On stage Infinite Livez
is manic. He raps, rhymes, prances, wears My Little
Ponies on his head and distorts his distinctive voice
with the aid of a variety of weird and wonderful electronic
tools. Ninja Tune offshoot, Big Dada, are currently
touting this crazy little man as the hottest thing to
hit the UK scene since Rodney Smith manuva’d his
way into our affections.
In person Steven Henry, former art student, is a softly-spoken,
charming gent who has yet to give up his day job as
usher at the ICA. Refreshingly humble, intelligent and
articulate he does not act like a man on the brink of
hip-hop stardom. But with his first album due out next
month and comparisons already being drawn with De La
Soul’s seminal 3 Feet High and Rising, the future
is looking good for the boy from Bethnal Green and his
one-eyed partner in crime, the hand puppet Barry Convex.
So how did Steven Henry, creator of comic books and
computer games, become Infinite Livez – hip-hop
superhero? “I used to play a lot of computer games
and when you win a game there’s a special trick
you can do so you get loads of lives and never die.
That’s where the name came from.”
Despite these forays into geekdom, Infinite comes across
as rather a sensitive soul, driven by a deep-seated
desire to express himself. This energy first found an
outlet during his three years at Chelsea art school,
where he drew comic books, sang in a punk band and experimented
with his own creativity.
“I don’t find there’s that much difference
between making a painting and writing a song. It’s
the same energy that spurs you on to be creative. Chelsea
was quite an open-minded course, I really enjoyed being
exposed to lots of slightly different ideas and I think
you can hear that experimentation in my music. I also
really enjoyed having three years of not having to do
one particular thing. The real world is a lot different.”
He gives a wry smile and lets out a charmingly high-pitched
giggle at this last thought.
Hip-hop was part of Infinite’s life from the
early days of Ghetto Grammar, an East London outpost
for kids who wanted to learn how to make music without
ego getting in the way. But unlike others who craved
the fame and bling a record deal could bring, our hero
was happy to keep music as his sideline.
“Hip-hop happened by accident. I was making computer
games before I got signed and hip-hop was on the side.
Then Gamma got in touch and asked if I wanted to appear
on a track, then they asked if I wanted help putting
an album together, then I managed to get signed. I never
set my mind on getting a record deal until about two
years ago. “
In true superhero style, when he sets his mind to things
they seem to happen. The growth of the UK scene has
given acts like Infinite the right kind of exposure
and labels like Big Dada the right kind of funds, but
he is quick to point out the narrowness of the current
scene and keen to distance himself from the attitudes
that surround it. “I think I look at it a bit
different from other people I meet. I don’t get
a lot of UK hip-hop and the narrowness that goes with
it. I don’t share this idea that everyone has
to be doing something different. Hip-hop is the pop
music of our generation and has diversified massively,
so I just do what I want to do I suppose.”
Despite his solo success, Infinite is still very much
involved with his original crew and instead of focusing
on his own achievements is quick to credit their influence.
“We’re set up to work as support network
for each other. I think it’s quite important for
hip-hop in general to have that kind of structure and
contact coz it’s difficult to make it alone. It
helps to have positive people around you with a good
attitude to help you find your own direction.”
All this talk of partnerships brings us neatly onto
the topic of Barry Convex, Infinite’s famous puppet
sidekick who sits aloft his creator’s hand and
pokes fun. It may look like a cheap gimmick to some
but it adds that refreshing slice of humour that is
so missing from other top hip-hop acts.
“I needed to do something on stage so I made
Barry myself out of different bits and pieces. He’s
not really an alter ego; he’s far more unreasonable
than I am. It’s fun to watch people’s faces
for their reactions and see how far you can push it.”
Pushing back boundaries is something Infinite excels
at. His subject matter is massively eclectic and his
lyrical flow has a freestyled, surreal quality that
belies the hours of hard graft behind it. His most popular
tune to date is the now infamous Pononee Girl –
the torrid tale of a passionate liaison between a man
and a My Little Pony. The lyrics flit between the silly,
the nonsensical and the downright hilarious; “She
didn’t say neigh, so I thought she said yay!”
But Infinite is keen to avoid being pigeonholed and
is aware that no matter how funny the joke, it eventually
wears thin. “Bush Meat’s subject matter
is quite diverse, there are the off-wall tracks like
Adventures of a Lactating Man and the track I produced
myself, White Wee Wee, but there is also a more serious
political message on tracks like Coco Pilots where a
black Bomber Command attacks Parliament. Hopefully I’ll
do more producing on the second album and carve out
a different sound that doesn’t pivot so much around
piss-taking.”
This doesn’t mean the end of his left-field style
though. Not only is there a follow-up to Pononee Girl
in the pipeline but this is a man who thrives on experimentation
and gets a kick out of being quietly outrageous.
He explains in a voice so soft it’s hard to relate
it to the wise-cracking emceeing he turns out live:
“I’ve stopped being nervous during live
performances. I get a real buzz off it these days. There’s
so much to think about when on stage, all the equipment
that I use like the air-synth (similar to an electronic
theramin) and the foot pedal that acts like a voice
distortion box. I like to think that real brilliance
comes when me ‘n’ DJ a la Fu are just messing
about and improvising.“
Big Dada are currently one of the dominant forces in
UK hip-hop and Infinite is full of praise for all they’ve
done for him and the scene in general. He was resident
MC at their short-lived Gosh nights at Plastic People
and contributed the best-received track on their ill-fated
Bouncement album.
“People can take Big Dada and their artists at
any angle they want really. The music they put out is
really unique. I can only speak for the artists, but
hip-hop doesn’t have any rules and really I think
Big Dada is a label that embraces that idea to the point
where it almost becomes a philosophy. At its heart is
a belief that you can do more than just the normal and
everyday.
The best act coming up on Big Dada is the New Flesh
crew. They’ve been stepped on a bit because their
sound is a little bit ahead of its time. They are gonna
be an important element in UK hip-hop part two.”
Infinite may display ultimate respect for Big Dada,
and a generally relaxed attitude towards the world at
large, but does it concern him that the people controlling
the promotion, distribution and funding of black music
in this country are almost exclusively from the white
middle classes?
“I couldn’t say it doesn’t concern
me. The fact that I’m black is not something I
wave on a big banner but its something I’m happy
to make people aware of. In terms of the scene and the
music I truly believe the important thing is to concentrate
on togetherness. I just feel happy to be in a position
to do what I do regardless whoever the fan base is.
I’ve being making this music since I was very
young and I made it when I had nothing and now I can
make it and have something. I don’t block those
issues out but I’m quite aware that tomorrow this
might all disappear and it will just be me and Barry
back on our own. “
Serena Kutchinsky
Interview Arpil 2004 in London
Thank you to Laura |
