1. A$AP FergTrap Lord
I’ve been obsessed with hip-hop since the early 80s – it’s always been a huge part of Godflesh too. Not that we’re remotely connected to rap metal, which is a fairly disgusting… whatever-it-is… but I love hip-hop. To me it’s the most future-sounding, dangerous music. Paradoxically I find some extreme metal to be the most conservative sounding music out there. I have a constant thirst for heavy music but I barely hear it.
I find it bizarre hip-hop is so mainstream, because I hear things in it that are fairly surreal. Maybe I’m picking up on things others don’t, but the first time I heard Public Enemy I thought, "Jesus fucking Christ, this is so innovative and full of so much chaos and noise" but they were playing to huge audiences and I was thinking, "These people are not well versed in noise", do you know what I mean? Like the last Kanye West album – it’s completely mainstream but it’s this highly screwed-up record. Some dude like me making a record like that… it’d sell 150 copies and be extremely marginalised.
I first heard A$AP Ferg’s single ‘Work’ and then ‘Hood Pope’ and I thought both were absolutely fucking stunning. The album’s amazing. I got exposed to him through A$AP Rocky, who is part of that crew. I barely listen to the lyrics – I listen to the vocals as texture and rhythm but I also love the weight of the bass. It’s so fucking minimal. The album is really consistent, unlike a lot now. Hip-hop records in the 80s were amazing, the first three Eric B. & Rakim albums, the first three Public Enemy albums, you’d barely skip a track.
