Most artists spend years trying to define themselves. Msb Mario has spent his career doing the opposite.

For some, he is Spain’s most uncompromising spoken word artist. For others, he is a provocateur whose work sits somewhere between poetry, performance and confrontation. His shows have divided audiences from Barcelona to Brixton, generated headlines across the British music press and left critics wrestling with the same question: are they watching an artist, or someone rewriting the rules of what an artist can be?

After years of interviews, The Hype Magazine decided there was little point asking about the career again.

The interesting questions begin where the biography ends.

[PHOTO 1]
Photo by Jonathan Somarib 

Interview

Hype: Before we talk about the work, I’ve always wondered whether Mario and “El Niño de la Pili” are still the same person. If they met today as two strangers, what would they see in each other?

Msb Mario: They’re both bad fathers. That’s exactly what they’d see in each other. Then I suppose El Niño de la Pili would see the sad state of drug addiction Mario has become, to the point of ending up talking to you here. I don’t know, they both think killing themselves is the best answer. 

Hype: Was there a moment when performing stopped being something you did and became something you simply were?

Msb Mario: I’m poetry, brother. It works through me like fucking Rivotril. It leaves you calm. 

Hype: You’ve never seemed interested in explaining yourself. When did you decide that being understood wasn’t the point?

Msb Mario: When they started understanding me better on their knees, giving me a blowjob. I don’t want to speak to you, really.

Hype: People often confuse confidence with arrogance. You’ve been accused of both. Has that ever bothered you?

Msb Mario: I’m arrogantly humble. 

Hype: Something stayed with me from Brighton. Before anyone heard a single poem, you chose to talk about your father. Considering how rarely he appears in your work, why did that moment belong on stage?

Msb Mario: Before the goalkeeper even kicked the ball, my whole life I’ve been shouting my own name, knowing I’m going to touch it, that it’s going to land exactly where I am. Not because of talent, not because of intuition, not even because of speed, simply because I’ve got the balls, brother. I’ve answered your question perfectly. Now don’t mention my father again. 

Hype: Let’s talk about one piece of work. Is there one song that has stayed with you longer than you expected?

Msb Mario: I don’t make songs, I make poems, so your expectations are much longer than mine. 

Hype: You’ve had people walk out of your shows, argue about you online, defend you, criticise you and come back again. What reaction tells you you’ve actually reached someone?

Msb Mario: Passion. 

Hype: Do you ever worry that people might understand your work too well?

Msb Mario: Nah.

Hype: Which version of Mario had to disappear for this one to exist?

Msb Mario: The best version of Mario will be in Leeds on the 31st of this month. I think all the others disappear. 

Hype: Earlier you described yourself as “a drug addict.” That is a strong thing to say publicly. When addiction appears in your writing, it doesn’t feel like something you’re observing from a distance. What has been the hardest addiction to live with?

Msb Mario: Medication. Cocaine. 

Hype: Has there ever been a lyric you’ve written that you weren’t actually living at the time?

Msb Mario: Never without a condom. 

Hype: You’ve played small rooms where every silence mattered, and bigger stages where the energy changes everything. When did you stop measuring a performance by the size of the room?

Msb Mario: The greats in history perform from the inside to the outside without paying attention to what’s around. I’m the greatest in the history of art. I play from the inside and let Yayo do the little touches on the outside. 

Hype: Some people describe your performances as uncomfortable. Do you think that is something you create intentionally?

Msb Mario: My concerts are comfortable. I try to tell the story of the kid who grew up in Reus and made it to England just by playing his poetry in the most musical way possible. I don’t know where you see the uncomfortable part, but I’m not interested in your opinion anyway. 

Hype: People keep trying to define where you belong. Do you still care about categories?

Msb Mario: I have a great definition, that speaks about my category.

Hype: After everything you’ve written, is there still a part of Mario that hasn’t been explored?

Msb Mario: The Passion.

Hype: I think there was a moment when people stopped listening only to the poems and started watching you instead. Did you notice when that happened?

Msb Mario: I don’t know, I think everything you think means nothing to me. 

Hype: If someone appeared tomorrow doing what you do, only better, what would your reaction be?

Msb Mario: I would clap for him from heaven. Someone better than you always has to appear, that is what art is about. But my parents are not philosophy teachers, so it’s better that someone else answers this question. 

Hype: You’ve performed in front of very different audiences across Spain and the UK. Is there one thing you always take away from those moments?

Msb Mario: When you’re the greatest in the history of art, you don’t take away moments, you take away sensations. 

Hype: When you write now, what are you actually trying to change?

Msb Mario: I write in 10 minutes. I haven’t taken it seriously for 4 years, your level was always low, I didn’t need more than a few words, and it was proven. But in 10 minutes I couldn’t change anything because I fit everything in. 

Hype: Do you think you’ve changed spoken word?

Msb Mario: I’m Spoken Word. What a shit question. 

Hype: Has there ever been a moment when you thought your last performance had already happened?

Msb Mario: Leeds. Then I’m going to kill myself. 

Hype: You answered, “Leeds. Then I’m going to kill myself.” I don’t want to move past that too quickly. What did you mean?

Msb Mario: Si te tienen que matar, que no te maten en la filosofía, que te maten en Linares.

Hype: That was the first time you’ve answered me in Spanish. I’m not sure I understood that answer well enough to do it justice, so I’ll leave it there. Let’s move on. After a performance, when the lights go down and you finally get home, how long does it take before you’re just Mario again? 

Msb Mario: I never go home. 

Hype: At the end of a concert, what do you think people are applauding?

Msb Mario: The Passion. 

Hype: When this interview is published, what do you hope I haven’t misunderstood about you?

Msb Mario: All. 

The conversation ended there. Mario chose not to continue, and no further questions were asked.

[PHOTO 2] 

Photo by Jonathan Somarib