Saian (Guney Erkurt) and K”st (Yusuf Yıldırım) introduced the fourth of their “Autonomous Infantry” (OP) album series, which they started in 2017, to music lovers in September. The quote above is from the new album “Silence of the Lambs”. Saian is a naval architecture and marine machinery engineer, K”st is a tattoo artist. However, they are artists who are loved in the rap world and whose works are also eagerly awaited. The artists, who have built their own audience with their solo albums as well as their joint albums, do not spare their words in their songs. Unsolved criminals, murderer contractors, child abuse, secularism, tax injustice, journalist murders, the intellectual problem, divisions and lumpenization within the left, the hypocrisy of the West, satire on the AKP government; As the saying goes, “they touch the soul”…
We talked to Saian about Autonomous Infantry’s new album “Silence of the Lambs”, the state of the country and the state of the rap world.
How did The Silence of the Lambs come about?
It was a long break for OP, but during this time we actually continued to make demo recordings and do solo work. Even now we have a lot of demo tracks. With the pressure created by the audience’s expectations, we came to the conclusion that we should start an album.
‘RAP IS NOT A GENERATOR OF INCOME’
The Silence of the Lambs came four years after your last album. What is the reason for this long period?
We do not practice “rap” as a profession, so unfortunately rap is not a source of income for us to sustain our lives. Therefore, we both have to focus on our own professions. Also, we both live in different cities. That’s why all production stages have to proceed very slowly, we can focus when we have time.
‘THE LAMBS SHOULD BE ASKED’
Unsolved criminals, murderer contractors, child abuse, secularism, tax injustice, journalist murders, the hypocrisy of the West, satire on the AKP government… Traces we come across in all Autonomous Infantry albums. Does the Autonomous Infantry have a problem? What is that problem?
Of course, if you live in Turkey, if you are individuals who are aware of living in a society and act intelligently, it is clear that you should worry about all these. In fact, people who do not worry about these things, that is, those lambs, should be asked why they do not worry about these things. What is terrifying is the silence of the lambs.
The name of the album is as meaningful as its cover. What does The Silence of the Lambs generally tell about?
Those who think that the snake will never touch them, those who do not realize that they are a part of nature but see nature in their service, those who see themselves as unique, those who become insensitive, those who do not speak out against injustice, corruption, harassment and rape, those who lose themselves and become blind in the maddening rush of the age of consumption and ostentation… Some due to insensitivity, some due to selfishness, some out of fear; It tells about the lambs that have no voice.
‘RAP IS ALREADY A PROTEST’
In your solo works, you generally rap with a protest attitude. As two strong names of rap and protest rap, I’m curious about your opinions on the situation of both rap and protest rap.
We are not doing this to be categorized as protesters, we do not live in Denmark or Sweden. This country’s agenda, dynamics, social structure, history, etc., in short, “living” in this country creates wounds in us, and this pushes us to develop a language of protest. We reject the existence of two different “genres” such as rap or protest rap; rap as a substance is already protest and political. Not all rap songs may or may not have these traces, but this is quite acceptable and reasonable. Modes such as love, hate, sadness, hope, ecstasy are also related to life.
‘THERE IS DEQUALIFICATION’
It is true that there is a transformation in the rap world. There is a new generation of rap and a new generation of rap listeners. Listeners defined as “old school” in the rap world are still loyal to the past. How does the new generation react to your work?
For many years, we have followed a more radical and orthodox line in rap, both musically and in attitude. Since then our listeners have aligned themselves with us, or chosen to do so, and we can be said to be loyal to each other. The situation is different for the new listener, “when the music changes, the dance changes too!”, times are changing, people are changing, of course their approach to life is not the same as ours, this is quite understandable but terrifying, as it is noticed in every aspect of life, there is also a serious dequalification, vulgar and There is lumpenization. In fact, this is a situation that has examples in every period, but the point that should not be overlooked here is that there is a serious demand for these this time. Considering the change in the new generation’s expectations from rap music along with this situation, we have long since lost our ties with them.
Source: www.cumhuriyet.com.tr
