Botfly is an Australia-based self-proclaimed 'Unconscious Hip-Hop' duo with an emphasis on negative, hateful, over-the-top politically incorrect lyrics delivered atop doom drenched boom bap beats with eerily catchy hooks that will have you thinking "what the fuck are they talking about?" These beats are sure to please any oldhead 90s hip-hop sycophants. The lyrical subjects, flow, and delivery bring to my own mind groups and artists such as MF Grimm, Necro, Group Home, Geto Boys, and many others from the 90s/00s yet with so much emphasis on negativity that Botfly has become seemingly intentionally hard to place when trying to sit it next to anything that isn't drenched in the same sense of dread and hate. Their debut album "Suffering Contest" evokes images of night time walks through the wrong part of town, showcasing the dark sides of society. A lot of thought, confusion, agreement and then disagreement tug on my brain in so many different directions that I often find myself taking a step back from trying to understand the underlying meanings of the lyrics and just listen to them for what they are.
Check out his music on Bandcamp:
https://botflybeats.bandcamp.com/album/suffering-contest
The following is an interview with Botfly's vocalist and wordsmith, Yan Bob.
Vödkamizer: I originally met you in the beginning of 2010 in Tallinn, Estonia. From old conversations past and following your posts online, it is safe to say that you have quite a bit in your life. Would you say this exposure to the world, cultures, and mindsets has had much of an impact on your lyrics/poetry and if so, what are some of the experiences that had the most influence?
Yan Bob: Yes most definitely, I just barely finished high school, so I learnt about the things by joining the workforce & then going straight out into the world, pretentious sounding I know. But that’s why the lyrics come across so aggressive & I guess somewhat uneducated. Travelling through different countries in the world taught me first hand about the impact religion has on communities, poverty & power. How what seems to be good intentions as building a road for a troubled nation really means that you then own their resources indefinitely. It’s also the reading & research that goes into taking these trips that gives me a plethora of references to use in my lyrics & poems. You read up about one mad-man & a besieged city, then 20 minutes later you have a two page poem in front of you! Some quick examples of influential experiences though would be travelling to the Artsakh Republic, visiting West Africa several times, visiting Haiti, plus much more places & I guess just trying to get from ‘A to B’ in countries that are so far removed from what I am used to.
Yan Bob: I’ve got nothing against people who make Aussie Rap, I just don’t want us to be pigeonholed into that category so I put the “disclaimer” on our site. But honestly, “Aussie Hip-Hop” to me is one of the worst sub-genres of ANY genre of music, ever. It just sucks for us (BOTFLY) because we both happen to be Australians who make Hip-Hop. I hate macho party music & the false front of Australian culture. So it’s hard to make Hip-Hop music for us without being put straight into that “Aussie” category, people who might actually like our music would be turned off by it simply because they would think it is “Aussie Hip-Hop”. I started out rapping at 15 with this other dude, we were rapping pure “Aussie” style because that’s what the “in style” was (& still is) & if you wanted to do any other style you were “a sell out” & “wack”. It was really horrible fucking music but we still did shows & recorded demos. So I wanted to get away from that style of music & lifestyle, because I’m cool for not being cool. Melbourne city is like an echo chamber. An echo chamber full of plastic faces, high rise solid smog obelisks & heroin addicts congealed on park benches.
Vödkamizer: You are currently living back down under. Has life in Australia had much impact on the emphasis of negativity in your music and how so?
Yan Bob: Yes for sure. We are a coddled nation, if you want to find a classic example of “first world problems/white privilege” then it’s here. Our public holidays are the Football Grand Final, the Melbourne Cup horse race, Australia Day (the actual anniversary of the day we killed most of the indigenous people) & ANZAC day which is a day of mourning for Australian & New Zealand soldiers from WWI (it has since been high-jacked by the politicians & other douchebags for nationalist ideals). I do feel very lucky & blessed to have citizenship in such a country though, regardless of all the shit I say about it, we are mostly looked after by our government & have a healthcare system & wage rates at levels almost as good as Scandinavia. But again, I’m white & a man, so it’s easy for me to say that. That’s white privilege right there, a white Australian complaining about Australia while adopting black culture & reaping the benefits of living in Australia.
Vödkamizer: Your lyrics bring up a lot of very currently relevant subjects with references to sexuality, politics, the class system, racial supremacy, etc. and could be seen as quite controversial by more PC individuals. Has this caused any issues for you in your personal life and relationships or the publication of your music?
Yan Bob: I make fun of just about everything in my lyrics, there’s not much exempt. The views should not be taken too seriously. We like to sit on neither side of the fence, one might not know what we stand for or if we stand for anything at all! But basically, with sexuality, I could give a fuck less. It doesn’t matter to me, never has in my life. What pisses me off sometimes is how LGBT+ alphabet rights & so-on get fast tracked to the front of the line when it comes to equality. Basically, white men wanted to get married, so they get put to the front. Meanwhile, there is no official treaty with the indigenous peoples of Australia, abortion rights are being taken back into the courts in the Western World, there is literally a hole in the ozone layer above us melting our faces down here, we shake hands with actual devil run slave nations where woman aren’t considered equal to men in any sense of the word purely for their oil & airport transit stop-overs, but let’s put Gay Marriage first. That’s all really. I just believe (& this is going to get me in trouble) that there are much MUCH bigger fucking issues that humanity has to deal with. Everyone can get married now & at the same time woman STILL don’t get paid the same as men do. Plus, writing lyrics like that, you know someone’s going to take it too seriously & get all pissed off not realizing it’s just a song.
As for it effecting my personal life, it never has. Because not many people have heard my music (BOTFLY is BOTFLY’s biggest fan). And those who have heard it & that do know me personally know that I am a reasonable person & am up for a conversation about such subjects if need be. Folk know I’m not a homophobe, Islamophobe or probably any other ‘phobe, I’m just basically a douche that talks shit. I’m not college educated, I have no degree. Just some basic life experience & my views on politics etc. come purely from what I’ve seen & experienced. Most of what I write is most likely incorrect & horribly naïve, but who cares. It’s better than hearing some dude rap about his penis for the 100 millionth god damn time!
Vödkamizer: I noticed on the title track of the album, "Suffering Contest", there is a sample at the end that I believe is taken from 'The Trial' originally by Franz Kafka. How much of an influence does literature and film have on your lyrics and what are some names and titles that are worthy to mention?
Yan Bob: Yes it is, The Trial is a great film! I’m into dystopian fiction & I love old propaganda films & advertisements. Cold War era “Reds under the bed” paranoia type vibe interests me. Films like ‘Atomic Cafe’ & ‘Hearts and Minds’ are most definitely worthy titles to mention. Doc Cleaver is a heavy reader & an early Werner Herzog/Klaus Kinski fan. He’s constructed many instrumentals & soundscapes with inspiration from such films. That’s the type of feeling we really aimed for on Suffering Contest.
Vödkamizer: From personal experience with you, you have a very eclectic taste in music, with favorites from black metal, noise rock, Ween, punk rock, hip-hop, heavy metal, and much more. Outside of hip-hop, what are some genres and artists you more frequently listen to and have they had much impact on your approach to your own creations?
Yan Bob: Brainbombs, Killdozer, Cows & the Butthole Surfers are true legends to me & are a direct influence on how I like to hear music & how I’d like mine to sound like. Just madness, cacophony, wall of noise. One of the first bands I really got into was the Butthole Surfers, when I was about 10 years old. At that age it was all them; Cypress Hill, Body Count/Ice-T, Bloodhound Gang, Frenzal Rhomb & others that I strictly listened to, saved up money every year to buy their new CDs. Doc Cleaver listens mainly to Highlife/West African music, really amazing & ingenious sounds. Artists like K. Frimpong, Poly Rythmo and Bembeya Jazz National. And also Synthwave acts like Perturbator from France. Doc has his own Synthwave project too called Cryosat, it’s been around for awhile now, it’s well worth checking out if you’re into that style of Electronica.
Vödkamizer: There are a lot of overlapping fans between rock/metal and hip-hop, with many finding common grounds through the lyrical themes and blunt honesty artists from each genre present. Do you find any similarities between the two genres and common grounds fans could understand each other on?
Yan Bob: I’ve found that Hip-Hop fans are more flexible than Metal fans, old school Metal heads I’ve known in the past can be quite strict with what they let themselves listen to. I don’t think it’s like that any more, thank fuck. I think the common ground is aggression, loudness & unforgiving self expression, whether they want to admit it or not. That’s what it is for me anyway. For example, you could say that Necro (the rapper) is the Carcass (Grindcore band) of Hip-Hop, no pun intended. They are all similar topics, they just come out sounding different.
Vödkamizer: Being so distanced from the mainstream, who are some kindred spirits who you could associate with the name "Unconscious Hip-Hop" and who are some rappers who have had a particularly strong influence on you?
Yan Bob: My biggest Hip-Hop influences would have to be the rugged & raw Geto Boys, early 90s Esham & Natas & early 90s ICP (their old school 1990 to ‘95 unhinged anger era). You’ve gotta be specific with the eras of groups that have been around for 30+ years, because 30 years can often equal 30 albums, & they can’t all be zingers. But I guess the direct influence on my sound would be Necro’s flow, his spit-fire lyric delivery & obscure reference dropping. And lyrically, I’ve always aspired to be as good as Goretex/Lord Goat (recently changed his alias), very highly recommended & one of my absolute favorite MCs by far. Jus Allah is another good one too, basically I like the aggression & misanthropic side of rap, there is a lot that can be done with that side of things & it’s a sound that you can actually feel & get something worthwhile out of. Unfortunately we don’t really sound like any of the acts we aspire to be like though, we’re more like the b-grade second choice if you can’t find anything else to listen to.
Vödkamizer: I think it is safe to say that you don't roll with the PC masses by now. What is your opinion on the increasing focus on being "politically correct" in society and its effect and restrictions on modern musicians and artists?
Yan Bob: For me personally, in my own head, I took things very literally & therefore couldn’t write the way I actually wanted to write for years. It wasn’t until I was 20-21 years old that I started writing what I really wanted to. I censored myself. I’d write these clever poems or spoken-word pieces but then edit them or throw ‘em out because I was worried people would start throwing picket signs in my face & I’d be locked in the stocks in the town square for locals to hurl rotten tomatoes at. But it’s art, it’s expression, it’s argument, disagreement, letting things out of your mind. All artists do it, some of the most proclaimed musicians & rappers say THE worst shit. The big names like Dr. Dre & such acts have skits on their albums about kidnapping prostitutes & songs about raping woman. I like to write about other stuff, not much classier than that, but at least I’m trying to get some sort of point across other than “suck my dick bitch, I’ll shoot you, you are a whore because you let me fuck you”.
Vödkamizer: "Suffering Contest" is an album of 17 strong tracks that transition smoothly from one to another with a more "raw" production than many may be used to. Do you have any current plans for a future release and will you continue in this same dark and raw atmosphere that has been established on your debut?
Yan Bob: We have roughly 30 new songs written waiting to be recorded. We WOULD have released our sophomore LP this year if it wasn’t for the reptile republican Chinese Communist adrenal chrome baby harvesters spreading the fake virus that is somehow so fake it kills people. So instead of focusing solely on recording our new full length LP we will start work on releasing some new singles & some demos, just to put some new music out there. Because Doc Cleaver does ALL the production, studio engineering, mastering etc. it takes us a long time to get our music out there. It’s just the two of us, & since I can’t use a computer our recording is a longer process than others. Doc is the whole sound behind BOTFLY. If we had some record label paying us in a studio we’d have a lot of product out there, believe me. We are really bad at promoting ourselves & our social media followers are 99% bots. That’s why we’re BOTFLY. (Not really, the name actually came from me thinking I had a Botfly in-bedded in my face, no joke, my Tallinn family know what I’m talking about😉)
Vödkamizer: Do you have any closing statements, shout outs, or anything else to say before we wrap this up?
Yan Bob: I give props to Doc Cleaver for being the producer extraordinaire computer-wizard of BOTFLY & best friend, & you, Eric for taking your time to interview me, it is greatly appreciated & I love you for that. Shouts to my family in Eestimaa & props to Ellen DeGeneres for fueling so much of my hatred. Also to anybody out there who is interested in our music please listen/download it for free from our Bandcamp site!
Vödkamizer: Big thanks to Yan Bob for taking the time to spread the disease of the mind!
Botfly's Bandcamp: https://botflybeats.bandcamp.com/album/suffering-contest
