From Ozomatli’s Latin sounds, to the heavy New Orleans funk of Galactic and back to the original boom bap, you seem to appreciate music in many forms. In fact, there’s also a track you did with Rusko out of the dubstep realm. What led you to pop your head into that scene and how did you guys hook up and end doing a track together?
Well that was also blessing in disguise. Me and my girl were sitting on the couch watching TV, and this commercial comes on with Diplo’s remix of Marlena Shaw’s ‘California’, and I was like this shit is funky! So I got my phone out and used the song recognition app and I bought it straight up! Fast-forward some months later, and I get a call from Cut Chemist telling me that Diplo is looking for me and he was like, “I would get back to him if I were you”. So I took his number and me and him got talking, and he was telling me there was this dude named Rusko that he was signing and who was moving to L.A., and that when he had asked him if there was anyone in particular he wanted work with out here, I was the first name he came out with. We hooked up, and as soon as I heard his beats, I was like get the fuck outta here! He gave me three beats and I chose ‘How Low Can You Go’ [from Rusko’s ‘OMG’]. Rusko is a cool dude man, we were chilling before going on tour and he just said if there were any beats I liked I should take them. One of them was ‘Gadget Go Go’ [from ‘Fish Market pt. 2], my girl flipped out to it, and so I got into my little studio The Fish Tank and wrote to it, and it came out like it did.

You also feature on the Breakestra album ‘Dusk till Dawn’, and now you are touring with them. How did you guys get to come together?
Man I’ve been knowing Miles before J5 existed, even before Ozomatli.

We did tracks with sista Teela back in the day. I mean I know Miles as a bad motherfucker, I’ll just put it to you simple like that. Anything that he’s done over the years has always been quality stuff, so when he formed Breakestra I was instantly drawn to it, just with the whole concept that they’re doing, re-issuing soul for the next generation. It was a no brainer dude. He was like “Do you want to do ‘Family Rap’”? I heard the beat, and I was like YES! Let’s go.

You’ve proven to be a prolific mind, what are we to expect from the 2na Fish in the future?
If I’m just sitting still doing nothing, I feel like I have to challenge myself artistically. You know sketch, write a rap, something. It’s fun and I feel like it will be like that ‘til it ain’t no more you know. But right now, I’m working on a project with Galactic trying to pull in some weird ass guest. I can’t reveal too much right now ‘cause we’re still etching out the concept, but we’ve been recording and it’s been a ball. I want to start working on a new 2na album – I don’t know what I want to call it yet but I got a couple of ideas due to how I’m felling at this moment about the world. You know, especially about the blood clot – that big ass oil stain that about to float around the oceans of the world. I’ve also been doing a lot of painting lately that I want to show some time. So basically I’m just gonna keep challenging myself – both visually and musically.

Interview by Fabrice Bourgelle

All photographs are copyright of Fabrice Bourgelle Pyres a.k.a. Photography by Focus 2010

Chali 2na’s debut solo album ‘Fish Outta Water’ is out now, and you can follow the Verbal Herman Munster on Twitter