Excerpt from Interview with Manu Key of "Mafia K'1 Fry" ("African Mafia")

M = Manu Key
S = Samir Meghelli

S: What does it mean to be a member of Mafia K'1 Fry in 2004?

M: To be a member of Mafia K'1 Fry... First of all, it's a collective of rappers that come from the banlieues sud: Orly, Vitry, Choisy.  Three cities that extend over 5 kilometers.  And, in 2004, to be a member of Mafia K'1 Fry means that we released an album called "La Cerise Sur La Ghetto" with a DVD that retraces the history of Mafia K'1 Fry.  It's to be a member of a rap collective that has a history of more than twelve years in Hip Hop.
S: When did you first begin hearing and seeing Hip Hop?
M: I began listening to rap in '88.  The first time was when I was in my room, listening to Radio Nova with Dee Nasty and Lionel D.  That's the first time I heard French rap.

S: What were the songs?

M: Doudou Masta and Jerome… Timide et Sans Complexe.  And for me, that was the first time.  It was incredible.  I was going crazy.

S: What was it in the music that grabbed you?

M: It wasn't really the music itself.  It was the lyrics.  The way they were rhyming in French.  It was the wordplay.  That was the first thing to grab me.

S: What were you hearing before Hip Hop?  What were your parents playing in the home?

M: I grew up with Funk, because of my older brothers.  Funk and Disco.

S: No Caribbean music, African music…?

M: Caribbean music, only a little bit, because we were surrounded by this French culture.  And my father left our family pretty early on, so we still had some stuff, like Tabou Combo, Kassav, things like that.  But, very little because we were really into Funk and Disco.

S: Where were the places in your neighborhood that Hip Hop would be poppin?

M: The neighborhood where I live now – I didn't live there before – it's called ------  It's a neighborhood with B-Boys called O.C.B., Orly City Breakers.  And that was the center of the whole thing.  So, there were breakers, but only a few rappers.  The Hip Hop thing began here with the dancing, the breakers.

S: Where specifically?  What streets would they be on?

M: The street was Rue Docteur Calmette.  It was the MJC (Maison des Jeunes et de la Culture – Youth Community Center) on Rue Docteur Calmette.  MJC Pablo Neruda.

S: When and why did you decide that you wanted to actually write your first rhymes?

M: It was in '89.  I really got into rap in '89.  That means that it basically took me one year – '88 to '89 – to really decide to dedicate myself to rap.  I began to write my first rhymes.  I had a friend that I rolled with that only listened to Renaud Séchan.  He only listened to that.  And, from there, because of Renaud, I figured out how to rhyme, how to play with words.  That's what got me rhyming.

S: Do you remember your first rhymes?

M: Yeah, definitely.  My first rhyme was called "Stop La Violence."

S: Was it inspired by the "Stop The Violence" song from KRS-One and them?

M: Yeah.

S: Well, who were you hearing at that time when you first started rhyming?

M: The first Hip Hop record that I bought was the Fat Boys.

S: The Fat Boys.

M: Yeah, the Fat Boys.  That was the first Hip Hop 45rpm that I bought.

S: Where did you buy it?

M: At [the store] BHV at La Villette.  It was a blue record, and there was the three of them on the cover.  But, I don't remember the name of the song.  And, the first 45rpm that I bought was Stevie Wonder, "Part Time Lover."  [He starts humming Stevie's song]  It was that.  And then, after that, what inspired me was the Fat Boys, Big Daddy Kane, EPMD, Schoolly D… Those were the first things that inspired me.

S: Were you part of a larger crew at that time?

M: Nah, at that time I was solo.  It was later on, like '90 or '91, that I began to form a group called Different Teep, and there were three us.

S: How did you meet and come together as Different Teep?

M: It was because of that MJC Pablo Neruda.

S: What does the name Different Teep mean, and how did y'all choose that name?

M: We took the name Different Teep because we were from different neighborhoods, we were of different backgrounds, but we had the same passion.  So, that's why we named ourselves Different Teep.

S: How did that group function?  Were you recording songs, or were you just writing songs for your performances?

M: We were writing a whole lot at the time.  We would look for beats, but during that time period it was difficult because there were very few producers.  And when we eventually found a producer – it was DJ Mehdi at the time – we began to do little albums on an eight-track, so that we could later go and record in a more advanced studio.  So, at the beginning, that group addressed a lot of different topics, and we wrote a lot.

S: If you had to choose two favorite songs that you made with Different Teep, which would they be?

M: I would choose "Réalité"  ("Reality") which is a song that appeared on Cut Killer's compilation ["Hip Hop Soul Party 3"].  And the other I would choose is "La Route Est Longue" ("The Road is Long").  "La Route Est Longue" was the first record that we put out, and "Réalité" was a song that the public really felt, and it talked about our crew, our neighborhood.  It was the first song that really got known, since it was on Cut Killer's compilation, and those two songs are the strongest songs by our group.

S: What has been Cut Killer's importance to your career, but also to the whole Hip Hop Nation?

M: Cut Killer is a DJ who's been there for a long time.  To this day, he's a dude that I respect because he always gave a helping hand, whether it was to get on the radio or for mixtapes and compilations.  And, he's never changed.  He's a DJ.  The last favor that I asked of him was to lend us his studio to record our stuff.  And, he's never refused to help.  The first time I laid down some vocals for his mixtape, I think in '95, Cut Killer's the one that hooked me up with that opportunity.  It was Cut Killer that gave us our first appearance on a compilation, with the song "Réalité."  And, till this day, he's been important to my career and to the Hip Hop world.

S: When is your favorite time of the day to write?  And, do you write to a beat, or without a beat?

M: A lot of the time, the topics for my songs come to me when I'm driving.  The actual writing I mostly do in the studio because - [looking at his daughter] - with her at the house, it's impossible.  You already see how she is here, so I write in the studio.  But, the themes for my songs, they come to me when I'm in the car.

S: When did you first meet Kery James and how did you become the manager of Idéal J?

M: Kery James.  We met in that same MJC [Pablo Neruda].  I met him in '91.  He came to me and said, 'Hey, I've been writing some songs.'  So, I said, 'Okay, next time, spit some of your rhymes for me.'  He came the following Wednesday and did just that.  And, he really began all that with a dude named Alter, who since passed away.  They formed a little group called "Idéal J."  That's when I began to manage them.  I taught them how to put together songs, with a beginning, a hook, and an end.  And, after that, I followed through with them.  I set up some small concerts for them.  That's how I became a part-time manager of Idéal J.

S: How did you get the opportunity to record your first solo album?  And why did you want to record a solo album?

M: My first solo album came about just after the first album of Different Teep.  Mista Flo got locked up and for a period of two years, I didn't really have anything to do.  I was waiting, and waiting… That's when I realized what I had to do.  Since I had continued writing during his bid, I said to myself, 'I have too many rhymes.  I definitely have to do something.'  And later, along with the manager, we decided to do the first solo album of Manu Key.

S: What was the motivating spirit behind the album and where did you record it?  What producers did you bring on board, or was it always DJ Mehdi?

M: I recorded it at Black Door Studio which is in Saint-Lazare.  And, the spirit of the album was that it was very much of the moment - of that period in Hip Hop - meaning it was about bragging and boasting, all about the wordplay, and musically, on some straight-up Hip Hop.  And the main producers were David Sheer, who I still work with, DJ Mehdi, and Double Pact.  The whole spirit of the album was just like, 'Here's some ill sounds and words comin at you.'

S: What are maybe your two or three favorite songs from that album, and why those songs in particular?

M: On my first album, I think, would be "Triste Point en Commun," "Triomphe"... Yeah, I'm thinking of those two songs.  "Triste Point en Commun" because it was pretty important that I had Kery James and also Liljahson, who was in my group Different Teep.  We really had to spend time looking for the right words, and… It was the first time that we dealt with a topic that deep and also, the music was bangin.  And "Triomphe" was a track with Rohff that was perfect for getting the crowds hype at shows, so people were really feelin it, and it really gave me a name in the streets.

S: Where were you performing at that time?

M: I began doing concerts early on with Different Teep.  We had a good amount of shows at the time.  And later on, I was opening up for Idéal J.  There weren't necessarily particular spots that we performed at.  It was more so shows that we would do here and there, or someone would call us up.  We put our contact info in the CD booklet, and people would call us.  So, I did a decent amount of shows at the time of the release of my first solo album, "Manu Key."

S: How did you develop your performance style?  Were their other artists that influenced your style?

M: On stage, I just bring my own style.  We try to make it as simple as possible, just to display our music and our skills for our fans.  We didn't have any special techniques, even when we were Different Teep, it was just straight B-Boy: a mic, two turntables, and it was just us giving the best of us.  That's how we would do our shows.  It was just DJs and rappers.

S: I'm trying to figure out what the origins were of the idea of Mafia K'1 Fry.  How did that name and that idea first come about?

M: Like I was sayin, we all knew each other from the MJC Pablo Neruda.  We would all meet up there.  There were groups from Vitry, Orly, and Choisy.  In the beginning, it was a dude named Dumas who said to Kery James, 'Why don't we call ourselves Mafia K'1 Fry?'  And the idea came like that.  113 knew Kery James.  And I knew Kery.  Kery introduced me to Rohff.  Little by little, we all began linking up.  There were already various groups, here and there, like 113 and Intouchable.  So, it all started like that.  And, eventually we collectively became known as Mafia K'1 Fry, all the way until now.

S: What did the larger idea of Mafia K'1 Fry mean to all of you?  What was the vision for Mafia K'1 Fry?

M: First and foremost, the main link between us all is the banlieue 94.  Orly, Vitry, and Choisy are all connected by the 183 bus.  It was a way to say, 'Even if you live in Orly or Vitry, we're still connected.  We all kinda grew up together.'  There wasn't really a specific goal behind it all.  It was more so about representing, being able to say 'Mafia K'1 Fry.'  At the beginning, there was no real goal.  We were each in our respective groups, and even till now, that's what it is.  It was about having a name, to say to people, to identify with the name.

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