 26/11/2007 Britain. Buckle your doors; border your windows; weep into your tin of economy beans. It seems that Armageddon is upon us. We are a nation in continual fear; global-warming scaremongers shovelling paranoia down our gullets like a ten-joint marathon, not to mention crime rates and MRSA. Thank goodness help has reached our trembling shores… thank goodness for hip-hop quartet ‘Plastic Little.’ The transformation from national melancholy to happiness was long overdue and they have duly delivered. Take new single ‘Dopeness;’ one of the funniest hip-hop songs to have come out of 2007. Horrifying yet strangely engrossing – it’s a video you feel uncomfortable watching but can barely take your eyes off. Akin to snorting copious amounts of Ketamine and staring at a grain of sand for forty-hours… ‘Dopeness’ is the ultimate K-hole experience. Hip-hop has been turned on its head and spun violently around; a punch thrown equivalent to a circus clowns. They’ve made a scene high in macho-brutality into one of sex-fuelled testosterone, with hilarious consequences. Okay, so hip-hop has always featured a sexual allure and has always been… well… sexy. But ‘Plastic Little’ talk about screwing the way an old boy down the battle cruiser talks about football. It’s a passion; a fascination; think Russell Brand and times by four. The nature of their lyrics and their delivery has bridged a gap between bad-boy crews of the ghetto and middle-class geeks alike. A very rare thing indeed. The lads caught up to chat about big collaborations, genies in a bottle and sex with spreads following a blinding London tour.
Stick a vulture in the same room as a toucan, and you can see the differences. But both have feathers and make shit loads of noise. What sets you guys apart from one another?
What sets us apart? We all have bigger penis’ from one another.
You’re a fun loving punanni loving bunch of fellas – which is apparent in your lyrics. How important is it to have a good time with your music?
Very – having fun while you're doing shit is most important. You should have fun while you’re doing something you shouldn’t be doing… that’s our motto.
You’ve bridged a gap – so to speak, between hip-hop shakers and indie-rockers alike. Is
it important to have a fan base ranging from kids with attitude to Star-Trek fanatics?
Very – it’s super important. It’s hard to make rap music that fans like, especially if you put out what you like – but something has to give at some point. We love the kids’ attitude towards music and life though. We have a thing for real socially awkward nerds – not cool geeks but real geek geeks, the ones that know a lot about music but are still gimpy; all good.
Sex Pistols summed up a generations pent up frustration at the establishment and Barry White’s music was the epitome of love making. What kind of situations befit your music, and would you say the Plastic Little sound is good to make love to?
Well if you don’t want an abortion when you wake up, then yes.
Give us a lesson in history and where Plastic Little’s journey began.
Ok we’re gonna keep it real simple - we started out in 2001 –in the summer of 2001, and just evolved like kids do over time. This was all pre 9/11 by the way, and then we just got loads of material after that.
You paid homage to The Smiths with the cover to She’s Mature, are you a fan of the Manchester favourites, and do you guys have any guilty music pleasures?
Tell us about Crambodia, and how it was to work with luminaries such as Ghostface Killah and Amanda Black. Surely there’s some tales to tell?
Amanda is our home girl you know? She records that shit and nails it out – we knew her shit would be hot, and it’d be hot working with her. Ghost face? Having him on any track is dope! I had a poster of ghost face on my wall, from about 4 years ago, and I drew myself into the poster - so to have it on our track was, WHOAH!
The hilarious video to Dopeness features male birth, a subject matter dear to my heart. I loved that Schwarzenegger film Junior. Where did such inspiration come from?
To be honest we have a Crazy director who does all our videos called Ted. He just came up with this crazy shit and we thought it rocked. He was like I got this idea where you’re all giving birth to each other and all the ideology of that shit – it was deep.
I’m curious to know how the giving birth effect was created. Were your ball sacks proudly on display and dubbed out in the computer room? If so, were the nurses actually fondling your manhood in the video?
No, unfortunately not – they came close to touching though. Narr – I’m just foolin. The director made these vagina underwear shorts with hair and shit and we had to stick our heads through a giant-green screen vagina. All the red stuff you see was molasses and corn syrup and red dye.
Many a man can hold their head up high and say that Dopeness is a tune that symbolises that Bruce Banner surge of energy we get when the female of the species enters the equation. Are there any particular stories relative to the track that you care to share?
No... no tails on tour. No stories at all really – ‘Dopeness’ was just inspired. We just had this beat and a whole load of crazy ideas we all put together. We Like having sex just as much as the next guy, it’s just we get to rap about it. I guess we’re lucky mother fuckers.
It seems you guys could probably make a sick beat out of anything put your way. Are there any music styles you wish to experiment with in the future? A touch of classical perhaps… or a sprinkle of country?
To be honest I have a friend who wants to teach me how to sing opera… I’m gonna do it.
What’s your opinion of the current hip hop scene? Do you think everyone should cheer up a bit?
Yeah, why not? Calm down dawg - the world is always ripe with conflict – singing about it won’t change anything. That’s the thing right… the world’s always been the same.
What does the future hold for plastic little? Is it wet and juicy, or dry and flaky?
Wet and juicy baby– like having sex with marmite!
Words: Dave Dryden
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