You remember my boy Bangs, right? He’s an internet phenomenon/international hip-hop superstar all thanks to his smash-hit single “Take U To Da Movies”, which revolves around taking a shorty to the movies and buying her popcorn and a drink. If you haven’t seen the video clip, watch it NOW. It’s the best. We were all over that shit when it first hit YouTube. No wonder he’s been referred to as everything from the “Sudanese 50 Cent” to “the illest rhyme-spitter this world has ever seen!”
I caught up with Bangs and had a good long chin-wag and photoshoot in the driveway of the carpark that happened to be next-door to the peculiar Latin-themed restaurant he was playing at in Sydney. We talked about popcorn, ladies and how inspirational Chingy is. Bangs turned out to be much more likeable than Kanye West at an awards show.
Vice: Hey! Do you mind if from now on I refer to you exclusively as “my boy Bangs”?
My boy Bangs: No.
Perfect, now it’s like we’re BFFs. How long have you been living in Melbourne for?
Six years, since 2003.
What’s your opinion of the Australian ladies?
Australian women!? Yeah, they’re good. They’re sexy. They’re good in Melbourne too. I take them to da movies.
I bet you do. When did you first start rapping?
Around the end of 2004.
So you didn’t rap back in Sudan?
No, no. I was in Egypt too, but I didn’t rap there either.
What do you think of how “Take U To Da Movies” has blown up on the internet? You’re a bonafide international hip-hop superstar!
Wooooow! I know, it’s good. It feels nice.
My boy Bangs.
Yes?
Tell me something. How did it happen?
Well, you know, it just happened. I was just posting the video up on Facebook, before that I had posted it on YouTube. I was just saying every single day “Yo, check out my new video ‘Take U To Da Movies’”. You know, every day I just kept post, post, post, post, post.
Hang on. You kept posting the same video every day?
Nah, nah, like I post one and then another one I write “Take U To Da Movies”, but not posting the video. Then I write, like, different sentences. Then after three weeks I checked it out and the viewers are going: “WOOOOOOOOOOOOW!”
Good tactic. Talk me through how you made the video.
It was with someone called Dominic Allen. We were shooting on green screen. He said, “Bangs, let’s hear the song!” and then we started shooting for a day or three days. Then I directed and put it all together.
You mean the images? You chose the images of the roulette table and the Australian money?
Woooo, yeah! Australian money!
It’s waterproof and pretty colorful. That’s better than most money.
Australian money! Yeah! Those were just the photos, you know. It wasn’t even the “for real” video. I was just doing it to see how to do it. I didn’t know it was going to become like that.
Are you saying that you didn’t know you were destined to become an international hip-hop superstar?
Wooooow!
I first heard “Take U To Da Movies” in London. The editor in the office was playing it every day for three days straight.
Wooooow! “Take U To Da Movies” is so huge! I get messages from people in London, you know, saying, “Whoa! This song is soooo good! Where can I get the CD?” You know, USA, LA, New York, all around people talking at me.
So do you consider yourself to be a worldwide superstar?
Yes! You know, I’m just trying to make everything good now. You know, look on iTunes for Bangs ringtones, coming soon!
I sure will. My boy Bangs, I have a good question for you. If you had the chance to take just one “shorty” to the movies, who would it be?
My girlfriend.
Do you have a girlfriend?
Nah. But, you know, to the movies I would take a good sexy-sexy girl.
What kind of girl does my boy Bangs normally go for?
Could be any girl, you know.
I see your game, keeping the options open, right?
Whoever comes first!
You have quite a unique style of rhyming, so I’m just wondering how you go about writing?
Yeah! When I started, I never used to write any of my songs down. I just went!
Like Jay-Z, huh? All in the head?
Yeah, I used to do the head thing, but then I forgot them. So after that, I’ve just been writing them down, you know, so then I can look at them again and not forget.
Smart tactic.
I used to, just for fun, put it all my songs on YouTube. But now, with all my songs, I just keep them in the corner, you know?
I keep loads of stuff in the corner. I’ve been looking on the internet and you’ve been called the “50 Cent of Sudan”. How does that make you feel?
Yeah, I’ve heard that one. I’ve also been called the next Tupac.
How about this: you’ve been called “the greatest rapper of all time” with “the illest rhymes this world has ever heard” who “lays out the greatest first date of all time”. How does that make you feel?
Wooooooow! Yeah! That makes me want to write more rhymes, you know, make more big hits!
I’ve heard a bad one too though. One guy, after listening to “Take U To Da Movies” yelled out loud that “Sudan should drown for this!” How does that make you feel?
Huh? Sudan should drown?
Yeah. What do you say to these haters?
It just makes me want to more and more and more. You know, these guys, they never listen, so they make me want to do more and more and more. I just do my thing, you know. The more haters you get, the more friends you get. I’m just doing more, doing my thing, making it good.
Who’s your favorite rapper?
Chingy!
Oh yeah, I should have guessed. You’ve got that song that’s just like Chingy’s song “Right Thurrr”, except yours is called “Take You Right Thurrr”.
Right Thurrr, Right Thurr, Right Thurrr! Yeah! I rap just like him on the song, saying thurrr instead of there, you know. It’s kind of similar, you know. I’ll take you right thurrr.
What makes you like Chingy, then, and not, let’s say, Outkast, Lil’ Wayne or Jay-Z?
Jay-Z, man! Sometimes you can’t even understand what he’s talking about. He just talk, talk, talks. But Chingy, you know, you can understand Chingy. His lyrics you can understand. The way he dresses, the way he talks, the way he shoots movies, you can understand.
One of the little trademarks of your songs is this thing where you go “Ahaa!” like an ecstatic small child at the end of your rhymes. How did that come about?
Well, you know, rappers have their thing where they go, “Yeah,” “Ughhh,” and grunt. But for me, I just go “Ahaaaaa!” It’s my thing, something I do. I like to be different.
So who else is a big influence for you?
Chingy, Fabolous… 50 Cent is good too! I like 50 Cent.
Yeah! My friend was saying you’re so much like 50 Cent that you should be called 50 Sudanese Dinar.
[laughs] Why are they trying to hate on me, man? 50 Sudanese Dinar is a bad name. Why would they be calling me 50 Sudanese Dinar? Especially when you’re coming up, you know, they just want to knock you down.
Unlike most rappers, you actually come across as kind to girls. Is that something you try to do?
Yeah, you’ve got to be nice to them, then they’re nice to you. But you can’t be too nice, because then they might cheat on you. They might say, “I’m just going out,” and then they go and see another man. Just because they’re nice doesn’t mean that they’re not having a stand with another man, you know? You see this every single day. So this is why I say that I don’t need a girlfriend. I just concentrate on what I need, my music, but for the “Take U To Da Movies” girl, that’s just for my special one, you know, my special girl!
You’ve got a song on your album called “My Life is Hard”, and I listened to the chorus, which goes, “My life is so hard to lead, and I never ever have a good time.” That’s kinda sad.
Sometimes my life is hard, you know? Sometimes you call your friends, they get drunk, they get you wrong. Sometimes… my bag, three weeks ago, I put it down, I was taking photos, and then it’s gone. It made me feel kind of a bit sad. Sometimes things can kind of make you feel sad, you know?
Is there anything else you want to tell your worldwide audience?
I want to say thanks to them. Thanks to my fans for listening to my music around the world. I want to go and perform in London. I know I’ve got fans in the UK and the US, and I want to go and tour. At the moment I’ll relax, and then go to London.
Have you started work on the second album?
Yeah, it’s all going. I make the beats on my laptop. I use Ableton and Fruity Loops.
Who would you like to contribute on your next album?
Yeah! Chingy, 50 Cent, The Game, Soulja Boy.
I think you and Soulja Boy would be perfect together.
Yeah, you know he’s got that dance and that song that was huge! That dance was his thing.
It’s been a pleasure, my boy Bangs.
It’s all good, man.
WORDS: BEN COHEN
PHOTOS: TOMMY THOMS
This is glorious. My keyboard is now beverage-stained.
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