Fire In The Booth returned on January 7th with its first episode of The Dubai Series featuring 5 artists from the UAE in a cypher.
Of those five artists was UAE born and raised rapper Tac.
Tac started his music career back in 2012, on the ’12/12/12′ to be exact, after hearing his first hip hop record, Stockholm Syndrome by Greydon Square. Since then Tac has released 13 tracks and one EP S.O.U.L. Broke Forever with fellow artist Mazzi.
I got the chance to speak with Tac about his music and his experience on Fire In The Booth.
What made you start music?
“Long story short, I heard this one record I mentioned previously, and I ended up contacting the artist and had a long conversation with them, that ended up with me falling in love with the culture. Also me being in a place like Dubai, not knowing that there was a scene here, I wanted to do something special, and those two things kind of came hand in hand in a natural way. I was super into poetry before, so the transition made a lot of sense.”
Who’s your role model in the music industry?
“Unfortunately, he passed away October 31st of last year; MF DOOM. My absolute favourite artist of all time, and one of the most incredible wordsmiths to grace our period. I take a lot of influence from him when it comes to developing a strong core fanbase, and creating the music that feels right to me.”
How would you describe your style of rap?
“With me, it can go either way, I don’t think I have any particular style. I just rap in whatever way will do the instrumental justice. But I do notice that I am more focused on imagery and painting a picture than using hard-hitting metaphors.”
What was your latest project and are you working on new music at the minute?
“I am currently working on creating my first album, and I am planning its release for this December. I am really excited to show people what I’ve been working on from behind the scenes, I think the results will come as a big surprise to a lot of my long-time listeners.”
How did you get involved with FITB? How did you find your FITB experience?
“I literally just got the call from Big Hass saying “fire in the booth, yes or no?” and I guess you can imagine where it went from there. It was a dope experience, meeting Charlie was cool too, he was super down to earth, and I appreciate him having us on his platform.”
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How has the pandemic affected you?
“Obviously financially it was a little bit difficult initially, due to my line of work as a sound engineer. But once things opened up a little in the UAE, it definitely allowed me to thrive a little more. But creatively, I feel like I am just letting a lot of things sink in. And I feel like a lot of dope music will be coming out of the experience.”
What do you think of the music scene here in the UK? Do you have a favourite artist?
“I love the UK scene, I am a huge fan of Wiley, Dave, J Hus, President T, Big Sizer etc… I feel like they deserve a lot more recognition for their influence on mainstream music than they are currently getting.”
