Doctor rapper

The former Hillview College student and medical doctor’s mind is as sharp as a knife and he can cut down any rival with precision and style. Alleyne, or “Ans” as he is known in the local rap fraternity, has been in the business for over nine years and dropped four albums including his latest instalment After Freeness which has been gaining rave reviews. True to his appreciation of this country’s history, “Ans”, in commemoration of the July 27, 1990 coup, released tracks for six consecutive days at 6 pm, culminating in the dropping of his 12-track album free of charge to the public.

The Six-day Siege, promoted via social media on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, garnered tremendous attention as the 28-yearold got local rap fans salivating for more with singles such as “Fishing Boats”, “I Hate Love Too” and “After Freeness” touching on a wide range of topics such as poverty, crime, politics, ambition and societal, parental and peer pressure. He explained the concept behind “Fishing Boats” which he says has been the most discussed song on the album. His motivation for producing the track stemmed from him buying a camera for a friend to do photography after he kept asking to borrow money from him.

“Ans” openly professes on the smooth, sultry track with a jazzy beat, “I want my brothers to floss, I want my sisters to shine, I want my nephew to grow and not fall victim to crime.” The song concludes, “We all fish, better teach yuh folk. Give him money to eat, next week he’s broke.” He hinted that a video for the song is in the planning which would push the song via YouTube immensely. The song, “After Freeness”, named after the album, reminds all citizens that politics can divide and all citizens have a responsibility to aid those that have gone astray.

He raps about a fictional conversation with a homeless man who tells him, “If yuh could help meh find a a job, so I don’t have to rob, I wouldn’t be so hateful, I’d be the most grateful I know yuh plate full, don’t have no time. But keep a brother in mind and please consider mine. the day they set me free, they put these shackles on my feet and tell me run this rat race or else I never eat. I’m staring down defeat. ‘I cut him off, I could’t bear to hear, I was close to tears from just hearing him speak’.”

Produced mainly by DLL Productions studio in Arima, “ans” album has shaken the local hip hop fraternity despite it not being pushed for radio play. according to the 29-year-old, “I not too big on radio. I like cussing. I don’t listen to censored music in any format. ever since I was young, hearing censored music, I’m like ‘I don’t really want this nah’. I don’t listen to it.” asked how he intends to get his music known internationally without a push by the local radio stations, he said: “of course radio has it’s positives in terms of marketing. Videos is my plan. Many artistes from Trinidad have blown up outside and have no sort of (radio) play here. What we have to realise is that nobody anywhere in the world cares about Trinidad radio other than Trinidad radio. There is nobody on Billboard sitting down wondering what’s playing here. My aim is to get my music to as wide an audience as possible and to music critics here and abroad,” he explained.

How did this junior surgeon get to like hip hop and even start rapping? The Belmont native revealed that it was his older sister who introduced him to the artform and he soon began writing songs and then singing. a crudely produced song he sent to a past girlfriend later encouraged him to take rapping seriously. He showed keen interest in local hip hop pioneers Spotrushaz but did not like their style of rapping with a foreign accent. As a student at the university of the West Indies he was invited and took part in a monthly open mic show in San Fernando where he generally received a favourable response from the audience.

“I never get boo,” he said, “I never really see anybody get booed but sometimes there would be crickets. It s a very encouraging circle.” Motivated by the feedback he was getting, he was encouraged to bring out his own mixtape, Pimp Music, which was produced mainly by Mark Peterson. “the response was good. It was the first thing ever sold, people used to buy it. I think I charged $40 and distributed it hand-to-hand. I would go and perform and have cDs in my backpacks and so on,” he explained. “that was really a home recording, that should never have sold. I mixed the tracks, not no engineer mixed it but I got good responses,” he said.

Success-driven, “Ans” released a triple disc mixtape called Holy Trini 3 in 2010 which featured 69 songs while still studying for his medical degree. How is that possible? “At that time I was ridiculous. I was in medical school and when you now meeting me you’d be surprised at the work rate I used to have when I was younger. You don’t have to get a full production, you just get a beat and start to flow and I could put out three songs in a day. that was not hard for me. that 69 songs was probably in like two months,” he revealed.

What does this super confident - sometimes cocky - local rapper want from his music career? He explained: “I think everybody who does art, they want their art to be appreciated and that’s what I want. I don’t really need to be flying around the world with real girls and real cars. I could get that here. What I want is my music to get the respect it deserves. If you look at people internationally and people here, I making music at a standard that is comparable or even better and it should get that recognition,” he declared.

Alleyne noted that he could never see himself relinquishing his current profession permanently as he loves being a surgeon but he is not averse to taking a hiatus to advance his music abroad if so needed. the hardcore rapper said venturing into the soca industry is not on his agenda even if it would increase his local popularity. He added though that he is very interested in doing a R&B collaboration with Destra Garcia if possible.

Asked how he can convince critics of rap music that the genre does not promote violence, he said: “there is a wide variety (of music), if that’s what you seek out, that’s what you’ll find. Life is about balance. We are all humans, some are happy, some are sad, angry etc. Music can’t be about one thing. I listen to rap music and that never make me do anything. I’ve been listening to the most hardcore rap since I was single digit age and I never shoot anybody nor have I sung about shooting anybody.”

Does his educational background give him an edge when it comes to his vocabulary and ability to express himself? “Ans” credited his mother for always insisting on improving his vocabulary. He pointed out that most of the rap legends were always good in school but just never applied themselves enough. But in interviews with their past teachers they always mention flashes of brilliance shown. “Ans” album After Freeness can be downloaded online for free at audibleartgallery.com and he can be found online on Facebook (st. ans) and on twitter (st_ans).