As mentioned last week in this installment of 'Dear Alasky' we will have our first ever guest contributor. Our good friend William Battle from Waterbury, CT has won the right to interview me in this column. I asked William to tell us a little about himself and he had this to say:

Well, I've been in the undergrind ever since 2005, before it was The Beastie Boys and Slim Shady. But then I was looking for new style, better style when I was 15 playin Tony Hawk games. Ever since Mr. Lif's I Phantom I was hooked. I started getting underground CDs, mostly Mr. Lif, Murs, and Can Ox then I started to get even deeper into underground music mostly Def Jux listening to the label more and more. People at school called me weird when they listened to some of my underground music but I didn't care because underground is the best. Through 2006 I was listening to underground hip-hop everyday. Around 2007, I was old enough to go to my first rap show it was at The Fillmore in NY and El-P was the main act, along with Hangar 18 (Awesome Dudes), Slow Suicide Stimulus (Cool Dudes), Despot(Couldn't Meet Him), Yak Ballz(Cool Dude), and El-P(Wish I Met Him) after I created my Alias "Def Jukie Will" which is an internet indie DJ with more than 1200 underground songs on my page and growing. I've basically put most of the underground rap music on imeem. If anybody looks for underground rap on imeem my name will probably come up. Def Jux is my all time favorite label and its filled with cool dudes, it is where I feel home is at. Now, in 08 I see all these mainstream rappers and I don't even know who half of them are because through 05,06,07 to now I been living in my headphones.


OK so let’s get started with the questions.

10 hard hitting questions for the interview.

Question 1.

Gossip: When I went to Toad’s Place for the Aesop Rock Tour, and I was chatting it up with Todd Westphal outside and he told me that your group “Hangar 18” is on some sort of hiatus or something. Is this true?

It is. We have been touring and recording non-stop for 4+ years now. We decided back in May to take some time away from Hangar and just live life. We were pretty uninspired and it felt like things had run their course. Ian has been taking time off, spending a lot of time with his family. I took a lot of time off and did some serious binge drinking.  As of late I have been working on some solo projects. I have three EPs in the works. Ian is wrestling with the idea of doing an EP himself. I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for a new Hangar project or tour. It will be a while before we go down that road again. At the same time I would never count it out.

Question 2.

Game Style: If you were going to use a beat in a new song and the beat had to be a beat from a video game on any platform in any era what would it be?

Shit I haven’t played any video game other than Madden is some time. I remember wanting to use samples from the first Resident Evil on Playstation. So, probably that.

Question 3.

Hypothetical: If you were given the opportunity by El-P to choose any rapper on Definitive Jux to be part of your group Hangar 18 who would you choose?

I’m going to take the any rapper on Jux past or present approach and go with Murs. I think his approach to music and his sense of humor on track is similar to ours. He would fit in perfectly with the happy go lucky Hangar motif.

Question 4.

Recommendation: I am still in high school and I plan on going to New Paltz College to be an intern at “Def Jux”. Do you think this would be a good move?

Well New Paltz and Def Jux are about a two hour and a half commute from each other.  So if you were going to do it at the same time I would say no. I do think that going to New Paltz and interning at Jux are both good moves especially if you want to work in the music industry. Interning at a place like Jux could be very good because it’s an indie operation and you would be able to get involved with a lot of different aspects of the projects. Going to New Paltz is just good fun. It’s a good learning environment and a very fun town with a lot of things to do. Plus Wind and I both graduated and so did Yak.  We actually went up there and shot some video. Here is the footage:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Question 4.

Personal: When you were growing up in NY, what’s the worst thing that you ever did and how much trouble did you get in?

I grew up about 45 minutes north of New York City. I wasn’t much of a trouble maker as a kid. I was more the class clown type of guy so maybe few wise cracks here and there and maybe detention for being disruptive. The worst thing I ever did was probably stealing a bowling ball from a bowling alley and then throwing it down a huge hill. I never saw what kind of damage it did and I never got caught.

Question 5.

First Time: When you were just getting into the underground rap scene and you had your first show, how did you feel and did the crowds feel your style?

The first show we ever did we got a great response. It was at the Nuyorican Poets Café at an event called 'All That!' The show was hosted by Bobbito Garcia from the Stretch and Bob show. The crowd was awesome, the response was great. We thought we were the cat’s pajamas after that show. So we went back the next month thinking we were stars and proceeded to get booed off the stage. It was probably the best thing that ever happened to us.

Question 6.

Current Events: Recently, you mentioned that you will be coming out with your very own album, what can you say about your first solo EP?

Well as I mentioned earlier I have a few projects in the works. The one that is closest to being finished is a 5 song EP about the journey through depression. The second one called 'Fuckthatprettyboyshit' which is going to be more of a typical MC fare. And the final one is going to be about relationships. I still don’t know what I am doing with any of these as far as how they will be released. I’m considering releasing at least one of them as a free download. They will definitely come out one way or another. I have to see what they are looking like when they are complete. I might leak a rough track or two through the blog, who knows.

Question 7.

Inspiration: Who was the very first rapper if anybody that inspired you to become a rapper yourself?

Big Daddy Kane made me fall in love with rap, Del made me want to rap. His first album 'I Wish My Brother George Was Here' is the album that made me pick up a pen and try to rap.

Question 8.

First Greetings: How did you and Ian and DJ Pawl meet for the first time?

I met Ian up at New Paltz. There was a group of us rapping up there one of whom was Ian’s best friend from high school. Ian used to come up from time to time and we would all rhyme together. Eventually the three of us formed Hangar 18. The other guy quit rapping when he got his girlfriend preggers. Ian and I kept on. We were already part of Atoms Family by then. I met Pawl through Nasa, the old Def Jux engineer. I was throwing a show, and Nasa made the introductions. PawlPawl and that got Ian back into the mix. From there we started work on the MPDA (the Multiplatinum Debut Album). Here is a link to one of the early Alaska solo tracks I was working on with Pawl. It’s unmixed and kinda awful but whatever. Enjoy. gave me a beat tape I gave it a listen and really liked what I heard. At the time Ian was student teaching so he wasn’t too focused on making music. I started doing some solo stuff with

Question 9.

Advice: What advice would you give to a man who was dumped by a chick after about 4 years?

Well assuming that man was still in high school I would say don’t stress it too tough. I know it sucks but realistically you weren’t going to end up together. I would suggest putting her out of your mind and work on yourself and the things you love doing. Focus on the things that make you happy and know that she is in no way the be all end all of your life. You will have tons of relationships some good some bad. Chances are anyone you date for the next 10 years isn’t gonna be the person you marry so don’t get to worked up about them when they end. Look at your high school, college and early post college years as a time to really explore and find out what you like in a woman. It will help you avoid dating people for the wrong reasons.

Question 10.

Alternate Reality: If you were living in an alternate reality where you’re not rapper, what do you think you would be doing besides rapping?

Comedy. I always wanted to be a comedian. I love comedy and I definitely plan to give it a shot.

Those are my questions I hope they’re hard-hitting enough.☺

They were.

We will get to your questions on the next installment of Dear Alasky. As always you can submit any questions, concerns or racist hate mail to timlaska@yahoo.com