All About The Soul

"I'm trying to mix it up,” South Bronx native André “AG” Barnes says with reference to his upcoming Australian tour where he'll perform his classics and more with The X-Ecutioners' Total Eclipse his DJ. “I've been active for a long time now, so there's a lot of material that some of my fans or some people may not even be familiar with. So I think my job is to give them what they want and give them some extra stuff or what they may not know and lead 'em into the future with what I'm about to do.”

Barnes' break came when, legend has it, Lord Finesse, visiting his school, called on aspiring MCs to battle. Barnes so impressed him as to land two cameos on his Funky Technician – one of the tracks helmed by emergent beatmaker Rodney “Showbiz” Lemay. The kids teamed up as Showbiz & AG for 1992's Soul Clap EP, promptly following with the acclaimed major label LP, Runaway Slave. In 1999, with the combo on hiatus, Barnes dropped the solo The Dirty Version. Meanwhile, Showbiz & AG established the Diggin' In The Crates Crew (DITC) with Finesse, Diamond D, the late Big L and others. The influential posse assembled an album for Tommy Boy in 2000.

Barnes is unsurprised by the prevailing ('90s) rap nostalgia. “It always had something that it stood for. The new music, with just making music from synthesisers and drum machines, I don't think it has too much in it soul-wise.” Barnes isn't necessarily dismissive of contemporary MCs, admiring '90s revivalist Joey Bada$$, Kendrick Lamar and even Drake. Yet, wary of “the machine”, he prefers indie practitioners such as John Robinson. Barnes is excited to learn that Australia has a thriving “true hip hop” scene that values sample-based music and lyricism. “That makes me feel so good, 'cause that's all I have – I don't have anything but beats, rhymes and a true view, a concept. The values and views of original hip hop is exactly who I am so, when there's an audience or a crowd or a place [where] that's what they wanna hear and that's what motivates them, I think I'm at my best in that element – because I can just be myself with no additives, no preservatives, no false conventional mask...”

Today Barnes presides over a boutique label, Red Apples 45, with DJ/producer Ray West. “It has a jazzy hip hop Bronx-type of feel, so it sounds like nothing that's really out.” The collectible imprint issues vinyl – and cassettes. “It's not really about a financial gain.” Barnes is prepping another album, Ambrosia. “It's sorta like food for higher-conscious level dudes or hip hoppers – it's not dumbing-down.” And, despite talk of disharmony, there's renewed activity in DITC's camp, with a remix compilation due. “I think with us in the past, we haven't been so consistent, because we got into this to do music [but] the business of music sometimes got the better of us.”