The Swede Beat Mixtape Vol 6: Simon Emanuel
November 7, 2011
Photo:Daniel Blom
To fans of the Swedish hip hop Simon Emanuel is no newcomer – the past years he has been dropping full length albums, mixtapes and singles. Simon Emanuel now left his cocky alter ego Paragon behind, the young chicken that used to look up to the bigger inspirations like the staple Biggie and Jay-Z for guidance and inspiration. Time has changed and Simon Emanuel is now back with new alias and new album. The young Swede has broken out of his shell and is no longer worried or scared of what people might think of him. Surrounded by hungry beatmakers, Simon Emanuel is pouring out his soul faster than Drake could type on his Blackberry. And it comes across as truthful, heartbreaking, sincere and most of all inspirational.
What made you change from Paragon to Simon Emanuel?
When I picked the name Paragon I was a teenager listening to the Wu Tang. To me it symbolizes that period in time. I had that name for like ten years, after awhile I just felt like moving on. Switching over to Simon Emanuel was crucial for me; it marked a new beginning, both musically and in some ways as a person. The whole Paragon thing felt old to me, I couldn´t do anything more with it. That period had some great moments but Simon Emanuel is who I am now.
How did you come up with the idea of making these collaborations, Fläskkvartetten is pretty surprising and sampling indie pop favorite Jens Lekman is a pretty ballsy move, have you had any feedback from these people on your tracks?
I’m just a fan of great music. I’ve always wanted to do something with like an orchestra. We had this song “Bli Min Död” that we felt needed some big, beautiful strings on it and I knew the daughter of Örjan from Fläskkvartten so she made it happen. That song is one of my favorite songs I’ve ever done. The song that samples Jens Lekman is called “Hennes Farväl” and was originally on a mixtape I released last year. When my manager reached out to Jens Lekman to clear the sample, Jens told him his landlord had actually played my song for him already and that he liked it. That felt good.
Have you ever considered going back to rapping in English again, so you could reach a broader audience?
No, never. It’s not for me.
How would you best describe your album for our listeners that are non-Swedish speaking?
Big, dynamic, beautiful, spooky and spiritual,sonically speaking. The subject matter is quite dark I guess, a lot of emotions and frustrations. I always try to deliver every line with finesse though so it’s still a lot of slick rhyming on there. Even if you don’t understand the language you should give it a listen for the music alone.
Since you’ve mixed it up on this album, if you could, who would you partner up on track with (non hip/hop) and why?
I would love to do something with Robyn. She’s great. She’s a survivor who stood the test of time and I respect that a lot.
When and where can we see you perform next time?
We did a release party in Gothenburg and Stockholm, both extremely fun.
Hopefully I’ll do some touring this winter after the album is released.
What’s in your iPod on heavy rotation right now.
Right now I’m listening to a lot of How To Dress Well, Active Child and The Dream. I’m also listening to a whole lot of old Roc-a-fella stuff. Just mixing it up as always.
Tell me a little bit about Suntanas, what’s you involvement with that?
Suntanas is basically a collective of friends, a bunch of creative guys throwing parties, playing records, doing artwork, making clothes, shooting videos etc. The Suntanas thing started out as a joke almost, we came up with the name last summer while drinking, and now we got a website, a monthly club and we’re getting booked for shows all over Stockholm. We’re just having fun with it.
What’s next on Simon Emanuel’s agenda.
I’m released my album Sånger Från Andra Våningen on the 26th of October. The album took me like two years to complete so to finally release it to the public is such a great feeling. We’re doing a bunch of visuals around it, so expect at least two more videos from it and some other cool stuff. We’ll probably drop some bonus tracks a couple of weeks after the release of the album just to keep the momentum going too. Other than that I’m about to start on some other projects I’ve got in the pipeline. I’m doing a EP with a production team called Sum Comfort Food, another one with Swedish producer DJ Large and so on. The album will serve as the platform for all this new music I’ve got coming. I just want to keep surrounding myself with good, creative people.
On this album “Sånger Fran Andra Våningen” Simon has detoured from the stereotypical “Hip Hop” sound and engaged in unexpected collaborations, Jens Lekman, Jonas Lundqvist and Mapei.The sound is more melodic, still raw, but with the maturity of an artist who is finally ready to speak openly about the dark side of relationships and the fears that constantly occupy his mind. The track “Bli Min död” will take you back to that crossroad we’ve all been at, the ache and feeling of potentially parting ways with a loved one, and somewhere that song works itself up to feel like a Kanye-esque track with vivid strings and heavy beats.
It’s not an album that anyone should disregard as “just an” hip hop album, this new material is showcasing the work of someone pushing hard to break the barriers and borders for what compiles a certain music genre. It’s an album made by an artist who ran free with his inspirations and emotions and the result is something that should excite many different types of listeners.
Download and listen to Simon Eamnuel’s Flow Motion Mix, mixed by DJ Taro. Songs that inspired and have been on heavy rotation in Simon Eamnuel’s ipod during the past year. You can buy Sånger Från Andra Våningen on iTuens or listen at Spotify
By Louise Lund
Flow Motion mix by Simon Emanuel & DJ Taro (Right Click – Save As)
1. Adele “Hometown Glory”
2. Jhene Aiko “Stranger”
3. Active Child “Playing House” (feat. How To Dress Well)
4. Everything But The Girl “Walking Wounded”
5. Kendrick Lamar “A.D.H.D.”
6. How To Dress Well “Ready For The World” (xxxy Re-Edit)
7. Terius Nash “Wake Me When It’s Over”
8. The Streets “Blip On A Screen”
9. The Radio Dept. “I Wanted You To Feel The Same”
10. Kendal Johansson “Blue Moon”
Written by: The Swede Beat
