Slackline Radio: Who is AlienLoop? Tell us a little about where you sit today.
AlienLoop: My name is AlienLoop (real name Renato) and I am a beatmaker from southern Italy. I am keen on Hip-Hop culture, Jazz, Soul and Funk music. I collect vinyls, Tapes, CDs and also Graffiti HipHop fanzines and vintage Ghettoblasters. I love niche music and all the small local musical realities around the globe. I’m fond of Instrumental music and as a lover of old vintage equipment I started making beats for the pleasure of sampling jazz and funk vinyls from my collection. You see, for me the use of samplers and other analog stuff is fundamental, it is so fun and relaxing!
Slackline Radio: Where does your hip hop sound sit in the spectrum of this style of music?
AlienLoop: The main element of my productions is definitely Boom Bap. I embrace various instrumental subgenres of HipHop that range from the more meditative, to the classical, up to Lo-Fi.
Obviously, what represents me the most and what I feel “mine” is Jazzy-HipHop. I love Jazz and how it combines with Hip Hop. The typical elements of Jazz such as Piano, Sax, Trumpet and Double Bass are very important to me and my imprint.
Slackline Radio: What is the hip hop scene of Italy looking like today?
AlienLoop: I am a big fan of the old Italian Hip Hop underground scene, I collect vinyls, CDs and fanzines and in my opinion it has always been very valid and competitive with the rest of Europe. We boast artists in the 4 disciplines and some of them started importing this culture really early. For example already in the 80s there were artists like Shaone who started the graffiti phenomenon, Kaos in Breakdance together with many others, Ice One who was our “Kool Herc” and also has a place of honor in the International HipHop Museum in the Bronx, and there is Next One who is a member of the Zulu Nation and a past member of the Rock Steady Crew in New York. The scene then gradually grew and evolved. Even today we have extremely great guys in all 4 disciplines. Jams are full of life.
Connecting to my genre and to nowadays… I have to tell you that perhaps this new Instrumental / Lo-fi scene, at the moment, is still struggling to establish itself in Italy compared to other European countries. Despite this, I would like to highlight that there is already a beautiful scene, that is gradually establishing itself, full of talented Beatmakers scattered throughout Italy, with many of whom I am happily in contact. There are some beautiful realities especially in Northern Italy (Bologna in particular) and we also have small record labels that only deal with HipHop Instrumental music and the various subgenres. There are really cool events such as workshops, evenings and Beatmaking contests (which I also participated in, in Rome). Of course it is a very niche genre, but I like it for this reason too!
Slackline Radio: What lead you to the world of the beats you create? Tell us about your influences.
AlienLoop: I listen to a lot of music every day, it’s fundamental for me! All the music I listen to (even if it’s different genres) constantly shapes me. Obviously there are some producers/Beatmakers who have particularly inspired me, from the most famous to the less famous. It would be impossible to name them all… Surely Pete Rock, J Dilla, Q-tip from ATCQ, Premier, Lord Finesse, Marley Marl just to name a few famous ones. In Italy Next One, Ice One, Shocca, the “balotta” of Sangue Misto (aka Neffa, Gruff and Deda on the machines) Esa, Skizo and others.
Slackline Radio: Shortboards or Longboards?!!
Alien Loop: Definitely Short boards. I love the world of Skateboarding! However, I admit I’m hopeless, I definitively abandoned the board 5 years ago, after a bad fall (it wasn’t the only one hahaha). Just a few nights ago I saw the movie “Lords of Dogtown” written by Stacy Peralta, member of the Z-Boys. I recommend it to all Skateboarding lovers, fantastic! In the past I also dedicated a single to the world of Skateboarding, titled “Flip”.
SlacklineRadio: What do you have coming up for works in the studio? Any teaming with others planned?
AlienLoop: After a summer break I’m back on my samplers with great enthusiasm. I have a lot of new projects planned for the end of this year and the beginning of the next one. Some of them involve rappers, another Beatmaker and a DJ! All friends and people I respect. I hope to publish as soon as possible, obviously the process is not so simple and immediate.
Slackline Radio: And, we can’t leave without asking, what will be on your plate for dinner or in your hand later this evening?
Alien Loop: Oh man, as in the most classic of Italian stereotypes, I think I’ll eat a scrumptious pizza… I love our southern Italian pizza. I happened to eat it up to 5 times in a week (laughs). You know, if you are in Naples (or in Italy in general) you will never starve because here there are a billion good things to eat!
