Oh Snap! - Snap, Crackle N Pop
Colleen Edwards speaks with American MC Oh Snap!, freshly signed to Sydney label Sweat It Out and set to rip it up at Oxford Art Factory.
More than just a “G-rated way of saying ‘oh shit’” or an expression of surprise and disappointment – thank you Urban Dictionary – Oh Snap! is also a rapper. But, he does have a few surprises up his Bill Cosby Sweater sleeve. First of all, he may be large, but he reckons he has the moves to make you jealous on the dancefloor.
“I’m a pretty big guy,” he proclaims with a laugh. “But I move like a cougar on the stage. A cougar who can dance.”
The Baltimore-based artist – Mickey Fortune on his tax return – has a few other accomplishments under his belt as well as dancing, like the release of a new single out on Aussie DJ Ajax’s Sweat it Out label, which he signed to earlier this year.
“I am a big fan of Ajax, of the stuff he did with Miami Horror and Redial and I was turned on to Game Boy/Game Girl,” Fortune says of the decision to sign on to the Aussie label. “I have found people I am in psych with. These are my people,” he laughs.
And he is right to laugh, because all of this comes after starting out as a joke.
“To be honest, I am amazed!” he says. “At the start, I had two names picked out as a bit of a joke; Oh Snap! and Mad Wow Disease,” he says of his metamorphosis from a man with a mic and a dream to geek boy rapper. Humour is obviously important to the offbeat performer (who describes himself as having “average looks, average flow, and ‘you might like him, you might not like him’ personality”) as well as a touch of the crazy when it comes to his song ideas.
“I have a lot of ideas! I could fill three volumes,” he says. “And I am all for over the top, the more crazy the better.”
While there is no self-censorship of his more-often-than-not out there ideas, his song crafting approach is a more measured and thought out process.
“I have a studio in my home, so typically I go there and do the beats for the tracks at home and just find people to collaborate with… MySpace has been a great way to find people I want to work with, as well as word-of-mouth. And a lot of people are looking out for me and put me in touch with people they think will suit.”
Despite joining up to the Sydney-based label, he has not yet set foot on our sunny shores, something which he will be rectifying this month when he flies down to launch his new single, High Top Fade.
“I am really excited to be coming to Australia. My friend Hostage played in Australia a few months ago and said the crowds were unbelievable,” Fortune says. “Basically my show will be a mix of DJing and live stuff and I want to just have fun with the crowd.
“There will be a lot of surprises, and maybe some special back-up dancers.”
WHO: Oh Snap
WHAT: High Top Fade through Sweat It Out/Central Station / Plays Oxford Art Factory
WHEN: Out now / Saturday 30 August
MORE: myspace.com/daworldfamousohsnap