TEKI LATEX (born Julien Pradeyrol) is the Godfather of everything that will ever matter to you. Firstly, there’s Sound Pellegrino and Institubes which both were carefully brought up by his joint efforts. Next to that he’s a part of the (electronic) hip-hop formation TTC, worked together with the likes of Lio and Alexis Week and owns the streets of Paris with his fantastic swagger and on-point sense of style. Our lovely French kroket talked to us about his sources of inspiration, what we can expect from him and Sound Pellegrino this year and has dreamed up a lovely future plan for La Planete Magique. This man shines like a diamond and we’re in love. Teki Tek, on t’aime.

TRUANTS: Hey Teki, sup? Teki: Chillen.

Please tell us about your first hagelslag experience, and what’s your experience with kroketten so far? When I was a kid I went on a Flanders/Holland tour with my parents to visit some family and this was all they fed me. Hagelslag, all day. Well, not all day, but since breakfast is such a big deal for you guys there was definitely a lot of hagelslag involved. I hated kroketten at first because I was expecting it to be a solid meatball, or more something along the lines of a chicken McNugget, but then I bit into it and oh, suprise! It’s not solid but full of a weird non-identified liquidish thing with cream and mushrooms! But I’m slowly starting to get into it thanks to the Heykids who took me to a very decent place recently.

Can you reveal something about your plans for 2010? We’re gonna do a compilation. Vinyl, CD, you name it. All sorts of limited edition things. It’s going to be great. How’s that for a revelation? And my solo single exists in my head, it’s all written, I’m just waiting on the producers to finish some of the beats. If you heard our little Sound Pellegrino Thermal Team remix of United Groove then you know what to expect.

You have such great style. What/who inspires you? Well, thank you! My fashion inspirations are Andre 3000, Ghostface and Taz Arnold. My rapper/fashion icon is Jon- E from Tokyo. The Lo-Lifes, Karl Lagerfeld when he was big, Elton John, Batman Villains. My friend Silas from Soulland is an inspiration AND one of my favorite designers. Henrik Vibskov, Big O from phenomenon and of course Ralph Lauren are up there too. My favorite Lookbook member might be Lisa Mettier, she can testify I’ve been a fan of hers way before Lookbook though. That kid Rembrandt is down too.

We always see you wearing a lot of Phenomenon and Sixpack France clothing, do you collaborate with them at all? And if so, what can we expect to see this year? Yes, I just did a capsule collection with Phenomenon, it’s out mainly in Japan and in a couple of French stores, namely Colette and Pigalle. I’m real proud of it, I tried to merge preppy influences with more eccentric/futuristic stuff going on in my head. I love expressing myself through fashion so there will be more and more of that. And yes, I’ve been friends with Lionel from Sixpack for years and years and I collaborated with them many times but this year I really have a great idea for a Sixpack tee and we’re gonna make it happen.

Which do you prefer, Nikes or Reeboks? Nowadays I like the weird Nike stuff, pairs that are kind of in between sneakers and regular shoes. And I kinda wear “adult” shoes now! I just bought an awesome pair of classic opening ceremony shoes.

What are the differences between the French and American hip-hop and dance scene? Hip-hop scene in France: Lacking charisma, obsessed with its own Frenchness, stale, political but in a cheesy, very conventional and childish way. Hip-hop scene in the US: Having trouble surviving the downfall of the music industry, looking for inspiration in various external music scenes with variable results. Remains exciting despite lacking the maestria and epicness it still had a couple of years ago. So while mainstream US hip-hop (arguably the only form of US hip-hop worth paying attention to, since the downfall of underground rap when it became obsessed with its own seriousness) is looking for new ways of staying exciting, it crosses path with dance music through the prism of David Guetta. Club rap now sounds like Dutch house and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Maybe it’ll morph into something more interesting once people start really getting creative with it and the “Top40ElectroHouseRap” genre finds its own producer genius to take it to another level, like The Neptunes and Timbaland did with jiggy 90’s rap.

Staying on the subject of French Hip-Hop, can you suggest us some of your favourite French Hip-Hop artists? Booba, Seth Gueko, Les Sages Poetes de La Rue, Driver, Joke, Craiz, Cuizinier, So Fresh Squad (the whole Stunts crew – Institubes rap label). If you’re into 90’s gangster rap with a French romantic twist, I suggest Stomy Bugsy and the Ministere Amer stuff. It’s hard, sometimes pretty funny, and the charisma level is super high. They are like the French NWA.