The MAD DECENT Lace-Up
Anyone who’s serious about going to the best parties in town — whether you live in London, Sydney or Philadelphia — likely knows about Diplo and his Mad Decent label/crew. If you don’t, then you really need to start paying attention to what the rest of your generation’s up to. Frank151 recently had the opportunity to get down with Jasper, co-founder of NY’s own Turntable Lab and, more recently, label manager at Mad Decent.
Jasper was nice enough to lace us with the exclusive streaming audio of Blaqstarr’s new King of Roq mixtape (go check it now, on Radio151) and to share his thoughts on the difference between retail and record label, and what’s going on with Mad Decent’s global-street chic….
JASPER: I’d been doing Turntable Lab for awhile. I started directly out of college, and by the time I left, I’d been doing it for eight-plus years. I mean, it’s retail. That’s basically what it boils down to. We tried to make it fun, but the grand majority of our day is retail — budgeting, doing inventory, ordering…. I guess I just got kind of tired of it after awhile. So I’m just trying to take a break from that. I’m still co-owner of the company, but I’m not really working there anymore. The opportunity came to do Mad Decent, and that seemed like an interesting thing to do, so I thought I’d just jump into it.
FRANK151: How is the Mad Decent experience different from Turntable Lab for you? How are you doing things differently?
JASPER: I mean, it’s two completely different things. Doing this is a much more fluid job for me. As Turntable Lab, you’re pretty locked down. You’re in the office, just kind of banging it out … [Mad Decent] is a much more … modern job. I can work from anywhere. But it’s one of those things, where you’re like, “when does work end and private life begin?” It’s got its ups and downs — sometimes the girlfriend doesn’t believe me when I’m like, “No, really, I have to go out!” You know?
But I’m definitely excited to be working with Mad Decent. I’m excited for all the things we can do together. All the things we are doing, all the things we will do.
FRANK151: Is there something you particularly enjoy about being there at the start of something new?
JASPER: I really enjoy being in the beginning of a company. That’s the thing I most enjoy, actually… Building stuff up. It’s an appealing thing, to be in on the beginning and working on — not that Mad Decent wasn’t already established, but in the next year — a legitimate record label, you know? Working with [Diplo], working with the artists, organizing the release schedule, all that. The other cool thing about Mad Decent, like what Turntable Lab was, is that it’s kind of whatever we want to make it. We can just kind of do whatever we want , sell whatever we want. It’s undefined as to what a record company can be, so we can do it with more of a lifestyle approach. It’s pretty hard to make money just doing one thing — but with Mad Decent, the style can be anything. We’ll put out a baile funk record, then Baltimore club record. [Ed. Note — you can find a list, in order, of Mad Decent’s upcoming releases at the end of this interview]
FRANK151: Reading the Mad Decent blog, it’s hard to miss the international flavor – in terms of interests, artists and touring. How did that international aspect develop at Mad Decent?
JASPER: That’s really where the most exciting music is coming from. Even in the stagnant hip hop scene, the most exciting stuff comes out of these little scenes, little localized spots with their own unique flavor.
FRANK151: Like how your pod cast description reads “NPR for the streets”… Can you speak to how that aesthetic lines up with the goals of the label? Is there an educational aspect to the work you’re doing?
JASPER: Well, that’s it. That’s our dominant aesthetic. Anything that other people aren’t doing, regional scenes… it all boils down to whatever Diplo’s into, you know? But it’s always something a little bit flipped, it’s never straight forward. But, most important, it’s whatever we want it to be.
FRANK151: Sounds like fun. Do you guys worry about creating a fallout between supply and demand, like with an audience’s short attention span, for those little regional artists or scenes you give Mad Decent love to?
JASPER: I mean, I don’t think we really worry about it. It’s worth it to put stuff out there — if it doesn’t stick, or the blogs just pick it up for a little while then forget it, well, that sucks, but at least it’s better than not doing anything at all.
FRANK151: And you guys give back to communities in other ways, don’t you? Can you tell us a little about that?
JASPER: Yeah, Heaps Decent. It was actually started in Australia. [Diplo set up a studio in Maningrida and] recorded some stuff at a Juvenile Detention Center there. It’s mostly underprivileged kids, and they get a chance to do this, to record this stuff. They actually put out a single. They’re calling it Heaps Decent, [and the track is called “Smash A Kangaroo”] and people can buy it on iTunes. The proceeds go to support the project in Australia.
Now it’s actually like a Foundation. They’ve been getting people to come and record with kids. They’ve gotten equipment from donors and sponsors. M.I.A. went and did a track with them. She recorded with some girls down there… And I know there’s a couple other things in the works with that, too.
It’s a small operation now, but they’re expanding it to make it a bigger, functioning foundation in the future, and all the money essentially comes back to the kids. Diplo’s also established something in Rio de Janeiro for underprivileged kids there. I think Red Bull’s partnered up to help create a space for them. They’re working to get non-profit licensing for New York and Philly as well, so that’ll bring Heaps Decent back home to the States.
But, basically, [Diplo] just went in and recorded with these kids, and they just kind of started to build on it.
FRANK151: And what else do you see for Mad Decent in the future?
JASPER: We’re starting to do a production company, contracting out remixes under the Mad Decent umbrella, and giving them out to everybody that works with us. It’ll be like a team of remixers, just like a skate team or anything like that. Kind of like a bigger crew, more then just a record label. People will come to us for a certain sound, or just to get something different.
FRANK151: So, tell me about Blaqstarr’s new mix….
JASPER: King of Roq, yeah. The stuff that’s on it hasn’t been released before. We originally put it out in January on CD, but you guys will be the first ones to stream it online. The tracks on it are all his own productions; the majority of it hasn’t been released officially, some of the stuff is out now in other places, but a lot of it’s exclusive to this mix. [Blaqstarr] is a super versatile guy. He not only produces and sings on his own tracks, but the styles he comes up with are way more than just Baltimore club. Right now, that’s the main stuff that he’s known for, but he’s got a lot more in the can….
FRANK151: And besides King of Roq, what else is in heavy rotation on your iPod right now?JASPER: The Diplo x Santogold mixtape.
FRANK151: Most definitely. Thanks, man, good talking to you.
JASPER: Yeah, thanks man.
You can listen to Blaqstarr’s King of Roq mix, streaming NOW on Radio151. Also, in case you never heard it, you should peep Paul Devro’s Mad Decent mix on the XLR8R podcast. It’ll give you a good cross-section of recent & upcoming Mad Decent output.MAD DECENT UPCOMING RELEASESBoy 8 Bit: Suspense Is Killing Me EP
Diplo x Santogold Mix CD
Crookers EP
Diplo: Blow Your Head EP
Paper Route Gangstaz: Bama Gettin Money 12″
El Guincho 12″ Remix series
Toy Selectah: Sonidero Compay 12″
Diplo & Benzi Present: Paper Route Gangstaz CD
Ms Streamz: Watch Dem Broads 12″
DJ Blaqstarr EP
Mad Decent label comp
Hollertronix #9 EP
Major Lazer (Diplo & Switch) 12″
