Of course Cuban/Colombian American emcee Tonedeff has come a long-long way since the childhood days of parodying Beastie Boys songs and idolising the cheeky delivery of The Fresh Prince. Indeed! His precocious synthesis of function and form remains five steps ahead of the heated competition in 2004. However, no matter how next-level complex his fluid lyricism gets, Tonedeff never forgets why License to Ill and the Jug-eared Mr Jada Pinkett were such potent influences throughout his formative years. During the early ‘90s, Tonedeff (and friends) entered (and often won) numerous significant contests, a winning streak that culminated in an appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show and a deluge of major label offers. He got so far and rose so high because, as well as being a highly skilled rapper, he never forgot the lessons his idols taught him about humour, charisma and engaging the audience by always entertaining people before challenging them.

It’s a decade on from those eventful school days and, whether it’s as a solo artist, a member of his crew or as an as yet underexposed guest emcee, ‘Deff has amassed an astounding catalogue of quality material – what’s more, a sizeable chunk of it continues to be freely available and is most likely better than whatever you bought this week. He’s definitely an under-rated star on the rise and with the release of his official debut solo album drawing ever closer, I thought an ukhh.com interview with Tonedeff was long over due. Please enjoy what he had to say about Friends, family and greatness.

Please introduce yourself; What’s been the highlight of your career so far?

What’s good? My name’s Tonedeff. One word. Two F’s. No capital D. No spaces. In terms of highlights of my career, I’ve been somewhat blessed and there have been plenty thus far…but so many more to make. For more info visit www.tonedeff.com for the full scoop on everything.

Your bio mentions several contest victories and fortunate industry hook-ups during the early-to-mid ‘90s that could have made you a teenage star. If just one of these opportunities had come through for you, where do you think you’d be now? Would you now be making the same sort of rap music if you had gone on to become the next Kriss Kross?

Well, this is something I’ve spoken and thought about at length on my site with my fans. I’ve pretty much concluded that I would have definitely done some damage early on…but would have come and gone quickly. It was a conscious decision at 16 not to take the deals that were offered, due to their insistence on altering the music and image. Here I am now in my 20s STILL holding to my principals and making the best music I’ve ever made. With that said…I don’t believe I’d be at the same level artistically that I am now, had I exploded back then. So it’s been a mixed blessing.

A few years back, you entered Rapstation.com’s pro-Napster “Power to the people & the beats” contest where you were eventually beaten by Benefit. Do you think that contest achieved anything in general and did you personally gain from it in any way?

All I gained from that contest was this question.

I gather you’re originally from Florida? Did rap motivate your migration to New York?

Actually, I grew up in Chicago and moved to Miami later in life, but I spent an equal amount of time at both. Moving to NYC was definitely a big step for me, and music was definitely the determining factor. I came here to make a name for myself and get my career popping off because this is THE PLACE to make shit happen. (or LA of course). So far, so good.

Given that the Spiderman movies are set in downtown New York, how do you feel about the utter absence of any hiphop from the score and soundtrack?

I don’t really think most hip-hop heads here are really checking for the Spiderman 2 soundtrack to fulfil their hip-hop needs.

Have you done much soundtrack work?

So far, nothing’s landed on a particular film. The closest I got was having my song, Shag! That Domingo produced get selected for the Austin Powers 3: Goldmember soundtrack. Needless to say, it was dropped last minute, in favour of a new Britney Spears track with Pharell. Gotta love marketing people.

Speaking of downtown New York, I’m guessing the Extended family track How you doin’ was inspired by the catchphrase of Friends’ Joey? How would you have put that series out of its misery if you had the chance to redo the final episode?

It’s actually Extended Famm. (Please make note of that). Obviously, the hook was lifted from the Joey catchphrase. But we put it into a song, cause we would always fuck with people during our performances and ask them that. Friends should have ended with a group orgy and Rachel getting gangbanged by everyone ever to appear on the show. (Including Marcel the monkey). But that’s just me.

A lot of emcees (Sage Francis and Mac Lethal to name but two) are putting out kinda unofficial non-album compendium CDs between their actual releases. Is that how you’d describe Hyphen or, given that it is the first album-length project from you, do you recognise it as your “debut album?”

Hyphen is NOT an album whatsoever. It was done in 2001 as a “Tonedeff 101” for the uninitiated. It’s a collection of random battle verses and a couple songs, and includes an enhanced CD of video from my battling days here in NYC. I followed this release up with another “compilation” style joint called Underscore in 2003, which is much more current and has plenty of new tracks to digest that are a lot closer to my current style. My actual OFFICIAL DEBUT ALBUM, Archetype, is supposed to drop later this year (winter). Technically, my 1st release was called The Monotone EP and was done in 1997.

What, for you, makes a good album?

A good album needs to have a theme or “feel” if you will. A record that takes you somewhere. Hip Hop is a singles driven market now…so you find artists that only know how to make hot singles and have no idea how to put together a cohesive album. So, with that said, my debut LP Archetype, will do just that. There’s a real “Feel” to it, that you can’t get on any other albums out right now. I’m really amped about it.

How and why did you form The Extended F@mm?

Extended Famm is a joint project consisting of myself, PackFM, Substantial & Session. We formed in the summer of 2000, but didn’t put anything out until the fall of 2002. We all met each other through the battle scene here, and did that joint The Evil That Pens Do for fun. We felt we had a great chemistry together, and decided to do something more at a later time together. When Happy Fuck You Songs came together, we decided that we would only make the most innovative crew-cuts possible. So, every song is a challenge to ourselves to see what we can pull off. Till this day, that album still impresses me.

How did you conceive and write the high-concept-driven tracks on HFYS like Celly where the meaning of the song is inextricably dependent on it’s complex structure?

We basically just referenced each other back and forth for all the songs. Celly was a real labour of love, because everyone wrote their own parts. Considering how interwoven the storyline is, it was a Herculean task to keep it on the topic/sensical/witty. We would write a part, send it off to the next cat, and he’d write…and then send it off to the next cat till the song was done. Recording and mixing it was a whole other monstrosity. lol

Do you think, as Canibus seemed to, that an immense stock of similes and punchlines are enough to secure status as a rap great?

Nah, that’s definitely not enough. Wordplay and punchlines are just one little facet of emceeing. You gotta have the total package to be a great. I see a lot of kids nowadays with good lyrics and WACK deliveries. No flows…etc, etc. You need to be skilled in many different areas to be great. Now if we’re talking about being a rap “Great,” you cant even qualify for that if you don’t put out classic albums.

So what do you think is the measure of a great emcee in 2004?

You’re always gonna be measured by your albums. So, with that said, you can only be great if you have the talent to create a great album.

But what about people like Super Natural and a lot of the old Skool rappers who are legends in their own right without having released a decent album – if any album at all?

What about them? A lot of emcees are famous for different skills. My point was, that to be a true “GREAT” (icon status) you have to make great albums. There aren’t too many greats. There’s a big difference we’re talking about here.

And speaking of “measure,” have you ever tried for the title of “world’s fastest rapper” in the Guinness book of records?

Hahaha. Nah. I can’t even count how many times it’s been suggested to me. A part of me wants to do it…and the other part of me doesn’t want that stigma. I’m a lyricist first and foremost. I want people to pay attention to what I’m saying, not just be impressed that it’s fast. When you really listen to my shit… I only rhyme fast on a handful of songs. It’s just one style of many that I can do. So, it would suck to get stereotyped as just a “fast rapper” when I’m MUCH-MUCH MORE than that.

On the subject of speed and rap, do you feel that the standard “hiphop/boom-bap” beat’s tempo is speeding up or slowing down? What is driving this change in pace?

Most of the stuff is pretty mid tempo now. A few years ago everything went pretty slow with a few exceptions. Now that cats are trying to focus on the clubs (ala Neptunes) they’ve been speeding the beats up. People have a hard time dancing to really slow boom-bap shit. But it’s good to nod your head to.

Are you an advocate of the one-take recording or will you stop and start mid-verse to get something exactly right if needs be?

I like things to sound as natural as possible, so I encourage people to practice before they hit the booth, so there’s not much need for punch-ins. Anything done in my booth is done live on stage in one take anyway.

Which rap track would you say has the most/worst punch-ins you’ve ever heard?

Nothing comes to mind for me right now. But off of GP….I CAN say that a lot of underground rappers need to step their game up…or their engineers do. lol

I first heard you from your work with Domingo and his Game Over arcade-game/ringtone influenced hiphop albums. Did such work give you any kind of leverage to get into mainstream/pop Rap?

Nah. Music is music. Anything is “mainstream” if you toss enough marketing money behind it. Let’s not get it confused.

What is Domingo up to these days as I’ve not seen a “Game over 3”?

Domingo’s just did a joint for Tony Yayo’s new LP, called Homicide. He’s on the grind right now with a bunch of new beats for the next batch of QN5 releases. Domingo’s not involved with the Game Over series anymore, so don’t be surprised if you don’t see his name on the next one.

Which do you prefer (both as producer and fan): sampling OR reproducing the music yourself via MIDI & sound-modules?

I like a healthy mix of both. I grew up sampling for all my tracks, so I’m definitely much more of a chopper than anything else. I picked up the piano when I was about 18, and I been incorporating original shit into the mix since then, layered on top of the sampling. Sampling is as hip-hop as it gets…so lets not ever forget the roots of this shit.

What do you use to make your beats?

I mainly use a PC with Sonar, Acid Pro, Sound Forge. I have a couple of keyboards, a set of turntables, and a 16 track mixer. It works for me.

Have you done any notable production outside your circle?

I’ve been working with more and more folks. I’ve produced a ton of shit for a lot of the underground heads in NYC…but I’m beginning to branch out. I’m gunning for the “best producer on the mic” title that Diamond D used to brag about back in the day. Lol I got a production discography on my label site. www.qn5.com

Are you looking to be signed or are you going to stick at this QN5 label of yours until it’s the new Rocafella?

QN5 is my baby. Imma be QN5 till I’m old and wilting. So, regardless of where I go…QN5 is coming with me. I will always use whatever means I gain in order to build upon what we’ve done. I’m ridiculously proud of my squad, and I think we have a big future coming. Rocafella level? Dunno…but Hopefully.

What’s the comic strip you draw? Where (other than your sites) can we see your artwork?

There’s actually nothing to show right now. I DO have a comic strip that I will eventually start drawing again, but it’s too far off to mention, really. Thanks for asking though…that’s the first time any interviewer has asked.

Have you any plans to apply your artistic talents to animation work like Wavetwisters or The PJs?

You will definitely see some animation from me in the future. Next year probably. For now, everyone will just have to watch the Extended Famm ECD with Squijee over and over till that happens. Lol

What does QN5 stand for? Is that a graffiti thing? Have you seen “QN5” tagged somewhere interesting?

QN5 basically means “5×5x5” (without the long ass explanation). Basically, we always try to stay 5 Steps ahead of the game. Nah, I aint seen it tagged anywhere before. It’s all original.

What should we be pestering the local record store to be buying in from you guys this summer/autumn?

We just dropped the QN5 compilation, Asterisk:Three, which is doing real well right now… PackFM’s Featured Material Vol.3, which is insane…so definitely pick those up now @ qn5.com.. My debut album, Archetype will be out sometime this holiday season. Please stay tuned to the baby blue.

And to wrap it all up, anybody you’d like to biggup on this world wide basis? Any final words of wisdom?

Shoutout to everyone that loves good hip-hop music world-wide. Let’s keep the soul of this music alive and push it to the next level. QN5 MUSIC! No rich relatives. Beezy!

Many thanks go out to Tonedeff for doing the interview. To find out more about Tonedeff and friends, go check out his artist site tonedeff.com and his label site qn5.com. In addition to providing all the latest news and views about their releases and activities, these sites boast a remarkable amount of quality free audio and visual goodies that’ll get better play on your system than much of that which dented your credit card this year.