A quick word with: Raymond Ebanks from the Bomfunk MCs

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

Raymond Ebanks aka B.O.W. is the voice of the Bomfunk MCs, the Finnish hip-hop cum dancepop outfit who had a huge international hit with Freestyler and are heading to Auckland with a show that includes a break-dancing crew, live band and himself and partner Ismo Lappalainen aka DJ Gismo.

It's early morning in Helsinki.

So how cold is it there?


It's not that cold. It's like minus five or something. But I'm definitely looking forward to coming to New Zealand.

Guess it says something about the music world these days that a hip-hop song from Finland can light up the charts wherever.

Yeah, but it's been a while because when we started out people expected us to come from Sweden or Germany and these countries, so we have to kind of promote our country as well. Nobody has ever heard of Finnish dance music except for now and it's good that it's also happened with Darude [another DJ act] and these guys.

Are you hometown heroes?


Definitely yes. Everyone is happy here that things have started to happen so it doesn't only concern us. There's a lot of record labels looking for acts like this. There is a lot of action going on, there are a lot of new labels and the club scene is rising up.

How did it start?


I used to be a B-Boy, I used to breakdance a lot and I've always been rapping but I always imitated more like the American rappers and now we have a Scandinavian kind of sound and Scandinavian style. They actually have that feel that this is something new, that this isn't something that has been recycled or anything. This is like the Scandinavian version of the Miami sound. It's very fresh and everybody is coming to pat our backs and giving us a lot of respect.

How does a guy from Finland become a B-Boy?


Just like anybody else. Watched Beat Street and these movies, then we started doing graffiti and breaking our necks with the B-Boy stuff.

I imagine breakdancing in a climate such as yours has its dangers.

We don't do it on the ice though. We still do it on the street with asphalt on it and some lino.

It'd be bad to go into a headspin and stick. Yeah, yeah, ha ha ha ha.

So why did Freestyler catch on? Maybe because it sounds a bit like 80s rap?


Yeah I think so too. This is the old school thing where people were just partying and having a good time. It gives you a happy feel, it's not like rappers who are always the bad asses so this brings back the original touch of it, when people were a little more innocent. Just partying for partying's sake.

But your music is also a mix of pop and dance beats too.


It is a mix because we have our producer JS16 and he's actually a house freak. We like to put something that makes the mainstream people dance to it too, make them feel happy about it because they probably don't know anything about the roots of the electro or the hip-hop. We started out as remixers so we just appreciate this kind of club music. It doesn't have to necessarily be the most conscious lyrics or anything. We get respect from both sides, I hope.

Describe your live show.


We have a live band behind us. It's half and half, it's more like a sound system, we have drums and of course the DJ. It's a very action-packed show because we have The Savage Feet Crew who are a breakdance crew here in Helsinki. It's real fun and people see more than an average band which is just playing. Definitely we want to rock the crowd. Actually this is not a good promotion but we are the Village People of rap. Nothing to do with the gay community. We are totally different guys.

Can you go into a club in Helsinki and not hear you guys?


Yeah you can because the new songs will probably pop out soon but the old ones they don't appreciate any more.

What's the dance scene in Finland like?


It's very good actually. Helsinki and Turku, they are kind of the hip places, every weekend there's some international DJ. There are a lot of good clubs. The thing here in Finland, when it's wintertime the only option is really to party because otherwise it's just too dark and too boring. You go into these clubs and forget the outside winter and just party.

* The Bomfunk MCs play the St James next Sunday.