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Joined by odd nosdam and doseone, why? is one-third of the avant hip-hop coalition cLOUDDEAD, a group that bypasses all rules and ends up with such elaborate and unconventional free-form compositions that they have won over everyone from skaters, indie kids, and hip-hoppers alike. why? is also one of eight key players involved in the co-op record label Anticon, all of whom record, perform, write, and distort reality through genre defiance. Having dismissed the mainstream norm in his career, is there really any wonder that why?, whose friends call him "Yoni Wolf," is vegan?
 You’ve said that you think that hip-hop and veganism go hand in hand. Can you explain that?
The attitudes of hip-hop are rooted in values which do not recognize this system of media-perpetuated popular lies and corporate-funded soft science. It is more concerned with real human relations and social interaction than with property and ownership. Ideally, it is a counterculture of self-governing responsible people. Veganism and a number of other lifestyle changes follow if we are seriously responsible for and accept the physics of which we are made.
What factors went into your decision to go vegan?
Choosing to be vegan is an obvious and easy step to take in the process of learning to live responsibly and make as little negative impact to the physical world as possible. I started to feel guilty when I would eat something that had animal origin. I ceased to be able to separate meat-food from what it actually was and it became repulsive to me. It doesn’t make sense for me to eat animal products seeing as how I can be sustained and energetic and healthier without them.
What is your strategy for eating while traveling?
We look for corporate health food stores like Whole Foods or Wild Oats ’cause they are easy to find and they are in most cities. We’ve also gotten pretty damn good at finding the local vegan restaurants and co-ops. I’m definitely not one of those vegans who feels OK after eating Fritos and Cracker Jacks from the gas station commissary. We like to do it up as best
we can. I have a real sensitive digestive system. Some show promoters like to cook for you when they find out you’re vegan. That’s the best.
The meat and dairy industries are targeting African-Americans, even though most African-Americans are lactose-intolerant and meat is the driving force behind the obesity epidemic in this country. Do you pay attention to the commercials and advertisements that push unhealthy foods and lifestyles?
Television is poison. Its advertisements are transparent and vile. Its objective is to congeal all unique minds into one same brain that perpetually repeats the mantra, “Buy, buy, buy!”
What does the humane treatment of animals mean to you?
To treat animals humanely, we must no longer manufacture them for food and rock-star pants. We must no longer own them or utilize them for our benefit.
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