New York hip hop has a fiercely guarded history.
From the genre’s inception in the early 1970s, to the breakthrough success of Grandmaster Flash and Run-D.M.C. in the ’80s, and the ‘90s heyday for the likes of A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Notorious B.I.G. and Nas, New York has long been a breeding ground for legendary, world-changing hip hop.
While the likes of Jay Z remain in the public eye, in recent years there haven’t been many pages added to New York hip hop history. That’s not to say there’s a dearth of quality artists – at present, you’ve got youngsters like Joey Bada$$ delivering high-calibre throwbacks to the ‘90s glory days, while Azealia Banks is a very exciting prospect. Still, nothing’s initiated a dazzling new era in the city’s hip hop lineage.
In the early months of 2014, Manhattan crew Ratking released their debut record ‘So It Goes’. There’s no denying that the young trio (made up of MCs Wiki and Hak and producer Sporting Life) are indebted to the city they hail from: ‘So It Goes’ moves at cut-throat pace, comprising street-wary observations and production that echoes the industrial clamour of the Upper East Side. “I had an idea in my head of what, in my opinion, a complete album would sound like and how varied it would need to be,” Sporting Life says.
“You start there, but then things develop over time. Some of your ideas work really well and some of them don’t work at all… and that all leads to making what it ended up sounding like. I try to plan 100 percent, but it ends up being like 70 percent and then 30 percent of what happens during the process.”
It might be too early to proclaim that ‘So It Goes’ heralds a new frontier for New York hip hop, but Ratking certainly introduce themselves as a unique entity. The threesome readily acknowledge their hometown’s formidable hip hop background, but they aren’t afraid to look beyond New York for influence. “[I like doing] my own ground work of what the influences are going to be track-by-track and how I’m building it out,” Sporting Life explains, “just by listening to so many classic albums, like albums Dre produced and stuff like that.
“A song like ‘Remove Ya’ is sampled from Sanchez, and it’s also a sample that [The Diplomats] use on ‘Dipset Anthem’, but the direction of the track was more influenced by producers like Wiley and early grime.”
This willingness to take cues from reggae mainstay Sanchez and the Godfather of grime, Wiley, shows that Ratking’s listening habits aren’t limited to the terrain of hip hop. Furthermore, ‘So It Goes’ harnesses punk-rock energy, which isn’t simply a coincidence. “We definitely listen to Bad Brains and skateboarding tapes,” Sporting Life says. “The fact that we play a lot gives it more of the punk element to it. Then we try to double back and add that into the record, so there’s not a difference between what it sounds like live.”
Ratking’s animated spirit and broad-spanning influences combine to make ‘So It Goes’ a distinctly modern hip hop record. On top of this, the utilisation of advanced studio technology helped to differentiate ‘So It Goes’ from the prized hip hop releases of yore. “You’re using new programs, you’re using new drum machines,” Sporting Life says.
“It’s being recorded with this technology, so in a way it’s going to be new anyway. You don’t necessarily have to stress that, you just have to set up a system and then put things through that system and see if they come out listenable. If it’s listenable people will consider it new, if it’s not they’ll be like ‘that’s just some noise’.”
Sporting Life produced the entire record, but Wiki and Hak weren’t denied their say on the production choices. Similarly, Sporting Life, weighed in on the merits of what was coming from the two vocalists. After all, Ratking are a crew, and the trio’s collaborative synergy is what builds their strength. “To a certain degree it’s left up to the individual, but then at the end of the day we all have to agree with it,” Sporting Life says.
“If there’s a part that sounds really corny we’re all going to say something about it, so there might be a little bit of back and forth about it. Over time you get more and more comfortable with maybe not having all of your ideas go in. That’s the only way you can improve.
“None of these albums that are considered great were [made] where one person did it all,” he adds. “You get to the point where you’re comfortable letting other people give you ideas or pointers on stuff. That’s another level of creativity – more successful or more cohesive creativity.”
On record, Ratking are a dominating force, but unlike so many other contemporary hip hoppers, condescending bravado isn’t their stock in trade. ‘So It Goes’ illustrates the ultimate dividends supplied by this attitude. “I think we’ll get better at it over time,” Sporting Life says. “But at the end of it, when [So It Goes] was finally mastered, in my opinion it gave people a balanced feel of what we’re trying to present at this particular point in time.”
Written by Augustus Welby
RATKING LANEWAY TOUR DATES
Sat 31 Jan - RNA Showground (Brisbane)(16+)Sun 1 Feb - College Of The Arts (Sydney)(18+)
Fri 6 Feb - Harts Mill (Adelaide)(16+)
Sat 7 Feb - Footscary Community Arts Centre (Melbourne)(18+)
Sun 8 Feb - Esplanade Reserve and West End (Fremantle)(18+)
RATKING LANEWAY SIDESHOWS
Thu 29 Jan - The Basement (Sydney)Thu 5 Feb - Ding Dong Lounge (Melbourne)
