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“I think I can be the rap Bob Marley. I’m not saying that I’m on that level yet, but that is definitely my aim.” These are strong words stated by Ricochet Klashnekoff (pronounced ri-co-shay k-lash-nek-off), the conscious MC named after a Russian gun. Klashnekoff, for those of you that don’t know, is a rap emcee, born and bred in Hackney, who started writing rhymes at the tender age of 10. “I was always into acting really, but then rap became the cool thing to do. It was a form of expression to help me to express certain problems. Rap was a good way to get my problems out of my system and be cool at the same time.” Now, as an adult, he still uses his skills to express his life experiences. “Hackney makes up the person who I am and it makes up the things I see as well. The climate in Hackney affects me; it hurts me, so that affects my rhymes. Life compels me to write. Society influences me, gun crime and bad vibes. I’ve got sons, and certain raps I write is almost as if I’m talking directly to my youths and the youths out there. It’s important that I’m constructive with the things that I’m saying.”
He chose the stage name Klashnekoff, because to him it represented a freedom symbol. “Every time I saw the news on TV, I would see these little child soldiers in Afghanistan and Zimbabwe. Ten-year-old kids with their little Klashnekoffs; in all the madness in Israel and Palestine, people will have their Klashnekoffs. It was their cheap way to defend themselves. The gun was their way to be free because voting wasn’t working, talking wasn’t working and so they use their Klashnekoff.” He goes on to say, “It showed me that this gun was instrumental in a lot of revolutionary situations. As well as being a killer, it’s also a protector. So rather than the kids over here having to pick up a Klashnekoff gun, they can pick up a Klashnekoff album and vent through that.” Earlier this year, Klashnekoff received a lot of publicity with the release of his album, ‘The Sagas of Klashnekoff’ and the ‘It’s Murda’ video enjoying heavy rotation on music channels such as Channel U. “You have to big up Channel U because it helped my career. It helped launch my career to another level because prior to Channel U no one outside of London really knew about me. There’s no other channels out there catering for us. MTV Base turned their back on us, so Channel U is a representation of what’s going on, on road.” However, he goes on to say: “I can’t hate on Channel U because they helped burst me through, but at the same time, as well as being part of the solution, they are also part of the problem. They’ve got no censorship going on and they need some kind of quality control. I have two sons and they like watching videos but there’s ‘nuff videos with guns and mans blowing weed in the camera. And another thing as well, they seem to cut out all the English swearing but when the man says ‘Raas’ or ‘Raas clart’, they seem to let that go, like black people are not part of the equation. I like Channel U but I think that it’s becoming more of the problem now and anyone with a bit of money seems to be getting on there now.” Considering that Klashnekoff has been putting out music for more than three years now and he’s one of the UK’s most celebrated lyrical champions, it’s puzzling as to why he hasn’t been picked up by one of the major record labels. “I’ve had one or two offers but a lot of these record labels sniff around like dogs. They’re kind of curious just in case your new material is going to be a hit and so they can be the first one. There’s a lot of pussyfooting around. We’ve been approached; there’s been a lot of meetings, but no one’s come correct. There haven’t been a lot of offers either and this has disheartened me a bit.” This has disheartened him so much in fact, that he has become a little disillusioned with the lack of recognition he’s had within the industry. “It’s jokes! It’s absolute jokes! They couldn’t even give me a MOBO or a nomination at least for Best Newcomer. MOBO’s is jokes! MOBO best not try and give me no MOBO next year and you can quote me on that! I swear down. I don’t want nothing from MOBO’s, nothing! MOBO is not true acknowledgment and we all know it, it’s just some industry madness! Ban MOBOs!” From his own experiences within the industry, he is trying to bring out the unknown artists that are making good music. “The UK hip hop industry is full of people that are too scared to say their opinion. They like to brown nose each other; no one likes to say that, ‘this track is sh*t,’ but there’s a lot of good underground rappers out there. I would like to collaborate with Short Man Wolverine. I definitely want some beats from Taz, he’s a bad boy producer and so is Swiss from So Solid. Collaborations are all good man, but it’s all about making good music, it’s not about names, and a lot of the people that I want to work with aren’t name brand but that’s ok. We need to bring in some new talent or we’ll be stuck in the same situation. I like Skinny Man, I like Sway, Dizzee, Wiley, Shystie and Est’elle and of course Terra Firma, that’s my crew. KANO’s good too.” One thing is for sure though, whether Klashnekoff hooks up with other artists in the future or just continues pushing himself in his own way, he will always stay true to himself. “Everything I do has to be natural, it has to be from within me. I’m not trying to make no ‘shake your booty’ tune. I have to have my integrity as a man. When it comes to the streets you get judged by your truth and integrity. It’s not about no false pretences. I just try and make good music and see what happens after that. I definitely am not going to sit down and make a pop tune for the pop market, because I think that’s just losing the essence of making good music and that will never happen!”
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