Smoke Doctah's 2nd album 'll go tornado in the Gambian Hip Hop circle

Smoke Doctah's 2nd album - NEGRITUDE 

Smoke Doctah widely known as Smokey is a song writer/ Pan African artist, and the creative director of Lacosa Nostra, one of the biggest Hip Hop movement in the Gambia. He started making heads nod in the college parks of Toronto, Canada with his infinite wisdom and unique style of rapping and delivery without compromising his tradition. In 2005 he released his first album “Ghetto Noir” which went straight to MTV making Smoke Doctah/Lacosa Nostra the flag bearer of Hip Hop in the recorded history of the Gambian Hip Hop. His new album “Smoke Doctoh’s NEGRITUDE” will be released on Friday 16^th December 2011 at Milly’s nite club, Senegambia.

"The El Capitan of this hip hop thing in the Gambia and the most versatile Hip Hop album so far".—says Bankie Grey-Johnson, Shout Gambia/ Hot Ink Media.
"Listening to his promo songs, you realize that he has gone beyond just rap. He's got incredible punch lines and metaphors, and that's what hip hop is suppose to be about" -- says Bilal Bin Kebba, Poetic X.
 

I went to visit Smoke Doctoh in his Serekunda residence for an exclusive interview with him.

Q1- First of all who is Smoke Doctah and why the name Smoke Doctah?

My real name is Batch Samba Gaye and I got Smoke Doctoh from Hakim, my first producer when I came back home. Hakim calls me smoke Doctah because he felt that I bring signs in music and because of the signs I bring into the music he gave me Smoke Doctah but lot of people call me Smokey that’s my nickname even back in college in Canada.

Q2 – When did you fall in love with Hip Hop?

Back in the days in the 80s when I was a kid growing up in Serekunda and Pipeline, I fell in love with hip hop when first heard Heavy D and NWA’s song and I use to rap over Heavy D’s songs that was when i fell in love with Hip Hop.

Q3- Why Hip Hop?

You can say it was meant to happen that I was going to be a rapper and when I went to Canada I got deep into hip hop listening to real hip hop like Boot Camp from then on I started freestyling at the college park. When you go to a place where everybody is freestyling you just have to spit something. So that’s how it happened and later I became a battle rapper, I get into hip hop freestyle sessions at college parks in Canada around 2003 that’s when I use to go to college park and that’s when people call me on the sideline “Yo you’re nice” and I respected those people when they told me that and I took it seriously.

Q 4 - As a matured and humble Hip Hop emcee with a unique style of delivery. What is the idea behind your way of rapping and flow?

It happens because of my being in different places from Serekunda that’s a different experience to Canada, a little island call Nova Scotia from there I moved to Toronto where its like patuwa with the Jamaicans and reggae because in Toronto you have lot of Jamaicans that’s why you hear all those flows with little Jamaican swagger on it, I got that from Toronto then moved to London Ontario dealing with different peoples that made my flow unique. I always say to rap like me you got to go all the place I have been to. That’s how I got that unique style and I found out like yo nobody raps like me and I said ah okay this is my style.

Q5- Do you write your own songs or you have someone taking care of that?

Nah…{laughs} I never let anyone write a song for me I write songs for people but I don’t think I am in that level am because am too creative even if I stop rapping I will be writing songs for people. I think I was going to be a book writer if I wasn’t a rapper because am someone who is into poetry deep into poetry that’s why you always hear me coming with ideas like “Ghetto Noire” my first album and “my second album “Negritude” I got them all poetry from reading poetry black African poetry. Am a big fan of the late Leopold Senghore the late president of Senegal he came up with the idea NEGRITUDE with Aime Cesaire just reading their poetry I found out that negritude is about negro Africans attitude so that’s why I name my album negritude. Am a writer though I got that maybe from my father because he used to write too for papers back in Ken Street Voo in Banjul and later Jawara gave them scholarships and they all went to Ghana to go to school, I think I got that from him.

Q6- What are the kind of subjects or issues do you deal with in your songs?

Basically I deal with political and social conscious music and when I do social songs I do songs for everybody every ghetto youth be like okay that’s my song and sometimes when I just raise political awareness I don’t get into deep politics, just political awareness knowing my surroundings and being aware of what is going around you, i reflect that on my music you can tell that this guy really lives in the ghetto that’s why he talks and acts like them. I don’t” force it just happen.

Q7- Most people say Gambians don’t pay attention to artists financially. What is your take on that as an artist set to release an album?

To be honest this album at the last minute I tried to look for sponsors but it didn’t work because I found out that lot of people are scared to associate with Smokey because am very outspoken and people know. If I call to people who control stuffs they wouldn’t answer but if they see on the streets they be like “Yo how are you doing I haven’t seen you.” I know that they are scared to bring me in their circle but I have people like private individuals, friends who come to me to see me to give me something “put this towards the album” “I know you are against all odds and its gonna be real hard to push this album” Lot of people think that I shouldn’t release this album because it will bring a lot of controversies, its gonna show a lot of people how I look at them Because its about my attitude, the way I look at a particular group of people and how I react. It was hard but I came out with album with the help of God and people that love real Hip Hop. Gambians are really opening their eyes now they be like “who is Smoke Doctoh?” How come promoters don’t talk about him and he has accomplished so much when it comes to Gambian music he took Gambian music where no body took it to so why are they fighting him. But later people are going to find out the truth that I don’t wanna be controlled.

Q8- What can fans expect from your new album?

Its got a proper intro, battle songs, club songs, battle rap, love song, sad song, everything put together made it a classic and I didn’t compromise my tradition. In a hip hop world they call it classic it has storytelling songs with lot of Wolof, local people can relate to so I balanced it so that Gambia wouldn’t feel left out and the international world that love me too.

Q9 – When you are writing a song. Do you think about the impact it would make on the community? 

Sometimes I when am done writing I would smile and say Yo I don’t know about the community but the real Africans that are proud of themselves would love it because I wrote it from that point of view that’s why am like a Pan African artist, I make songs that Africans hunts like Ghetto Noir, Down Hood music those tracks I did them thinking about Africa and the love I have for Africa and show what I feel about Africa. When I say real Africans I mean real Africans not assimilated Africans with western values 

Q10- Do you think that the Gambian music scene is heading the right direction?

Basically, in my point, its going to be a struggle, because right now 70 percent of Gambian music right now is like friendly not socially conscious just happy music, so if we are making 30 percent of the real music the 70 percent outnumber the 30, so its going to be hard for the 30 percent to push their view there and the 70 percent and the people that feel like they are promoting the Gambian music have their American mind state like we’re just gonna push music that will sell and artists that are radio friendly so anytime you see them gather a bunch artist its just a bunch of happy artists that make happy music so you see the real artists are left out so its going to be struggle but people like me am not going to stop.

Q11- When did you start recording this album?

Last year i did the intro with jay tricks “slave to my rhythm” , we were to record full album but then he had to go back to Sweden and then we did only three songs and put them aside because I had an hospitality management internship and after the internship I walked into Hot B’s studio (Mandela Record) April 2011 and recorded “Set Settal” as soon as I was done with it I started recording the Negritude album in April 2011 and in two weeks everything was done because I already had the ideas in my head. I brought artists and everybody I worked with and said this is what I want here and there and then it happened exactly the way I want it to be.

Q12 – What would you like to tell the young people growing up hoping to be like you someday?

Musically if you want to be like me I suggest you increase your vocabulary and read a lot, you don’t have to be educated like going to university or whatever just have this nerve for reading because if you can have that then you have a long way to go and lot of topics to touch. For me personally people might think am a ghetto youth do what ghetto youths do but I have another addiction and that’s reading, I read everything I can get my hands on especially stuffs that are politically and socially conscious, true stories like biographies. Am like a scholar always wants to know like a Talibe I listen to anyone that has something to say. Just be a good listener, read a lot and accept constructive criticism, If somebody tell you I don’t like this about you don’t be mad because sometimes criticism is good, just think how you are going to fix it up that what a good artist do. I find out who you really and respect your tribe and any tribe then you will be a universal artist

Q13- In one of your songs I heard you spittin' “I left my wallet in Toronto”. can you break that down?

I left my wallet in Toronto means back in Toronto I was really like a successful type rapper not from the rap game but I had money and a crew and lot of stuffs that was going on that was so big that when I came back to the Gambia I lost all that I had. So I had to be humble because many people think that I have money, that’s why I say I left my wallet in Toronto because that’s where the paper is.

Q14- Can you tell us about the people or events that really inspired you?

The people that inspired me is Sheikh Ibrahim Nyass (Bai Nyass). I was really lost when I came back home because I was kind of assimilated too, I got into Sufism in 2005

Went to Kaolack where Learned things I didn’t learn in the university. Of all the learnings I did in life in the world, the most important learning I did was knowing who I am and knowing God. The birth of my son Talib also is one of the events that really forced me to change because before I didn’t care about what I say but every kid goes a stage where you were rebellious.