13 shots to the dome

Letter from London

Music Features

Part-time villain

Near the end of our talk, I ask Bill questions that I would have nixed if I’d felt threatened. I enquire about his relationship with Midwest indie-rap powerhouse Strange Music, which he had failed negotiations with before bringing Reprisal to Fat Beats Records. I’m also curious about the platoons of mini-goons who co-opt the attitude and the morbid boom-bap æsthetic of Bill and Non-Phixion for their own thuggish purposes. And I’m glad I do ask — otherwise I might have thought this was a different Bill from the menace who thinks not about pummeling fans and reporters. “It’s flattering, but at the same time I’m still scrapping and scraping and fighting to get my just dues and recognition. Sometimes I feel like some of these dudes should just fall the fuck back; people really need to stay in their own lane if they’re not me.”

ILL BILL + SEAN PRICE + SLAINE + RITE HOOK + MASSTAPEACE + SLIPWAX | Middle East downstairs, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge | September 11 at 9 pm | $15 | www.mideastclub.com

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