True Cipher Interview (S.E.T.U)

1. 01The Serpent Tongue

   When did the initial process of creating this album with Estee start? Who reached out to who first?

   True Cipher

   We reached out to ESTEE NACK as it started with paying him homage with the remix project we did called 1000$ plate of mangu. We started with one track and that was NOSEDIVE .. we used that on our 1st TRUE CIPHER album. The idea of doing a full album was there but ESTEE NACK has his system with his releases and so cooking up additional tracks was a slow cook due to ESTEE NACK’S availability.

2. 02The Serpent Tongue

   What’s the creative process like when you’re working with a man like Nack? Is it a back and fourth conversation on direction or does he take the lead? How does it play out behind the scenes?

   True Cipher

   The process was dope cause we were in full student mode. He’s been doing this for a while and we learned a great deal from him. He always took our input into consideration and the outcome to any decision made was a unified one. We didn’t record in the same spaces as he goes between Lynn, Ma and Florida but turnaround was never an issue. We always got our joints back at the right time.

3. 03The Serpent Tongue

   Was there any tracks left off the album in favour of the final track list we received? Like for example -VIVAPORU? What happened to that one?

   True Cipher

   VIVAPORU is on there for sure .. we put it all in the pot.

4. 04The Serpent Tongue

   What’s it like working as a duo production team? How do you both make sure your both having the ideas heard and maintain a healthy working relationship?

   True Cipher

   Tonez and I grew up together. This has always been our vision and we work as one unit. Whether it’s his track that gets picked or mine .. it’s a TrueCipher joint!!! We cook outta the same pot with samples and either help each other with production be it sample placement or beat pattern layout or making our own interpretation of a joint outta the same sample. It’s all one sound.

5. 05The Serpent Tongue

   Do you have a favourite instrumental on the track? If so which one? And was any of those tracks harder to pull off than initially expected?

   True Cipher

   If I were to choose favorites it would be danger room drills and palabreo . Those joints if I were to play you the full track as to where I sampled from you will flip out. In regards to difficulty we produce organically so the sound is never forced or complicated

6. 06The Serpent Tongue

   When making a new album is there any tradition or any boxes you both have to check before jumping into a new project?

   True Cipher

   No we just make a batch of beats and unless it a specific concept we make beats till we got a big enough pile to work with and can pull what we need when we need it.

7. 07The Serpent Tongue

   Was the previous remix album -$1000 PLATES MANGU any kind of factor in your guys head while making this new one? Maybe reminiscing what you did there for this one?

   True Cipher

   That 1000$ plates of mangu was a homage to our favorite emcee. Estee Nack is a master emcee .. his flow , cadence and pocket work is 2nd to none. He’s a living instrument.. so for us that remix project was a perfect training ground to train our ears to what we think he would sound dope on. Some didn’t make the cut but most did. This new project was more of a concept and building it around one adlib “se embromaron todito ustedes “ a concept that was easy to build upon cause we already had a few tracks and he approached these tracks in the same fashion (with a little bit of a bi- lingual flow )

8. 08The Serpent Tongue

   If you guys had to describe your career/journey so far in one sentence what would that be?

   True Cipher

   We just getting started… we got some much more work to put in!!

9. 09The Serpent Tongue

   And lastly, you’re on a stranded island. You can only choose ONE ALBUM of any genre or artist/band to keep with you. What do you choose?

   True Cipher

   Ohh that’s a good one…the 1st Beatnuts album

Written Q&A by Corban Skipwith · More interviews · Get interviewed