This weeks Question Of Port brings you south east London based rapper Kasha. Will he be able to survive the Ctrl.Alt.Shift verbal assault course? The reward? A bottle of Port from our local corner shop...

 

 

What is your favourite holiday destination?

Its gotta be Jamaica.

 

And what's the most absurd and poverty-ridden situation you've witnessed in Jamaica?

We'd just got off the plane and we're driving through Kingston and there was a guy being burnt in the middle of the street. We were in a cab. He was just on fire.  Three or four other guys were standing around him. I can only imagine that the guys standing around him where some sort of gangsters and he's obviously done something wrong and ended up burnt in the middle of the street. 

 

Did you stop and help him?

[Laughs] To tell you the truth, I doubt I'll be talking to you now if I did. We were obviously like "oh my god" but the cab driver was just like "no, you have to keep going, I'm not stopping."

 

Does that still haunt you today? You must have felt like a bit of a shitta just leaving him there. 

Of course. I mean I've seen a cat die and it upset my day. A cat being run over upset me beyond believe so you can imagine how much that did. When I was out there I managed to hook up with some youths and we were having a conversation about the difference between England and Jamaica so I proper got to see exactly what it's like living on the other side of the fence. There was a guy out there and him and his two children used to live in a shack with just candles for light. They lived next to a hotel so they would beg for food every night and wash in the sea. When I left them I left a bunch of clothes out there. The conversation we had showed me how lucky I am. I mean I've got a job, a house and electricity but the things that we have to do as British people to maintain that, with the working eight hours a day and so what and so forth it's not exactly luxury living, I mean they get to wake up to a beach every morning. 

 

If you had to move to a foreign country which country would it be and why?

If it were to live then I'd say Australia. You get the sunshine, you get the fresh food, you get the good living but you still get the "g'day mate" which is as close to cockney as you're gonna get! [Laughs] you'd still be able to talk to people in a language that they understand. I wouldn't like to be in the middle of nowhere, where people couldn't understand what I was saying. So yeah, Australia, it's like Britain in the sun. 

 

How would you live on a pound a day? (The majority of the world do live on under £1 a day) 

I've probably been close to living on something like that myself. I've got a smoking habit as well so living on a pound a day ain't really going to happen. I'll have to beg fags and get a 50p portion of chips in the morning and a 50p portion of chips in the evening. Sorted! 

 

Sensible stuff, which country would you like to invade and why? 

[Laughs] I can't say what I really want to say ere. Wait, is it invasion cause the countries corrupt and they're not giving the land to the people and I'm invading in order to set up a government which enhances the people? 

 

[Silence] Erm…

Say yes.

 

Yes...

Right, well if I'm invading for that reason I would probably - and don't get me wrong I'm not that clued up on current affairs, but I would probably invade the guy in Zimbabwe - is that the country where the guy's acting barbaric? Cause if I'm invading to stop the barbarity then it would be that country there!

 

Interesting, so if you could be any politician, dictator or world leader, who would you have been and why?

Malcolm X or Martin Luthur King, cause they stood for freedom of the people. At the moment I don't see any politician or any world leader standing for the freedom of the people and for the greater good of the people. Not what they 'think' the people need and not what the ideal world is, but actually listening to the people. Even though Malcolm was a 'by any means necessary' kinda guy, but if you listen to my Jay Z - Empire State Of Mind Remix I spit the same word. Even though he was stooping to their level with violence cause I'm not saying violence solves anything but if that’s the way he saw necessary in order to obtain freedom for his people then so be it. 

 

Talking of violence what's the worst form of torture you can imagine?

Listen - worst form of torture is probably when you sit someone down and you get at every single part of his or her body. So you go at their feet and you maybe clip a toe of with a pair of pliers, maybe take a tooth out, stick a needle in the eye, then throw salt all over them. Just being generally horrible really. I don't think there's a form of torture you can do that's the worst, but if you're sat down going through something then that's torture init.

 

How do you envisage your funeral?

[Laughs] I've not got any kids yet, but my kids will be on the forefront of it all I can imagine that. My daughter who I believe will be the light of my world. I believe that she will be the most affected emotionally, and my son, who'll be the spitting image of me both inside and out will be the most affected in the way of rage. It will hurt him, it will turn is life around either in a good or bad way in his future, but by the time of my passing I would have been identified and respected for my works and hopefully those who appreciated my works throughout my journey would turn up and show their respects and I'd hope they'd all put a candle out. 

 

And celebrate?

Well yeah, it would be a kind of celebration of my life, you get me?

 

So no special effects?

[Laughs] I know some people are a bit eccentric and crazy like that but I nah I'd just say throw me some high grade on my grave so I can smoke with my dargs up in heaven. [Laughs] Put me in a nice suit, a brown suit or blue, nothing black. Some nice shoes, you know, make sure I'm a pretty corpse. 

 

So you don't want to be cremated then?

Nah I don't want to be burned to ashes I want to sit in my box, but in saying that I heard the other day that you wouldn't want to sit in a box for the rest of your life, like eternity, so maybe being splashed around the world is a bit better. Hopefully I'm not near my time of passing though so I won't have to think about it too hard. [Laughs]

 

What would make you start a war?

If I managed to open up enough minds, if we all came together as a rebel force and we decided that we was going to go and take down the figure heads who have enslaved us for way to many years and just take down the key holders of the world. If I had enough forces in the world I'd go for war man. I'd take down the monetary system and I'd rebuild civilisation through technology or abundance. 

 

You're definitely a "for the greater good" kinda guy. 

[Laughs]

 

Would you rather shoot a kid or let off a nuclear bomb in central London?

[Disgusted] Would I rather shoot a child?

 

Yeah...

This child was he by any chance the spawn of Lucifer?

 

If that'd help you sleep at night... 

Ok so he's not the spawn of Lucifer... Erm... Is the bomb going to go off anyway?

 

Well if you don't do it someone else will. But your general is telling you right now! "Soldier you have a choice. Kill the kid, or let off the bomb".

I'll pop shots in my general, now I'm an outlaw and I'm out for court Marshall. That's my answer. The general got shot in his face. I took out the whole of Britannia I picked up the biggest gun and an aeroplane and I'm an outlaw and fuck it I'm up for court Marshall. [Laughs]

 

You sound pretty excited about the whole outlaw stuff?

I ain't shooting no kid and I ain't bombing no London, what we doing this for General? Tell me?

 

I'm going to accept your answer. Congratulations, you're now an outlaw. 

What's the last film that made you do a little wee in your pants?

[Laughs] I've never done a wee in my pants (except for when I was very very young) [laughs] but the last film that tickled me was Big Stan. It's got Rob Schnieder in it. 

 

Lucky Dip; Samurai sword, AK-47

Samurai... I'm a skilled warrior. You put it on your back in its little case and you've got to be a master swordsman in order to take out your enemy. 

 

I see. And what’s the most bizarre food you've ever eaten?

I'm not one really to experiment with food. But I have eaten a nut.. Well I don't know if it's a nut it might be a fruit but it's called Tamarind and you get in Thailand and for some reason it gets you a little bit buzzing, like you eat it and it gets you a bit high... It's like "ooooh where’d that come from?"

 

Last person who saw you naked?

Some bird from Liverpool. 

Three things you're listening to other that yourself?

Temper Trap, Florence and the Machine and Paolo Nutini.  

How would you describe south east London in one word?

I can't in one word, but I'll you what. It's full of people making misguided and uninformed decisions. The young are misinformed, the old are ignorant to the reason why the kids are like that and it's very multicultural. 

I agree. What song did you use to dance to when you jumped on your mums bed as a child?

Wow, erm it was either Jodeci - [sings] "I wanna get freakkkkky with youuuuu..." Yeah my mum used to like that and erm, she listens to [sings] "Let me lick you up and downnnnn, till you say stop." And there was one more, argh what was it?

I've just done a new mixtape actually called Retro Love which is reminiscing on all of the tunes my mum used to play so I've just taken a bunch of slow jams and injected my own stuff on there. 

 

 

Kasha’s first album “The Oracle” is out in HMV, iTunes and most stores. 

Check out Kasha's website: www.kashamusic.co.uk and his Myspace: Myspace.com/vividimageryuk 

There's going to be a Life On Dead Trees tour which will commence as of April next year. And look out for Kasha’s debut video “Black Rhyme” on Channel AKA and more…