In the U.S. much has been said about hip-hop and whether it’s alive or dead. How do you feel about that?

Well, I can speak for Senegal - hip-hop is very alive.  Each neighborhood has its own crew and there are over 3,000 local hip-hop groups in our country.  The young people are attracted to the music because we identify with the lyrics.  One thing that saddens me about hip-hop though is that people have lost their dignity for records sales.  Nothing on earth is worth you losing your dignity for.  If you lose that then there’s nothing left for you.  You gotta respect who you are and stand for the right things until the day you die.  Money is good, but nothing lasts forever.  We’re here fighting for houses, oil, land and money, but death is around the corner.  You gotta think before you act and stand for something. Of course we wanna make money, but we gotta be prepared for something that’s not of this earth.

So when was the last time that U.S. hip-hop felt alive for you?

The last time hip-hop felt alive was in the early 80’s with Afrika Bambattaa, Kool Herc, The Last Poets, Rakim, if you wanna put a time on it…The music was about lyrics and really saying something with your music.  Right now hip-hop is alive, but you can’t look for life among the dead.  Emcees like Dead Prez, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Rakim, The Roots, these are the people who do real hip-hop no matter what.  They’re still doing their thing, keeping their respect and sharing the music - not just with the U.S. but around the world.  You can tell from listening to their music and watching their video who cares about the hip-hop and who cares only about the money. 

Do you think Hip-Hop is going back to the essence like in its early days with artiste like The Last Poets, KRS-1, Chuck D, and Dead Prez?

I definitely think so because we’re influenced by those artists and following the same steps right now.  We’re doing our best to keep hip-hop alive.

You’ve performed with such an incredible line up of artists – people ranging from The Last Poets, to Kanye West, Damian Marley, Tribe Called Quest to Femi Kuti and Erykah Badu.  What are you thinking when you’re backstage surrounded by these artists?

It’s a blessing first to share to the stage with these artists.  But sharing the stage with them also means we have to step our game up 200%. Since these artists are well-known, we have to almost over-perform to make sure that when people leave, they remember Gokh-Bi System.  Also when we’re performing, we know we’re representing Africa and may be the first group that the audience has seen from Africa.  We have to burn the stage with our performance to show that Africa has more than AIDS, war, disease and really rep Africa as the ambassadors of African hip-hop. We’re hoping that [as] we continue to do [this], people [will] open their minds and hearts to embrace African hip-hop, its artists, and the culture.

You’ve been together performing since the late 90’s. Do you ever get tired of each other?

Our manager, Pape and Diasse are brothers, but we all consider ourselves to be family.  I spend a lot more time with these guys than I spend with my own brothers.  We grew up together…With the music, we have the same purpose so it’s made us closer.

It seems like you’re constantly on the road touring.  How do you relax when you’re home?

Outside of the studio and performance, we play a lot of sports. Soccer is our favorite. Other than that, we just spend time with our families, enjoy our free time. Through the Senegal-American project we also visit different schools to share African music, dance, and culture.  You’d be surprised when you find out how little people know about Africa.  Most of what they think they know comes from TV.  Some people think the whole continent is one big safari and that I have monkeys at my house.  I’ve never even seen a monkey except in a zoo.  Recently our dancer went back to Senegal with a bunch of students from America to bring materials that are needed back home for school.  The whole purpose is the exchange of culture to show American kids Africa and to show Senegalese children that there’s a world outside of Africa. 

How long does it usually take for you to record an album in Senegal and how long did it take you to complete your Mission Of Music EP?

I think that the amount of time it takes to record an album isn’t just up to you.  It’s not just the artist, but it’s also the producer, and the mixer.  As an artist, you go lay down your lyrics, but the producer has a whole lot of [work] after you finished recording.  There a lot of different processes that an album has to go through to be done.  Different tracks take different amounts of time before it’s done. Releasing an album is also recording a part of your history.  It’s saying a lot about who you are at a particular time in your life.

For Mission Of Music, it took us two years. We started recording in New York and then recorded some songs in Senegal.

Any plans of a full length studio disc and what should fans expect?

We’re working on a really interesting album, called Rap Tassu which has a lot of energy, positivity, and joy. Rap Tassu is an authentic album because it does what we originally set out to do with music which combines the ancient with the modern and connects the young with the old.

Hear their latest single, “People Are Talking” HERE

Find out more about Gokh-Bi Systems:
MySpace -  www.myspace.com/gokhbi
You Tube – http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Gokh-Bi
Websites -  www.gokhbisystem.com ; www.sonicbids.com/gokhbisystem ; www.aroundworld.net
 
Purchase the Mission Of Music EP on CDBaby, ITunes.com, Rhapsody.com, and MP3.com

Ancient Meets Urban Tour dates: