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FredNukes What's going on Fred? FredNukes: Well, right now I am at work (yes, the 9-5 job - not the making crazy dollars in the studio job) trying to look busy while I do this interview. How has "Deconstructing Fred" been treating you? After 4 years of working on it you must be proud. FredNukes: Well, yes I am proud. Mostly because for the first time in my career I have a product which came out the exact way I imagined it. Sure it could always have been better but with the skillset and money I had while making it, I think it turned out pretty good. And also, because I feel that I have set a standard especially in my home country and maybe even in Europe for how Hip-Hop can sound if you don't speak english as your native tongue. Also, being a bit of a pioneer in my field because I come from a country where everyone that rhymed in English would either adapt the style some gangsta rappers from the US had, for instance Mobb Deep. And then they would run around calling themselves thugs and "duns". Of course I am inspired by American artists myself but I try to use the pieces that I feel like could compliment me as a rapper and then putting together the perfect puzzle in the end. No one has really put their feelings on display before I came along (and to set the record straight I am referring to fellow Danes rapping in english) and if they did, they did a poor job at making it sound good. Where did "Nukes" come from? FredNukes: Well, basically my big sister used to call me (Freddy) Krueger, since my real name is Frederik. I took that and called myself Freddie Nuker the first couple of years. But after I felt like I needed a change. I switched it to FredNukes because I thought it sounded more cool. And yes, that's FredNukes in one word, capital F, capital N. Don't ask me why, I guess it's just artsy fartsy artistic integrity. What was the definitive moment in your life that made you decide that rhyming and beatmaking was "it" for you? FredNukes: I think that it was around 3 years ago. I was sitting in the gym lifting weights and then all of a sudden it just hit me. Like lightning from clear skies. This was it. This was as close to a "calling" from above or beneath as I would ever come. I wanted to make music for the rest of my life. I think it had something to do with a combination of things. First of all, my fear of not being remembered when I die. Second, I thought that if I knew I had a legacy to leave behind, leaving this place wouldn't feel so bad. And third, I feel like music is the biggest instrument to fuck with people's minds and feelings. I kinda like that. Not that I am manipulative in my everyday life, but I like the idea of being able to put thoughts into people's minds. How did you link up with Soul Supreme? FredNukes: I heard his album, "The Saturday Night Agenda" and absolutely loved it. Knowing he was Swedish, I went looking for him at underground hip-hop forums until one day I found him. Then I got a hold of his instant messenger nickname and we started talking. We quickly discovered that we had a lot in common (watching series, movies and all that) and became good friends. From then on, of course I had to convince him that I could rhyme. At that time I had just released a really bad EP over here. So all I could do was take his instrumentals and record my rhymes over them. And luckily, I convinced him to doing some tracks. At first it was just one or two but along the way I decided he needed to do the whole album with me. You're a pretty good producer in your own right. Why did you let Soul Supreme do the majority of the beats for "Deconstructing Fred" instead of doing them yourself? FredNukes: There is a good reason for that. Partly because Soul Supreme pretty much taught me everything (to begin with) that I know about making beats. He is the one who taught me how to use the sequencer and the tricks to make the beats sound good. Since I have only produced beats since 2003 and I started working on the album the same year, naturally I have a lot of his beats on the album since I had to get to a certain level of professionalism before putting my own beats "out there". But at the same time, we really produced a lot of the beats together. One of us laid down the sketch and the other helped with additional programming. So really the producer credited on the track is just the one who started the beat. We both contributed to almost every track on the album. 4 years is a long time to work on one project. Can you give us a brief synopsis as to why it took so long? FredNukes: I might be described as somewhat of a perfectionist. I think it took so long mainly because I hate writing lyrics. The reason why? Because I have to think. I don't really like to think too much. But I know that if I try hard I'm somewhat good at it. And therefore I force myself to do it because I like the result: a finished song with a message of some sort. I kinda made a manifesto Where I promised myself to only make tracks with meaning and not waste people's time with stupid things like how good I am or how sick I spit. I promised myself never to do battle rap or punchline rap anymore and because of that I probably couldn't write a hot 16 to save my life. That's why I also only write a song every 1-2 months which also slows down the process of making an album. Aside from that, I also dealt with a huge amount of stress which resulted in a lot of physical pain such as difficulty with breathing (and here I thought taking a breath was like riding a bike - no sir) and sleepless nights. I really convinced myself that while I laid my head down to rest the others (producers, emcees) were getting better than me and that made me lose a lot of sleep. Silly, ain't it? (laughs). I brought the same way of thinking with me to my 9-5 job and that made me lose control with my mind totally, which resulted in me quitting my job and being on the social security's sick care (I don't know if there's an equivalent service in the states but basically I got paid while I was sick - from stress). The last thing which some people might relate to was procrastination. I am a lazy son of a motherless goat. I only do the things I have to do and preferably just before the deadline. I tell myself that I work best in tight situations. But really, I'm lazy. What made you decide not to rap in your native tongue and what do you expect to gain from that? FredNukes: Well, like I said on my album track, "The Artist" - "I only rap in your language, so you can understand this/I'll be damned if I settle with 5 million people/The size of my country is too little for the size of my ego". That's basically why. Plus the fact that it sounds better than Danish. I expect to gain a larger crowd/following in time. I can have chinese people relate to my ramblings about a runny tummy. That is priceless.   Also, if you disregard the language, feelings are universal. If I spit how I feel and I do me, I can NEVER be wack. Yes, I can be boring, have a lousy acccent and some people might not relate to me. Are you getting a lot of support in Denmark for your choice? FredNukes: Not at first. But I am slowly gaining more popularity. I think the Danes are afraid to embrace me only because of the fact that I rap in English. We have a thing called "Janteloven" - it loosely translates into: "Don't think that you are better than the next man". I think I have been a victim of that to begin with. But slowly, as people see that you mean business and that you really worked hard to produce a solid product, they start supporting you. So yeah, I am getting some respect now. It especially feels good when the old schoolers/veterans reach out and give you props. That feels really good. Do you think the popularity of "Deconstructing Fred" will force other Danish emcees to follow suit? FredNukes: I wouldn't say follow suit. But it will force them to up their game and bring something new to the table. Like a Danish rapper called Jokeren ("The Joker") said: "you are only as good as your last album". But as my colleague (and good friend), J-spliff told me: "Congrats on a metro-revolutionary masterpiece. Other people will follow in your footsteps". That meant a lot to me because I had made a difference! It seems that artists overseas tend to have a deep appreciation for the classic Hip-Hop of the late '80s-mid '90s. Why do you think that is? FredNukes: Well, we (my generation) grew up on it, so I guess that's why. I really couldn't tell you why other than that. I, myself, have a deep appreciation for late '80s-mid '90s pop music, but don't tell anyone. It might fuck up my street cred! It's no secret that "Girls vs. The Lady" is a favorite here at AOR. How difficult was it for you to balance playful tracks like that with more serious subject matter like "One Way or Another"? FredNukes: Not too difficult. I mean we as people are not single-minded (well, some are - but that's another discussion). We possess all facets of life. So why should I limit myself to only writing about one thing? Of course I could do that if I wanted people to be able to label me with something. I wanna speak on everything I find interesting. There's quite a few recognizable names on your Myspace page that you've collaborated with. Have we heard any of these joints yet or are they still in the works? FredNukes: Most of the tracks are still in the works. The Dilated Peoples joint is for the new "Nobody Beats The Beats" album (google us if you wanna know) and most of the other artists will be on my upcoming mixtape entitled "You Don't Know the Half" because you really don't (laughs). I try not to do too many "random" joints with US artists. I am not too keen on the idea of paying some rapper 500-1000 bucks for a verse he wrote an hour before, all fucked up and without any knowledge of who I am just to name drop them in my portfolio. I like to believe that I have enough talent to get to the top by myself and not by having a million features on my next album. I had none on my first album. So what's next for FredNukes? Any new projects coming up we should know about? FredNukes: Like I said, there is a mixtape in the works. I am slowly beginning to write songs again so I will be doing a lot of new demos for a potential new album. I am also playing a lot of gigs over here in Europe these next couple of months with DJ Diverze, the Danish scratch/mix champion. Other than that I am doing beats over the summer and traveling to NYC to set up some meetings with people. Hopefully get some beats placed on some cool projects. Anything else you'd like to add? FredNukes: Yeah man, a big thank you to all of you guys at AOR. Thanks for supporting me and bringing my music to the masses. I really appreciate that. Everybody else, check out my music here at AOR or at www.myspace.com/frednukes - please help me promote my music! Tell your friends to tell their friends. Also, look out for "Majors" - The next big project coming out of Denmark. And also, cop the new Little Vic album, "Each Dawn I Die", shit is insane! KendredSpirit