Artist Spotlight: Amen

South Carolina emcee, Amen, has been featured on our site quite a bit… from one of his first projects Head On to his most recent, Queen’s Boulevard. It was only natural for us to catch up and put the spotlight on him. Amen is set to release a series of five albums based off one of my favorite TV shows of all time: Entourage. Hit the jump to find out more about these projects and more about Amen…

Where You Reppin:

Columbia, South Carolina by way of Charleston, WV.

Introduce Yourself:

In a sentence, I am a 27 year-old married father of two who has an affinity for documenting his experiences, perspectives and ideas in the form of music. A lifelong fan of hip hop, I have always been drawn to the creativity and story-telling opportunity present in writing within the genre. Like most in the music industry, I began my career in search of fame and fortune. However, as I have matured over the years – I now find the most solace in the writing and recording of hopefully good material that for the time being is being distributed free of charge for anyone who may be interested in listening.

Current projects we should be looking out for:

Currently I am working on and releasing a series of five albums that are thematically based on the HBO television series, Entourage. Thankfully, you have been kind enough to feature both on your site – Head On [download], and the most recently released, Queens Boulevard [download]. As huge fans of the show, my partner Caleb “Johnny Drama” Davis and I felt it was a cool idea to produce a series of albums that are consistent in theme and scope – while staying true in influence to the source material.

Previous work that we should know about:

I think a great primer for my current work, and a good indicator of the growth I have gone through as an artist would be 2006’s Legend Killer. This was an 18 track project I did with Seattle-based KUBE 93’s resident hip hop dj – DJ Hyphen. This was at the time my most prolific body of work, and featured guest appearances from Supastition, Kaze, and Emilio Rojas.

Main musical inspirations:

Jay-Z. While this answer is probably the worst in terms of timing with all the nerd-blog-hate surrounding Jay these days – it is the truth. No artist had a bigger impact on my interest and progression as a writer and MC.

If you had to pick one song that defines your career to date, what song would that be?

“Cry For Help,” which is the last song on Queens Boulevard. The production, the flow, the story, are all unorthodox in nature and in my opinion have a different sonic experience than most would expect. This is the type of realistic, narrative-based music that I feel best reflects both my experiences, and my “lane” as an artist.

Why should the readers and fans give you a shot and listen to your music from here on out?

I feel like consistency is a lost art. It is no secret that we live in a musical age that is derivative and complacent in nature, and that the allure of the single has never been higher. I believe that listeners who view music through a similar frame of reference will agree that they miss the days of cohesive albums. I can remember going to the record store every Tuesday from like 1996-2001 and buying two or three albums per trip. Im not trying to be another member of the nostalgia movement, but I do believe in the importance of delivering a quality, complete work. If you are looking for the latest fashion advice or the greatest “lyrical miracle spiritual spherical” rap – I’m not your guy. If you are looking for an introspective look into the mind of the man behind the microphone, and perhaps into the mind and experiences in your own life – then I’d give my music a shot. You could certainly do worse.

What’s next for you?

Next for me is to continue my series of albums. I am currently in the preliminary phases of writing and recording songs for Aquaman and am always open to working with new and rising artists. I think the most important thing for me to do is to continue to build my brand of music in the same way I have succeeded thus far – and that is by going about things in a different manner than the norm. I will say that the experience of basing these albums on Entourage has been unbelievable, and that even after this series is complete – you can probably expect to see me move on to other films as contextual influences in my future projects.

If you could only take one record on a deserted island with you, what album would that be?

Jay-Z, Reasonable Doubt. A perfect blend of introspection, story-telling and relatable lyrics based over consistent and audibly synchronized production. This album has a consistent “feel” throughout, and is the project I hold as the benchmark for all of my work.

Any shout outs or last words?

Thanks Kev for giving me the opportunity to have my music heard by your readers, and especially for this interview. Thanks to Jonathan Master for all the assistance he has provided in building this series up, and especially thanks to anyone who takes the time to listen to my music. Love, hate, or otherwise – anyone who chooses to listen to my music deserves my appreciation, and ultimately shapes the future of my sound, content, and overall success in the future. Thoughts, comments, questions, and collabs can all be directed to me at MagOAmen@gmail.com … or on Twitter – @BigMenace.

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