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icenine vs. Juiceboxxx

Juiceboxxx is this spazzy, 23-year-old kid from Milwaukee who's parlayed sheer determination, a singular perspective and a freaky genre-mashing style of hip hop into massive success and acclaim in...
Last updated: 2015-11-09


Juiceboxxx is this spazzy, 23-year-old kid from Milwaukee who's parlayed sheer determination, a singular perspective and a freaky genre-mashing style of hip hop into massive success and acclaim in the past few years in the States, playing with everyone from Dan Deacon, to Spank Rock, to Public Enemy. Recognized for his high-intensity performances, he comes from a background of being on the outside, opening for noise, indie rock, and punk bands. His own sound is taking everything, throwing it at a wall and rapping over top of it.

icenine is the frenetic MC / producer from Shanghai-based, demented hip hop / dubstep collective, ROM. Their own unique perspectives and conceptcore parties have become highlight events in Shanghai's underground music community, wherein ye shall find all sorts of wacky shit going down to accompanying their live performances. Music is dubstep, hip hop, and electro thrown in a wood chipper. Rapping over top of that.

This Friday, Juiceboxxx plays at The Shelter with icenine running support, presented by S.T.D.. As a break from the usual me-asking-questions type of interview, SmartShanghai got icenine to talk to Juiceboxxx himself. They talked about playing with Public Enemy, how rad Bruce Springsteen is, and confrontational music.

Don't miss the pair of them Friday night at The Shelter. Event details here.

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icenine: Have you done any shows in China yet or is this the first one?

Juiceboxxx: We've been in Asia for like over three weeks now. We did Japan, Korean, the Philippines and now China. We played in Beijing last Saturday. It was good. It was really fun. It was wild actually. We played some party for something. But yeah, it was really good. Really rowdy. Other shows we had done in Asia had been good, Japan was good, but at that show, kids took it to another level for whatever reason. Getting aggressive, breaking shopping carts and throwing popcorn and alcohol into the air.

In Japan, kids freak out but it's just different. It's always positive. In Beijing, shit started to get pretty dark at a certain point. It all got reeled back in, but at a certain point the dance area cleared out and there was this one dude breaking this shopping cart full of ice. I'm just standing there on stage watching it... the whole stage was pretty slick from people throwing beer...

SmSh: This is at some Converse thing? Like the skateboarding thing?

Juiceboxxx: Yeah, I couldn't do my moves [laughs] and I was just watching these dudes break this shopping cart. Literally, just standing on stage and watching these guys.

icenine: So they were showing you something, because you're show is something too, with smashing the mic on your head and stuff... what sort of set up are you using on tour?

Juiceboxxx: My man here plays beats on a computer and guitar for some of the tracks.

icenine: Who makes your beats?

Juiceboxxx: I do. I do my own stuff...

icenine: What are you using?

Juiceboxxx: Same shit everyone else uses... couple of different things. Computer stuff. Or whatever I can get my hands on, but I don’t have any like... gear, you know.

icenine: Going back to touring, when was the tour you opened for Public Enemy. Those guys are like my heroes. They call you "the Buddy Holly of hip hop".

Juiceboxxx: That was last May. That was really good. I don't fucking know why they called me that [laughs]. I think Chuck was just fucking around... he's a really nice dude. Everyone in Public Enemy, the crew -- they’re just the nicest dudes. They were doing like a combo tour of Nation of Millions and Fear of a Black Planet. But yeah, they gave us all their catering at the end of it. We met up with them and did they Canadian leg of the tour and then down the West Coast a bit. But yeah we ate on that food they gave us the whole way. They were really nice. Much nicer than like some of the indie rock bands I've supported.

icenine: Seems like a weird mix -- Juiceboxxx and Public Enemy. How did the crowd take it?

Juiceboxxx: It wasn't bad. Maybe part of it was that it was in Canada. [Laughs]. I think Public Enemy draws a mix of people. Definitely hip hop kids but definitely a mix...

icenine: Did they have the Flavor with them?

Juiceboxxx: He was the one dude I didn't get to hang out with. Like I shook his hand once or whatever. But he was a little more reserved. And understandably so. He wasn't around. Chuck D was super involved with the sound checks and micro-managing the band. He was super hands-on. But Flavor Flav, he was more reserved and its understandable... these dudes have my ultimate respect on the level that they were playing in some tripped out Canadian towns that they didn’t have to play. Like Saskatoon.

icenine: [Laughs.]

Juiceboxxx: The 'toon, man. It was like in the basement of the Saskatoon Cultural Center. And they didn't need to do that show. Public Enemy, at that point in their career and their stature, if they're going to do Canada, they should be going to Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, you know what I mean? If it came down to money that would be it, but they don't do that... but they're 50 years old and still think like, 'fuck it, Saskatoon deserves a PE show.'

And Flavor Flav, no matter what he’s done or what he will do, the fact that he's still on the road playing Saskatoon, probably not making all that much money, AND killing it...



SmSh: A 23-year-old guy opening for Public Enemy. How did that even happen?

Juiceboxxx: Their manager called me. I just got really lucky I guess. I've been touring my ass off for years, so I guess it was just a reward after a while, to be able to do it.

SmSh: You mentioned playing with rock bands before, what sorts of bands are you usually with?

Juiceboxxx: Not hip hop groups, mostly. Like punk bands and noise bands. I toured with this band Japanther from New York. Dan Deacon. Spank Rock... a lot with Spank Rock over the years. Holy Shit -- a thrash band from Milwaukee. So I've toured with some weirder, arty stuff. Some punk stuff, some dance stuff. I've done just DJ tours...

SmSh: How is it playing for noise crowds. Are you thinking, 'oh shit, noise kids... this show is going to be tough'?

Juiceboxxx: Not really, because I kind of cut my teeth more in that scene more than any other. I don't know. If people ask me who are the best bands to play with and what are the best cities, it really just depends. I try to give it 100% every time I go, and sometimes it's good and sometimes it sucks. I think if you tour like I tour, through all these different circuits, everything is really hit or miss. That's why I like do a lot of different stuff. Just to keep it interesting.

icenine: Musically, you seem to be in a lot of different genres and different areas, and you read about it and everyone has different names for it. Where do you see it and how do you rate what you do? Is it pop? Is it electro? Where do you see yourself as a hip hop guy?

Juiceboxxx: Well, what I try to do, and this may sound somewhat egotistic, but I try to be somewhat singular. I'm not trying to play in one sport, you know. So I don't know. I mean, I've always been an outsider. Not just in hip hop, but in noise or punk or dance or whatever. I don’t think I've ever fully fit in anywhere. And so the music I make reflects that. It's not music for purists of genres. I think a lot of kids these days listen to a wide spectrum of music. And I think I do fits in there with their fucking... iTunes playlists or whatever.

icenine: Are you paying attention to what goes on in hip hop?

Juiceboxxx: Yeah, yeah. I pay attention to whatever goes on in all kinds of music and digest a lot of music. I pay attention to everything. I go in and out. There's points in my life where I try to get out of with what's going on, but at the end of the day I'm just a music fan, so I'm a fan first and foremost. Always checking for whatever is coming up.

icenine: Lyrics. What about influences for lyrics?

Juiceboxxx: I don't know. I've gone through a lot of different phases when it comes to lyrics. But I'm always just trying to reflect how I'm feeling. If I'm just making a dance song that has on the surface level, lyrics that are kind of trite, it's reflecting maybe a couple of years in my life when I was playing lots of dance music and just trying to capture that spirit. Some of the newer music I'm making is more blatantly earnest and it draws a lot of influence from classic rock or whatever. Some of the newer stuff, it's easier to see what my intentions are, but I still like the dance shit I made a few years back, that has a lot of truth to me still. I feel like someone like Springsteen, his power is in his cliché... it's not a bad thing, it's a good thing. I feel like it's all about types of clichés that are still powerful in rock and rap or whatever. Tropes.

I don't split the differences between Springsteen lyrics or lyrics that you find in house music...

SmSh: What's your favorite Springsteen album? Or era, I guess.

Juiceboxxx: I don't know. Born to Run, but it probably goes deeper than that.

SmSh: Born in the U.S.A. is a bitchin' album.

Juiceboxxx: I almost love Born in the U.S.A. on the same level as Born to Run. Actually, I do love it on the same level. Darkness on the Edge of Town... but that's what I'm saying, he's creating a certain language within his music, and without sounding cheesy, you see that in rap music and your Young Jeezys or whatever. You're creating a world within your music...

icenine: Bruce Springsteen and returning to Public Enemy. Like overly political music. Do you see that in your music. Consciousness or whatever?



Juiceboxxx: I feel rap music reflects where the kids' head are. And the kids' heads are going to be wherever the kids' heads are, you know. I think you can't really judge things on whether they are on a political level or not. Some of this stuff is so formally radical -- like when Ludacris pisses off Bill O'Reilly or whatever -- that just as important as whatever. I don't know. Like 18 year kids doing jerk dances and jerk culture in LA -- you know jerk dances?

icenine: I only know one kind of jerk culture and it revolves around porno [laughs]. But yeah, I was wondering because just from a performative aspect, from your live performances, from what I can tell...

Juiceboxxx: Yeah, I don't consider what I do to be political though...

SmSh: Maybe "confrontational" is a better word.

Juiceboxxx: Confrontational yes, but I fell that's just the impulse of most rap music. It's always confrontational. But I'm always trying to synthesize my influences in an honest way, and I'm not trying to make any statements on rap, or rap culture. Rapping is just what I do. As an outsider to the rap culture, I'm still not trying to make any statements about it. I feel a lot of underground music is making commentary on the mainstream scene, but I'm just trying to use it because I like to rap and bring together things I love. I'm not trying to shatter anything... just extrapolating on what my heroes have done before, which are Public Enemy or Bruce Springsteen...

icenine: Kool Keith.

Juiceboxxx: Kool Keith, yeah. The list goes on. I just like to think of myself as carrying on a tradition of American music. Some people see what I do and because it's like confrontational, they assume I'm trying to do something that I'm not. But I'm not trying to make statements or call out anyone. Just the things in my life -- trying to do something with them, you know.

Growing up, I was listening to a lot of rap music but going to shows always left me cold but I really got into the energy of punk, noise and hardcore shows. So that's all it is. And I'm not the first person to do anything like that -- plenty have before me. I'm just trying to fuse it or slightly tweak it.

icenine: What can people expect at the show on Friday?

Juiceboxxx: A really high intensity show, and we can leave it at that. I put my all into it. And I feel like I’ve been working on it for years and years.

icenine: And where are you heading with it?

Juiceboxxx: I don't know. I don't know. For so long the show was just sort of one continuous stream of energy for 20 minutes or so. Like a punk rock thing -- your classic fucking punk rock thing -- but that's the world I’m coming from... now I'm trying to learn how to play long, work with energy levels and try new things.

I'm always just trying to push it. Focus the energy...

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icenine opens for Juiceboxxx this Friday at The Shelter. The whole thing is presented by S.T.D.

All pictures of Juiceboxxx live are by Rebecca Smeyne for myopenbar.com.

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