Formed around the talents of House Of Pain’s Danny Boy, La Coka Nostra are an underground hip hop supergroup that also includes DJ Lethal (Limp Bizkit), Ill Bill and Slaine.
After almost ten years together and three albums, La Coka Nostra are headed to Australia for the very first time. Rapper/ actor Slaine answered our questionnaire.
When can we expect the next La Coka Nostra album to drop?
Looks like we should have something out this fall [Australian spring].
Any guests you can let us know about?
We will keep it in the family as far as guests go.
The current sound of LCN, can we still expect that old school grimey vibe from your previous releases?
That's what we do. Any other way wouldn't make sense.
Other releases/ mixtapes — what’s in the picture at the moment?
‘The King Of Everything Else’ is my new solo album which comes out on August 19.
La Coka Nostra are headed down under for the first time next month; is it always an adventure travelling to lands that haven’t seen La Coka Nostra previously?
Yeah, I can't wait to get to Australia. I've never been before. I did a movie with Andrew Dominik called ‘Killing Them Softly’ where a bunch of the crew was also Australian. I had a great time. Those guys have a similar sense of humour to Bostonians. Kind of ironic, very sarcastic and crass. I've also heard from other artists who are friends of mine that it is a great place to perform.
After a show; do you enjoy hanging with punters, talking hip hop/ the scene?
No. That’s the last thing I want to do actually.
Rap, hip hop circa 2014 in the United States — what’s the state of the union?
Hip hop got so big it turned into a thousand different sub-genres that are mostly awful. The Internet crushed the music business. If I had to describe the climate by a song title, it would be a song by Ill Bill ‘How To Survive The Apocalypse’.
{youtube}FtIm5EanQCQ{/youtube}
The associated acts with LCN are a who’s who of the hip hop world... has it been a surreal ride at times to be able to collaborate with the acts you have?
The whole ride certainly has been for me. The first hip hop concert I ever went to was Cypress Hill, House Of Pain, Funkdoobiest and The Whooliganz. I was 14. Some years later to be working with those guys and to now be three albums and ten years deep with La Coka Nostra has been nothing short of a dream come true.
Is fashion a big part of the LCN brand?
[Answered by Danny Boy] Fashion? No. Style? Yes. I did my best originally with LCN in 2004 to bring back that hardcore feel with the imagery and graphics. I like the one colour iconic graphics that I’ve always used when designing logos. I felt a bold skull with a bandanna on two guns and a Yankees cap best represented that NYHC spirit within our core.
Away from the collective... what else occupies your creative energies?
[Slaine] I stay pretty busy between working with La Coka, my solo career and side projects as well as my acting career. I got a new movie coming out called ‘By The Gun’ with Harvey Keitel, Ben Barnes, Leighton Meester and Toby Jones.
LA COKA NOSTRA TOUR DATES
Wed Aug 27 - Coniston Lane (Brisbane)Thu Aug 28 - Prince Of Wales Hotel (Melbourne)
Fri Aug 29 - XL Super Club (Adelaide)
Sat Aug 30 - Factory Theatre (Sydney)
Sun Aug 31 - Villa (Perth)
