MC Navigator

Raymond Crawford has been in groups such as The Freestylers,Asian Dub Foundation and many more… Just type MC Navigator in Google and your see how big he is. He was one of the first and biggest MCs when Jungle started.

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CZB: Where does the nickname come from?

MC Navigator: A friend of mine gave it to me one night when we were smoking and drinking at my flat and it stuck.

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CZB: How far are you planning to Navigate?

MC Navigator: All the way to the very end until I reach my destination. I am the Navigator after all.. aren’t I?? (lol)

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CZB: Why did the ship anchor for a couple of years?

MC Navigator: I took a break to regroup because I wanted to change things and find fresh focus.

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CZB: How did you bond with the Freestylers? That was in 96. How did they discover you – or did you knock at their door?
MC Navigator: I was offered a booking to hype and host /MC at a show in Manchester with a band. At that time I didn’t know who Freestylers were. But I went there I saw Tenor Fly and Aston (producer) who I already knew. I smashed the show and the record boss offered me a contract to join the band.

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CZB: Where are your parents from? Were you raised in London? How much of a problem is RACISM currently in British schools?

MC Navigator: My father is Jamaican and my mother is English. I was born and raised in North East London. Racism has always been a problem in schools, but guns and drugs are more of a problem than ever before now. There are so many different cultures and nationalities in London now, so its NOT so much of a racial problem between the kids. It’s more a problem associated with the older generation, their attitude to different cultural lifestyles and the way the older generation were brought up as children. These attitudes are handed down to the childrens in the family home enviroment before they even go to school. So the racial problems cannot be strictly judged from a school perspective.

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CZB: Moving to, and Living in Germany? How do you see Europe copying the American melting pot lifestyle now that political borders have been eliminated?
MC Navigator: I don’t really see it at ALL. There are lot of prejudices against the lifestyle and attitudes of Americans in Europe especially in Germany. In Europe all the different countries have their own cultures and they are proud of their own heritages. Obviously the younger generation loves HipHop music and they like to dress in that style, they also speak with a more American slang English than UK English. But that’s as far as it goes with regards to copying the ‘American melting pot lifestyle’.
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CZB: how does each player fit into your life and how did this group of dynamic musical brains get together?
MC Navigator:

• SMK. = my MC protege who I am helping to develop.
• Tony Anthem. = A very high energy individual who has amazing productions skills. We have a history doing music and shows together when he was doing Future Prophecies, so us teaming up again is like a natural progression thing.
• erbNdub. = A highly talented character who is also a Drummer. We met over the internet and he did a remix for me which I liked VERY much. I went to his studio and voiced Fire Bun and now we are working as a team on putting out new product (music and videos) and concentrating on elevating the credibility of this D&B/Jungle artist genre. That is our aim..

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Basically ErbNduB was working with SMK already and Tony Anthem was producing beats with them. I came along and heard the blueprint of Fire Bun and realized the potential of the track. I asked if I could voice the 16 bars and everyone agreed to let me to do it. When the track was mixed down I said to the guys we are gonna do a video. I wrote the treatment for the video and directed the video myself. Now we are working as a team with the same vision which is to elevate D&B/Jungle and push the credibility of D&B artists worldwide in general. F-Troop is another brand attached to the whole Bad Monkey Records camp.
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CZB: Reggae Dancehall was your first love. How does it fit in with all the tough lyrics and syncopated rhythms you’re recording now?
MC Navigator: When Jungle music blew up as a genre it had a lot of the old Dub, Reggae, HipHop and Soul from the 70s and 80s sampled into it. Jungle/Drum& Bass music as a genre has progressed into a more futuristic sound over the last 20 years. I have always kept my Reggae soundsystem roots and style as an MC, so it’s all a positive development of musical and artistic styles that makes everything fit into what I am doing now as an artist.
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CZB: How do you see the underground electronic scene developing into the new decade and do you see certain raw genres becoming obsolete within the next few years in Western Europe?
MC Navigator: I see a very healthy development.. Ha ha ha.. I think certain PEOPLE will make themselves obsolete! The thing is that if you look back at all the electronic music over the last 20 odd years they are still alive and kicking. They might not be so popular as they were when they started, but they still exist. Electronic music mutates into new forms and genres. All of these genres come originally from House. Right now the newest genre that is making BIG waves is Dubstep, then there is Bashy Bass which is a kind of sub-genre of Breakbeat. The music will never die because the kids will always be making new forms and creating new styles. The only thing that will die is the person that says I don’t want to do this no more, and when he says that, there will be a Million kids waiting to step into his shoes. The basis of music in general is emotion and feelings and the emotions of people change with the times. It’s an ENDLESS thing, It will never stop.

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CZB: What is your VITAL vinyl (the one that basically influenced or touched you the most).

MC Navigator: My two all time top Vital Vinyls are…

• Bob Marley. Redemption Song
• John Lennon. Imagine

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ALL PRAISES DUE TO THE CREATOR

NAVI

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www.myspace.com/mcnavigator

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