I worked on numerous different projects with people… closely Braille, Soul Plasma, and Othello. Worked with Othello and Braille on the 1st Lightheaded album, which was all produced by: Muneshine, a producer from Canada and part of a production collective named ‘Wax Reform’ which includes Illmind, M-Phazes, D-Minor, Presto, and Muneshine of course. Other than that, just graphic design work, including CD design for the 1st lightheaded, a 12″ for Pigeon John when he put out his LP on Basement Records, and designing my crews merch and what not.

Your music has a lot of old school elements from the scratches to the grainy samples. How do you keep your art sounding fresh and current?

I grew up on the warmth of analog and it’s just an organic likeness I have for sound. I have to have my music sound warm and thick. So I dig for original breaks, layer my drums, and do my own little tricks I’ve acquired along my production path to keep things sounding up to date but with the elements that have been lost in most underground and almost anything mainstream. With technology, people seemed to make sound too glossy, I like it dirty one take, in the pocket on the groove drums, and thick bass. To
each his own though, this is one of my loves.

What should one expect when they pop an Ohmega Watts album in the deck?

Something a lot different than most hiphop they hear now-a-days as well as something musical and not just MC or DJ based. More actual production and actual musical value in the tracks. As for if they’ll like it or not, that’s each person’s taste. I can’t say everyone will or should. I don’t like everything, so I expect each listener to have a different view, and it’s all good.

“A Request” appears to have opened doors for you. What about the song do you think is so appealing?

Not sure. I just make what I love and it has elements of bboy flavor…I’m into the bboy culture a lot, as well as it has a lot of little change up’s that keep it interesting from what most people have told me.

You’re originally from Brooklyn but now in the Oregon hip hop scene. School the non-believers on the merits of the Northwest and how you would characterize the sound up there.

The scene is dope. People support good music and the community stays busy. Any place with a hiphop scene can get saturated and stale but there are cats doing their things well out here. You’ve got Lifesavas on Quannum, Boom Bap Project on Rhymesayers, Sleep on Up Above, other members of Old Dominion which the last two come from, Sirens Echo as well, Soul Plasma, Sand People, Libretto, Cool Nutz. Everyone’s got their style but overall things are moving out here. Numerous DJ venues from top 40 to old school classics and bboy, and venues that represent it all. So it’s GOOD I guess [is what] I’m trying to say.

The music is obviously thick with references to hip hop legends such as Rakim and A Tribe Called Quest. But what artist or group is hip hop’s biggest secret or has been unfairly overlooked?

Hmm…that’s hard to say. There’s numerous cats I know getting out and doing their thing in the public spectrum but it all depends on who they’re being overlooked by. Most cats I really respect are doing it…there were few I thought were waiting to be un-earthed but then they pulled a silly move and the music style changed and I lost respect for their work, so no one I can name at the moment.

With plenty design credits to your name, do you enjoy music more than the visual arts or do you feel they go hand in hand?

They go hand in hand for me. It’s MCing I’m trying to slow down on. I only write (outside of the lightheaded albums) when I really have something to say with a solid and bold meaning. Aside from that, it’s diggin,’ spinning time to time and primarily graphic design, and production.

Are you obsessed with anything else as much as music?

Not really obsessed with anything, or any one. I hold my relationship with Christ higher than anything, then it’s family and close friends. Other than that music is the prime time…work or play.

The dub influence on tracks like “Treasure Hunt” and “You Are Now Tuned In” nicely breaks up the album and your people hail from Jamaica. Who are some of your favorite Caribbean artists?

Hmmm… Peter Tosh, Dennis Brown, Barrington Levy, Junior Reid, Bob Marley (for key songs, but he’s everyone’s favorite worldwide) Bumps Jackson. Used to love Supa Cat back in the day, Ini Kamozi (forget how to spell his name) but those are some of them.

Your crate digging skills are apparent on the “The Find”. What is a release that you’ve been searching for but just haven’t got your hands on yet?

Well, once was Marlena Shaw’s ‘The Spice of Life’ with ‘California Soul’ on it, but it’s pretty spendy at some places and I just got the re-issue much cheaper anyway. I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone to have originals of some joints, it’s more important that I know the GOOD music anyway and have access to it to spin it. For sampling though, I take samples from low key places not your average spot. A record I’d been wanting to get though for a while is by Archie Whitewater and it’s self titled, but not
easy to find, goes for around $50 bucks, there’s this one song on there I want, and I stopped the hunt for a while, but I may find it soon.

Hip hop is now largely a producer’s game. Since you both MC and produce, do you feel you will eventually start to focus on one skill versus the other?

Yeah, production. I like MCing, and don’t think I’ll stop completely. Just won’t be my main focus.

A lot of the tracks have a danceable groove but are not necessarily “club” joints. Do you think hip hop is now missing a much needed dance element?

There’s a lot missing in now hiphop, social involvement, role models and yes there are a lot of tracks that not just lost the danceable elements but soul as well.

Everyone has beef with mainstream hip hop such as it’s too commercial, the spirit is gone, it’s fake etc. What are some issues you think the independent or underground hip hop community needs to address?

It’s all the same elements, just different battlefields. Some indie cats need to be schooled on where it all came from, as well as just learning about the music it was inspired from. Even though ice and triggers aren’t the focus, the battle rap and clone producers need to expand the art and originate using other things as influences hinting back at learning the music.

What other music or design projects are you working on right now?

On the music tip collabs with Quantic, Steady Diggin Workshop Crew (London), some remix works, and a new 12″ on Ubiquity. As far as design work for Braille’s ‘Hiphop is Music’ label and some works coming this year, 1773 a crew out in chicago, my homeboys Just J and Wisdm O.N.E. and a logo for a multimedia company and numerous others works and t-shirts for ‘The Find’ finally.

Have a Kanye moment and tell us the absolute greatest thing about you. And don’t say modesty.

Hahaha…I’m not hard to get along with, and I like long walks down some vinyl isles as well as the beach with a lovely lady…and the rest of this is going nowhere. I’ll leave the rest of any compliments on me to the listeners, supporters, magazines and fans.

   Sean Paul’s smoky vocals and nimble patois are sprinkled over grand beats such as the single “We Be Burnin”, laced with haunting violins and meaty percussion. “Eye Deh A Mi Knee” is a fiery ditty with tumbling drums that instantly rockets the energy level through the roof.  “Breakout” is another incendiary track with actual alarms wheezing over the waist-twisting rhythm and Sean Paul commanding all de gals to get pon de floor.

   Despite these ambitious tracks, the best moments happen when the beat is stripped down and Sean’s elusive flow is less obscure amongst all the bells and whistles. With a minimal throbbing bass on “Temperature”, Sean’s lyrical acrobatics come to the fore, even with trite rhymes like ‘I got the right temperature to shelter you from the storm.’  Another highlight is the languid “All On Me”, with sugary-voiced Tami Chynn whose breathy coos paired with the wavy rhythms set the perfect tone for sensual grindin’ in a low-lit club.

   “All On Me” notwithstanding, Sean Paul even does better when its just him flittering out his rhymes over some swinging soca-infused dancehall rhythms. “Connection” with Nina Sky is a fairly forgettable mid-tempo track especially when placed next to thumping, snaky beats like the jovial “Straight Up”. The retro “Yardie Bone” with Wayne Marshall may be an attempt to invoke some old-school, classic reggae but it comes off lazy and unimaginative. Tracks like these are mainly suitable as flavorful album filler.

   As far as lyrics, Sean sticks to the basics with a string of party jams interrupted by the occasional sentimental roots song. Not as dirty as a Beenie Man and bit more cerebral than most describing a model who doesn’t stop posing because she ‘naw drop off like Mikey J nose.’ “The Trinity” is not made for the xenophobic tastes of the international music charts but rather for windin’ in a sweaty, energetic bashment set until the sun comes up.

 Having started their hip hop career in 1993, Maspyke seems to be stuck there with grainy samples and rhymes that portray life in the hood, pretty around-the-way girls and of course, their lyrical prowess. On “No Big Deal”, Maspyke sound like sour old heads lamenting over the state of the younguns wilin’ out and “running around like it’s no big deal.” Yet, Maspyke rehashes the requisite hip hop track about their “finesse” with women on Step, checking out females in the club as MC “H-Bomb” charmingly notes, “the bubble on your back is swollen, girl/so let the rhythm put it in motion, girl.” Right.

 Easily the main problem with this album is the dual monotony of uninventive beats and irritating rhyme delivery. The songs tend to run together with only an occasional relief from the stiff beats and too similar rhythms on each track. “Nevaleave” and “The Writer” are damn near identical. Plus, H-Bomb and rhyme partner Tableek tend to lack an identity and seem overwhelmed by early 90s hip hop convention. Both of their rhymes styles are choppy and either blend into the background or become repetitively annoying. They also seem to be trying to bring back the “posse” cut by sometimes rhyming in unison which is completely ineffective and corny.

 Ironically, this adherence to old school sensibilities which is often album’s main liability may be an asset to some. “Lightly Anxious” is reminiscent of A Tribe Called Quest’s melodic beats and the curious voice sample on “Recipe” is on some mid-90s RZA ish. Maspyke is at best an homage to some of hip hop’s most timeless artists invoking thoughts of Brand Nubian, Pharcyde, Tribe, Digable Planets and even Jay Dee. But these artists were great because of the way they changed the game and brought a new voice, style, flava etc. Static is an okay listen, mainly because of the references to other great artists you’ll glean from the album. But the album still makes us wonder, who is Maspyke, where is Springfield, and if they can’t do it better than the greats, then who cares?