ever laid down. The title tune on the Vancouver hip hop collective’s fifth full-length album is different from anything that appeared on its award-winning 2011 Bill Murray EP or the group’s earlier albums.
In a sitdown with Steve Hawking a.k.a. Conscience, Metty the Dert Merchant and Ray Black, the members talked about the group’s longevity as an underground rap act and keeping creativity flowing.
“It’s come full circle again in the scene in that there are a lot of groups making a go of it entirely on their own again now,” said Metty.
“Kendrick Lamar is one of the biggest dudes and he did it largely on his own before Dre came in and started messing. We have been that way all along.”
“Obviously, the rise of the Internet and the decline of the labels from back in the late Nineties has meant a lot of change,” Black said. “If you can’t really adjust to that and learn how to move your career along with social media and such, then you aren’t moving.”
Sweatshop Union released its first three albums on Swollen Members head Mad Child’s Battleaxe Records. Water Street (2008) came out on Look Records and both the Bill Murray EP and Infinite are out on Canadian underground rap flag-bearer Urbnet Records. The many solo releases from members Pigeon Hole, Trillionaires, etc., are on various impirnts as well. These relationships are about distribution more than anything else.
“Pretty much what we have done all along is make cool videos and try to maximize exposure online and see how that works,” said Se7en.
“Then you have got to take that buzz and pack it up and put it on the road so that all that time and experience is off the screen and up on stage,” Metty said. “You do the selling at the venue.”
The group had the advantage of being able to be its own opening acts as well. Pigeon Hole, Ray Black and others often round out the bill with their own sets so the group can come into a venue fully prepared to present the “SU experience.”
Not only does this mean that promoters have even less work to do selling a gig — some of what the members say about poor-quality local opening acts is unprintable but true — it also means Sweatshop Union shows can maintain a level of consistent musical vision. They want that control and take it all the way to the level of DJ’ing the music in between sets.
“As a band and stuff, we have our own profile and sound that we’d rather not mess with,” said Metty.
“We’ve worked so long and hard to keep the experience of our music and our shows to a certain level of quality because there is always hope that you can turn on some new listeners along with the old ones.”
With the departure of longtime member Kyprios and the members touring on active solo projects, all feel that this is a brand new band again. Infinite represents what the unified vision of those individual parts is feeling now. Re-creating the first album is far from anyone’s mind. About the only continous thread in Sweatshop Union’s output is a dedication to blunt lyrical content such as Infinite’s awesome Day Off or Leisure Gang.
“It’s almost impossible for us to ever go back and recreate something like Makeshift Kingdom off Bill Murray or a hit single from the second album or whatever,” said Metty. “We’re just too many minds with too many ideas to manage that, even if we wanted to. Every time we come into the studio what happens is that particular moment in time according to our tastes. Sometimes it drives us crazy, but it is how we do it and it’s too late to try any other way.”
As they head out into the Infinite tour, Sweatshop Union looks forward to reconnecting with diehard fans in such underground hip hop havens as Colorado. Who knew?