Rapper Ceza doesn’t see anybody as his rival

Electrical technician-turned-rapper, Ceza, whose real name is Bilgin Özçalkan, says he wants to be known for his music from now on and not for polemics and debates with other musicians and celebrities. “I only retort with my music,” says Ceza, nevertheless adding, “I do not see anyone as my rival in Turkish rap.”

In “Onuncu Köy,” are you trying to say that you were “kicked out of nine villages [for telling the truth] but continue to say what [you] know is true in the 10th village”?

(Laughing) Nobody’s kicked me out of anyplace, thank God, but because I talk about a lot of things, I attract a lot of attention. Sometimes you’re not understood; sometimes the things you’re talking about can make people uncomfortable. I always speak about the feelings inside me, giving them shape with my tongue in a way suited to my heart. Even if it seems like it’s always the same old serious topics and emotional and personal pieces, I’m talking about things that can interest everyone. I took a four-year break but I prepared this album in one-and-a-half months.

Upon hearing “Ceza,” what immediately comes to mind are polemics with other musicians. Why is that?

Those are all over, listeners don’t want that anymore. Out of all of the good things that I do, it’s always the bad that attract attention. My mistakes are more in number, unfortunately. Because I know myself, I’m not really concerned about it; I’m just trying to do the best. But when there’s an attack, you’re left in the position of having to respond.

Are you saying that if it happened again, you wouldn’t hold yourself back?

In that moment I try my best to stay in control of myself. Thank God I have my music and can answer back through it. My entire life I was never someone who fought like that. In my youth I fought, but those were [instances of] ignorance of course. I’m 34 now, and the mistakes I’ve made seem irrelevant. If I’ve been able to come a certain distance in the work I do, then it’s been because I’ve been able to extract a share [of wisdom] from my mistakes.

In one of your songs you say, “Pick your foul weather friend, there are many friends.” Do you have a few ‘foul weather friends’?

I have a few of both types, actually. The first is when people try to disappear when you need something, and the second type is when they don’t distance themselves, but they can’t help because they don’t have the ability. Lately it’s mostly been people who need help that call me and I try my best to do what I can.

What’s the difference between the electrical technician Bilgin Özçalkan and the rapper Ceza?

In terms of my musical career, there’s a lot of just being known. Sometimes I get caught up in that excitement and there are things that I could never guess about my personality while I was doing electrical work. I still get excited when I’m about to go onstage. When I get onstage, my excitement goes away, but before I perform, I think. Ultimately, I don’t see myself as any different from anybody else. I still meet up with my childhood friends. … Families also listen to me a lot, because there’s never been any profanity in my music and they can’t allege the opposite for any of my albums. I also haven’t engaged in any behavior that would set a bad example. I’ve sometimes had emotional episodes, but that state of not being able to control myself -- I shouldn’t have had that same reaction.

What were you like when you were young? Were you quite the chatterbox back then, too?

(Laughs) No, I was a bit introverted during my school days. I wasn’t the one who raised his hand or talked a lot. … My feelings were affected by our living in a slum and my being the son of a civil servant. I was aware of our poverty during the period when my family was poor, and I didn’t really ask for much. My emotional personality and awareness developed at a very young age because of this.

What would happen if you lost your voice?

God willing, nothing like that will happen; I’d be very upset. The bread I eat and the means by which I provide for many people for whom I’m responsible -- I provide it all using my voice.

You see yourself as a poet. Before the saz came to Anatolia there was a tradition of verbal sparring known as şakiyye. Is that equivalent to the rap of today?

Our oral tradition [in Turkey] is highly developed. Very important poets in Anatolia produced our literature. While I definitely don’t rank myself with them, in this period we’re people who have a different way of speaking and communicating. Now there’s no literary value, but maybe 100 years later it will emerge and it can serve as an example.

Can rap be done using only pure Turkish?

Honestly, I tried that but even if you do it, it’s hard for it to be understood. In our everyday lives we just use so many foreign words! When you take out the Farsi, Arabic, German, English and French, you can’t talk. I want to do a rap piece using the French words in our language; we’ll see what they have to say then.

Would you rap in English?

As it is, my English isn’t very good, and there’s also no meaning in making music in a language that you don’t think or dream in. I’ve given over 1,000 concerts in Turkey and over 300 abroad; there are many fans and offers to give concerts. Turkish rap inspires a fan following.

You say that “I’m writing the history of rap in Turkey and I’m the best.” Is this arrogance?

These are things that I said a long time ago. In that period there was a competitive atmosphere, but right now there’s no need for me to say this. Everyone is on their own path. I don’t see anybody as a rival; I’m together with those who could be competition for me every day. There’s never been a situation amongst us where we crush one another to get to a certain point.

You’ve been criticized for featuring in commercials. Were these steps you took to make rap more popular?

I do commercials to make money. Hundreds of proposals for commercials came to me, but I [only] accepted two or three of them because, from time to time, I need money. … For example, a TV commercial proposal came from a candy brand, and my mother, may she rest in peace, died during that period. There was a huge amount of debt, and so I had to do that commercial. Of course these things that I’ve done have also been helpful in promoting rap.

Do you listen to other music, or just your own voice?

I listen to New Age a lot. Lately, I’ve been into classical Turkish music. And I also listen to my own music a lot in order to be able to memorize it. It’s not an ego issue, I just satisfy myself with my music.

Is memorizing difficult? Are your lyrics always in your mind?

I have to listen to [a song of mine] nine to 10 times. I still can’t memorize phone numbers, but I know the words to my songs. If I forget onstage, then I copy the audience.

Are you someone so emotional that you cry while writing song lyrics?

I really am that way. I’m easily inflamed, and I can cry immediately. My mother, may she rest in peace, is in my mind every day, and my pain is still fresh.

Do you write poetry?

I do, but poetry is a whole other art; I have to learn the measure and meters of it well and then write in a way according to the rules. I don’t read poetry because I don’t want to be influenced by it. You can end up using [poetry] without even being aware of it. I read encyclopedias and the dictionary. In America they have rhyming dictionaries; we have no such thing. Even while I walk, a lot of ideas come to mind, but I fall into the error of not noting them down. From now on I’m going to get a voice recorder and speak of things that come to mind.