It seems like I always start out by saying that it’s been a minute since I’ve caught up with Skeme Richards and that’s because it actually has been. I’m not quite sure how many months have passed since our last chat, but as always it seems like we roll right back into the convo like we never finished from the prior one. Skeme’s a busy man and always on the go so I have to fit into his schedule when that time permits which just so happened to be right after his trip to Helsinki Finland. After a brief catch up session on everything that he has going on, I realize that I’ve missed out on a lot of things that I should be in the know of. He’s dropped 3 tapes in his direct-to-cassette series so far this year including “The Tarantino Tapes”, “Heroes Two” – The Rae & Ghost Chronicles and “Peace of Mind” (Live In Shanghai). In addition to the cassettes, a super limited VHS titled “2 Heroes” which is a collaboration with Society of Shadows and a companion project to his Heroes Two tape.
When we last left off, Skeme filled me in on a few other projects that he was working on including a full LP of his production and a few 45 edits, one of which is the topic of this interview that he worked on releasing via Germany’s REDROPPED label. Skeme gave me a sample of what he turned out and instantly upon hearing, I knew it was exactly what I expected to hear from him and his ear of music that he digs. So I guess let’s get right to it and find out how it all came about and what can people expect to hear.
Mossimo Chao: Man, you’ve been busy and the amount of projects that you have in the can and ready to fly is incredbile. For someone that’s always on the go, how did you turn as many as you have?
Skeme: I have so many ideas floating in my head at all times that I have to jot them down and then as soon as I get a free moment, I’ll spend the entire day starting from scratch until something is done. It could take a day or 5 but when it’s fresh in my head, I have to get on it before I lose that excitement of doing it. A handful of ideas hit me all at the same time which was the end of 2023 which was the time that I slow down from traveling until things pick back up in February. I purposely extended that non travel time of extended travel days until late March / early April just so that I could focus on a bunch of projects and then get back to traveling and touring.
Mossimo Chao: So let’s talk about your upcoming 45 edit on the REDROPPED label, how did that come about?
Skeme: The homie DJ Oonops who I’ve done his radio show Oonops Drops on Brooklyn Radio reached out to me at the beginning of this year about doing an edit for his label. I told him that I was down but at the time I had a couple other projects in my lap that I was working on and would double back. After a few weeks he followed up and let me know that he had to stick to a release schedule which was time sensitive and being though that I work best under pressure of deadlines, I told him to give me a few days and I would turn something out for him.
Mossimo Chao: Were there any guidelines or format that he was looking for or you had to build around or was it just send something his way and let him pick and choose what to use?
Skeme: He knows my steez and music that I play out and collect plus what I’m into so he approached it from the angle of, just do what you do. He wanted something funky and cineamatic in the Blaxploitation kind of way and with drum breaks which is all I needed to know! So I dug into the crates to pick something that fit the occasion, wasn’t something common or known and something that felt personal and that would come from me. As with most projects that I do which are a particular theme, especially film related, I dive in and get into the mood. So for the next 24 hours I sat in the lab watching flicks that fit the vibe I was looking for to get inspired. So with flicks on in the background, I started pulling records, dropping the needle until I found what I was looking for. I stayed away from anything that was common or relatively known until I found two perfect tracks to flip.
Mossimo Chao: You did 3 previous edits on the RBMBoots label that were deep digs that not many people knew what they were. What do you look for when doing them and what separates yours from the many that are out there being done?
Skeme: I approach everything from the era when I first started DJ’ing in the early 80’s, you wanted to have records in your crates that other DJ’s didn’t have. Or when the 90’s rolled around and the term “digging in the crates” became a thing and producers were one upping with the records that they used for samples. No one really wanted to use what was already used and I love and miss that about that era. It was about being unique or proving that you dug or were different than other people. Props to DITC for the term (which often gets over used or used out of context these days). So with the first 3 edit 45’s that I did, that’s where I was coming from. I want fellow DJ’s and diggers to be like oh shit, what’s that!? the same way we did when we heard mixtapes by Soulman or the Conmen or DJ Muro or when we hear beats by Showbiz, Pete Rock, Beatnuts, RZA or whoever. But the main rules that I stick by are leave it alone if it’s already been flipped, sampled or known by everyone and if one of the greatest producers originally touched it, definitely leave it alone. Those elements are easy sells and nothing challenging what so ever. Look at the differences and evolution from Ultimate Breaks & Beats to Dusty Fingers. Dusty Fingers stepped it up and away from what had been sampled over and over and that’s what I try to present when doing an edit.
Mossimo Chao: So with this upcoming release you took a cinematic approach which is different than the previous ones yet they all have your stamp on them.
Skeme: Yeah as I was saying, I sat back and watched flicks and got funky with it. It was literally the first to things that I pulled and instantly knew, yup these are the ones I’m going to use. They had all of the right elements for what I wanted to get across and fit multiple purposes and people. Those who dig soundtracks will like it, those DJ’s who like drums and want to rock doubles will like it and those who dig deeper will like it, plus they work for the dance floor too, especially funk & soul nights. So what I turned out was a double-sider with “A Bookie Named Janice” b/w “Hayes Turner on The Run”, a cinematic masterpiece if you will.
Mossimo Chao: You always seem to go the extra mile with the thought process and concept of what you’re trying to relay which I applaud. Your projects always have some sort of identity which stands out different from other releases and they challenge people to dig deeper. So congrats on the upcoming 45 and projects you release in general, props are definitely due.
Skeme: Thanks and appreciate you stopping through as always to chop it up. Looking forward to the next round of catching up and talking shop.