The first time I ever saw or heard of Bee Mick See perform I was waiting on Mental Def and Roysta coming on in the Pavilion. I sort of thought one of the punters had just grabbed the mic after a few too many buckies and was about to start slobbering at folk. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Once he began rhyming it became clear that he was born to do this. So with his new EP coming out (which we’ll be reviewing next week) and a Launch gig a week away I thought it time to have a few Questions with the man himself.

First up can we get a bit of history on how Bee Mick See got to this point, for the people out there not familiar with yourself. Also can you pick one song of yours that best sums that journey up to you?

I was born in Portland, Oregon. As a child I played basketball. I was Ok at it. I then moved to Belfast when I was a bit older. I didn’t like Belfast at all. It was cold, bleak and not as green as I had been led to believe Ireland was. I then learned the guitar and started to write songs about how awful Belfast was. It made me feel better. I then started to accept Belfast and wrote raps in religion class. I liked it. So I started making beats on my own and rapping over them. Although I rapped, I was always reluctant to tell people I was a rapper. I began to fall in love with Belfast. I did this casually for a number of years until Bomb City 7 (a punk rock hip band I’m in) started. Through that I began meeting like-minded people who also wanted to create music for a living.  I decided I wanted to officially be one of those people.
We Took A Dive is a new Bee Mick See song that has yet to be released. It pretty much sums up the horrible feelings I had upon my arrival in Belfast. This P(r)etty Place by Bomb City 7 pretty much sums up all the wonderful feelings I now have of Belfast.

You’ve a very in your face style of performing and I don’t think I’ve once seen you do the whole gig standing on the stage, where do you think that comes from?

In my first band I played guitar and attempted to sing. I did this for a few years. When I took the guitar off to rap I didn’t know what to do on stage. I felt lost and exposed. I felt like I needed to be doing something else while I was up there to compensate for my lack of guitar.I can be a fairly frantic person. I find it difficult to sit still in most situations. My attention is constantly wandering. I move quite quickly. All these sides to my personality began to become heightened while I was on stage.

There was a band called The Evangelists that used to play around Belfast. They were fucking nuts and hands down my favourite local band growing up. The singer (Eamon) looked like he had ADHD and about 6 litres of Buckfast in him. He didn’t. He was usually fairly sober to the best of my knowledge. But he was a lunatic on stage. I loved it. He always seemed really shy offstage as if playing a gig brought out this completely juxtaposing side to him. Eamon definitely influenced my in your face performance in the beginning. I loved how he involved the crowd in his performances and that’s something I strive to do in mine.

Seeing as you’re American Born and some what Northern Ireland raised, who do you think are your influences from both sides of the pond?

I began with West Coast gangsta rap as a child. I was then heavily engulfed in the Seattle grunge scene as a pre teen. Upon my relocation to Belfast I was introduced to trance music, which I didn’t like. I quickly found local punk bands and other musical forms of social protest to take me through my teenage years. My 3 favourite artists at this very moment are Krispy Kreme, David C Clements and A$AP Rocky.

The new EP is called Birds over Nupes. I’ve no idea what a nupe is. Do explain?

A “nupe” to some in Belfast is slang for a pound. I think it comes from an old colloquial expression for a “new penny”. In Belfast girls are often referred to as “birds”. “Money over Bitches” is an often-used expression in gangsta rap circles. It is an expression that demeans and objectifies women proclaiming that money is more important and of more value than that of a woman. Basically saying that women are worthless.

Birds over Nupes is a reversal of that expression; a term that is intended to show respect for women. Because let’s face it, women are brilliant; they are our ma’s, our girlfriends, our grannies, our sisters, our aunties, our nieces and our friends. To treat them with anything less than respect is a shameful way to live your life.

Can you give us a bit of a run down of the idea behind this EP?

It’s a collection of songs I recorded with Rocky O’Reilly during the summer. I wanted to make something musically different than my previous material. I let my guard down over the past few years and started to embrace modern pop music. And after a lot of encouragement from others I decided I didn’t need to shout all the time! This EP is like musical Yoga in comparison to my last album – Tales of Self Preservation Gone Wrong.

Lyrically, I wanted to put myself out there more than I had before. I wanted to show a sensitive and vulnerable side that I didn’t have the balls to show before. I also wanted to continue being the cheeky self-degrading man I always have been.

It seems very much tied in with the videos, which seem to be improving in quality with each one. Do you think the videos have become part of the over all Bee Mick See experience?

Why yes, of course. Videos have definitely become a big part of what I do. A visual representation of an artist
while listening to their song can have a major influence on my first impression of a song.  I have used my own market research to influence how I promote myself as a rapper.

There’s a new rapper called Krispy Kreme. He released 11 songs last year with a video for each. These 11
songs made up his 1st album. I absolutely love what he does. He’s funny as fuck and incredibly inspiring.
That said, without the videos to support each song I don’t think I’d be into his music half as much as I am now.

Bee Mick See’s new EP “Birds Over Nupes” is out now on Bandcamp for the very reasonable 2 nupes.
The EP launch is next Sat 26th Jan @ Auntie Annies.
We’ll be posting a review of the EP next week.
Chris Caldwell

Author: Chris Caldwell

Chris Caldwell at your service! My favourite things are eating and Theatre, I have 2 small sons called Alex and Max who are more mustard than Hellmann's. I spend my days trying to wrangle them and exploring my favourite city - BELFAST! My favourite films are horror, my fav music is metal and my favourite Beatle is Ringo, mainly his work on Thomas the Tank.

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