What’s In Your Fridge is where the Straight asks interesting Vancouverites about their life-changing concerts, favourite albums, and, most importantly, what’s sitting beside the Heinz ketchup in their custom-made Big Chill Retropolitan 20.6-cubic-foot refrigerators.

On the grill

Junk

Who are you

My name is Junk which is short for Junkie Juggler. Reason for the name? Ever since I was young I was an addict at everything I did—whether music, sports, partying or drawing, I would juggle everything all at the same time and be a fiend for everything I did with no end in sight. This is still true to this day and is why I am heavily invested in my craft of making words rhyme obsessively on a daily and sometimes hourly basis. Whether I am in the studio writing or the stage performing, no matter what, I am an addict. I am born in Germany, to a German mother and an Italian father. I moved between Italy and Germany a lot until my parents separated. Finally I made the leap to B.C. with my mother. In this city I have been rapping for over a decade. I am trilingual and rap in English, German and, of course, Italian, hence them being my mother languages. From winning freestyle rap battles, emcee competitions, opening for well-known acts, to headlining my own sold-out shows across Canada, to signing with local legend Snak The Ripper’s label Stealthbomb Records. Life has been hectic, but it’s been a blessing.

First concert

Like I said before I was born in Germany so the first big concert I remember attending was the 1993 Binge & Purge Metallica tour in Berlin. I was a wee little guy sitting on my mom’s shoulders with these little binoculars watching the melodic mayhem unfold. AC/DC was on the bill as well. So it was an iconic and formative experience for the young child that I was. I remember lots of fire and pyrotechnics that day. Fucking eh.

Life-changing concert

I think it would be watching my father's band Prozac Piu in Italy when I’d go back to visit every summer. One time he was rocking an enormous crowd for the Pope in Rome while opening for U2. Pure madness. I got to travel with the band every summer and experience the touring lifestyle. It was clearly a fantastic experience and obviously made me want it. My father is a very well-respected musician in Italy, so I must say it’s watching him that really made me want to do this music thing as a career.

Top three records

Chef Raekwon Only Built 4 Cuban Linx The slang, the RZA production, the aesthetics, and the verbal wizardry of that album—the first time I heard it and saw the visuals, it made me go buy Tommy Hilfiger and hush puppies immediately. It was also the first album I ever bought. Changed my life to this day. God bless the Wu. Hands down the best Wu project ever.

Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy I’m convinced this is the greatest album ever made, period. Kanye was really in his bag on this one. From the first note to the last, it’s the perfect sonic masterpiece. Features seamlessly woven together over the best sonic album in decades. That’s also attributed to the genius engineer Mike Dean. After this album everyone started working with Mike Dean. It encompasses every mood and has something for everyone, yet it is so perfectly connected. This is the album that made me want to dabble outside of the purist hip-hop movement I was in and actually focus on the beauty of all musical elements and not just the stuff for rap heads.

Bob Marley and the Wailers Legend I mean I guess it’s cliché to list this, but it’s such a beautifully happy and melancholic album. How can I not? Bob will be the most timeless artist of all time in my opinion. This album will be digested in 50 to 100 years still with the same efficacy. This is the best album to put on if you’re feeling any type of way. So I have to throw it in my rotation for top three.

All-time favourite video

Wu-Tang Clan "Triumph" My favourite ever. I mean it was when good rap was starting to dominate the airwaves and MTV. You had each member of the Wu do a verse, and it was the first time that I recalled seeing CGI used in this way in a video—when the killer bees starting buzzing around New York and what not. I mean come on. You could really feel that the Wu was about to take over the world with the analogy of the bees swarming the globe.

What’s in your fridge

Two Bottles of El Jimador tequila. I hate tequila with a passion. I can’t even smell it or I’ll puke. That being said it’s very unclear how it got there. Well, it probably has to do with my habits of degeneration. But I’ll keep it in there for the freaks that come by and need it for fuel.

Pre-wrapped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I rarely cook for myself so my fridge looks like a squatter’s fridge. Or better yet a pathetic bachelor’s. That being said, my mother works on movie sets as a crafty so she always brings me the remnants of whatever they’re serving that day. So let me tell you, I fucking love those PBJ sandwiches.

Soda streams. I always have two bottles of carbonated water in my fridge. I am very Euro when it comes to the water I drink. I won’t drink water unless it’s sparkling. Fizzy water is more essential than the any vaccine in the world to me. You won’t catch me slipping without that beverage.

Junk and Young Stitch have a new album titled Lions Eat Goats. You can listen to it here.