Interview with King Yoof on his Dubplate Mix

To celebrate King Yoof joining the ranks of Chopstick Dubplate, they are releasing his 100{c677f8d1c17564a56c503e01be8f588995c5f36b5bc5ff935a383d6667989752} Dubplate Mix on their soundcloud.

Check out the Mix on Soundcloud

We chatted to King Yoof about joining the ranks of Chopstick Dubplate, Jungle, Sound Systems and everything in between.

The story of King Yoof is a colourful one, tell us where it al began.

It all started around 5 years ago when I dropped my first E.P. on Sub Slayers and the main track “Back 2 Hackney” just blew up, a lot of various DJs from different scenes where really into this new sound I was making. It was like a mixture of Jungle at a dubstep tempo and it just fitted in at the time.

I’m known for producing a lot of 140 BPM based music but with a very heavy reggae influence. Since then I have branched out into Reggae, Jungle and I even have a live Dub album coming out on Moonshine Records so the whole concept of King Yoof is to encompass all the different music’s that make up sound system culture.

You’ve just dropped a 100{c677f8d1c17564a56c503e01be8f588995c5f36b5bc5ff935a383d6667989752} dub plate mix through Chopstick Dubplate which is a rarity these days, how did it all come about come about?

I wanted to put a mixtape out that represented my DJ sets. If you have ever been to see me play out I make that show unique for the night, something you will only hear if you come to see me and that’s why I get a lot of dubplate specials voiced.

I have a passion for sound system culture and I grew up in Lewisham where the local sound system was Saxon Sounds. I was fascinated by that culture and learnt how to play music, anyone can mix and juggle music nowadays especially with today’s technology and I learnt that the most important thing is tune selection, what to play and when to play… any DJ can download the latest big tunes of the internet and play that out but when you come to see my shows you’re getting your moneys worth cause of the time, money and imagination that makes those tunes so unique… a real run away special!

There are lots of vocalists featured on the mix. Any interesting stories?

Every one of those dub’s would have told a story, I try to collaborate with the artist and get into the song writing myself. I listen to the original song and try to re write and remix the vocal to fit or just suggest ideas for how I want the dubplate voiced.

The mixtape is being put out by Chopstick Dubplate, how did you start working with these guys?

I’ve sort of secretly been working for Chopstick since the Mr Williamz album. Cut a long story short I had a studio in Deptford and Jacky Murda ended up using it to record the Mr Williamz album. We now all share a studio between myself, Aries and Jacky Murda and they asked me to join the team full time, I feel honoured to be asked to join as I know it’s hard to get in, bit like jungles version of Wu tang clan Lol

What was your motivation for putting this mix together?

I was always being asked by people at my shows when am I’m gonna do a mix just of my dubplate specials and I suppose that’s why I did the mixtape.

You won the Wren & Nephew Soundclash last year against Rondey P & Skitz, tell us more.

Last summer I got asked to clash Rodney P & Skitz, like a culture clash thing. It was an honour as those guys are like the Godfathers of UK Hip-Hop and I’ve always rated them.

The clash was held in Brixton at the Jamm so they had a massive away team with them and so it was going to be tough in winning them over. It was a good vibe and I kept a good pace in my tune selection and then buried them in the tune for tune. They weren’t prepared for the Custom dub’s that Flowdan had voiced for me which I’ve actually included in the dubplate mix.

How important is dubplate culture today?

To me it’s always been important and I invest a lot of money and time into my dub box. I’ve followed actual soundclash for many years following the various reggae sounds around the world, I always wanted to take what they do and put that into what I do and take it that extra step by almost remixing the dubs I get voiced. I respect people like Remarc, Liondub, Chopstick Dubplate as they have been doing this thing for a long time now well before Redbull culture clash came about, I salute them as it takes a lot of investment and commitment.

Any advice on entering a clash?

Be prepared, study the art of clash, learn how to charm a crowd and keep the vibes electric and most of all entertain.