On Ghostface Killah, New Works & The Skills That Made 'Bills'

Ivan Ooze

While 2016 has been terrible in pretty much every regard, at least one person has made a red-hot crack of it: young Australian rapper Ivan Ooze.

With an impending national tour beginning in Western Australia imminently, the Melburnian is set to ride his newest wave of buzz (after his signing to Native Tongue, release of fire mixtape '93 KFC Rotisserie GOLD and a consequent outing at BIGSOUND) all the way to the new year. And, considering said buzz has been buoyed by the involvement of certified hip hop legend and Wu-Tang Clan co-founder Ghostface Killah, who recently featured on Ooze's new track Bills, it should probably sustain him a little bit beyond then, too.

When The Music touches base with the affable rapper, real name Ben Townsend, Ooze is putting the final touches on preparations for his tour, which in his words will feature "new songs, new content and a new stage show", aimed largely at heightening crowd interactivity in his performances.

To be honest, it's kind of amazing he's been able to focus, given that, only a few short months ago, he was sharing studio space with one of his icons, who he met while acting as Wu-Tang's support act during their recent visit to the country.

"Yeah, man, it's been crazy," Ooze marvels. "I don't even know how to explain it. It's pretty surreal. I still can't explain how all that stuff sort of happened."

"It was a spur-of-the-moment-type thing, and it was really, really crazy," he continues. "I didn't really expect it, and it sort of happened, and then you're sitting in a studio and next to you is someone from Wu-Tang Clan and you're just like, 'What the hell's going on with my life?!' But yeah, it was pretty cool, man."

According to Ooze, Ghostface was — as you'd expect — a consummate professional, and remarkably free of ego, instead happy to take a backseat to Ooze's creative direction and showing a palpable belief in the young rapper's work.

"It was pretty awesome, because he came in and then we sort of sat down and he wrote his verse in, like, two hours, and then he told me that he liked my verses, and he really liked my second verse as well," Ooze recounts. "He sort of just stewed over it, and then we were recording it and he was like, 'Oh, do you like these vocals? Do you want me to do it again?' Like, I was sort of in control of what he was doing because it was my project, so that was sort of cool in that aspect, but everything that he did was sort of, like, a veteran's opinion, so you couldn't really tell him he was doing anything wrong, because he wasn't doing anything wrong. He killed it. It was sick."

The collaboration extended even further, with Ghostface making an appearance in Ooze's accompanying film clip for the track. The video was shot in a studio space in Brisbane that — despite the giant fan on display — gave Ooze and his collaborators a bit of grief on the day on account of that super-fun Queensland heat.

"The video clip was cool — it was in this little studio room and it had this giant fan, so it was a cool atmosphere," Ooze begins, "but then it was really hot because we filmed it in Brisbane and it was a really, really muggy day and it was disgusting, so everyone was sweating in there and feeling all gross. If you look in the film clip, I'm actually disgusting. Like, I look gross.

"We didn't know it was going to be so hot in there, and we were in there and I only had my clothes — and I was wearing jeans as well! I was, like, completely roasting. It was seriously just like an oven inside this studio, and everyone was going just a bit crazy and trying to wipe their faces with, like, napkins from McDonald's and shit. It was just crazy. We ended up getting it done, but it was a cool experience. Everything with Ghostface was really, really cool."

Naturally, the affirmation from one of the world's recognised greats has Ooze feeling rather buoyant about his prospects going forward, having emerged from the experience more resolved than ever to drown out the people aiming to bring him down and instead focus on elevating his own skills and craftsmanship. 

"I don't pay attention to anybody that, like, hates on shit, man, I just make music for the fun of it," he explains. "The fact is, at the end of the day, when we jumped in the car after we'd finished doing all the recording and stuff, pretty much Ghostface just said, 'If I didn't like that track, I wouldn't get on it, but I do like that track and I got on it,' and that's the only thing that matters to me, so I don't give a fuck about what anybody else says!"

And, from the sounds of things, he's got plenty to keep him busy once he hops off the road, although he's necessarily vague about an exciting project he has in the works.

"There's a couple of things in the works at the moment; there's one sort of like massive thing for me which I'm pretty sure is going to happen, but not 100% sure — but I can't say anything about that yet," he teases. "But yeah, there's a heap of new stuff coming out; there should be an EP next year, but I think next year I'll be working with that certain someone that's a secret. It should be pretty cool."

More immediately, long-time fans will find enjoyment in the introduction of a skit element to Ooze's live show, echoing a hallmark feature of rap albums by introducing an added element of theatricality to the impending run of performances.

"You listen to albums that are old hip hop albums and they always have skits through them, just funny-type stuff," Ooze explains. "I know a couple of artists that put that into their stage show, and you get a really good reaction if you can nail it well. And I think with the crew I have, we're pretty outgoing and out there, so I think it will work well, and that's what we're probably going to try, this run of the tour. We'll see how it goes!"

Ivan Ooze's Bills tour gets under way in WA tonight, at Mojo's Bar, Fremantle, with support from Lyall Moloney. He's also got dates lined up in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Hobart over the next couple of weeks.

For a full list of dates, venues and other tour information, see theGuide.