"When I recorded "Salva Mea" offers Maxi Jazz, "I didn't really think too much about whether or not I was rapping on a dance record or anything else. I was living on a hand to mouth basis, and the 250 quid he was offering was something I was desperately in need of so that I could sort out my gas bill, my phone bill, etc..." he says in a voice similar to that heard on record. "I had been doing raps on dance records for years as favors for friends, and I'm not really that narrow in my musical taste as some rappers are." This statement sort of manifests the fact that Maxi Jazz is not your typical rapper. Even Rollo offers praise to him on his broad musical likings. "One of the things that really makes it easy to work with Maxi is that he's really into lots of different types of music. Quite a lot of rappers are dissmissive about the music they don't like, but he tends to keep an open mind about most all music." But Maxi's differences with other microphone masters go even further than that. Besides his awesome ability to rhyme on 130 BPM tracks without sounding like those found in disposable Euro-trash tunes, he also doesn't make a habit of grabbing his crotch while up on stage, talk about how many bitches he wants to 'bag it up' with (he'd rather tear their tights off with his teeth), or about how dope his Lexus Coupe is for that matter either (he'd just as soon talk about Ford Escort MK 2). As Rollo mentioned previously, Maxi Jazz, (real name Max Frazer) is a Nicheren Shoshu Buddhist and has a lot more things which dig way deeper then 98% of what you hear on Hot 97. He doesn't quite understand all the negativity surrounding rap music these days. "One of the things I'm avidly against in rap music is the negative portrayal of black people by other black people for their black children." Whoa... I don't think we're in Brooklyn anymore... Go on Maxi, tell us more. "I can't bear the idea of any artist going and talking about killing people. But what really gets me is when they talk about killing people who were born on the same street as you and also are the same colour as you -- what's really bad is that these [rappers] say this stuff and actually don't mean it. While I put much blame for the downfall of rap lyrics with the record labels, there aren't enough brothers out there who will stand up for what's right and say 'I don't care how much money's involoved, I'm not gonna contribute to this bullshit!" Although much of todays rap gets dismissed by him, Maxi Jazz does have great things to say about Jeru The Damaja, and when I tell him about his relative obscurity here in the States he seems quite stunned. "That guy's lyrics are brilliant! 'You're a player because you be playing yourself' -- brilliant!"
Like Rollo, Maxi Jazz has not let his newfound fame get to him either. While probably being able to use his teeth more often on more pairs of tights, he certainly has no ego to show for the fame he's received both at home and abroad. "The only thing that's different for me is that I don't get to see my home as often, but then at the end of the day, I can put one or two nice things in it." While giving him some much needed cash, the travel has also afforded him much more than financial compensation, it's been a great learning experience. "The further and further I get away from my home, the more I learn how alike we are as people." Even more, the travels have also bolstered his ability to write rhymes. "I can tell you all about Brixton in a rhyme no problem, but then how that relates to how you feel when you're in Amsterdam, then you get a whole new thing going on. Given that I've been all over Europe and met some INCREDIBLE people, I've been given fresh inspiration for writing and certainly inspiration for writing with an international flavor. Not just coming from my own Southeast London, born in Brixton perspective, but that of a more seasoned international flavor that more and more people will be able to get with." And they have.
