Nearly two and a half decades removed since they unleashed their Continuum Records’ debut Lune Tunz, Bronx-based Hip Hop collective Raw Breed, then comprised of Marc Rippin, Alexander The Great, Nick Swift, DJ Solo Flxx and Sam Swing, are finally back with a brand new EP, Street Instinct…

First things first, please introduce for me the current members of Raw Breed…

Smoke Rob, Marc Live, Raaddrr Van, Nick Swift and Chem Brown Bomber…production by Ariel Caban For The Cartel.

Let’s hop right into this forthcoming EP, Street Instinct — Although pretty self-explanatory, still tell me, conceptually, what that title represents both to and for you all?:
To me Marc Live, it represents a return to the ’90’s Hip Hop sensibilities of the art form; straight boom bap street jeep bangers, no non-sense rated R raw shit!

How does Street Instinct either differ and/or compare to previous Raw Breed efforts?

This is our best record since Killa Instinct; musically, lyrically, topic-wise and sonically.

What then can you all reveal and/or divulge about upcoming said collection at this particular time?

This will hurt the industry. We are like ‘Kong: Skull Island,’ throwing helicopters at buildings. It’s not nice. Ice T and Evil E said after listening to it, “SHIT IS HARD, RAW BREED IS BACK!” We got arena music!

Now initially you all were preparing for a comeback back in 2015, even having released a new single, “Assemble,” — What exactly happened with that situation? Why has it taken till now for you all to finally return to form?

We had a false start. I don’t think we really knew what we wanted to do. It was like a test, and when you’re a group with this much history connected to this much lineage you don’t experiment. You go all in, or you don’t put nothing in the marketplace. So lesson learned. What it did do is form the nucleus for the new members; Raaddrr Van and Chem, and the chemistry is sick on the EP!

With that being said, how has not only the industry itself, but even more-so you all, either changed and/or evolved since your whole inception into music?

We got better, the industry got wacker. There’s no more emcees. We are the last Jedi’s! Groups are extinct. It’s all solo artists. Everybody wants to be Jay-Z, but don’t want to put the work in. They just want to copy what’s popular.

…It’s like Drake. When I found out he doesn’t write his records, it sealed the deal for me. The industry has given up on itself. The man should give back every dollar, Grammy, AMA Award, house, car, chick, iTunes deal, everything. Go back to Degrassi High and put the mic down. He like…the industry is a fraud and it’s time for the gatekeepers of the culture to protect this game by any means necessary.

Marc, you definitely still remained active, largely due to your ongoing works, as well as on again/off again touring, alongside both Kool Keith and Ice-T as the Analog Brothers — Was your involvement within these outside endeavors somewhat standing in the way of you all continuing to advance as a unit?

We knew all along that he was going to embark on those ventures outside of the group. It wasn’t an issue.

In having said that, what all had/have you all been up to, both personally and professionally speaking, during your lengthy musical hiatus?

As you see, we have new members and we have all ventured off to do solo efforts and production also. Marc did production work on some music with the Analog Brothers album, Ice-T, Kool Keith’s Black Elvis, Project X with Tim Dog and Kool Keith and a couple of solo albums. Alex did some solo work under the name Gutterfame with DJ Ace, Krazy Race and Pyscho Realm out in L.A., and created a dope following. So we were always doing music regardless.

Reflecting, how did you all first discover your musical talent?

Well me Marc Live, it was in the 10th grade in English class I started writing raps in class and high tech lyrics and spitting them after school. Kids liked my flow and my style. I got beat in a battle once in recess by this senior on the basketball team. We were in the locker room and he was like, “Yo, are you an MC? Okay, let’s battle, let’s see what you got!” He had like a hundred raps in his head, I had like 3. I got toasted, but it was just me an him there no audience. I learned my lesson from that day; always be on point. I came back with 5 long ass raps and got him in front of everybody after school. Then I knew I was ready!

Who have been your greatest inspirations musically and why?

My cousin Kool Keith…I’ll leave it there. He put me on and guided me on how to play this game, and he took me around this whole planet and my best classic work was with him. Ice-T is the truth. He took me under his wing, and I never looked back. He taught me life lessons, how to perform the right way in front of 20,000 people, believe in my skill and gave me my name, Marc Live. Basically the hardest name you can have. To be “live” is to be everything that is dope in Hip Hop across the board. I’ve been lucky to be his second on stage for 16 years. A true blessing that we still share present day!

How then would you all describe and/or define the style of music that you all create and perform?
Arena music. Cinematic soundtrack. Midnight music; dark and angry. Makes you want to do something, see colors, invokes emotion in every song!

Longevity, what do you all attribute yours to?

We were always ahead of the curve, always different. We never conformed. We just get better, and we are now in 2017 at our apex. We are deadly!

What do you all feel you offer the music industry that we don’t already have in other performers?

We are the last of the real hardcore rap groups left. We don’t give a shit about radio streaming aggregates, any of that shit. We just give a shit about our 2 fans in Anchorage, Alaska, as long as they get that Raw Breed ultra cartel nuclear bombs!

Have you all encountered any problems in getting to this point in your career?

It’s been a long journey; ups and downs, lost opportunities, money, friendships, jealousy, everything…but we bounced back, and we are here and better than ever!

What do you all want people to get from your music?

Fucking angry, and the message you don’t have to follow lead!

On a more serious note, are you happy with the current state of Hip Hop? And, where exactly do you all “fit in” when it comes to today’s current/trending sound-scape?

The state is at red alert. It’s falling fast, it’s losing. We are The Avengers! We don’t fit in; we here to fix shit that’s broken, and right the wrong. This shit ain’t about syrup and pills, strippers turned rappers, dress wearing gangsters…this is about the Bronx, where this shit all began!

Do you all have any other outside/additional aspirations, maybe even completely away from music?

I want my label, Rap Legends Recordings to be the Eden for all heads in the game left. If you got bars, beats, concepts, ambitions and ain’t dancing in your videos, come sign with Rap Legends Recordings!

What has been your greatest achievement(s) so far? And, if you all could collaborate with any one artist, living or dead, who would it be and why?

To go to L.A. with $50 dollars in 1995, and return to the Bronx with a $500,000 dollar deal. I got to say, I would love to do a Raw Breed album with PAUL C 2.0, with all the new tech and samplers and Pro Tools of today. He would have changed the face of Hip Hop as we know it; R.I.P. what a loss.

If you all could play any venue in the world, which one would you choose and why?

(The) O2 Arena in the UK. That’s like some ole U2 shit. 3 shows sold out in row, 25,000 people, full band, LED light show, lasers and pyro — Shit let’s dream! *Laughs*

One track of yours that you all think defines you all and why?
“Danger Zone,” “Blood, Sweat & Tears.” Listen to that spooky shit, nuff said!
Is there anything I left out, or just plain forgot to mention? And, lastly, any “closing” thought(s) for our readers?

Get Ready for a bevy of music from the RAW BREED camp; 2 EPs, 1 full length! 4 solo EPs and 2 documentaries and 1 feature film…in 2 words peoples, work ethic - Fish N Grits Magazine

Marc Live may not be a household name, but the New York native remains both one of the most enduring and one of the most creative forces in Hip Hop. The front-man for early ’90s Rap outfit Raw Breed, Marc has seen both major label peaks and industry valleys. Maintaining lasting relationships with his Analog Brothers Ice-T and Kool Keith, as well as the Sa-Ra Creative Partners, this industry veteran remains well-connected and well-respected.

Speaking with HipHopDX early this week in celebration of his nrew album, Episode III: The Revenge of Marc Rippin’, the veteran speaks about lasting relationships, bruised egos and the devastating changes to a culture and an industry that once embraced creativity.

HipHopDX: This is your twentieth year in Rap. What’s changed the most? What do you miss, and at the same time, what’s really helped within those 20 years?
Marc Live: Well I think the financial scope of music has changed. The digital market killed the business…its as if every Macy’s or Walmart went out of business and you’re trying to sell clothes and people just download shirts and jeans…they would be suffering also. Fifteen years ago, Warner Brothers gave my group, Raw Breed $450,000 for a [Blood Sweet & Tears] album budget; now the label won’t give you anything. It’s like they’re signing you to fail. I miss the New York raw Hip Hop. Everything coming out of New York [now] sucks. Guys are doing Down South records and trying to sound like Mystical. [There is] no innovation. What helped me in the 20 years I’ve been in the game is my stage show and knowledge of the business and that’s why I’m moving more into the management and the executive game in the music industry, [like fans have seen with Diddy].

DX: Throughout your career, you’ve maintained a strong working relationship with both Ice-T and Kool Keith. We, as fans, saw that come alive in the Analog Brothers’ Pimp To Eat album. At the height of the underground, that project really shocked a lot of people. To what do you attribute the collaborative loyalty with those two guys, and how do you look back at that album?
Marc Live: That was a great project, really special. It started in a garage in South Central [Los Angeles] and ended up being this amazing, crazy album. It was so powerful that the group broke up before we even released [Pimp To Eat]. But I will never forget Ice-T‘s mansion studio in the Hollywood hills and chicks topless and lots of gin and vodka. It was wild, but that was the formula. [Kool] Keith and I have been working together for 15 years, and Ice-T about the same, I’m both [of] their on-stage partners and have traveled the world with them. I owe them both my career, so I will be down with them to the wheels fall off.

DX: Tell me about The Revenge of Marc Rippin’. The song titles and themes are largely about revenge, returns, owning New York. Where is this demeanor rooted in?
Marc Live: Well, yes, “Marc Rippin” in my alter-ego from the Raw Breed days, and I wanted to bring that character back. I felt Hip Hop was lacking that early-’90s appeal, so I wanted to really have some raw topics based in a New York City setting. So [the concept is that] I’ve been away for 10 years, and they find me in the islands [with] the straw hat and bodyguards on the cover and they bring me back to take over Hip Hop…very Goodfellas, Godfather-type innuendos..but really just raw Hip Hop.

DX: Longtime fans will note the Tim Dog diss on the album. Care to tell us why you’re going at Tim, after projects together in the past?
Marc Live: Well, Tim [Dog] was a guy I looked up to, and is one of the original member of Ultramagnetic MCs. [All that being said], he just lives in the past and has a damaged ego, so he sabotaged a lot of things and alienated the crew, so then he did a diss record about Keith and myself…so I responded.

DX: You worked with Sa-Ra Creative Partners on this project. Do you see any parallels in the careers you both have had, bi-coastal, lots of projects and appearances? Can you describe the collaborative process with them?
Marc Live: Well Sa-Ra [Creative Partners] is like Prince & The Revolution. You go in the studio and they make the tracks from scratch, they ask you what vibe you want, what sound keyboards or samples…singing or rapping. [Then they] tell you to go to the store and eat something, and in two hours the room is shaking and the track is laid and done, and you’re like, “Wow, these guys are geniuses.” The rhyme just writes itself. I like working with those guys. I actually started Ommas’s career when he was 17, he worked on the first Raw Breed demos for Ice and Priority Records, and we later signed to Warner Brothers and Shafiq was a member of Raw Breed, and our main producer under TR.Love from Ultramagnetic, so we are all family and will be doing things together for years to come. - Hiphopdx.com

In Hip-Hop you have mad crews with a million more stories to tell than Kurtis Blow (for those who remember the early Hip-Hop years). These MC's come with rhymes that are serious , realistic, and graphic for 2017 and beyond in nutshell , let's say "Raw". Raw Enough to shock the imagination and chill the heart when a Raw Breed is making mad noise in the underground scene. Marc Live, Alexander the Great a.k.a Gutterfame, and Nick Swift. are bringing their tales of the street life in a fashion that many crews have lost touch with. The energy of this album is off the scale. I'm telling y'all, your sound system won't be disappointed once the album starts playing.

At first Raw Breed weren't into rap for the money. "We used to rap but wasn't concerned with trying to make records," say's Nick Swift. "We were happy with just bustin' on a street corner." It was Marc Live- Kool Keith's cousin- who first made the crew aware that they could rap on a pro level. Production on the album is provided by Ultramagnetic member Trevor Randoplh (a/k/a T. R. Love), who's blessed the Hip-Hop world with classics such as "Ego Trippin" and "Poppa Large" and is well know for his rawness in the studio.

Killa Instinct is sure to astound, given phat cuts like "Carlito's Way," a story of a top notch drug dealer who wants to get out of the street game. "All I need is my cash for the flow/Hit a few hussies and out the back door/"Cuz I'm a real foul brother on the prowl/Trying to make ends, anyway, anyhow/So how you like me now/HK to the head (bow) bustin off shots/ leaving whole blocks red/I'm doing niggas in/No friends to the end, I'm out getting paid/So god lead the way." Also, "Lock Shit Down," with its spooky piano samples and its haunting vocals, takes you into the minds of brothers plotting a way to come up: "See, I commit crime acts cuz I'm a deadly, dirty demon/ Scheming for money-reason/because money I am needing/I'm taking all I can from every man across this land/Y'all must understand that i gotta make these f**kin' ends!" Sixteen other cuts and interludes keep the bumps on steady, and special guest aren't excluded. You got Agallah who catches wreck on "Doing it for Days" with Jesse West, as well as Ice-T, a pioneer in the West Coast rap game.

This must be said before I break out: The raw in Hip-Hop needs to be established again, so hopefully Raw Breed, along with others to come, can bring the noise and restore the genuine state back to rap. Much mad success to Raw Breed. Keep it strong y'all. - Jahvae - Rap Pages