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SPOEK MATHAMBO

South Africa's Spoek Mathambo has been around for a few years now. He started out with the rave-rap and electro-flavored projects Sweat.X and Playdoe, both of which have been known to cause nothing short of riots at their live shows. Last year Spoek released his debut solo album,

Mshini Wam

, which, in addition to being his most political work so far, explores a palette of sounds from dubstep to South African house. I Skyped Spoek early in the morning a few days ago while he was on vacation in Sweden with his wife and occasional collaborator, Gnucci Banana.

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Vice: You've given us a Toadally Krossed Out remix of your new single "Don't Mean To Be Rude." Had the people at Mad Decent shown any interest in you before recording that track?

Spoek Mathambo:

Well, when I was in California last August, the first day I got there I opened up my mailbox and there was an email from Diplo. I had met him a bunch of years ago when he came to South Africa and we did some shows together. So this time he asked if I wanted to put a verse down for Robyn. So I was like, "Hey fuck, I'm in LA, and that's where their studio is," it's the old Beastie Boys studio. While I was there I linked up with Toadally Krossed Out--they're the funnest people so we just kicked it.

Your first solo album seems to be more engaged in South African politics than your past projects; Sweat.X and Playdoe. Was there anything in particular that made you want to get all political?

The difference between this project and other projects is that with this one it's me, by myself. I don't have to compromise with someone else, whereas in Sweat.X everything from the bottom to the top was a creative collaboration. It's pretty simple. This album more than anything else is me, and the fact that it's not completely hackneyed, ham-fisted politics, you know, like, "don't do this," "do that," "this is wrong," "this is bad," is kind of thanks to having done Sweat.X and Playdoe first. Fact is even Public Enemy--it was a different environment, a different social space--needed the court jester of Flavor Flav. It's a recipe that has to be put together so fucking delicately if you want to make a big social message.

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For sure.

Fo' sho'.

Oh fo' sho'.

I heard you've got an EP coming out on Sub Pop?

Umm, did I say that?

Yeah, I heard you say it in some interview.

Oh OK…

Is it supposed to be hush hush?

No, it's not hush hush. That's what's happening, there's an EP coming out on Sub Pop that I'm really insanely excited about, but I go from speaking about it to being very hush hush about it [

laughs

]. I'm going to South Africa in a couple weeks to record that. I'm also working on a documentary on South African House that will be shot in January. And I'm in a band, Mshini Wam, and we just toured America, played shows in Paris, Berlin, Argentina, and in South Africa a bunch, and we're going to be touring a whole lot more in 2011.

Have you got many shows lined up while you're in Sweden?

Fuck I wish! But the answer is no. My wife, Gnucci Banana and I played in Gothenburg on the 25th of December. We'd love to play more in Sweden, I like the crowds here when I have played--when I've DJed and hosted stuff, I really, really dig it. It's fun. JARED DAVIS

"Mshini Wam" [audio: http://viceland-assets-cdn.vice.com/blogs/en/files/2011/01/spoek-mathambo-dont-mean-to-be-rude-toadally-krossed-out-3ball-remix.mp3] "Don't Mean To Be Rude"