KevinNottingham.com » Artist Spotlight

Rashid Hadee Talks Being A One Man Show, The Aural Sex LP & His Love Of Spanish Soaps

William Schmitt — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:00:04 +0000

When he is not on his grind, producer/emcee Rashid Hadee enjoys making music purely for the joy. The Honest Management signee’s new album, Aural Sex: The Search for Pinky Tuscadero, was just released and I was lucky enough to speak with Hadee recently to discuss the new project. And over the course of our conversation, we covered some music from his catalog, his unique mix of inspirations, and his future plans involving the music industry. Check out the convo!

Will: Can you talk about some of your previous releases for readers who might not know you that well? How did you come up in the game?

Rashid Hadee: I had my first album Dedication, which came out in 2007. I had my Serenade For The Moment EP that came out in 2008. What else did I have? I had 808s and Hadee in 2009, and then Hadiesel: The Fuel Up in 2010.

Will: Do you have a favorite out of the work you’ve done so far?

Hadee: A favorite out of the bunch? A song called “Explode” from the Serenade For The Moment EP because I think that’s some of my best lyrics. I just like my flow on that. The beat and the hook and everything…it came together real nice on that joint.

Will: My favorite song of yours is, “The Dreamer.” Can you talk about what you put into that track?

Hadee: That’s one of the lead videos from Leakage: The PreEP. “The Dreamer” was one of them and also I had “Night Train.” That’s my most recent video.

Will: Can you talk about the work that went into that track? What inspired you to make that song?

Hadee: Oh… that song was born out of when people try to shoot your dreams down. You know [when they] tell you, you can’t do something or give you some kind of negative energy when you’re trying to do something positive with yourself. For instance, you wanna record music and people are like, “Aw man, your shit is wack.” Like you’re not as good as Waka Flocka Flame [Laughs]. And they’ll try to just throw some shit at you like that and just try to do anything they can to just shoot down your dream. And that’s why I got different lines in there. You know, the way I do. Those different things happened to me and that’s me fighting back.

Will: Who are some of your musical idols? If so, can you talk about how they influence you?

Hadee: Oh yeah, definitely. I got a whole bunch of them from different genres. I get influence from Hip Hop, soul, electronic music, jazz, you know, I just pull inspiration from all those artists… Jaco Pastorius, Stevie Wonder. On the Hip Hop side, I probably pull inspiration from, I don’t know, so many artists. Pete Rock, producers like that. J Dilla, of course. I pull a lot of inspiration from J Dilla’s music.

Will: So usually, is it producers or rappers that inspire you? And do you consider yourself more of a producer or a rapper?

Hadee: Definitely a mix of the two because I take turns. That’s how I work. I pretty much take turns with each talent. I might go a certain time period producing, a certain time period writing, and I just go back and forth and record. I record all of my own music myself…all my beats and everything. It’s just like a one-man show over here most of the time. [Laughs].

Will: Who are some Chicago based artists you’d like to get involved with and work with in the future?

Hadee: Shoot, I’d like to work with Crucial Conflict cause they’re just like legends. Twista also… they’re legends for the city. Any legend in the city… Common of course [and] Lupe. I’d love to work with those dudes. They are definitely an inspiration because that shows me that even though I’m from Chicago, I can be like them someday and be in a position like them.

Will: It’s pretty cool that you have that in Chicago. I’m from St. Louis and we’ve got Nelly but not many Hip Hop legends like that. [Laughs] So it’s pretty cool you’ve got that to look forward to. Now when you’re not on your grind, what kinds of music do you chill out and relax to?

Hadee: Man, when I chill out, I’m usually playing Call of Duty or watching the Spanish soaps and stuff like that… looking at the beautiful women on there [Laughs].

Will: So what is the most rewarding experience you’ve had during your musical career?

Hadee: My most rewarding experience would have to be my beautiful post on Kevin Nottingham.com. [Laughs] But other than that, it would be when I got the Chairman’s Choice in XXL. I think that was probably one of the best things to happen so far.

Will: Was that when you felt like you made it?

Hadee: Well, it was just like a milestone. I’ll probably never feel like I made it. That’s just my personality…I’m always striving for more. Even if I’m with this big deal or what not, there’s still goals in my mind and I’ll never feel like I’ve made, so here I am. When I get to that point, as far as getting a deal and all that, I’ll really turn it up a whole lot as far as my quantity of music being that I won’t have to work a 9-5 anymore. [Laughs]

Will: So where do you want to go in the future? Do you want to get signed to a major?

Hadee: Honestly, I just do music because I love it. This is like a hobby for me and whatever comes in my direction; I’ve got open arms for it. Of course, I’ll be careful about anything that comes my way. I’m already happy where I’m at now [with Honest Management], because as long as I get a chance to make music, that’s all I really care about. I definitely look forward to cashing some nice big checks off the music but that’s not necessarily a priority. The main priority for me is actually making the music… that’s all I really focus on.

Will: You said you’d always be trying to do more so what if you hit the level of a Jay-Z? Would you tone it down? Would you sell out or just keep making music for the sake of making music?

Hadee: Say for instance, if I were on a Jay-Z level, I would still have that urge to make music. I’ll have all this money and I’ll be swimming with all these hundred dollar bills in my backyard, but I’ll have my beat machine right there. I’ll have my computer with me while I’m laying in all that money… I’m still gonna be making music. [Laughs]

Will: You have a new album coming out soon. Tell me about that.

Hadee: Real soon. Anytime in the next week or next couple weeks. It’s called Aural Sex: The Search for Pinky Tuscadero. [Laughs] It’s a pretty crazy title. It’s pretty much like a concept album. It’s a story put to music. Of course the core of it is raw lyricism and beats but it’s a nice little story to go along with it.

Will: So what kind of story is it?

Hadee: My road to meeting my ideal mate… the girl of my dreams, just the coolest chick. And I’m meeting all these different girls on the path. It starts out real smooth and innocent and then things start getting crazy and my life starts getting super crazy, [but] once I meet that right girl, everything is all good after that. That’s what the story is about… just the everyday quest of any man. I’m sure a lot of people will relate to the story. I’m sure everybody goes through the same thing…meeting these crazy ass girls and then you meet a cool one. That’s how it is.

Will: Hey man, that sounds great. I’m looking forward to hearing it. Well thank you for your time it was great to talk to you and get to know you a little bit better.

Hadee: Likewise, I appreciate you man. I appreciate you all showing love. I’ll be looking forward to my KevinNottingham.com post. [Laughs]

MarQ Spekt Talks Unreleased Debut, Bionic Jazz Collab With MF DOOM & Future Of The Invizzibl Men

Justin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:00:39 +0000

It took much longer than anticipated but the third and final part of my interview with MarQ Spekt is here for your reading pleasure. In the latter edition of our conversation, we dig into Spekt’s discography and also touch on what’s to come in the future. Spekt discusses working with producers Lex Boogie & Korede, a new record with original MF DOOM beats, the possibilities of another Invizzibl Men album with Karniege and confirms that fans will get to hear his previously unreleased debut Ghostmaker in the near future. So check out the rest of our talk below (and sorry for the wait).

Justin: How did you link up with Lex Boogie and first start working with him?

MarQ: Yeah man. Lex is a talented dude, but more than anything else, Lex is a loyal dude. And he’s not afraid to let you know what he thinks. He’ll let you know, “Hey I’m not feeling this.” He’s not no yes man and I fuck with his beats. Lex is a grilchy dude. He grew up in the Bronx like a block away from [Big] Pun and around cats like A.G. and shit like that. Lex is just an ill dude. He spits and he motherfucking produces. Just being around creative people [is important]. I wouldn’t really call myself an emcee; I’m just a creative person. I might get an idea and wanna do a t-shirt one day. I might want to cook a fly ass dinner (Laughs). I got a comic book in the works called Hard Body Deluxe. If anything call me an emcee’s emcee. I’ve been blessed to be on tracks with motherfucking C-Rayz Walz, Cannibal Ox and got beats from [MF] DOOM on a new project I’m doing called Bionic Jazz. Kno fucking with me; CunninLynguists fucking with me. A bunch of reputable people fuck with me. I take pride in the fact that it ain’t a whole bunch of bums that like my shit.

Justin: So with your mindset of being more than emcee, is that why you’ve been willing to release various projects for free like Guilty Party and just let people hear the music?

MarQ: Yeah, that’s fun. I got a project called Ghostmaker from like ’99, basically the shit I was gonna release for my Sub-Verse debut. But there’s other songs on there that people haven’t heard and when they hear it, they’ll be like, “Oh he’s been nice with it.” I’m gonna release that soon, probably before the summer. [Fans] can hear my early shit and see I was more of a battle rapper, more punchlines with his shit. Some of em might be like he was even harder back then! Because I was really, really going in [and] doing grilchy shit. (Laughs) You know what I mean? I got a project with my Mobonics, he was on DOOM’s Born Like This or Born Into This… What was that joint called?

Justin: Oh yeah, it was Born Like This.

MarQ: He was on that and rolls with Metal Face. I got a single/EP with him called Bionic Jazz that’s coming, we’re probably just gonna release it on Bandcamp. [We’ve] got production from DOOM and no Special Herbs beats. These are exclusives! [We] also got production from Lex Boogie and my man Willie Green on there. So that joint is coming real soon. And I’m working on another project called Gutterfly Knives.

Justin: Can you talk at little about what we should expect from that project?

MarQ: Yeah, there’s this kid name Korede. He’s young, probably about 22. But he grew up listening to real shit and he’s just a talented producer. He’s still going to school right now, but he actually did some joints on J-Live’s album. J-Live actually introduced me to him and Korede took a liking to my stuff. I actually got a crazy beat from him and I followed up with him like, “We need to work.” I heard enough and I was like… what I really want to do now is not work with established people, but bring someone who’s young and has potential to be really great. My next project is gonna be giving him exposure. He’s got that soulful style. I wouldn’t really call them jazzy, but they’re some hard body soul shit. He kind of reminds of a young Madlib.

Justin: Wow, ok so like the Lootpack days?

MarQ: Yeah like between Lootpack and Quasimoto. That’s what this kid’s bringing to the table. So I’m hoping to have that project done in February cause MacheteVision brought a lot of positive light to me.

Justin: I remember years back going on your Myspace to cop Pretty Weapons (Laughs). So with this new exposure you’ve got, are you planning to re-release any of your back catalog for the new listeners especially with an option like Bandcamp available?

MarQ: Um, I know for sure I’m releasing the Ghostmaker. I mean the Bloodlust mixtapes kind of covered most of my old shit except for the Broady Champs’ Dirty Needlez and High Life mixtapes. So those may get released, but Ghostmaker is that shit to where you can’t find that online. No one really has that. And even if you got it from me when I was selling them hand to hand, it’s a little different than what that was. I got some different stuff on there. So you’re gonna hear what I was sound like in ’99 and 2000. I’m new to people because I’ve never had a label situation work out. But can you imagine if that LP came out back in the day, like 2000/2001? An album with all DOOM and Bigg Jus production! And so there are still people that don’t get how deep this is. They think I’m a blogger cause I connect with bloggers or that I’m a Hip Hop insider cause I know all these big names. Me with this culture pre-dates all this blog culture. That’s what’s new, I’m old. But there’s folks who have it the other way around. So there’s gonna be people like, “Oh I didn’t know he was really rapper back then.” If you didn’t know what I was doing in ’94, ’95, ’96, you really don’t know what the fuck I’ve done. I had a wild teenage life. I was doing shit, not to be braggadocios or some shit, but I was known to bag two chicks at the same time. That wasn’t some fluke shit, I didn’t have to be a rapper to do that. That’s my pedigree. I’ve been about sneakers! That’s what made me a good battle rapper, I was confident in myself. I wasn’t afraid to go into the cypher back when you had to fight to even get heard. That shit scares people because they confuse confidence with arrogance. Jealousy turns to hatred real easy. Being successful or having skill can bring you some hate real quick. That scene from Belly where dude is chewing on the banana and shit, that’s how motherfuckers is treating me right now and I ain’t with that shit. But it’s ok, cause I’m used to it. At the end of the day, I just wanna be known as someone who isn’t all talk. If I’m talking about some shit, you’re gonna see it.

Justin: I hear you. I wanna go back to that Bloodlust tapes for second. I remember back when Volume 2 dropped, there was some talk about an album called Persona Non Grata. Is that still on the table or has that been shelved for good?

MarQ: That was supposed to get done like two years ago and it’s just not on my radar right now. When I was talking about doing it is when it really should have happened cause now I’m in a totally different space. It may not be totally off the table, but it’s on the table at this point. Gutterfly Knives is the chamber I’m in right now.

Justin: Now one of your best known projects prior to MacheteVision was the Invizzibl Men album with Karniege. How did you first meet up with him and decide to do an album together?

MarQ: Karniege and me met through C-Rayz Walz. It was me, Karniege, C-Rayz, Vast Aire, Vordul Mega, J-Live and maybe Akrobatik was there, I’m not sure. It was a lot of people sitting around building for some short tour they was doing. C-Rayz was having me jump on stage to kick a freestyle and Karniege was like, “I fuck with what you do” and it was the same on my side. So after that we just got to chopping it up on some real people shit. He was on tour and I was doing whatever I was doing, we started talking on the phone just building on some friend shit still. But when I went to New York to do some work with my homie Lo-Deck, I was like, “Let me holla at Karniege” and he did like three joints that night quick. We just realized that we had crazy chemistry and we needed to follow it up. Now my boy Billy Woodz was working with Karniege and was on Backwoodz Studioz label out of New York. He was like, “I just want to do a project with you. Whatever you want to do, I’m a fan. I wanna put your shit out.” So me and Karniege was like, Backwoodz is gonna fund the project and put it out, let’s make this happen. We started getting beats together and when they flew me up to New York to work on the album, the first night we did six songs. We knocked out those six songs from 8pm to like 3am. And Vordul Mega was with us in the studio the whole time and we were judging the tracks by how hyped Vordul would get [listening to them]. But everything was a banger and you could see Vordul like dancing and shit! Them sessions were so quick, me and him finished that album real quick. When I get in the zone, it really don’t take me long to blackout and finish a project. The fact that we had chemistry and were just cool with each other on some real shit just helped it a lot. He wasn’t on MacheteVision, but me and Karniege will definitely be working with each other again.

Justin: So do you think in the future that there will be another Invizzibl Men album?

MarQ: I don’t know. Because that project, and I said this at the time, is a project that people are really gonna have to go back to and digest. I don’t really like doing part ones and part twos for shit that ain’t mixtapes. Like I don’t think we’re gonna do a MacheteVision Part 2. So Invizzibl Men, I don’t know if when me and Karniege get back together, that we would even call it that. But that’s my man. Him and his girl are like family to me. We ain’t gotta get back and do music together, but we will be doing a lot of shit in the future. I guarantee that.

Justin: Well it’s been great talking to you. Do you have any last words for our readers?

MarQ: Yeah man. Cop MacheteVision, but make sure you go back and dig. I’m probably gonna put Pretty Weapons on the Bandcamp and Ghostmaker will be there soon. My site right now is EverythingCrisp.com and that’s the new spot. GrilchyFace was great for what it was, but motherfuckers started think I was one of the bloggers and shit. And ain’t nothing wrong with that, but that’s just not what I am. People was really blowing up my inbox like, “Post my music.” They really started sending press releases and shit. So that’s what I mean. And now that they think I’m a rapper, it’s “Listen to my beats. I wanna do a song with you.” (Laughs) And if for some reason you ain’t up on Kno, check out Death Is Silent and all the CunninLynguists shit. I gotta shout out Deacon The Villain, cause he sat in on the MacheteVision recordings and really helped us get it done. He was a valuable second set of ears and we wouldn’t have got this done without him. And check me out on Twitter, @MarQSpekt. Yo, I appreciate you man. Thanks to you and KN for supporting the kid.

Read Part 1 of MarQ Spekt interview here

Read Part 2 here

Kooley High Discusses Motivation Behind Moving To NYC, Being Homesick & Dispels Rumors Of Rapsody Leaving The Group

Uptown Bobby — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:00:43 +0000

The old cliché of absence making the heart grow fonder holds true to North Carolina’s Kooley High after leaving Raleigh, Carolina to go to New York. But, in that move, Kooley High released what is arguably their best project in last year’s David Thompson. With half of the group in NYC and the other in Raleigh, Charlie Smarts, DJ Ill Digitiz and Foolery sit down with KN.com to discuss working with new producers, Raleigh’s Hip Hop scene vs. New York’s and missing home.

Uptown Bobby: David Thompson has a different sound to it than any of your previous projects. Compared to your older albums, it was smoother and more laid-back. What made you guys choose this direction?

Charlie Smarts: Well, it was a mixture of us living in Brooklyn for a year together: Me, Digitiz, Foolery and Tab-One… that’s why it sounds so cohesive. Plus, DJ Prince lived right up the street. When you mix all of that together, it really created a real close knit project. We came together real naturally with DJ Prince too.

Uptown Bobby: Yeah, I could sense that you guys had a great chemistry with DJ Prince. I also noticed Prince had averse on ‘’Big Headed.’’ I’ve never heard DJ Prince rap before that track. Was that his debut as a rapper? If so, how did you guys get him to add a feature?

Ill Digitz: He had written a verse here and there and he has some stuff recorded as an MC. He actually has some albums where he’s rapping with other artists and what not. But none of that stuff has really come out yet as far as the public is concerned. This is probably the first official, major time anyone has heard him rapping. So, yea, in a way it was a ‘’debut.’’ It was a natural thing, too. He came up with a good verse, approached us about it and we decided to let him hop on the track.

Uptown Bobby: Word. Digitiz with you being a DJ, what do you like about the New York club scene compared to the Carolina scene?

Digitz: Man, for me, and this is not a diss to the South, but I enjoy the music up here a little more. There’s more of an eclectic sound up here. Like, for me, when I go to DJ parties, I can play a broader mix or playlist and it’s accepted more by the crowd. You can play the classics, new stuff, New York rap, down South stuff, old school, R&B, etc… just a better crowd. Now, compare that to Raleigh and most people just want to hear all Southern music. I like the Southern stuff, but as a DJ it’s refreshing to see people want a different mix of music.

Uptown Bobby: I can totally relate. I’m from Louisiana and I notice the same thing when I go out.

Digitz: (Laughs) Yea, so you know what I’m talking about, then? Now, don’t get me wrong, I love South music, but it’s just nice to play Fabolous too, you know? The people here want to hear different stuff. Like, New York really is a melting pot like no other.

Uptown Bobby: Dope. My next question is for Charlie. Do you prefer the production on this album compared to previous albums?

Charlie: I like dope beats, man. The beats that I got on older albums were dope, and the beats that I got for David Thompson were dope, too. You hand me a dope beat and I’m gonna rap over it. I won’t say I like this one over that one; it’s just different flavors. Either way, it’s all Kooley High. I love the beats on David Thompson the same way I loved the beats on Eastern Standard Time. These projects are all my children, so I love them all.

Uptown Bobby: While we’re on the topic of dope beats, ‘’Dear Raleigh’’ is a very heartfelt track. What was your approach to your verse on the song?

Charlie: Tab-One came to me with the idea. The producer Tecknowledgy is a huge fan of Carolina Hip Hop and that song had that sound to it, so it sparked something in Tab to write about back home. He whipped up the hook and was like, we gotta do this for Raleigh. Because we’re up here in Brooklyn, far away from home, and there are some people back home that we carry in our hearts. It just came out like that, man. It’s definitely a personal track, especially Rapsody’s verse about our history and all the stuff that we’ve been through as a group. So, her perspective was really dope. The beat felt like home cooking, even though Tecknowledgy is from Rhode Island.

Uptown Bobby: Speaking of Rapsody’s verse, it almost sounded like a good bye letter. How is she doing and what is her status in the group?

Charlie: She’s in the group. I mean, it’s like if you got a couple songs here and there, that doesn’t mean that you’re not with us. People keep asking us if she’s in the group or not…of course she’s in the group. Everybody that’s in the group is in the group. Nobody leaves the group. It’s funny because people ask that all the time. I guess I can see where they’re coming from, but she’s definitely in the group. As a group, we allow our members freedom, ya know? We’re not going to tell you what to do, how to do it, when you do it, etc. If you decide to do something on your own, we let that rock. Rapsody’s solo career is blossoming right now and what would we look like if we tried to put the brakes on that? We would look stupid if we didn’t let her grow. I mean, she’s doing song tracks with Raekwon for God’s sake. So, of course she’s in the group. And let me say this for anyone that reads this interview, stop asking that motherfucking question!

Uptown Bobby: Whoa. How frustrating has the distance been, and how frustrating has it been to hear questions and rumors of the status of group members?

Digitz: It can really be frustrating when people read into that stuff. It seems as if people take any situation and listen to songs and albums and try to assume what our group’s mentality is. Just ‘cause DJ Prince did most of the beats on David Thompson doesn’t mean that Foolery and Sinopsis aren’t in the group anymore. I mean, we are artists; we do creative things. We didn’t plan to not have any Foolery or Sinopsis beats on the album, it’s something that organically happened at that time. The Rapsody part can be extremely frustrating because she’s a growing artist. I mean, she released three mixtapes in 2011. You have to respect her choices and work ethic. Like Charlie said, we can’t tell people what to do in the group. We were friends before group members, so we want to see the best for everybody. We’re always going to be a crew. We need our fans to just trust that Kooley High is a unit and we’re always moving in the right direction as far as the group goes.

Uptown Bobby: What initially lead to the move to New York?

Digitz: Well, Raleigh is a city on the come up Hip Hop wise. When you’ve done high school, college and two to three years after that, it gets stagnant. All the musical connections that can be made in Raleigh were made. It’s like the age old saying, ’Do you want to be a big fish in a small pond or a little fish in a big pond?’ For me, I wanted to see what it would be like for us to expand and meet some new people for us to network with and get our music to the right people. I mean, New York is the birthplace of Hip Hop, so what better place to try and do this music thing? It’s a very awe inspiring feeling.

Charlie: It’s just the historical difference, man. This is where the industry is. Just look at David Thompson, most of the features were from New York artists. As far as collaborations go, marketing, record labels, historical significance, etc; New York was the place to be. And even with all of that said, New York still isn’t what it’s cracked out to be. I’ma just say it like that.

Uptown Bobby: What’s been one of those moments in New York where you wish you were back home in Raleigh?

Charlie: The times that I miss home the most as far as a Hip Hop perspective is when I go to a show and there are will be like just 50 cats there when there are millions of people in NYC. I mean, we would do shows back home and it’s like 300 or 400 people there. So, those are times where I’ll be like, ‘Back home this show would be crazy!’ when it’s really not crazy. Sometimes I’m in the kitchen making baked chicken and noodles, while I could be back home in Raleigh eating some lasagna or some real hearty, home cooked meal. I miss home constantly for many reasons. I figure at the end of the day New York is going to help us in the long run, especially business wise. I just miss home sometimes. I miss my girl a lot.

Uptown Bobby: I had a feeling you’re missing your girlfriend when I heard ‘’Days Passed Me By.’’ Was your verse on that song talking about your current love life?

Charlie: That song was definitely a time for me to vent emotionally. Tab had his story, I had mine. As far as my story went, I just miss my girlfriend, man. I’ve never been the type of dude to cheat like that, ya know? I haven’t slept with anyone else since I’ve been in New York other than my girlfriend. Being a stand up dude can just be frustrating dude sometimes. I mean, I’m young enough to where my libido is cooking right now, so when you miss your significant other this much it can seep into your music. The shit just flowed on that particular track.

Uptown Bobby: On David Thompson, you showed improvements lyrically. Describe your growth as a writer for us.

Charlie: I appreciate that, man. I’m always trying to improve. It’s hard being the weakest link, man. I’m the guy that walks around and doesn’t get recognized, so I gotta improve and standout. I always feel as if I got a monkey on my back. If anyone else feels that way, I feel that way. I feel like I always I got to show my ass on a track because if I don’t show my ass, won’t nobody notice. When I approach a track, I feel like I have to have to say something that’s never been said before. It’s a competitive thing as well. I’m the Black guy rapper of the group, so already motherfuckers are like, ’Oh, you’re supposed to rap well,” you feel me? So, sometimes I can get overlooked as just being the ‘Black guy’’ of the group. Some people are going to be like, ‘Alright, whatever. He’s the Black guy that raps. There’s no story to that. He looks like my cousin. So I gotta do something to stand out. I appreciate that you paid attention and heard some of the shit I was saying.

Uptown Bobby: No problem, man. Has anyone ever given you shit about being the Black guy rapper in a multi-racial, co-ed group?

Charlie: Nah. I don’t get shit about it. Who’s gonna give shit to a Black guy for rapping? I just see how it goes when attention is given. I mean, I read everything. I could say the freshest shit, but if I look a certain way, motherfuckers won’t notice like they should. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe no one actually feels that way, but I feel that way. It’s just added pressure to the situation. I can’t explain exactly where it comes from, but I just feel like the other two members get credit. I just look at the situation and use it as internal inspiration. I’m the minority that’s a majority, know what I mean? Think about it, a girl rapping and a white guy rapping — not saying a white guy rapping is rare — but it does stand out more than your typical black guy does. I’ve never heard anyone say, “I heard Charlie rap and when I finally saw him, I was like ‘ Whoa, you’re Black?” That shit never happens.

Uptown Bobby: That’s interesting, man. Another thing about you guys that I think doesn’t get enough shine is that you guys all have degrees. How does that help overall business of Kooley High?

Digitz: Yeah, man. We all met at N.C. State, so Kooley High wouldn’t even exist if any of us never went to N.C. State. That’s one of the main reasons why we named the last album David Thompson. That album was the biggest way we could pay homage to N.C. State without naming the album N.C. State (laughs). Having a degree is a benefit to whatever you do in life. I have a business degree and we’re running a business with Kooley High. Every day I’m doing stuff that shows off my business degree and that’s a good feeling.

Uptown Bobby: Lastly, what can we expect in 2012 from Kooley High?

Charlie: Our next project is going to be a real cohesive all out blitzkrieg of Kooley High. Sinopsis is cooking up beats right now, Foolery is cooking up beats. Me, Tab and Rapsody are bringing heat. Digitz is ready. It’s going to be a real collaborative Kooley High effort. And I just want to thank KevinNottingham.com for following us. Y’all have been covering us for a while and we appreciate it.

Foolery: Well, we still have some videos to put out for David Thompson and we’re definitely going on the road more in 2012.

Digitz: For me, I just want to continue to hit up the club scene in NYC and learn the audience more. I’m definitely doing more DJing I’m really more involved this upcoming year with more behind the scenes stuff of expanding the business of Kooley High.

Exclusive: Danny! Speaks On His Major Label Debut, Beef With Has-Lo & Being Disrespected By iHipHop At A3C

Uptown Bobby — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:00:11 +0000

Today’s Hip Hop scene is filled with artists that crave attention over respect. Many rappers today want the fame, but could care less about being critically acclaimed. South Carolina’s Danny Swain has received the respect part, but the attention he deserves seems to elude him. With seven albums under his belt, and three of those albums being well received by critics (Charm, …And I Love H.E.R, and Where’s Danny?) Danny is still more of a whisper than a household name. Now, with his first major label album Payback awaiting release, Danny Swain sits down with KN.com to give a very candid interview about his disappointing A3C experience, his industry frustrations and his new album.

Uptown Bobby: You’ve finally got your first major label release. Are you pleased with the outcome?

Danny: Yeah, I think I am. I tend to create music in a bubble sometimes, so I’m not really sure what to expect from the public. I always make music that I like. I’m pretty satisfied with it. People still expect a certain sound from my albums. The reception that I’ve gotten so far despite all the guest features is that people realize that this is still very much a Danny Swain album.

Uptown Bobby: You just mentioned the guest features on the album and Payback is stacked with them. How many of the big name features did you hand pick and how many were the label’s idea?

Danny: Um, honestly, the only one that was the label’s idea was the Bruno Mars feature, obviously. They saw how successful it was for B.O.B, so the Bruno Mars thing was definitely label sanctioned. But, everyone else, I handpicked personally. And not even just the big names like Pharell, Swizz Beats, etc. I also wanted my homies on it too. I knew there were going to be songs where people would go, ‘ Oh, Danny has a song with John Legend?’ but I also wanted people to go, ‘ He has a song with Von Pea of Tanya Morgan? Who is that?’ So, not only was it more of a way to align myself with my label contemporaries, it was also a way I could shine light on some of my old homies and use the album as a springboard for them too.

Uptown Bobby: Right. There’s a method to the madness. I think some of your best albums are your concept albums i.e. Charm, And I Love H.E.R. What made you return to the concept theme with this album?

Danny: Back in the day, like right after my second album, F.O.O.D., the idea was to do a trilogy of concept albums. But after Charm, the initial buzz of the album wasn’t where I wanted it to be…kinda like how Payback is now. So I was basically like, ‘Man, fuck this rap shit…I quit.” So I quit before I actually put the idea into fruition. Charm, …And I Love H.E.R., and Payback are the trilogy of concept albums. The process was slow, but all three fit into my story. Now, they aren’t all related…they’re different, but each one supports a different analogy to my career. Charm was me wanting to blow up and be famous, And I Love H.E.R. was my relationship about Hip Hop as if she was a woman, and Payback is me being at a crossroads in my career and doing things that I have to do to get leverage in the game. So, that’s pretty much the grand scheme of my concept album catalog.

Uptown Bobby: That’s dope man. I remember on Charm, there was a skit on the album where you wake up from the dream of being signed to a label and being famous. Now that you’re actually signed to a major label, is it what you envisioned it to be?

Danny: Not at all, dude. I mean, if this Interscope deal would’ve happened right after I dropped Charm, I would be ecstatic. I was excited about my Def Jux deal, but when that folded, it showed me what the industry was really like. When I started to get recognition, the game was changing. There wasn’t always a time where people could drop a song, it get posted to a blog and get 30,000 hits. There wasn’t any of that back in ’05, ‘06. You needed talent, hard work, and patience that paid off to make it in the game. Now, the game doesn’t reward that anymore. Now, it’s all about the gimmick. I mean, yeah, I’m on a major label, but they aren’t championing me, they’re championing the ‘’swag.’’ And I’m not knocking the style, because there is enough room in Hip Hop for different genres, but when you have people that didn’t work like you worked, it makes you feel overlooked. I’m not mad, I just feel like I expected different results four or five years ago.

Uptown Bobby: I see you’re reasoning behind how you feel. If I were to say that Danny Swain is the most frustrated rapper in all of Hip Hop, would I be accurate?

Danny: Why you gotta do me like that? (Laughs) I think the most frustrated rapper is… wait, you’re right, it’s me. (Laughs) But I don’t want people to take that the wrong way, though. I definitely want people to see why I’m so frustrated. It’s just like going to work. If you go to work every day and do a great job, you expect to be rewarded eventually, right? If you do albums and you get all the critical acclaim and make the Grammy shortlist and all you get is a couple of pats on the back, you’ll probably be pissed, too. If I’m not the most frustrated rapper, I’m definitely the most vocal frustrated rapper. Over the years, I’ve been vocal about everything. If something good happens, I pour out gratitude. I would even name, names like, ‘Yo, shout out to so and so that owns this blog…thank you.’ I always show gratefulness and appreciation…I just also vent my frustrations as well. I try to keep it balanced. That’s how I am in a sense anyway. I wear my heart on my sleeve and I definitely don’t hide how I feel.

Uptown Bobby: Speaking of being emotional, you have a song on Payback, ‘’Do It All Over Again,’’ where you take some shots at rapper/ producer Has-Lo. What happened between you two?

Danny: You know what’s funny about that, man? I mentioned it in a past tense and I didn’t even think people knew who he was. Everyone was like, ‘Man why you dissing Has-Lo, that’s my dog?’ and I would go, ‘You know who Has-Lo is?’ That was so surprising to me. Basically, when I won the Def Jux contract through MTVU back in ’07, Has-Lo was talking smack on the site during the competition. I’ve never been the type of dude to throw shade just because. If I throw shade back, it’s because someone did something to me first. Plus, I’m the type of person that retains everything…I’m like a sponge. Long story short, Def Jux contest happens, I win and he loses and catches feelings about it. I guess some cats in his squad gave him shit for losing to me, so he gets on message boards and starts slandering my name. I got nothing against the dude, I just feel like instead of hating we could’ve made tracks together, but he was on some crabs in a barrel type shit. Another thing about this whole conflict was that it was over nothing. Nothing ever came from the Def Jux deal for me. I could see if I was successful and rich, but nothing happened. I won, he lost, but that was like four or five years ago, so why are you still mad? But, I’m over it. I wish him the best of luck.

Uptown Bobby: Thanks for clearing that up. On that same track, you also talk about another conflict you had with a group of friends called the ‘’Big Up.’’ With the Has-Lo conflict and the problem with the group, do you ever think that your outspoken personality gets you into trouble? And are you the common denominator?

Danny: Eh. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve fucked up on some dumb shit. Sometimes, I even admit it and say, ‘My bad; I fucked up.’ For example, the Def Jux situation was me wanting to know what was going on with my projects. Like, no one was calling me, no e-mails, nothing. So of course I’m going to be outspoken about that. As far as the ‘’Big Up’’ situation goes, feelings got hurt over a song. Someone told me through another person that I called this person a bitch. Just a bunch of childish shit, honestly. The actual song was ‘’Price’’ on And I Love H.E.R and that song was addressing another situation with a member of the group. And that wasn’t necessarily a diss…it was just a song about how I was dealing with a certain situation at the time. You know, maybe it is my personality…maybe it is. But, as far as the common denominator thing, I don’t think so because the only real conflict I had was something I put on record with Has-Lo. Plus, that was retaliation for him talking shit. I feel like my outspoken personality doesn’t come out unless my back is against the wall or I’m counted out.

Uptown Bobby: Let’s go back to Payback for a while. What was your thought process going into this project?

Danny: Can of worms, man. Um, a lot of people that are going to hear the album and go, ‘Man, that’s dope how you got so-and-so on that track,’ but the really observant people will listen and get my logic. Basically, my whole concept with it is that I’m paying back the record industry for overlooking me all this time, so I went to drastic measures to put the album together and execute it. Even right now the marketing plan is all calculated for me to pop out of the blue and make people go, ‘Wow, who’s this guy that has a record with Jim Jones?’ and now that you heard the song, I tricked you into listening to me because I’ve got someone you would listen to on the song. That’s the payback. I’m paying you back for all of the times you that you’ve overlooked me, but at the same time, the songs are good. The goal in all is to make good music. I want people to go, ‘Oh, so this is the guy I’ve been hearing about? Let me go back and check out his back catalog.’ People are checking for Charm, And I Love H.E.R., etc. So that’s the payback…now people are forced to listen to me.

Uptown Bobby: Sounds like a plan that will work. You’ve been doing great with ways of promoting your album. You even got a chance to perform at A3C last year…how was that experience?

Danny: Where do I start? First off, iHip-Hop asked me to be on this A3C disc compilation. So they were like, ‘We’re big fans of yours we want you to be on the album’ blah, blah, blah. I agreed to do it, so I do a song for the disc. Turns out, I might have thrown out some jabs at a few rappers that were also on the compilation. They say I threw a jab at Big Pooh and Kidz in The Hall, but it was all on some competitive shit. It was just some competitive rapper shit, not some ‘I hate these niggas’ type shit.’ Matter of fact, I even called them by name. So, next thing I know, they tell me that they have to cut my track. So I’m pissed off because they made me sign a contract, we’ve already done paper work for me to be on this compilation. So just because I throw a few jabs at your favorite rappers, you take me off the album? There are almost 50 tracks on the album, so how is there not enough space for me? It was all politics. That was strike one. Anyway, when I get there, I’m on stage performing with up and coming rappers. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not on some king shit like, ‘Where’s my throne and caviar’ but I got more time in the game than most of these new dudes and I’m still on the beginner stage. I’m pissed. It’s like no one has the hindsight to put me on a bigger stage when I have an album coming out soon?

Uptown Bobby: You’ve got like seven albums.

Danny: Right. And, it’s not even about my past albums. I got a new album coming out on a major label. I got a song with Bruno Mars, know what I’m saying? I was on a stage with artists that I didn’t want to be confused with because I don’t want people to go, ‘Oh, who’s this new guy named Danny?’ No. I’m an established rapper that’s on the verge. I’m not some new guy that just came out on 2DopeBoyz yesterday. So, that’s why I was so upset about that. No disrespect to anyone that was on stage with me, I just really saw that as a bad look for a guy dropping a major release album in a few months. Then, to top it all off, some guy named Hustle Simmons was on stage dissing me. After I get done performing, dude daps me up, then goes, ‘Man, that nigga wack ‘in front of every fucking body. Mind you, this guy is supposed to be the host. So I’m pissed off. After the set, I confront him backstage about dapping me up then dissing me and he tells me that I’m dope and the he just did it for laughs. That’s some real unprofessional shit. But, after all of that, it showed me another side of the game that I need to get familiar with and understand. I’m keeping it moving now.

Uptown Bobby: Crazy, man. Let’s shift gears back to the music. What’s your favorite in your catalog?

Danny: Man, that’s like having seven kids and having to pick your favorite. Of course I like them all for different reasons. I really love my concept albums… they are a challenge to make. But, Where’s Danny? is my album that best defines me. If someone were to take a camera and film me throughout the day, the final result would be Where’s Danny? It’s crazy because I didn’t start rapping until I heard Eminem. I enjoyed and listened to Hip Hop, but I didn’t start rapping until after Eminem’s first tape. I was impressed with his wordplay, so I took time one day and starting writing my rhymes. I’ve always considered myself to be a pretty good wordsmith, but I was focusing more on storyline and productions with my bigger albums like Charm, And I Love H.E.R., instead of focusing on lyrics more so. People would always say shit like, ‘Danny’s lyrics are okay, but his beats are phenomenal!’ or ‘Danny’s storylines are impeccable, but his lyrics are subpar.’ And for a while I felt like my plan of crafting these elaborate storyline albums was backfiring. It worked in the sense that I was seeing praise for my work, but my lyrics were lacking and that was my fault. So, my motivation behind Where’s Danny? was to make an album that was super-duper lyrical. With that album, I was structuring syllables together, different structures for songs, etc. Instead of worrying about beats, I would just rap over 20 second loops…no drums or nothing. I wanted people to finally notice my lyrics. Overall, my hardcore fans loved it. New fans that I got because of And I Love H.E.R. probably weren’t ready for a project like that, but like I said earlier, I sometimes tend to make music that I want to hear. Personally, I love it.

Uptown Bobby: How annoying was it earlier in your career to always be compared to Kanye West?

Danny: Ah, man. It was even worse back in my home state. Once I made it over to the Internet fame, most of the Kanye comparisons died down because people were actually listening to my music and realizing that I’m nothing like Kanye. I mean, my style is kind of preppy and I made beats, so people would go, ‘Oh, you’re kind of like a knock off Kanye West.’ But, on the Internet, people were like, ‘Why are people calling you Kanye? You guys sound nothing alike.’ Again, it was more of the crab in the barrel type shit niggas do to pigeon hold people. Was it annoying at first? Yes. But once I saw why people were really saying it, I let it slide. I do mention it on some of my albums, though. It’s something that’s never stopped me from making music. Charlemagne Tha God is one of the first people back home in South Carolina that started the whole, ‘Danny Swain is a fake Kanye’ insult.

Uptown Bobby: How is your relationship with Charlemagne?

Danny: We haven’t spoken in a while, but last time we talked, we were on great terms. Matter of fact, he wanted me to do feature on a compilation he did a few years back. We squashed the whole thing though. I was an up and coming rapper, he was an up and coming DJ… shit happens. Now he’s doing a big radio show upstate and I’m trying to do this major label thing. Like, when I made the Grammy short list with Charm, he approached me and just apologized for giving me such a hard time back when I first started. It was just politics, you know? So, no hard feelings… we’re cool now.

Uptown Bobby: What’s on your horizon in 2012?

Danny: I just want this album to sell well and give me a chance to release more good music. I want to tour, I want to do videos, etc. I mean, if this album doesn’t sell, I could get dropped from the label. Hopefully that doesn’t happen and Payback goes on to sell and I get to release more dope music for my fans.

Uptown Bobby: I hear you, but even if you do get dropped, you’ve got a big enough fan base and know how to still sell. Don’t you agree?

Danny: Yeah, in a sense. I’m actually glad you brought that up because if anything, this label deal has made me smarter. If I got this deal six years ago, I would be giddy and happy, like, ‘I’m on a major label and things are going to change now!’ No. I know better than that now. Things aren’t going to change. Look at it now, I’m not getting any major press…I’m not on T.V. If I got dropped now, I can at least say that I’ve got a song with Pharell. I can use connections like that to advance. When I was on Def Jux, I didn’t get those opportunities. I put albums out, but I didn’t have anything to show for those efforts. Now, I can at least say that I got this dope ass album with A-list features that were willing to be down for me. Plus, I got an advance from the label. I actually have something to show for my work. And even if I did get dropped, I’ll just build from there. There are plenty of artists out there that get dropped from labels and go back to their original fan base. Sometimes that’s actually better than before because they’ve attracted new fans now. Whatever happens, I’m going to find some way to release music and that’s all that matters.

Uptown Bobby: Thanks for your time man. Best wishes with Payback.

Danny: No problem, man. Thanks for reaching out to me. I appreciate that. Much love to KevinNottingham.com.

Artist Spotlight: Charmingly Ghetto

Andy Bustard — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:00:31 +0000

A short while back, the web was treated to a phenomenal product from an unsigned treasure by the name of Charmingly Ghetto. His project, Study A’broad – The International Mixtape, dropped last November, and if you were among those who took a listen, your encyclopaedic thirst was probably screaming for the low down on this cat. That’s where we come in…

Where are you reppin’?

East Coast – Boston, MA.

Introduce yourself…

I go by the name Charmingly Ghetto and I make music for the world.

How did you come up with your name?

My name is derived from W.E.B. Dubois’ social theory of double consciousness. It sums up the duality of the life we lead here in America as people of color and the struggle within ourselves created by outside forces. It’s how I define myself as someone who can navigate through this confusion whilst preserving myself, my culture, and my values.

Main musical inspirations?

Common, Nas, Biggie, OutKast and Ghostface Killah.

When did you fall in love with Hip Hop?

I fell in love with Hip Hop when I was 11 or 12 when I would go through my older cousin’s music collection and listen to [the] 2Pac and Biggie albums he had. In addition, I would listen to his Alternative and Rock albums and I’d observe the manner in which these different art forms and sounds would coincide. I would just hear so many elements of music woven within each genre and the Hip Hop vibe was what grew on me. I guess I could have been a Grunge head (laughs), but this is what I chose.

Current projects we should be looking out for?

You should definitely be checking the new project, Study A’broad, which dropped a few weeks ago.

Previous work we should know about:

Overstanding EP, which was released by RubyHornet.com this past summer.

What’s your equipment setup like?

Recently, I had the honor of working with a lot of talented individuals and these cats had some great studio setups with some of the best equipment that I have ever seen or worked with. So, my equipment is wherever I can lay down some dope lyrics that I am confident can be laid down immaculately to please the listener’s discerning ear. Shout out to everyone that has worked with CG on the recording tip. I could not have done it without you.

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

I would say the “One More Rhyme” track off of my original Overstanding project would have to be the track that sums up my career to date. I’ve had the honor of letting people hear my rhymes all over the country in the most humble of settings. I kicked rhymes in Houston, Pittsburgh, and Miami all off the cuff because people wanted to hear me do my thing. When I kicked my sh*t, people bugged out on some: “Who’s that? Damn, did that young cat really say that? Charmingly Ghetto – what does that mean?” Then all I got to do is spit one more rhyme…that’s it. They just got to listen to me one more time to get their answer because their ears will be that much more intent the second time around.

If you weren’t doing music, what would your occupation be?

My occupation is survival in the US, especially being the man that I am. I feel that if I had the opportunity to work in a field of choice outside of music, then I would certainly want to work either with or on behalf of the well-being of young people in this country. They are, and will continue to be, our biggest investment for our future. And if you believe in a future for yourself, then it’s imperative to make sure you look out for and protect those that will be in power in years to come. Lead them right, protect them, and teach them accordingly.

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

I’m not asking for a shot, so to speak – I’m asking for a little less than an hour of your time to hear the Study A’broad project. Pour a glass of wine, roll something up or hop in your car for a drive. I say this because I want you to be engaged in your moment of Zen when listening to this music. I was in a moment of Zen throughout its development and that is what I hope transcends when you give it a listen. I have got music and future projects that are in development, but I am working on and striving to build relationships with people within the music industry – people that can help me to strategically market my music all over the world and develop ways to continue to modernize, yet maintain, the vintage feel of my craft. It’s a tough task, but accomplishable by the willing.

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

I keep trying to fight it but Biggie’s Ready to Die was such a poignant and creative piece of work that I will never be able to let something else trump it. Its value in Hip Hop is everlasting and I would definitely need that in my knapsack to complete my deserted island swag.

Tell us one thing that very few people know about you.

For me, I see music as a vehicle for growth and a doorway to greater and larger life opportunities. I am here for people to be excited to hear a style they have never heard before. I am, as you so well put it before in your writing, repping the “everyman.”

What’s next for you?

I’m working on some DJ mixtape placements and working on solidifying and expanding many of the artist/producer relationships that I have now. And I’m still giving the world Study A’broad, day in, day out.

Any shout outs or last words?

Shout out to KevinNottingham.com for this artist spotlight and giving the people the music that they need. And shout out to you, Andy. Keep growing man, I’m proud of you. Peace and love, CG.

Visit Charmingly Ghetto’s site

Follow him on Twitter @CGhettoTheMC

Like him on Faceboook Facebook.com/CGhettoTheMC

Download Study A’broad – The International Tape here

F. Stokes Talks Upcoming EP, Artistic Ambition, and His Unique Fashion Sense

Andy Bustard — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:00:39 +0000

F. Stokes’ background tells a story that falls upon hardened morals in this industry however it’s safe to say the man is shaped in a far different mold from your typical rap rendition. Call him an “emo rapper,” the archetype of hipster Hip Hop or even a glorified fashion statement (if you want to be tone-deaf about it), but the Midwestern-made Stokes simply represents the good guy in Hip Hop. So with his new Love, Always EP arriving in February, we caught up with the man behind the music to talk about the upcoming record, artistic ambition, why he doesn’t wear chains and Jordans plus much more.

Andy: I’d like to start off with a quick run-down of your music to help introduce F. Stokes to newcomers. Who – and what – inspires you, and if you had to compare yourself to any current artists, who would they be?

F. Stokes: Thanks for your interest in my ideas, brother. I appreciate you guys having me. This question is tricky as the list of those who inspire me grows daily. I would like to think that I am not a mixture of anything, but simply an original man influenced, not shaped, by everything this world has to offer. I think the beauty of life is individuality; all of our stories are relevant. F. Stokes represents the equilibrium.

Andy: Your most recent single, “My Simple,” is a beautiful tribute to the small-town, simple way of life. I know you’ve shared your time between Chicago and New York so where did you draw inspiration for that song?

F. Stokes: Thank you, brother. I actually grew up in Madison WI, as well. I’d say Madison set the foundation for me writing that song, then after touring domestically, it opened my eyes to the often times unnoticed beauty of small town America. I would go to towns like Denton, TX, and Portland, Maine, and have these wonderful, intimate experiences with the people. For the day or so, I would visit these towns and I made it a point to become part of the fabric of the community. Not just a visitor – you know, the story of the traveling musician coming to town, playing a gig, fucking all the pretty girls, then riding off into the sunset guns blazing. That story is redundant and lacks respect. Patriotism has never been a huge part of black music, and I wanted to put together a piece that said, “Hey, I’m proud to be an American; proud to be a conveyor of liberty, hard work, and the idea of equality. Proud to be a part of the foundation that holds this country together.” I have more friends dead or in prison than I have friends with high-school diplomas, so why not write a “My Simple?” I want you guys to see all shades of F. Stokes… showing my growth is important to me. “My Simple” couldn’t have been written 10 years ago, because 10 years ago my peer group consisted of kidnappers, murderers, convicts, and pimps, which is why my earlier writings reflected that.

Andy: “My Simple” will be featured on your upcoming Love, Always EP. It reads on your website that it will sound different to your previous material. How exactly?

F. Stokes: Well, a bit different in the sense that I’m growing as an artist, being a bit more experimental, and the features are a bit more colorful. I hate saying my new EP will sound “different,” because that opens the door for an unreachable social expectation. The name alone, “Love, Always,” was birthed in Paris after I had breakfast with Ray Charles’ former wife. We had about a two-hour conversation and many more via email thereafter, and as she explained her love for Ray, she spoke of him as if he was still alive, as if he was going to walk through the door at any point. Hence “Love, Always.” It’s the concept of loving someone not just when it’s convenient, but always. No conditions.

Andy: You had a pretty tough time growing up in the South Side of Chicago. Can you speak on that a little bit?

F. Stokes: Hey, I walk with the emotional scars of my childhood, brother. I’ve never felt a need to sensationalize my experiences or over-sell. As I write this, my mother is living in a homeless shelter and my father, as well as little brother, is in prison for murder. You fill in the blanks.

Andy: In your music, you don’t champion those “hard knock life” experiences like many other rappers do. Why is that?

F. Stokes: Because I find the message to be more effective when there’s a string of optimism interwoven. As sons, brothers, fathers of the struggle, we have to do better. As a community of lost souls, it’s critical that our experiences don’t define us, but rather how we grow and learn from them. That’s mainly why I’ve never championed hardship.

Andy: Your fashion sense is something that strikes people immediately. Depending on who you ask, it may be called “hipster” or simply labelled “trendy.” What does your image mean to your music as a whole? And have you ever felt any pressure to conform to the orthodox Hip Hop style – y’know, varsity jackets, big chains and a fresh pair of Jordans?

F. Stokes: Ha, great question, sir. This is one of my favorites. Fashion wise, with me, there’s no limit, man – just like in music. You see, I view music as a lifestyle. How I dress, how I talk, how I put my pants on in the morning – it’s all part of the package. My fashion influences comes from all over. Going to different countries has definitely added to my arsenal. I don’t believe in conforming to anything necessarily. I’m an independent soul and how I dress reflects that. Of course, I’m called emasculating things by certain close minded people based on how I dress, but I try to make a statement in most things I do, and fashion is no different.

Andy: Your “Sneaking Up On You” joint on The Clubhouse’s Live At The Clubhouse compilation was a standout track for me. You flexed your lungs a bit more, almost singing through some lines. Can we expect to hear any full singing efforts from you in the future?

F. Stokes: Thanks, I appreciate that. Yes, I will continue to explore musically; singing, spoken word… I can’t reiterate enough how, artistically, there is no ceiling.

Andy: You have a couple of shows coming up in the New Year. For those who are yet to see you live, what are the vibes like at an F. Stokes gig?

F. Stokes: Aw, the vibe is according to the environment brother, but rest assured, regardless of the space, I’m going to jam like it’s a family reunion. I try to create a space in which we all can be expressive. We dance, we smile, we cry, we rejoice, all together. It’s a great time might I say myself!

Andy: Can you give a quick recap of your European tour earlier this year – any memorable “tour bus” stories? And do you have plans to get out to Europe again?

F. Stokes: This was my fifth time in Europe and, as always, it was a completely fulfilling. I had the opportunity to go to some places for the first time, like Austria and Germany. Every moment that I’m able to do what I love is memorable, really. I embrace every moment. A guy at the fruit stand this morning told me this, “Every day you wake up is a good day.” These are true words. I’m planning a tour of Spain in early April, and France late April.

Andy: Awesome. Thanks for your time, man. Before we depart, I want to ask, what is your biggest aspiration in this music game?

F. Stokes: My biggest aspiration in the music game is the song that’s yet to be written.

Mistah F.A.B. Discusses The Bay Area’s Status In Hip Hop Today, Finding His Backpack and Kreayshawn

Morgan — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:04:28 +0000

Fresh off the release of his street album, I Found My Backpack Vol.2, Mistah F.A.B. is comfortable. He’s been able to travel and perform for fans all over the world while still influentially working with his community at home. Coming up on the battle circuit, he has been a long-standing figment on the Bay area Hip Hop scene, at one point even ranking as it’s most nationally recognized artist, seemingly embodying the area’s budding hyphy movement of the time.

Now in 2012, F.A.B. has witnessed the ups and downs of being the face of a trend and plans to utilize his knowledge of the game and skills as a versatile emcee to continue a lucrative career for himself as well those coming up under his wing. I got a chance to speak to “The Baydestrian” about his new project, his side endeavors, and the things that are most important to the man as well as the artist.

Morgan: I know a few years ago, the Bay Area was at one if it’s highest points ever as far as Hip Hop goes. What direction is the game moving in out there now?

Mistah F.A.B: My perspective of Hip Hop in the Bay Area is that it is relevant to a certain extent. Artists in the Bay have always gotten support from the home crowd and been buzzing within the Bay even if the rest of the nation isn’t hearing it. We’ve been able to accumulate a steady fan base and careers have been created out of our local demographics. It’s important for these cats to realize that being a regional star is a big step in the process of being a successful artist, but in order get to that next level you need to expand and expound your music beyond the city limits. Once they reach that potential, it can be very lucrative for their careers as well as productive for the whole music scene out here.

Morgan: Are you speaking on any artists in particular?

Mistah F.A.B: There are a lot of artists coming up. I’m not sure how familiar you are with the new Bay movement and cats like IAMSU! or Love Rance but collectively they have a movement going on called the new Bay and are dope. There are a lot of those guys.

Morgan: I’m still stuck on the old Bay dudes like [Mac] Dre, [Too] Short, PSD and cats like that, but I’ll make sure to look into the new movement. So you say it’s a sort of a collective… are they a group or just individual cats from all corners of the Bay pushing the same idea?

Mistah F.A.B: Yeah they are from all over. I actually got a chance to see one of their shows before I went on the road because I had been hearing about it. I went to go see and I was like whoa! Blown away by the support they had for their followers and small committee of associates. It was dope…they rocked and are very talented and marketable. If they utilize those things to their advantage they will be very successful.

Then you have cats like J.Stalin who embodies a movement, similar to the thizz movement, you know the genre of music may be different but they’ve taken their Livewire Gang brand and expanded it. It’s humbling to see where these guys are taking it while still maintaining that Bay Area pride. At the end of the day, it’s a lot of taking it all upon yourself and that’s good to see.

Morgan: I don’t want to get into this too much but since we are speaking on up and coming artists from the Bay… let’s talk about the White Girl Mob briefly. You’ve co-signed and been pretty heavily linked to Kreayshawn. Did she ink some sort of deal with you?

Mistah F.A.B: Their signed to my brother. He does management for them as well as he is the owner of Town Bizness which is the first imprints that the whole LiveWire Gang came out under

so he is very in touch with everything that’s going on out here.

Morgan: Your brother is DB Tha General?

Mistah F.A.B: No, my brother is Stretch. DB Tha General kind of brought Kreayshawn up. She was shooting his videos and messing with him for a while and he basically helped her get to the point where she is at now.

Morgan: So for the most part, is that a common thing in the Bay Area Hip Hop community; to give a helping hand to the next cat doing it? Is everyone looking out for thfe others best interest and success? It seems like a lot of torches are passed out there.

Mistah F.A.B: Um, I doubt it you know, I doubt it. People do a great job of disguising it. You know there are people who will cheer for you in the stands out loud just because everyone else is cheering, but deep down in their heart they want you to lose. But that’s neither here nor there. The main thing is, on my behalf, I’m very supportive of all up and coming cats as well as the legends that have already been doing it. I’m a fan, I love music, and outside of music I’m just a person who loves to see people doing good. For every person who’s doing it to better themselves and or improve the living conditions for those around them, I’m all for it.

Morgan: That’s real man I’m glad to hear that. Now let’s get into your new music that came out recently. I Found My Backpack Vol. 2: The Lost Notebooks is the first album you’ve dropped in four years.

Mistah F.A.B: Yeah, I mean but it’s still like a mixtape. I’d call it a street album you know, it’s a collection of music I’ve been doing and I just put album behind it because it’s all original music.

Morgan: You fooled me. Most of today’s mixtapes and “street albums” are filled with overbearing drops and recycled beats, but I feel what your saying. In my opinion, this project could easily have been a commercial album release. I’m sure most people, die-hard fans included, were kind of caught-off guard by this, but in a good way. What was the motivation behind going out and making a street album like I Found My Backpack Vol. 2? It’s much different then anything official we’ve ever heard from you.

Mistah F.A.B: There was a lot of people man, and myself included, who realize that lyrical wise and talent wise overall that I’m far more talented than what the hyphy movement put me out there to be and it seems like I became the poster child of that movement because I was one of the most successful people from that movement outside of the likes of Mac Dre, E-40, Too Short,and Keak Da Sneak and those were already pioneers of the Bay who had been known for other things besides that type of music so I was coined the forerunner of that, which was a gift as well as a curse. The flip side to it was it dumbed me down as far the persona of me and the perception of my lyrical capabilities.

Basically, a lot people were like, “Yo, why don’t you go back to when you first came in the game on the backpacking, the battle rapping.” So I was like aight. And um, I actually found my backpack! I was going through some storage and found my old backpack with some old books in it. I was going through it all like, “Yoo! This shit is crazy!” Listening to it like damn I was hella raw…I’m hella weak now, you know, just laughing and playing around. So I was like, “Yo, I’m gonna just do a mixtape of just my old school style.” You know that was too advanced for people at that time and you know it was something I was comfortable with. People ended up being like it’s dope, so I decided to do part two with that same formula, but going out and getting some bigger names on their to show people lyrically I can go song for song with anyone in the industry.

Morgan: Right. I see you went out there and got some beasts: Big Pooh, Jada, Talib, Royce. That’s a heavy line-up man. Were you able to get in the studio with all these cats?

Mistah F.A.B: The majority of them we were able to get in the studio, but some of them were sent, but I have tight music relationships with all of those guys… they are very close friends. Very, very cool with them man, very personal. We talk about everything, not just pertaining to music. Like I may call Talib Kweli for some life advice or I may reach out to N.O.R.E and talk about sports and you know it’s real personal friendships with these dudes.

Morgan: That’s dope man, I’m sure no one really knows that and those relationships have made for some great music. I’ve been rocking with you since the battles and Yellow Bus days so features like these, plus this “new” sound from you should open your appeal to a much wider audience.

Mistah F.A.B: Um, you know man hopefully it does. If not, than to me, it’s just more music for my catalog, more content, more of me just continuing to stay busy and keep growing. I’m not putting all my hopes into one project for people to accept it, but what it is man is that once it’s out, the music will last forever so some of the people can come back a year later and discover the greatness of it but for me personally, it’s just another project.

Morgan: One of my favorite joint’s on I Found My Backpack Vol. 2 is “Fallin.” Is that song about Hip Hop?

Mistah F.A.B: Of course. You know it’s about music man. If you listen to the third verse, “And not to be confused with my love for a girl/but this is love for music.” So it’s the concept how Hip Hop started in the East coast, got to the West coast, went down South, and now to the net, and she’s just dating everybody on the net, but you know, overall l I love her still. My favorite song on there though is “If The Streets Could Talk.” That song and “Yearbook” are some of the dopest songs.

Morgan: You went ahead and put this out on your own right, no label situation?

Mistah F.A.B: Yeah, I’m doing everything independent myself. The whole Atlantic situation didn’t pan out. I was signed to myself…Faeva Afta/Atlantic Records got a lot of money; it was what it was. I just wasn’t ready to be my own CEO at the time…young guy, I wasn’t ready to really run a label. I just wanted to have the title and be my own boss. They did offer me an artist deal, but we were already functioning as independent artists where we were so we were like nah we’re not going to sign a artist deal with ya’ll. Just being bold-headed and not thinking about the long run of things. There’s no bad blood with Atlantic, it was just a situation that at the time I wasn’t mature for.

As of now, I’m just putting things together and beating to the rhythm of my own drum. If a situation presents itself that’s profitable for both parties, I’d be willing to sign, but I’m cool man. I don’t have any outlandish wants, financial wise, my daughters taken care of, and I’m able to travel around the world and you know, I’m cool man, I’m making the music that I love. The music that comes from my heart and soul, and I’m more focused on trying to change peoples lives rather than drop a hot single.

Morgan: It sounds like you’re in a good place. I’m glad to hear that first-hand. So what’s next? Anything that F.A.B needs to let the people know?

Mistah F.A.B: Blast Holiday, he’s next up. That’s my artist… I’m doing his management and marketing. He’s like the dopest in my hood, so I’m putting a lot of stuff behind him, trying to put the emphasis on him, because we feel that he’s a diamond in the rough. I’m trying to gear him up and get him official to do what he has to do…his potential is dope. I also have a female artist… her name is Ginger. She is adorably gorgeous and he has some dope music. So we are just going to build and see where things go from here. Hopefully, everything will move into a position where my music is one thing, but my marketing and management is a total different aspect of what I’ve got going on.

The community work is what’s more important to me, while the music is a great stepping-stone. Once a month, I’m doing community events, acts of philanthropy, but more so community organizing and gathering of the old and young, of the informed and uninformed. What we’re doing is trying to bring back the importance of communication and togetherness. In my neighborhood and all over inner cities, people are dying from senseless acts of violence, children and babies are dying due the lack of opportunity. We want to make a sense of opportunity accessible through conversation, helping and networking, trying to bridge those gaps. That’s what I’m about…I want to make a difference.

Morgan: That’s deep man, I have a lot of family that lives and has lived in the Bay Area and everything is most definitely appreciated. People are really riding for you out there.

Mistah F.A.B: Straight up man, I hope they do. It’s all about these kids.

MarQ Spekt Speaks On The Definition Of Grilchy, The Future Of The Broady Champs & Critics In The Digital Age

Justin — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:18:08 +0000

A few weeks ago, we brought you part one of my interview with MarQ Spekt on the heels of the release of he and Kno’s collaboration album MacheteVision. Today we’re proud to deliver the second part of our conversation which features the veteran emcee addressing a variety of topics concerning the Hip Hop culture in today’s world. Spekt touches on matters including the future of his group the Broady Champs, what being ”Grilchy” is, why he’s different than your typical rapper and how the Internet has helped give a platform to unqualified critics to voice their opinions. Check out part two of my discussion with MarQ Spekt below and don’t forget to read part one if you missed it.

Justin: So what’s the status of the Broady Champs? Are y’all still working on anything or planning to do a follow-up to [the group’s debut] Breakfast Of Champions?

MarQ: I mean Broady Champs is basically under the School Of Sharks right now. Broady Champs is basically School Of Sharks, like S.O.S is the conglomerate. It’s Broady, plus a couple of close family that we’ve had down with us since day one. But it’s also people from everywhere — from Cali, the Midwest, the South, the North. Like that mixtape [Blood In The Water Vol. 1] we put out, that was just preliminary old shit that we put out. We got new joints that’s crazy. We did a reggae EP as Broady Champs too that School Of Sharks is gonna put out. It’s done, I just gotta see when we’re gonna put it out and how we’re gonna put it out. We still, always, are pretty much gonna interact cause we’re on a family level man. When you’re around people like that, music is like a secondary thing cause we really didn’t come together on some music shit. Music is what we did, but you know, this is people I’d go to the club with, we’d bag a chick, go downtown and burn a tree… just hanging out (laughs). These are my homies aside from anything. Buddy Leezle, I just saw him in Texas at South By Southwest. That’s my brother right there, I’m always gonna hold him down. It’s a deeper bond than just music.

And even with me, over the last 10 years, I’ve done a lot of different things man. I’ve had t-shirt companies that I pressed up; I’ve done freelance writing magazines. I’ve done freelancing for blogs; I even started two or three websites [of my own]. I wouldn’t really just call me a rapper. Like I don’t even like that term put next to me. Cause it’s like in the ‘90s, yeah I was a rapper. I was running around battling people, doing freestyle sessions and this and that. But I got way more dimensions to me than just a rapper, that ain’t my main bread and butter. That ain’t what takes me all over the world to eat good foods and chill out and go on mothafuckin’ swimming pools on people’s rooftops (laughs). I still like to do fly shit that’s real un-rapper like. Rappers are people that just, you know, they write their rhymes and their day to day grind doesn’t match up with they rhymes. It’s like even their persona. I’m not even talking about in rapping or lyrics and shit cause yeah, you’re gonna exaggerated a little. But I mean, there’s people who they whole life – like even their cadences and persona – there’s nothing about who they are that translates to their music. And that’s not it for me, this is just an extension of me.

Justin: Do you think that’s kind of a problem with some artists now? I know you like to classify things as being grilchy. For people that don’t know, can you give a quick explanation of what grilchy is?

MarQ: Grilchy is like my style, the people around me’s style. It’s grimy and filthy. Even when we clean, we still do grilchy shit. When you go to a bar and you see a chick that’s with her man and you end up bagging her and walking out, that’s grilchy. And that’s happened in real life. We used to go in spots like stores and shit and get whatever we wanted to get, that’s grilchy. The rhyme style, when scrunch your face up off of some shit somebody said in their rhymes, that’s grilchy. It’s the whole persona, but at the same time, it’s not looking grilchy. You not looking like a bum where you got dirty shit on you. You supposed to be kind of sharp, dress kind of sharp. But your mind state, what you do is grilchy.

Justin: As you said, you’re more than just a rapper. So for you, difference between you and just a typical rapper is simply your rhymes are an extension of your grilchy lifestyle right?

MarQ: Exactly. 200% exactly right. I take it like this. There’s people who walk as a rapper. Like back in the day, when I look at rappers – Rakim was a rapper, KRS-One was a rapper, mothafuckin’ Slick Rick was a rapper, Big Daddy Kane was a rapper. And by that I mean, when you see them walking around with the gold rope chains, you’re thinking, “This mothafucka is like that 24/7.” And in your mind, that’s a rapper 24/7. These people that ain’t rapping 24/7 ain’t rappers! You’re a mothafuckin’ short order cook who raps. (Laughs) That’s what I’ m saying. It’s like if you go out Saturday night and you dance at the club, are you a dancer? Do you put that down is who you are and what you do? So that’s where I go with it. Me, I’m just a grilchy mothafucka. I hustle to get it, I’ve been damn near homeless. I grew up in the fucking hood in West Philadelphia. We was fortunate enough to make it out of there and move across the bridge to Jersey, which was better, but still wasn’t no mothafuckin’ million dollar homes or something. It wasn’t even $300,000 homes, but it was better than where we were. So I’ve seen my pops strive to do some shit, so that’s already in me. To be like, say I got more than you. I’m still not happy with what the fuck I got! People will look at you like, “These mothafuckas is living,” and this and that.

But in my mind, I’m not even there yet. I’m not even a third of the way to where I’m trying to get to. It’s just having a hustle mentality that’s like I get up every day and I focused on this, to get it. I’m not one of these mothafucka’s that sits around smoking weed all day, mad on the Internet and taking out my frustrations. Like the only time you was catching me frustrated was when MacheteVision was done and it wasn’t out. Because I was sick of hearing what the fuck I was hearing. So I’ll be with the crowd online like, “Yeah that shit sucks, it’s wack and I’m not feeling it.” But I’m not just one of them dudes that’ll sit around all day and be saying shit is wack and sucks, I’ma put myself out there for the same scrutiny. I’ma get off my ass and do something about it! And you know, you hope that people will fuck with it. What I’m finding out now is, mothafuckas is mad that you got off your ass and tried to do something about it (laughs). Like I’m seeing a lot of mothafuckas you would think would support what I’m trying to do are totally ignoring it. They not trying to put no power behind me because now they’re like, “Who does this mothafucka think he is? One day he’s with us, sitting here bitching, moaning, complaining and agreeing with us, now he’s getting up to do something about it. Who he think he is!?” (laughs)

Justin: Speaking on some of today’s up & coming artists that are featured on MacheteVision, are these guys like Action Bronson and Meyhem Lauren the ones that fit that profile of a true rapper to you?

MarQ: Oh yeah. I mean I fuck with their movement. I met Meyhem a little while ago, and me and him developed a relationship that wasn’t on no rap shit. It was just a “Yo, I support what you do” and I’m a Lo head too. He’s a Lo-Life, but I’m a Polo head too. I been rocking Lo’s since ’92/93 tough. So we related on that. And I had a shirt or something on when I met him, Dallas Penn actually introduced me to him, and we been rocking with each other ever since then cause he’s a real dude. So I really got into it with him on the musical side after that. Like when I started GrilchyFace.com, that was one of the main people outside of the site encouraging me to get it off the ground because I was sitting around complaining about the blogs. I was like, “the blogging scene is wack right now. A lot of the bloggers were really garbage; I could do a blog better. “ That’s just me, I’m not gonna just sit around all day and just complain about some shit. And I’m finding out more and more that it actually alientates you from people, and I didn’t know that. I assumed… you know it’s like we’re all not feeling this artist, so I’m gonna put this shit on my back, put my money where my mouth is and do what we’re saying. But then you turn around and nobody’s behind you. (Laughs) You’re like, “Yo I’m gonna go over here and we’re gonna get it!” and everybody’s saying, “Yeah, yeah, yeah!” and then you turn around and you’re the only one. So just in that nature I seen it and he [Meyhem Lauren] was one of the few that was with me 500% on GrilchyFace.

So through him, I end up hearing Outdoorsmen which is Action Bronson, Ag Da Coroner and all them. So I’m like, “Yo these cats is kinda nice.” Like if New York got behind them, this would be a nice movement, cause this is what everybody’s been bitching about what they [New York] ain’t got [right now]. But you know, that mentality up to is like we don’t like anything. It takes a whole lot, even Philly man, it takes so much for people to cosign you or feel what you’re doing. I mean if they don’t have anything to gain by saying that they like you, if they can’t take no credit in the start of your movement, then they’re not gonna cosign it. They’re not gonna say shit about it, they’re gonna ignore it. If they can’t put their hands in the pot and be like, “I did this for that movement! Oh you like that, I did this for them” then nah, they ain’t gonna say shit cause they ain’t got nothing to gain from it. These motherfuckers be pseudo-execs, everybody’s a pseudo-exec. You notice how all the labels and shit are downsizing, how A&R’s don’t really exist anymore? Well the Internet made everyone a pseudo-exec. Motherfuckers in the mail room will get online and be like, “I think the album needs this and I believe it should have that.” Everybody thinks their opinion is like the chief A&R. They act like they’re presidents and they work at the coffee shop at the bottom floor of the label (Laughs). Twitter and things like that have made it easy for them. Cause they work at the coffee shop, but on there they’re saying “I work at Sony” and therefore you should value that opinioin.

Justin: Do you think sites like Twitter and Tumblr have just given people a platform to throw out their criticism without truly understanding what’s going into making the music?

MarQ: I mean, of course. But you gotta look at it like this, it’s still a microcosm. Hip Hop is a billion dollar industry, but there’s also more rappers than fans now. And with that, there’s a whole lot of disgruntled fucking rappers. Even legends ain’t getting their just due. You know, there’s people that just shit on everything. There’s people that shit on Illmatic, people who will shit on OutKast. There’s people who will just shit on anything and anybody, and it doesn’t matter! It’s all in their fucking opinion. They’ll big up… what’s the orange boy, the orange juice boy, the orange juice man? What’s his name?

Justin: (Mutual Laughter) OJ Da Juiceman.

MarQ: Yeah, yeah, yeah OJ Da Juiceman! There will be people who big him up and be like, “Yo I ain’t trying to hear this motherfucking Nas shit. There’s too many words in that shit. Turn that Waka Flocka back on yo!” And I’m not saying that those mothafuckas is wack. In a Hip Hop sense they’re wack because they’re not emcees. But they’ll tell you that they’re not emcees, so you can’t knock what they do. They’re doing what they’re doing and people are fucking with it. I’m a hustler first man. And when I say hustler, I mean I get up every day and do what I gotta do to put bread on the table. You know what I’m saying? A hustler ain’t mothafuckas that’s just selling drugs because them motafuckas ain’t really hustlers. They make less than minimum wage when you break down what the average drug dealer makes. You know the only people on that food chain… it’s like any other pyramid scheme. The only people really eating are the suppliers man. That’s why motherfuckers kill for their suppliers cause they’re higher on the pyramid.

The corner standing mothafuckas, if you listen to Hip Hop, you’d think those guys are the main dudes and that’s’only because they’re rapping about it. The suppliers and they mothafuckas really getting it, they don’t want that attention! (Laughs) They don’t wanna be known to have anything to do with drugs cause they’re really getting it. The nickel and dime mothafuckas is the ones that gonna brag about how many bags they flipped this week. And at the end of day, that’s motherfucking athlete’s foot money. You get a couple pair of sneakers and some sweatpants and you feel like you made it. I know people that’ve been hustling for 12-13 years, still ain’t got no car, still ain’t got no house and they’re just happy getting a new outfit and going to club every week. Just like I can’t relate to these rappers, I can’t relate to them mothafuckas either. I’m really cut from a different cloth and so are the people around me. I don’t have some big posse, and I could have. I could’ve been that dude with a whole lot of people around me and cosigning me, but I separate myself from that because I’m not a dickrider and I don’t expect handouts. I’m a totally different breed than these mothafuckas cause I like to get it on my own. That’s what I’m about. Aside from all this artistry and shit, I’m a man first. I like to take pride in myself and those around me.

Look out for the third and final part of our in-depth interview with MarQ Spekt in the near future as the Philly native discusses the variety of projects he has in the works for 2012 and the possibilities of a new Invizzibl Men LP with Karniege

Nitty Scott, MC Discusses Language, The BET Cypher & The “Femcee” Stigma

Daniella Kohavy — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:00:51 +0000

One of the first times I got familiar with Nitty Scott, MC’s work was while watching an impressive performance on the 2011 BET Cypher. And after that, she was a permanent resident in my roster of female emcees (as they are few and far between) to watch out for. I found it rather interesting to hear Nitty say that the reason for her not putting out many videos in 2011 was because she wanted people to “listen and not look.” Listen and not look… words of a true emcee.

See what Nitty had to say about her deep integration with language arts, a vagina with a mic and correct usage of grammar.

Daniella: Who is Nitty Scott, MC?

Nitty Scott, MC: Nitty Scott is a lot of things. I’m an emcee, an artist, a woman in Hip Hop, an independent artist, a daughter, and a minority. I fall into so many categories but I think that’s the dope thing about me. I can help break barriers for people who come from so many different walks of life. I’m just first of all a human being.

Daniella: On your mixtape, Doobies and Popsicles Sticks, you stress that you are an emcee, not a rapper. What would you say is the difference between the two?

Nitty: To me, there’s a very distinct difference between a rapper and an emcee. To rap is a verb to me. It’s an activity like dance [or] painting. It’s the process of putting words together that rhyme. To rap, I feel like anyone can rap. Essentially if you can write a poem, you can rap. So anyone can put together a rap song. And if you’re a rapper, you’re not required to embody anything specific. If you are an emcee, however, that comes along with the requirement to rock the crowd and be the master of ceremonies. That’s just what I really wanted to stress. To the fans, I’m here to embody a culture and to rock the crowd and to demonstrate skills. And that’s not necessarily the same thing as being an entertainer or a rapper.

Daniella: Yeah. It’s true, many people think rapper is synonymous with emcee.

Nitty: Yeah Justin Bieber was rapping. Is he a rapper? Is he an emcee? Or does he just rap?

Daniella: (Laughs) Very good point. So you worked with 6th Sense, Tanya Morgan, J. Period, Mick Boogie and more on your mixtape. How did this project come to be?

Nitty: It actually got delayed due to distribution issues. But originally, it was just a random silly idea. We were trying to put out the Boombox Diaries, Volume 1 EP and ended up slating that for 2012. So in between time, after the [BET] Cypher, with this new sort of following and new level of attention I had, I [felt] I should definitely put out something dope for the fans. I came up with embodying the theme and mood of this past summer for me. I wanted to give people a summer soundtrack. You know, it was a very special summer for me being able to do and see things that I was only dreaming of last year. I really wanted to capture that. And musically, have a little bit more fun. I think that I’ve sort of gained this reputation as this beast, this spitta, to go on and on for days. This project shows people I can let loose and have fun and make a cool record, as opposed to having this sense of urgency. A lot of my records are very serious, “Gotta save Hip Hop.” But I can be goofy too and have fun. Doobies and Popsicle Sticks was my summer diet.

Daniella: I love that…. “my summer diet.”

Nitty: (Laughs) The homies are always down like 6^th Sense, Mick Boogie, Tanya Morgan’s Donwill, who I also collaborated with on The Cassette Chronicles. It was an extension of the Boombox Family – just something to hold fans over until we hit them with that EP.

Daniella: Well, our appetites are wet. You mentioned the BET Cypher. There was a lot of buzz around your performance. I have to say, I play it on repeat as if it’s a song on my iPod. I tell my friends who haven’t seen it yet that they have to watch it. How did that come about?

Nitty: Yeah man, the BET Cypher. It’s sort of what you were saying. I went to visit my parents a few weeks ago down in Florida and we all sat in the living room and watched it. It was dope. It was played on such a big network and reached such a wide audience that someone who might not have been checking for me was able to hear my message that day. It was so awesome that it stretched so much further beyond the platform that I’m used to.

[BET] just reached out via email and were just like, “Hey, we like your artistry. Would you like to participate in the cypher?” I was just so hyped. I wrote my verse so many times. I had to get down the perfect one. I had to consider the audience that I was going to be presented to. I looked at it as a real turning point in my career, which it did end up being for me, and I think it just sent a really dope statement as far as being able to say that I was there strictly off the strength of pure talent and grind. Nothing but my grassroots/independent movement. There’s no political connection there or any other reason other than BET taking notice of someone who was making noise. I think that it breaks barriers for people who are going to participate next year. They can sit around and say, “You know, well Nitty was there based off an organic following.” So who’s to say that can’t happen for the next female emcee or independent artist? It was just amazing on so many levels.

Daniella: I can imagine the exposure that brought you.

Nitty: Actually, I was the worldwide trending topic on Twitter.

Daniella: No shit! Good for you girl. I’d be walking on clouds. I have to say, I appreciate your usage of punctuation in your name — Nitty Scott, MC — and how you play with language, on “Tell Somebody,” as you say,” “Finger fuck the English language til’ she cum.” What sort of approach do you have to creating rhymes?

Nitty: (Laughs). Thank you! Wow. I don’t have one specific creative process. Sometimes, it’s very therapeutic…just expression, very stream of consciousness, an outpour of how I’m feeling. Other times, I’ll actually pursue a concept and I’ll have a focus in mind and have a specific idea for the structure of a record. Sometimes, I’ll actually sit down and have a blueprint already. So it happens all different kinds of ways. I’ve been formally trained in writing. I was a creative writing major in high school, went to the secondary school for journalism at John Jay in New York when I was 17, as well as interned at The Daily News. So I’ve studied the very basics of writing to the point where it’s just second nature, whether it’s a poem or a business letter or an essay. I think that has something to do with it as well. Knowing how to write well, it’s definitely something that translates in my work.

Daniella: I knew it! I too was an English major and have a love for language. Would you say grammar these days with Twitter and 140 character limits is sort of messing with the English language?

Nitty: Yeah I definitely would agree. Releasing song titles with numbers and things like that are [considered] okay. I’m a nerd to the core. I come from this background where my paper is getting bled all over in red pen in tears. It’s always been very serious to me having proper punctuation, almost to an OCD sort of mode. It always has to be there, even in my tweets. I was trained not to play that (laughs).

Daniella: Homie don’t play dat. I’m pleased.

Nitty: When I write the raps, I guess because I have a writing or poetic background, I don’t write in bars. I think a lot of people are surprised when I tell them that because they consider me a rapper. And I’ve never used the slash thing in my life. Everything I write is in stanzas. It’s lines of poetry. That’s how I wrote everything I’ve ever written.

Daniella: So was that your first involvement with writing poetry?

Nitty: Yes and no. I think that was when I first started to pursue and study it and get down to the mechanics of it. Before that, I participated in speech contests and was a member of the newspaper staff. I was just always a writer, even in elementary schools writing songs and poems. But when I attended the Osceola County School for the Arts down in Florida, which was when I decided I wanted to pursue it as a study.

Daniella: Tell me more about your Twitter page’s motto, “dislikes a vagina with a mic.” What’s the deep, or rather, true meaning of that?

Nitty: (Laughs) You know, people are always telling me they like that and that is so awesome to me. I guess I’m just addressing myself with that. I really can’t get down with chicks that pick up the mic and state the obvious. It just further feeds this perception that a female emcee or an emcee who just happens to be female, rather, has to pick up a mic and almost be a walking, talking vagina, and discuss nothing beyond lip gloss, handbags, going shopping and getting your nails done. It just makes it difficult when someone perceives me as attractive or whatever the case may be, and therefore expects nothing of substance to come out of my mouth. So it’s like my way of saying F that. I’m not really here to be redundant. I want to come up with more creative subject matter than that. I think we’re just bigger than that. So, I challenge it.

Daniella: Speaking of female emcees, how do you feel being compared to Nicki Minaj?

Nitty: I’m never personally offended to be compared to anyone. But I do just wish that people would take the time to consider the personal identity of the different female artists that we have out there right now or who are emerging right now. I think it’s the same syndrome that happens with the white rapper. You have people who compare YelaWolf and Machine Gun Kelly and Mac Miller, when they all have different sounds and different approaches. And they’re not the same just because they’re white and they rap. So the same thing applies to female emcees. We’re not all the same because we have a mic and a pair of tits in common. We all have different lifestyles, approaches, and sounds. I think that we have to continue to individually embrace who we are as female emcees to start to show the wide range of facets of women so people can understand that there are differences between us. Some of us are independent. Some of us are unsigned. Some girls want to be the next Nicki or the next Lauryn. Take the time to consider who we are as individuals. Not just female rappers or femcees. I think it’s just belittling.

Daniella: Thank you. It’s cool to pick your brain on this. I happened to write on my Facebook status that I was going to interview you. And a friend responded to the post, “Oh a femcee?” It’s just automatic.

Nitty: (Laughs) It is. And I can understand how it happens. I don’t ever get upset if someone refers to me as a “femcee.” I just make sure that I don’t refer to myself as that. That’s the least that I can do.

Daniella: Really good point. So some folks say you have a 90’s sound. Would you agree with that?

Nitty: Um, yes to a certain extent, as far as the material I’ve released up until now. I don’t really consider it 90’s, period. I consider it New York if anything. And I’m not necessarily trying to bring the 90’s back. It’s more in the spirit of the 90’s about culture, lifestyle, and community. That’s one thing. You know that boom bat sound I sort of have. The funny thing about this business, if you want to call it that, is the artist is not always on the same page as the fans. I mean as far as what I’m putting out. You don’t necessarily know what I have in the vault just yet. I feel like in the beginning it was all very strategic, as far as getting people to really understand that I am Hip Hop and wanting to be accepted within the Hip Hop community as a spitter, a skills-based emcee. So hopping on certain instrumentals would help me to convey that. But eventually, I’m definitely going to show people an expansion of my own sound and work in different elements by being more melodic, more soulful. They’ll definitely get a taste of that in future projects. So, yes and no I guess to that. I definitely put out a lot of 90’s joints. I have the upmost love and respect for that classic golden era. I have much more to offer too.

Daniella: So what does it mean to you to preserve an era of Hip Hop?

Nitty: I feel that you have to be able to find a balance in this day and age of being able to preserve and progress Hip Hop culture at the same time. And by that I mean just being willing to break barriers, explore the unknown, experiment, and be innovative. Do all these things but always with respect to the culture. I feel like there’s this disconnect, for whatever reason, in the younger and the older generations. And I kind of want to be a part of the new wave of artists that hope to bridge that gap. I intend on working with legends and people who have helped pave this road to show my respect and my homage to the people who really laid down the groundwork for what I’m able to do today. That’s part of the reason why I’m here as well, so that I can definitely carry that torch gracefully. I think that’s a big part of preserving the culture – always respecting the roots.

Daniella: Cheers to that. So what’s next for Nitty Scott, MC?

Nitty: Well, in 2012 I definitely have a lot more visuals coming out. I tried to keep it pretty light this past year on the videos just because I wanted people to listen and not look. This year I’m definitely going to be getting some of those joints a visual treatment with Doobies and Popsicle Sticks and The Cassette Chronicles. More shows, tour dates that I’ll definitely keep everybody updated with on my Twitter, my official website. And the Boombox Diaries EP, that’ll be the first commercial release. It’s definitely an intimate, personal introduction to Nitty Scott, MC. And I have some dope features on there, but I can’t reveal just yet. I think that’s the big project that everybody is really looking forward to.

yU Speaks On The Earn, The DMV’s Hip Hop Scene & What’s Next For Diamond District

Jeff Leon — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:00:52 +0000

Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking with DMV rapper yU, who just released The Earn, a fantastic follow up to his acclaimed 2010 solo debut, Before Taxes. We got to chop it up about life, writing rhymes, his work with Diamond District, his push to earn his spot in Hip Hop and much more. Check it out!

Jeff Leon: Introduce yourself to those that aren’t familiar with you.

yU: My name is yU… I’m a third of the group Diamond District and half of another group called The 1978ers. I’m an artist signed to the independent label by the name of Mello Music Group.

Jeff Leon: Great. So your latest project The Earn, is a record [that] I really enjoyed. What were your goals for the record?

yU: For the most part, I wanted to put something out there to represent the place that I was in. For the past like three, four years, it’s been a rough road and I’m glad to say that I made it through all of the things I was going through and [the record] is a reflection of that. Musically I wanted to show a growth past Before Taxes and I wanted to step up a little bit. I wanted the quality to improve over time…I didn’t want to do a drastic, like, go-all-in [record] with a million-dollar studio and that would be the first thing you hear. I wanted to grow up to an elevated sound and I felt like it did that.

Jeff Leon: Listening to The Earn, it seems like you really are out to work hard, build yourself up, and earn your props and recognition. What’s your [work] ethic like when it comes to making music?

yU: It’s a permanent thing. It’s a part of my life. It’s the reason I have three kids now… it’s like a lifestyle, it’s something I can’t stop. If I was to stop that, then that would cut my expression off. Over time, I found out that this was the best way to express myself.

Jeff Leon: Definitely true. You have a track dedicated to writing rhymes and the power of making that perfect bar and feeling the inspiration. How important is that feel to you, and how do you approach putting rhymes together?

yU: It’s kinda like… it’s a ritual, man. It’s a very important moment when you’re putting your thoughts together to make a song that hopefully will be heard for years and years and years. It’s a special thing. For that kind of thing, you may want to light a candle or incense, and take it that serious. I had to dedicate something to that element, because it means a lot to us… the words we say means a whole lot.

Jeff Leon: That’s everything.

yU: Yeah.

Jeff Leon: So you’re coming out of the DMV (The District, Maryland, and Virginia), a Hip Hop scene which has kinda struggled to get attention and it’s a scene that many sleep on, which is unfortunate because there’s a lot of talented artists out there. What are the challenges of being in that scene, if there are any, and what do you think DC brings to Hip Hop?

yU: I would say that it’s partially a challenge, and not to go against that, but also the challenge in itself is what makes us stand out. A lot of the light that has been given to the West Coast and New York and all that, and we’ve kind of struggled to have a voice. But that gives us motivation. We’re really hungry, so I hope when you’re listening to artists from the DMV, you hear that hunger more than anything. [To Hip Hop] we bring light of a different shade…we bring percussion. If I was in a room full of people, all of them are known voices, I’d really like to hear from the person who didn’t say much, and I would like to hear what was on that person’s mind… that’s kind of like the DMV to me. It’s like the cat that is quiet all this time, and just by the dress, you can see that he has something really interesting to say… there you have the DMV.

Jeff Leon: I got you. I was up in DC last year and was getting into the scene. There are so many artists up there and so much talent, which is really starting to shine and come out now.

yU: You’re right, people are coming out now. The reason why you’re seeing more and more folks from here…is that there’s always been talent here, and there has been for a long time, but I guess it’s been kind of separated. Dudes were really sparse, or on their own angles. But it’s good now because everybody’s interacting more, and the more you see us interacting the more good music you’re gonna hear. I’m glad people are starting to catch on.

Jeff Leon: My introduction to you was on Diamond District’s In The Ruff, an album I love and I still bump regularly. How is it working and touring with Oddisee and XO and are there any hints about what’s next to come from the group?

yU: It’s always great to tour with Oddisee, XO, DJ Quartermaine and my man Trek Life from the West Coast, just simply because they’re cool people, and I can relate to them. Even if we’re different and we all got different ways about us, when you put us together it all makes sense. Our album process is the simplest process I’ve ever seen because all I had to be was to be what I’ve been, and that’s what everybody else contributed too. When you put ‘em together, it just made sense. Touring was very cool because nobody is really extreme…too rough to be around. We’ve got respect for each other, so that’s how it works.

For what’s next, you can definitely expect March on Washington, [Diamond District]’s second album, along with other stuff, maybe some mixtapes. I know I’m doing an EP with Oddisee, I believe XO is too, so a whole lot from all of us. The difference between us and some other groups is that we work together and we work independently. Oddisee is finishing up his solo album. XO’s put out a few projects this year, and he’s working on a new one. Brothers like myself, Kev Brown, Slimkat78, and Soulful! — we’ve got a project for him that’ll be coming soon. In doing that, you’ll find that some of the same elements that is Diamond District. When we do our thing solo, we contribute to each other’s projects too.

Jeff Leon: Good stuff. Now I know that you work closely with Slimkat78 as the duo of the 1978ers. You two had the project G.I.R.L. earlier this year, and Slim is always contributing a beat or two to your projects. How is that chemistry that you two have? How does it work when you are in the studio creating music?

yU: I have like a triangle of mentors, Slimkat being the third angle of that triangle. Since I met him, he kinda showed me how to be an independent artist. He was the first one that allowed me to record myself. He put the beat on the machine and was like, “Man, I’m going to sleep, you can record. I’ll wake up in the morning and hear what you did,” and for a long time, like ten years now, we’ve been working together and everything I’m putting together, I keep him in the fold. And finally, the 1978ers will be finishing our first project, we’re gonna hand it in around the end of January, and it’s gonna be called People of Today. Slim is like, Before Taxes, The Earn… how we do it [is] we pass music around to each other or things that I have recorded, I send it down and he lets me know how he feels about it, and if he digs it then that means a lot to me, so most likely I’ll include that in the project. Ultimately, he’s like a sound party. I’ve included him for executive production on Before Taxes because most of the ideas were running through him. He’s my brother… I have a lot of respect for him.

Jeff Leon: I’m guessing he was there while you were coming up in your production too because of course, I pay attention to your productions, and on The Earn one of my favorite tracks is the last one, Highlights of Life, Part 2.

yU: Ah, that’s what’s up.

Jeff Leon: Yeah, I know you worked on that one, and I really enjoyed that track — the live feel, and the soul of it, so kudos on that listen.

yU: That’s what’s up man, I definitely appreciate that.

Jeff Leon: So what do you want to get out of Hip Hop and what kind of legacy do you want to leave?

yU: As far as in the long run, I try my best to make songs that would make sense to be listened to like twenty years on. Leave the power of the spoken word. It was kind of like a wakeup call when Gil Scott-Heron passed this year, and it made me realize that I wish people would put emphasis [on the message]. In this day and age, everybody is worried about the beat and it’s gotta be loud and booming and all that, and I mean that’s cool, but music from the past was the same thing, it had bass to it, it had loud elements, but you could never take away somebody having something to say. Music from the ‘70s will always be listened to because they had so many different topics; they had things to talk about. Anything you could be going through, there is a song that you could, right now, go and find that would capture that moment. Somebody’s going through something rough, or somebody’s feeling good, or somebody just met a girl they liked or something. There’s always a song that you could go to which would be the soundtrack to that.

More and more I want to pick up instruments, I want to build with the younger cats coming up. I wish older generations before me would have reached out to me, some of them have, some of them I wish would have. I’m trying to do that for the next generation and cats coming up. If they want feedback on what they are doing, anything I could possibly do, I ain’t nothing but a vessel. If you’re giving me props, then you’re giving the people who’ve inspired me props, and the people who inspired them, and on and on. Hip Hop, if you really look at it, is damn near the answer to slavery, where a race of people’s history was taken from them, and it wasn’t in the plans to let them know where they came from. When you think of Hip Hop, it’s the only form of music you see bringing back pieces of old records that came before us. In the music, you listen to it and it has a sample, which dated back to something else, the artist who put that out was saying something totally different [from the current record] and [the new artist] will reintroduce it with a new subject. The music has lineage, and I’m grateful to be part of that lineage, and hopefully I can make something that somebody else wants to sample, or inspires somebody else.

Jeff Leon: You’ve mentioned being topical, speaking about things today, which can be relevant tomorrow. On The Earn you have comments and moments where you speak about things like the recession, not being able to find a job, and so on. Even looking at the titles of your records, you had Before Taxes and now The Earn, you’re dealing with money, and you speak of how contentious it is. The commentary is intriguing.

yU: It’s a serious subject right now. Personally, I can even be honest and say that in the past couple of years I had a rise and fall. During the process of doing Before Taxes and In the Ruff, I was working a 9 to 5 and I actually found the best job I ever had. I went from making about eight dollars and hour to making 26 dollars an hour, so during that period, I was doing really good and bought a new car and we would ride to the shows in my truck and all of that. But for every rise you gotta be prepared for change, so I went from that to getting laid off which made me go from 90, almost 100 thousand that year to nothing, and a lot of people going through something really serious like that. You’ll have some that will commit suicide just because of the change… they can’t handle was going on, and I’m glad that I was able to turn that into something positive as far as the music, making something that’ll give people inspiration.

Jeff Leon: What’s next for you?

yU: 2012 is going to be a very busy year. The Earn comes out, then next year we are looking at about five projects solo-wise, then Diamond District’s March on Washington. Next year we also got the 1978ers project, an EP from myself and Oddisee, another project with the cat who produced [The Earn’s] “Write On,” his name is Usef Dinero from Pittsburgh. We got one project ready called Flying High which is a free download, and we’re gonna do something new also. Halloween of next year, I’m doing a project called Killer and recently I just put out a Garbage Beat Tape, the introduction for another instrumental album coming through Mello Music Group next year. So, a busy year.

Jeff Leon: Sounds like it! You mentioned the Garbage Beat Tape… I was checking that out and that’s an interesting story about that tape and what you were planning to do with it. Could you elaborate more on that one?

yU: Many people didn’t know I produced and part of the reason was I didn’t really put myself out there as a producer was because I pretty much made beats for myself. I’m around producer cats all the time, so I see all of the changes they go through and the different things people say. You’ll have some cat that’ll give somebody their most dope beat ever [which] doesn’t really need to be changed and you’ll have somebody come to them, like, “Yeah man, just put some crashes on it and I can hear some xylophones on that,” or something crazy. It’s kinda wild hearing those things… I always told myself, you know what, I don’t want to go through all that, I just wanna make it how I’m gonna make it, and it’s for me so I don’t have to go through that, besides XO or any other people who ask that are like family… it’s different. The Garbage Beat Tape is just letting people know that I do put joints together. Oddisee told me to do it a while ago, but I always was thinking to myself that to put together a beat tape, I wanted it to have a theme to it, and I wanted it to be something different, so I figured it out. People don’t know that there was an inside story to the tape. I was actually watching YouTube and I was seeing a whole lot of producers talking about making beats that I didn’t really feel that they were making, but I liked the fact that they were verbalizing all of what they thought was needed to make beats. Someone was talking about, “Yeah, I use the MPC 5000 and the XL 500,” and all this, but when you hear the beats, the beats are real small. I wanted to use them in between the songs. It’s kinda like an inside joke. [The producing] is something I want to grow with, I wanted it to have something to say, even though it’s just beats, you can still have something to say. I wanted to have more content in a beat tape than some emcees do.

MC Hammer: Death Of Auto-Tune Hustling Analogy

Action Bronson Talks About Working With Statik Selektah, Twitter & Justin Bieber

Jeremiah — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 18:00:27 +0000

Action Bronson has literally exploded on the scene over the past couple years and has been working hard to make sure you know his name. With the release of Dr. Lecter earlier this year, the acclaimed chef turned emcee has been getting a lot of attention from the Hip Hop world. And on November 22^nd, Bronsonelli and Statik Selektah released Well Done, their first collaborative effort and Action’s sophomore album.

Action took some time out of his busy schedule to chop it up with us about the new project, his upcoming projects, what you should eat while listening to Well Done, and much more.

Jeremiah: What’s good Bronsonelli?! I checked out Well Done and I also read somewhere that you and Statik Selektah just went in to make a track and ended up making a whole album. How did that all come about?

Action Bronson: Well first off, did you like the album?

Jeremiah: Dope project. You and Statik Selektah were meant to make music together. Exactly the type of Hip Hop I love. It is Hip Hop in its rawest form.

Action Bronson: Is it too Hip Hop?

Jeremiah: Nah man, it’s just right. I’ve been a fan of this since the 80’s and everything is just right. Your delivery, rhymes and stories are dope and Statik’s production is, as always, on point. It’s refreshing.

Action Bronson: All right man, good, I’m glad. Yeah man, so Statik had hollered at me through Twitter. Twitter is the best thing in the world. He told me to come through…he was doing that track with Termanology, “The Money Is Reality,” so we did that and I guess he liked it so he wanted to work on some more shit. We were just going to do a little EP, just a couple songs, [but] it just turned into something else man. We just kept going.

Jeremiah: I just saw that you’re getting ready to drop a project with Alchemist next.

Action Bronson: Yeah, I just landed last night from…I was at his house for seven or eight days and we finished the whole album.

Jeremiah: Did you guys decide on a name for the project yet?

Action Bronson: Nah, we haven’t figured out the name yet. (Laughs) I put on Twitter that we needed a name and I got some pretty interesting ones. (Laughs)

Jeremiah: Yeah I saw that. I sent you a couple. One was Meatloaf Management.

(Both Laugh)

Action Bronson: Meatloaf Management… that’s a pretty good one.

Jeremiah: Then I said you should get Oh No and Roc Marciano on there and call it Grene Peppers.

Action Bronson: (Laughs) Grene Peppers… I like that. I’m going to have Roc on one of the joints.

Jeremiah: Although you have a couple projects out already you are still looked at as a relative newcomer to this shit. How do you explain, or what do you think is the reason for your seemingly overnight success?

Action Bronson: That’s the thing, I don’t know if it was really overnight cause I’ve been at it for two and a half years. There [are] people that just have one video and they’re out of here, you know. I feel like I’ve been paying some dues. I’ve performed in front of fucking seven people before. I’ve done that shit…I’ve done the fucking circuit.

At the end of the day I’m appreciative. I don’t know why people are liking my shit… I guess it’s because nobody is really doing it like I’m doing it right now. It is what it is you know. People can look at it anyway they want. Either they like it or they don’t.

Jeremiah: Besides the producers, what would you say is the biggest difference between Dr. Lecter and Well Done, even in your writing or your thought process of the project?

Action Bronson: One thing with Dr. Lecter is I was trying to prove a point. There were some things going on in my life that I was [I don’t know] I was generating all that anger that had built up for a long time and let it all out in that one project. To me, that shit is just a chapter in history.

Well Done is another chapter in history because I wrote that shit when I was laid up with a broken leg so there were a lot of different angles for that one. I feel like everyone looks at your second album more than your first one to see if you can match it or surpass it. So that was the task…just trying to give the people the best delivery and best performance I can.

Jeremiah: And what would you say is the biggest difference between working with Tommy Mas, Statik Selektah, and The Alchemist?

Action Bronson: Shit, Tommy Mas is a perfectionist. He likes to take his time on things. He is not just gonna make beats for you on the fly. Statik will be there all night long fucking drunk, smoking weed with me just making beat after beat after beat. ALC… all we do is fucking smoke weed and fucking just laugh and make beats, that’s it. That’s how it goes.

It was all different experiences you know. The album with Tommy Mas… we took about six months with it… it was over time. The Statik album was a different situation ‘cause of the broken leg. I was recovering…I was angry you know. The Alchemist album was just a week of debauchery and just good weather on the beach…like how can you be mad? I can’t beat that right there.

I also have an album with my man Party Supplies. We made that in about a month…just working every other day or something like that. Also, I have an album with Harry Fraud, so there are a lot of things on deck. I just keep on working, keep on pushing you know.

Jeremiah: One of my favorite tracks off Apathy’s Honkey Kong is “All I Think About” and actually Apathy is the one that really put me up on you.

Action Bronson: Apathy shows a lot of love man, that’s a good dude.

Jeremiah: Yeah he is! Do you have any future collabs in the works that we should know about?

Action Bronson: Yeah, with Roc Marciano hopefully. Got the homie Fashawn on some joints…who else? Um, Willie The Kid, I can’t even think. The family, A.G. Da Coroner, Meyhem Lauren. That’s it. I want to work with a lot of people but I’m not gonna be that guy to go ask.

Jeremiah: I feel ya. No Bieber joints?

Action Bronson: Shit, I’ll fuck with him. He’s seen my face, Bieber’s seen my face. I was in a video with Asher Roth and Bieber retweeted it so I know that motherfucker saw my face.

Jeremiah: What meal would you suggest fans eat while listening to Well Done for the first time?

Action Bronson: While listening to Well Done, you should definitely have a beautiful bottle of Montrachet 1983. Then you should make yourself a nice 65 day aged rib-eye on the bone, maybe some roasted shallots with a bit of balsamic. Then to finish it off — a nice panna cotta.

Jeremiah: That will give the fans the best listening experience?

Action Bronson: Yeah, and then get a fucking blow job. A blowjob from a Brazilian behemoth.

(Both laugh)

Jeremiah: We’ve seen in 140 characters or less on Twitter with your various rants, which makes you one of my favorite people to follow, but for the fans that may not follow or the new fans, how do you feel about some of these corny “rappers” and how do think Hip Hop got to a place where mediocrity is acceptable?

Action Bronson: You know, let me just address Twitter first. Twitter is the best. I’m gonna big up Twitter. If you have nothing to do, you go on Twitter and there is just tons of entertainment. I just express my mind… it could be on anything.

When it comes to corny dudes rapping in the game, I guess everybody has their lane. Mediocrity is something that I… I hold myself to a fucking standard like no one else would. If I was wack, I would just stop. I ask people, “Should I rap?” and they’d be like, “Yeah, rap.” If they would be like, “Nah man, listen, just stop.” I would do that because I would be wack.

Everybody has their own lane. If the shit pops… look, I don’t like talking shit about anybody cause I’m not a hater. Bottom line is, I just stay in my motherfucking zone and all I really care about is me and my people. As long as we can make a living in this shit, whatever.

If people are getting money being corny, that’s on them. They have [to] look at themselves in the fucking mirror. They giving away fucking deals like its Christmas over here for fucking shmucks. It’s whatever man. I’m happy for fucking ASAP – ASAP Rocky and the homies from ASAP cause they’re good people, real good dudes, but there are other rappers… it’s out of control how some of them get money.

Jeremiah: I feel ya. How has Action Bronson’s life changed over the last two years?

Action Bronson: People fucking recognize me in the street when I’m walking with my kids or my mother. It’s a little weird…people ask me for autographs and pictures and shit. They just talk to me about music and all kinds of shit. It’s just weird man when you become a public figure; you’re not just you anymore you’re someone else. It’s just weird…weird shit.

Jeremiah: How would you feel if you got on that next XXL Freshman cover?

Action Bronson: That would be good, ya’ know. If people think of me as that, then sure. I’m definitely a freshman in this shit. I just put out my first album this year. I haven’t put out any other music except one freestyle song here and there so I think I’m still considered a freshman. Just being on the cover of a magazine everyone checks…it’s like a yearly thing everyone knows about it. It would definitely be a good thing.

I’m good with XXL anyway…they’re all homies so let’s fucking rig it. As long as they rig it, I don’t give a shit. I’m into point shaving. Fucking Blue Chips man…I’m Nick Nolte, I don’t give a fuck. You want the Lexus, we’ll get Shaq the Lexus – it doesn’t matter.

Jeremiah: Any last thoughts or shouts my man?

Action Bronson: Shouts to the homie Kevin Nottingham, shouts to you, shouts to everybody, shouts to Queens, shouts to Outdoorsmen, Flushing. That’s it.

MC Hammer: Death Of Auto-Tune Hustling Analogy

MarQ Spekt Discusses Working With Kno, Earning New Fans And The Fall Of Sub Verse Music [Part 1]

Justin — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:15:17 +0000

MarQ Spekt may have just found his way onto the radar of some Hip Hop heads through his collaboration album MacheteVision with Kno, but he’s far from a rookie. Longtime KN readers should be more than familiar with his solo projects as well as work with the School Of Sharks collective. A true vet in the game, Spekt has seen it all, going through the ups and downs of the industry for more than a decade. Fresh off the release of MacheteVision, I caught up with MarQ Spekt for an in-depth conversation on a wide variety of topics. In part one of our talk, Spekt speaks on how he ended up doing an entire LP with Kno, gaining new listeners & exposure due to the CunninLynguists/QN5 connection and why his first record deal with Sub Verse Music didn’t work out. Check out part one of our interview below.

Justin: You just released MacheteVision, so I wanted to know – how did you first link up with Kno for this LP?

MarQ: On the low, I’ve known Kno for like 10 years. And the thing was, I used to have a crew in Atlanta called Broady Champs. This was a bunch of people from Brooklyn, Bronx, North Carolina, Philly, and we was just doing shows and shit. This is like the late 90’s, early 2000’s when we were doing shit, and one of these crews in Atlanta called the Micranots kinda took me under their wing when I came down here from the East Coast. So they had me doing like a lot of opening shows and shit for them, and they actually enabled me to get a deal just from opening shows. I linked with Bigg Jus from Company Flow — he seen me doing a show and stepped to me that he was starting a label — and kinda signed me on the spot. Kno ending up being at one of these shows, so he already kinda knew how I get down. And then he was working with one of the members of my group and I met him again.

Now to start this album, I forget what happened… Kno just started following me on Twitter and I was like, “Oh shit!” cause I had seen him at Scribble Jam a couple years earlier and we were like, “Yo we gotta get up.” I don’t remember if he ever gave me a beat tape or anything like that, I think we had an old Kno beat tape that he gave to boy Buddy Lee a long time ago. So I was always like “Yo I need some beats from him.” So going back two years, I reached out and got his math like “Yo we gotta get up, I definitely need to get some tracks from you.” And Kno is a difficult cat to get in touch with, he’s doing a lot. He’s always doing something, so I just stayed persistent with him. Not overbearing, but was like, “Yo what’s up with the joints?” and he finally had some time for me. So when I got ‘em, it was like 41 tracks he set aside for me (laughs). So, I went to his crib cause he ended up living like 10 minutes away from me. I had some loose rhymes and he started playing beats, then I’m like “Yo I got something for that.” He plays the next one and I got something for that. By the fifth beat where I started spitting something to him, I was just like, “we might as well do an EP or something.” And he was with that, he sent me the beats and I fucked with them. A couple of em I bodied right there and then we got up like a month later and I laid the first joint down. Then a month went by, I laid the second joint down. And then he went into album mode for Death Is Silent. So he was gone, no way to get in touch with me.

But then he came back like two or three months later saying, “Yo my album’s done.” In the meantime I was like, “Am I done, is this it? Just two joints we’re gonna do?” When he goes incommunicado, he’s gone. No email, you don’t see him online really – he’s out, he’s on some artist shit. He came back and I was sitting with beats, so when the next session came, I did like another three joints. Now he’s doing Oneirology for CunninLynguists and I’m like “Fuck! I gotta wait again.” So then I came out and did another three or four joints the next session. We didn’t really have a lot of sessions to complete the album cause when you catch him, you gotta catch him and go in.

Justin: Yeah, I remember talking to Deacon [The Villain] from CunninLynguists and he was saying when Kno’s in that album mode, he’s just in a zone. It’s like he’s got himself locked in a basement (laughs).

MarQ: Yeah, he is. Cause even with this album, really he didn’t pop out of the hole until it was really how he envisioned it would be. Cause we did a bunch of tracks that didn’t even make it and that was just an executive decision. He was just like like, “Nah that ain’t gonna fit. This joint ain’t gonna fit.” When we finally sat down with the whole thing, it was like, “Yo this is gonna fit, this is not gonna fit. This will fit, this won’t.” So he’s sitting on joints that are done that I still think are fucking dope, but they just didn’t fit in the context of this project. So he’s a quirky cat, but he’s also a musical genius. If you hear some of the depth to his music, it’s a genius level shit.

Justin: Very true. Going back to how you first started the project, was it kind of surreal that you knew him in the early days of CunninLynguists and now you were working with him as he’s become this critically acclaimed producer that’s widely regarded as one of the best out right now?

MarQ: Oh definitely. I wouldn’t say surreal, but it’s like… everything lined up, the planets aligned like they were supposed to cause it’s a big look for me man. I’ve had like six or seven deals since ’98 and none of them ever came out. This is like the first official thing that has ever really, really come out aside from Invizzibl Men which is not just me, that’s me and Karniege. You know what else is crazy too is that I know [MF] DOOM back then around the same time. Between DOOM, Bigg Jus & I.D. 4 Windz from Scienz Of Life, my first album was gonna be… I forget what I was gonna call it, but I was gonna do an EP called The Ghostmaker, then an album for Sub Verse [Music]. But DOOM, Jus & I.D. 4 Windz were gonna be my main producers. So I’ve seen people blow up. Like DOOM is outta here right now, you know what I’m saying? But I’ve seen him before the mask.

Justin: Speaking of your time on Sub Verse, that was back when you dropped the Shoplifter 12” single correct?

MarQ: Exactly.

Justin: What happened there? Can you explain why that situation didn’t work out?

MarQ: The reason was the money. The money was just gone from the label. Cats was like, just fucking washing the dough or whatever they was doing with the money. I mean, they had a pretty big budget. You go back to the projects they released; they were releasing Bigg Jus’ Black Mamba Serum, DOOM’s Operation Doomsday, they released some joints from Scienz Of Life, C-Rayz Walz, Micranots, a bunch of people. They released a bunch a shit, it just ended up… you know it’s funny, I ran into [Sub Verse co-founder] Fiona Bloom not too long ago and I actually asked her about the nitty gritty, like what the fuck happened. Cause I had got a couple thousand dollars for my single going towards the EP and the money was ok for a couple songs. But then it’s like, “Yo we want you do an album.” And then I’m sitting there with DOOM, Bigg Jus and mufuckas that I’m really just a fan of back then. You’re talking about ’99, 2000. Just being around these mufuckas and they’re like, “we wanna work with you on your shit once it’s time for your project to come out.” I’m geeked, like my shit’s about to be crazy. And then, I was going through a rough time.

I was doing a little bit of hustling, working as a fucking deejay/bartender at a strip club. I was crashing with chicks in their dorm rooms and shit, coming home with no lights on waiting on this little Hip Hop money. [I was] trying to trade weed for fucking beats (laughs). I was going through a rough patch so I was looking forward to this shit and then it hits you — there ain’t no budget. And then the label basically folded after 9/11. So that happened, and it was a gift and a curse. Because I went back into my own crew and got really in tune with the Broady Champs, who was like my family. So that’s we did cause you got vinyl, mufuckas talking about you. You know cause this was before the Internet age, so there’s mufuckas all over the world finding ways to get the single. And it sold pretty well, so that vinyl – people copped it. So that was it for me man. Once the money ran out, it was basically like fuck everybody on the rest of the label. People wasn’t getting what they were owed, it was an ugly time.

Justin: So this album with Kno for you, in a lot of ways, is a reemergence onto some old fans’ radar as a solo artist, but also an introduction to folks who’ve never heard you before. Have you seen a significant influx of new listeners just from that connection? QN5 has such a dedicated fan base, have you experienced a lot of that crowd starting to check out your music?

MarQ: Oh definitely. I mean from the rip, it’s already a lot of people tuned in. I’m just happy to have one or two new listeners that’s tuned in, let alone the thousands that are. But on the flip side of that, this is like a real different sound of understanding for Kno, so even the QN5 listeners who are dedicated… they’ll give it a listen, but they might not necessarily fuck with it because it’s not what they’re used to. It’s gonna take them a little bit to be like, “Yo this is some different shit he’s doing. We fuck with Kno, but at the same time I don’t know.” You know, it’s cause they’re already set on one thing [from him]. So just to get a couple new ears and shit, that’s great.

There hasn’t been no huge influx, but like I said, it’s been everywhere. All the main sites – Nah Right showed it love. Even though they fucked up with my bio or whatever, I still appreciate that Eskay and Nah Right posted it. You know, y’all [KevinNottingham.com] been fucking with me. Y’all been posting everything I do since Guilty Party, so I’m not even thinking about that cause I know I got y’all’s support. 2DopeBoyz showed it a fucking hell of a lot of love, HipHopDX… getting four out of five stars on that site was like, “Wow!” That was incredible. So I mean people are respecting it as music on its own two legs. The QN5 connection is cool, but I don’t think people are just liking it because it’s a QN5 record, cause it’s not. It’s something totally new that stands on its own.

Justin: Definitely. I wanted to go back to your history in the game a bit. When did you first make the move down to Atlanta?

MarQ: I came down here in like ‘97/98. I really didn’t settle in until like ’99, getting an apartment and all that. Even then, I was back and forth. I was still in Philly and Jersey all the time after I had moved down here. So I’ve been down here for a minute, but I still travel a lot.

Justin: So is Atlanta where the Broady Champs connected, because I know you guys are from all over place but is that where y’all really linked up or was that before you even got there?

MarQ: Nah, we all met down here. Late in ’99, 2000 is when we really put it together. And these were just people I was running with from the music scene. The music scene down here used to be a little different as well. There used to be cyphering a lot, there was a lot of battling at all the schools cause you know it’s a big college town. So it’s a lot of people from different places that link up and will be in cyphers, battling or whatever like that. Me, I was a straight battle mothafucka. I been in Blaze Magazine and on HBO and shit for battling. I been in different magazines and shit back in the day just for battling. So that’s initially how we all met, we linked up on the battle scene. And then we started making songs together, going on road trips, and doing all types of shows and all that.

Check back next week for part 2 of my conversation with MarQ Spekt as we discuss the current status of the Broady Champs, the definition of grilchy, why he is not just a typical rapper and much more!

Houston’s Rap Mayor: hasHBrown Talks Reviving H-Town Scene, Spiteful Critics And His Production Alter-Ego

Robert Baker — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:10 +0000

Gone are the days when grills, candy painted cars and the sedative sounds of chopped and screwed music filled the air. The Houston scene hasn’t been on the up and up in recent years and it’s almost as if the drought, which degenerated most of the southwest to a haunting and arid wasteland, has affected Houston’s musical climate as well. Luckily, blossoming phoenix and self-appointed rap mayor hasHBrown is ready to change the tide.

In this in-depth interview, hasHBrown talks about restoring H-Town to its prime, spiteful critics, insights into his album and a segregated Hip Hop community.

Robert: I know you had a mixtape called the Rap Mayor, so if you were the mayor of Hip Hop, what would you add or take away from the game right now?

hasHBrown: I would probably take away the preconceived notions of fans, critics, bloggers and writers so they can do a little bit of a better job of receiving the music for what it is and not already having an opinion before they listen to something. There’s so much music out there, but you judge it before you even get the chance to listen to it. That’s something I would like to see go away, but that’s something that will probably never go away because you judge a book by its cover whether you like it or not. You can look back on Watch the Throne. I think a lot of people’s expectations were out of control and they didn’t even listen to it with open ears. They were just thinking like, “This has to be the greatest shit ever, because it’s two of the biggest names.” But that takes away from the actual album. In my opinion, it was pretty good.

Robert: Do you believe fans and writers are more susceptible to fall into that due to the name or the image, and why do you think fans and critics get sucked into that hole?

hasHBrown: They listen to more music than most people, so I think critics and writers listen to so much stuff [and] they just have an idea of how something is going to go based off the worst song that leaked before hand. Or maybe, there’s a video out before the project comes out. They’ll get stuck in their ways. I don’t know. Maybe it’s my way of thinking of journalism [and because I believe] it’s supposed to be a little more transparent, but you can tell what writer doesn’t like what artist off the top. They’ll probably never like it even if it is a good song that they might be into. They either don’t like it or they distance themselves from it so much that it’s just known it’s going to be a favorable review or whatever the case might be.

Robert: I understand where you’re coming from. To follow that, being from the South, do you think people from other regions are quick to reject artists who are coming out of the South, or do you feel people are past that and are opening up to them?

hasHBrown: I think for the most part, people are open. I think it may be more so the people who are actually in Texas who may try to get on it after the fact. I collaborated with El Prez and The Boy Illinois and they’re from Chicago and California. They’re from two different areas, but we all respect each other’s craft. I don’t think they thought I was going to be a typical southern rapper or whatever the case may be. I don’t think so. I think it’ll be more so the people in Texas and maybe some bigger markets such as New York or something like that when they’ve always heard one thing from Houston or heard one style from Houston. I think those are the biggest hurdles for people to see in terms of Hip Hop.

Robert: Now In my opinion, there is no other genre of music in which artist’s battle over whose coast is the best or has the best music. And sometimes, artists won’t support other artists if they’re not from that region, city or coast. So what would you do to unify Hip Hop and eliminate that problem?

hasHBrown: I think the idea of unity is always a good idea and always seem like a good idea, but rarely there’s ever a plan or action behind it. A lot of artists would say that we need to do stuff together, but in all reality, we’re all in competition with each other. Not like beef or anything like that, but we’re all trying to get fans. We’re all trying to get our music out there, so I think there could be more as far as collabs. What you get into, [however] are people reaching out just because they see you doing something or see that you have a buzz. That’s when it concerns me when it’s like, you just hit me up because you heard my name here and there, but they never actually heard your music and like you’re music. I think in the last few years… I know in Houston, I can’t speak for any other place, but the underground scene has grown a lot. There are a lot of artists in Houston who are good artists. There are a lot of good people making a lot of good music. I think through that, we always see each other so there’s more of a chance of unity here than people would think.

Robert: Okay, let’s get deeper into your music. What ways do you look for inspiration as a rapper and a producer?

hasHBrown: As a rapper, I’m inspired by the music. I’m inspired by concepts and really just life. I speak a lot about what I’ve gone through and what I’ve experienced. Hopefully, it’s relatable content to the listener, but that’s kind of like my niche as a rapper. As far as producing, my inspiration comes from something that’s sometimes really not even Hip Hop. Sometimes, Hip Hop songs will come out that really inspire me to produce something that sounds similar or gives me the same feeling. I listen to a lot of other genres of music that inspire me today simply because I sample a lot and I like to take samples and use it to make it my own. As far as new rap music, I wouldn’t say that there’s much new rap music that keeps me going. There are songs here and there, but mostly I listen to veterans. I’m starting to get into new artists like Kendrick Lamar, people like that. For the most part, I stick to the classics and that’s my ultimate goal, which is to create something that lasts forever that’ll continue to inspire other people.

Robert: I respect that. Now when it comes to writing and producing, do you have an off the wall approach or a certain formula when it comes down to making music?

hasHBrown: Man… it depends how comfortable I am. I know for producing it depends how comfortable I am in that setting. A lot of times, it’s when I’m in my apartment but I’ve moved a lot in the last few years so with moving, sometimes it takes too long to get in the groove. But typically, it’s just me in my living room going through records and just letting something play. I obsess over stuff too like sometimes, I may not produce for a week, but I’m listening to something over and over again so by the time I actually sit down and make a beat, I’ve already heard it so many times that I know what to do with it. It’s basically like I kind of have the same pattern. I listen to it over and over again and just start chopping it up, laying down drums, have the loops going, and I’ll start adding bass lines and different elements on top of that. Really, it just gets started from me hearing something and being really excited about it or being moved by it.

Robert: Do you consider yourself a perfectionist in a sense? Is it a matter of I won’t stop until I get it perfectly or…?

hasHBrown: You know… it’s never done. Unfortunately, you have to put out. You don’t want to make something for just you and your homeboys to listen to. I don’t think that’s the purpose. Yeah I’m a perfectionist, but at the same time whenever I release music, it’s because I’ve gotten to the point of where I don’t care what people think about it and I’m not nervous about it. I’m very confident in it. That’s when I put music out. Anything I don’t release is because I’m not comfortable with putting it out yet. Once I get my project to the point where I don’t really care what people say about it, that’s when I know that I’m done with it and I’m cool with it and I don’t have to change anything. It’s the way it’s going to be.

Robert: For sure. I saw that in one interview, you said you were a rapper before you were a producer. And since you are both a rapper and producer, was there ever a time where you worked with certain artists who only wanted to work with you solely because of your beats more than as an emcee?

hasHBrown: There are still a lot of people who think that I’m two different people. hasHBrown is the emcee and Jett I. Masstyr is the producer so I still get called a lot of times where people are like, “How do I get in touch with Jett I?” They think they’re talking to hasH, but they’re talking to the same person. [But] to answer your question, it’s both really. Some people have known me as hasH first and they found out that I produced later, or sometimes they knew me as Jett I. and they found out that I rapped later. As far as working with artists for production man, it kind of speaks for itself. Whether they’ve heard hasHBrown’s music or they’ve heard me produce for someone else, they’re attracted to that sound. I don’t know if there’s more of one than the other. I think I collab on production a lot more than I do features for people, but I say they’re pretty close.

Robert: Oh okay. Now let’s get into the album itself. There were three tracks that I wanted to talk about…“Crazy,” “The Island” and “The Restoration.” Those seem to be the most personal songs on the album. On “Crazy,” you talked about the lack of support you had from your parents when you started to venture into music. Was there a direction they wanted you to go in that conflicted with the direction you wanted to go in?

hasHBrown: Yeah, definitely. My family is very big on education. My grandparents were teachers and they went to college. Both of my parents went to college. When I got out of high school, they always knew I was into rap music. I spent most of my money on shoes and CD’s. When I went to college, the guys [I met] became my lifelong friends since freshman year. We dabbled in music and we freestyled all the time and stuff like that. It wasn’t until my second year that we took it seriously and we started doing mixtapes. The quality wasn’t there, the direction wasn’t there, but we were inspired and we felt like we could do it and years later it just ended up being something that I’m addicted — I’m addicted to doing music man. It’s just something that I have to do. So yeah, there were times where I’d go back and forth with my parents about what I really want to do. I still feel like education is important, but going through like working a job in retail, being in school off and on for a very long time, and paying what your parents did… They had to go to school to get a job to validate who they are. I don’t necessarily think that’s everyone’s path. I think I want to validate my dreams by doing music and living off my music. It’s just a difference in passions and everybody is not the same. I think that’s the biggest lesson learned and “Crazy” kind of speaks towards that. A lot of stuff I’m talking about are things that people tell me I couldn’t do or told me it was crazy like,” There’s no way you can make this style of music in Houston, Texas.” I had several people tell me that over the years, and it’s like now I haven’t stopped because I keep grinding and I keep getting newer and better opportunities every single year, so it’s like maybe I’m crazy. Fuck it. (Laughs)

Robert: (Laughs). Since you’re making a buzz and name for yourself, have your parents changed their views like, “Oh, he’s really doing it!”

hasHBrown: Yeah man! It’s kind of funny because my mom knows how to play the piano. My aunt knows how to play the piano and the violin. My grandmother, she passed my first year of college, but she played the piano and organ at church. My family is very musical on the low-key tip. My dad is whom I got my first set of records from. I basically took his record collection. He works overseas, and he comes back every now and then. When I moved out and I got my own place I was like, “Man, I’m about to take these records.” My dad’s love for music is ridiculous, so after a while they saw it wasn’t just a hobby. It was something that I was serious about, and it was just seeing the results. I’d show them my interviews, articles that I have printed up about me and just different things that lets them know that I’m actually getting some progress out of it. If it’s something I love and something I’m progressing at, they’re definitely supportive.

Robert: That’s what’s up. On your verse on “The Island,” you addressed working a dead end job, dropping out of school or discontinuing it for some time, and losing the relationship between you and your father. In what ways did you cope with these situations and how did you deal with the isolation you felt when you started becoming successful?

hasHBrown: That verse is very telling. It’s a very revealing verse. When I said, “Not sharing what I had,” I was kind of speaking of a relationship I had that went astray. I know a lot of cats may front like they’re good, the single life is great. And it is great, don’t get me wrong, but at some point you’ll want somebody there to share it with and that’s what I was talking about there. The isolation man… it’s crazy because I’m normally an introvert but being a musical figure, at least in my city, you have to smile and shake hands. You have to do those things. You don’t have to be going to the parties, but you have to be present and that’s definitely not how I am normally. Normally, I spend a lot of times by myself when I’m doing music. [Also] my grandfather passing away and my uncle passing away affected me in a way where I thought we’re not here forever, but at least live on your own terms. I can’t live anybody else’s life, or be what everybody expects me to be. I can only be what I want to be. I’m going to do what I’m going to do. Whether it’s your job, whether it’s school, or whether it’s your personal life, don’t get caught up in everybody’s expectation of you. You have to have an understanding of who you are and know where you want to go. Once you know what that is no one can stop you from moving forward.

Robert: Definitely, I feel that. It’s kind of funny how all of these tracks follow each other but the last track, “The Restoration.” In that track, you talked about your city and how it lost its spotlight and some things you weren’t really feeling although you still have a lot of love for it. What do you feel your role is in the restoration of the music scene in Houston and what aspects of it would you want to see destroyed so that it can be rebuilt?

hasHBrown: That track pretty much sums up the purpose behind Break Something. I think when I started doing the album, I knew it was going to be more aggressive and have in your face songs. I definitely have that on there, but you can’t just wild out. You can’t just speak out without a purpose and the purpose was always, “let’s break something, restore it and make it better than what it was.” A lot of people know Houston for the rise in 2005 and I was a fan. I have Slim Thug’s music, Paul Wall’s, Chamillionare’s… all of those guys I was raised listening to when I was in high school and college. So to see that happen and to see it kind of taper off, it’s disheartening because of the stuff that goes on inside the city. There’s an underground scene that people know about and I also can say that people don’t know about. That’s what that song’s really speaking to. As far as changing things, I would just change… when you’re doing shows and dealing with promoters, artists, and socialites there’s a lot of egos. Everybody thinks they’re the cool kids and you can’t play with the cool kids…you’re not cool enough, and all that bullshit. The focus isn’t about the artistry. It’s about who’s on the show, who did this and who did that when it should be about the music. The biggest thing is just breaking away that one mold. Houston is probably one of the only city’s that had one lane when it was hot. You were talking about mainly street oriented artists. Some of them were more lyrical than others. Houston was never known for having a conscious artist, having an artsy artist, having a younger artist, or swag artist. Whatever kind of artist is it is, Houston is only known for one thing and that’s what Break Something is about. Not just Houston, but breaking people’s expectation and breaking the mold of what people expect. I’m from Houston, but the number one question I get asked when I perform at shows is where are you from because they don’t associate my sound or what I’m doing with Houston and we got to change that.

Robert: That reminds of the quote, “It’s not where you’re from. It’s where you at.”

hasHBrown: Yeah, it’s crazy man. It’s just like, if you look at other places, I don’t want to say they recycle artists, but at least there’s always a new artist coming out like Atlanta or L.A., which blew up. There are so many artists coming out of L.A. and just in California in general. You have people coming out the Midwest all the time. There are new cats out of Chi-Town, and new artists coming out of New York. I just never understood why Houston couldn’t replenish the cup. There’s good people and good artists coming out of Houston man. There are styles from Houston people don’t even know about, and that’s unfortunate but we can change it.

Robert: Most definitely. There was another interview I saw where you said people were sleeping on you. Why do you believe that?

hasHBrown: I really think it’s because they’re scared. They’re scared to be into something new. For example, it’s like if you’re with a group of friends and ya’ll see comic book movies together, and then there’s a romantic comedy that comes out that you want to go see but ya’ll don’t’ see those types of movies together. You tell one of your homeboys I want to go see this and they’re like, “Uhhh…” They don’t know about this shit. We need more people that [are] going to take a chance on something different. I guess in the interview I said people were sleeping on me [but] it’s not just sleeping on me, but sleeping on something else. The opportunity of what could be is one of the very ideals that cripples Houston’s music scene from the listener all the way up to the radio station, to the ground level, to the person’s that open to music, to the person who’s been listening to Screw 24/7, and they don’t want to listen to anything else. And to the person who doesn’t even listen to Texas music, all they listen to [is] East Coast Hip Hop. We’re segregated, and the only reason why I speak from that point of view is because I listen to everything. I listen to all kinds of music. I know everybody won’t ever have that ear, but it’s kind of pushing that envelope of like, “Yo, trying something new man.” Check me out. Check out Hollywood FLOSS. Check out Propain. Check out DeLo. Check out The Niceguys. These cats are making noise in the city, and we don’t sound like each other. It’s like people need to wake up.

Robert: Yeah, definitely. I definitely agree with that. For my last question, what’s next for you as far as music?

hasHBrown: I’m working on a couple different things. I got some beats from The ARE that I didn’t put on this project. I have enough to probably do an EP with him, and I’ve been flirting with the idea of re-releasing the Relationsh!t in February with some new songs and making that project a little bit longer. Really, my main focus is Break Something. It’s an album to me, so I got to push it for as long as I can. I’m going to have a lot of videos. I’m planning to do some remixes on certain songs, and try to get more high profile features on the remixes. The next album will probably be called The Restoration. I say that now, but I don’t like to write things in stone because I really like the music to come organically. Something may happen and it may change my direction musically so I don’t even know what’ s going to come out next, but I’m working on new music always.

Artist Spotlight: Signif

Kevin — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 01:00:57 +0000

Featured many times on KevinNottingham.com over the past year, including her recent KN-sponsored project Embracing Rejection, Milwaukee emcee Signif sits down with us for our proverbial Artist Spotlight.

Where you reppin?

Home of the Bucks and the Brew! Born and raised in Milwaukee, WI, now residing in NYC.

Introduce yourself:

Hi I’m Signif, I am an emcee originally from the Midwest now stationed out East. I kick dope rhymes over phat beats and gets busy while doing so.

Where did the name Signif come from?

After bouncing a few ideas around Signif was the name that stuck, Signif is short for significant meaning we all belong and have a purpose. It was originally Sig Nif, I coined the name after Mos Def and my friends let me have it with that comparison but I decided to stick with the name but close the gap.

Main musical inspirations:

James Brown, Pac, Big L, Elzhi, Mos Def, Common, and Erykah Badu.

When did you fall in love with hip-hop?

I started writing poetry at a young age when my mother encouraged me to keep a journal and just write what I was feeling, also growing up watching my brothers partake in music, and going through their music stash when they weren’t home. My older cousin Deniece pursued it. She was a big influence on me, seeing her and her DJ picture on a cassette tape looking fly as ever meant something to me. She also made a few mix-tapes (cassette style) for me to listen to and brought me my 1st few CD’s.

At 16 I was introduced to the local music scene in my city (Milwaukee). I would listen to a lot of local music and being in the middle of cyphers and seeing how hyped everyone watching would get. That’s when the admiration for the culture started to kick in. Me and my friends at the time would skate at the roller skating ring 3-4 times a week and on the way to the ring, on the way home, and wherever we ended up afterword (mostly at my older brother and sister-in-law’s house) we would cypher.

Current projects we should be looking out for:

Embracing Rejection is the most recent project. The free LP is presented by Kevin Nottingham, Hip Hop is Cool Again, and The Mad Bloggers. The project harnesses a lot of emotion from the aspect of an emerging emcee in the now. Dealing with being over looked/shadowed, ignored, dealing with the game being over saturated, and other issues a artist may have to deal with. It’s a journey that most of us know all to well “nothing comes easy” but sometimes the struggle to be heard and seen can be a beautiful thing as well.

Previous work that we should know about:

The Significant Wizdom Ep, produced by Gee Wiz dropped this year as well. It’s an 8-track project with a more aggressive and in your face feel with great beats, so I would definitely suggest checking that out.

The Transition LP and the Transition Remixes EP are also worth a listen. I put the Transition out the top 10’ and it was pretty much the 1st record to give me a presence as an emcee.

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

The Roots’ “Walk Alone” was the 1st track to pop in my head. Just because of the dolo solo route I chose to go.

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

Well, if you want something good from a female perspective but at the same time it’s relateable to all I’m certain you’ll hear something you dig. A lot (not all) people have preconceived notions when it comes to female emcees, so like anything in life “don’t judge a book by its cover”; read it, watch it, and listen for yourself, then come to your own conclusion on how you feel about it. Independent thinking has become a thing of the past for some reason, too many sheep not enough free creative minds.

To me music is life, it’s a way to express yourself, and connect with people you may never get a chance to meet, and it’s kind of hard to imagine life without it. So let’s connect and build.

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

I’m definitely going to cheat a little but it would be a mixed record with my favorite Maxwell songs. Maxwell’s “Now” if that’s an unacceptable answer.

Tell us one thing that very few people may know about you.

One thing that very few people know about me is; I am a vegetarian (Lacto –Ovo). I’m a mean tofu chef too let me know your favorite dish and I’ll have you thinking you’re eating meat.

What’s next for you?

Right now I’m working on visuals for Embracing Rejection with Darren Cole. Significant Wizdom ii is also in the works and will be released in 2012, no official release date as of yet. It’s a follow up project to Significant Wizdom, which is a group that consists of me, and Gee Wiz, a producer out of Baltimore. Wiz handles all the production on the project. The chemistry on the 1st project was great so we decided to give it a second go round.

I’m also working on something with Mic El gearing up for next year as well. As that collab starts to come into fruition I’ll talk more about it. It’s in the early stages but I’m excited about the possibilities of what it can be. To keep up with updates you can visit www.signifthegift.com

Any shout outs or last words?

Thank you to the whole Kevin Nottingham staff for posting and supporting my projects and other good to great artists music as well. Shouts to everyone I’ve worked with and to everyone who has taken the time to listen and pass the music along, I’m grateful for that. For more music please visit signif.bandcamp.com for updates visit www.signifthegift.com and twitter.com/signif Thanks for having me and stay tuned. Peace Peace!

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Hollywood FLOSS Wants Just One Fan At A Time

Jeremiah — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 22:25:51 +0000

Recently, I went into an interview not knowing much about the artist but after the conversation, I became a fan of Hollywood FLOSS. With the dedication Hollywood FLOSS has to his craft and his strategy of gaining one fan at a time, he is determined to make his way into your playlist.

Always ready to grow, learn, and try new things, the Houston emcee dropped One Fan At A Time back in September and has some big plans for the upcoming year. He spoke with me about his latest project, how he has gone out of his comfort zone to write some of his best material, working with brandUn DeShay, and much more. Check it out!

Jeremiah: What’s good my man?

Hollywood FLOSS: Man I’m doing real good, can’t complain. How ‘bout yourself?

Jeremiah: Real good my man. Getting real close to 2012… so, what’s been new for you in 2011?

Hollywood FLOSS: I’ve just been working hard at perfecting my craft and I just released One Fan At A Time in September. It’s kind of a street album. I just wanted to give something away while I’m working on new material. I’m working on the EP as well for 2012. I know fans hate when we take so long so I wanted to let them know I was working on some quality stuff and giving them something to hold them over until 2012.

Jeremiah: That’s what’s up. I had the chance to check out One Fan At A Time recently and it seems like a lot went into the project, including some serious songwriting. What were some of the influences for the project?

Hollywood FLOSS: I definitely wanted to step up my story telling skills and I wanted everything to sound more crisp. I don’t know if that makes sense to readers but when I say crisp I mean, sonically having things flow and just grow as an artist. One Fan At A Time really shows my dedication to the fans…I’m not after trying to get a million fans in one setting, I want to grow [and] I want to have long-lasting fans. When I look at Kid Cudi’s fans, he has 150,000 faithful fans no matter what he does and they are with him and they trust him musically. Sure, you are going to have the people that fade or [say] “He’s not hot anymore” or “I used to like him when no one liked him now I don’t like him anymore…” you know those type of fans. I want loyal fans so when I go to Kansas City or Seattle or wherever I go, I have the same people showing me love and then they’re telling their friends. You have those true fans and they really help the fan base grow, not just people who are hipsters or here for the moment. I want people who really want to grow with my music.

Jeremiah: I feel ya. You brought up a good point about Kid Cudi have 150,000 faithful fans. Your project is called One Fan At A Time, and you want to grow that fan base and still remain true to yourself. And we see so many artists that are just fly by night… they’ll put out an album, get a few thousand fans, and then fall off or just put out wackiness after that. So how do you go about building that base one fan at a time?

Hollywood FLOSS: First, you have to know who you are. You have to know what you’re able to do and your expectations of yourself. When I go into making a project, I know I’m not a trap rapper so there is no need for me to go out there and start talking about selling dope. I know that I’m a nerd at heart…I love wrestling, I love Saved by the Bell, and I love sports. Knowing yourself…you have to know yourself! If I start not being true to myself then that’s the first way to say, “Okay I’m letting somebody get into my head, I’m letting the label dictate what I need to do.” You can make a club song…everyone likes to go out but don’t make a club song talking about things like, “I’m buying Rozay, I’m buying this or that,” Be yourself…be creative. When I go to the club, I’m trying to find the cheapest way for me to have fun so I’ll talk about that experience. More people can relate when you’re yourself not when you’re…I don’t know anyone in my crew or my friends or my circle that can buy Cristal, Rozay, drop-top Bentley’s – I don’t know anybody that can do that so why would I rap like that? What I do know is experiences and fun times that I’ve had or just weird moments when I went up to a girl and got rejected. People can relate to that so I’m going to stay true to myself. Most people let the label dictate who they should be.

Jeremiah: Definitely. I think that is one of the most important things for an artist today is staying true to you. People can see right through the bullshit and you will have more loyal fans because of it. Moving on, One Fan At A Time has gotten some love nationally. How has the project differed from your previous projects? Was the approach different?

Hollywood FLOSS: I think the approach was very different. I wasn’t as closed minded in the PR as I was probably a year ago. I thought I just had to do it myself [but] now I’ve allowed…I got my first street team, I went and got a PR firm, I talked to people, I let them hear my music months before it came out, I didn’t just throw it on them and surprise them. So allowing them to be a part of the project and getting feedback early on, I think that helped branch out to make the project more of a success.

Jeremiah: How about in the writing process? Was there a different approach there?

Hollywood FLOSS: My writing process for One Fan At A Time differed from my previous projects because I tried every different method. I tried the infamous Jay-Z method where he doesn’t write down anything…I tried that. I tried sitting down instead of standing up when I was recording, I used the traditional style of writing and I did the Drake where I wrote on my phone. I was trying different things and once I saw what fit best and what mood I could get, that’s what I stuck with. This was the first time – usually I’m just pen and a pad, straight pen and a pad, [but] I was like, well maybe I want to get a different feeling out of it so let me just sit down and get lazy with the recording and see how my voice inflicts or how quickly can I get it done or let me just mumble a few words or mumble a hook and see if that feeling invokes anything. It really worked…me trying different methods instead of just a pen and a pad [and it] really brought out the best of me.

Jeremiah: I feel ya. I have to do the same thing with what I do. I have to move to a different room or go to the coffee shop and work. It helps to keep me motivated and fresh.

Hollywood FLOSS: Exactly! I had to break the norm because, while I love House Of Dreams, I really fell in love with One Fan At A Time because I was able to… I really like storytelling and wanted to do more of it. Even if the story wasn’t about me per se…or if it was something I saw, something I could see on a TV show or a movie and I could get that feeling out of it. It really helps with it.

Jeremiah: I saw you have a couple different producers on there but I couldn’t help but notice “Stalker,” which was produced by brandUn DeShay, who is one of my favorite up and coming producers. How was it working with brandUn?

Hollywood FLOSS: brandUn is cool because he is one of those producers that is going to let the artist be the artist because he is an artist himself. It is so hard to find a producer who is that talented and doesn’t have an ego. I mean we just straight up met in Houston, I talked to him a couple times while he was in Houston, and of course he is in Chicago but we met in Houston at a random show and we were talking it up. He’s so talented, you would think he would be this dictator producer but he was always like, “Nah man, that sounds like a good idea, go with it, go with your gut feeling.” That’s what I learned from him; go with your gut feeling. If it comes out wrong, it comes out wrong, but at least you went with the first feeling that you had.

Jeremiah: Interesting. I’ve had some conversations with some pretty successful emcees this year and a common theme seems to be that they go into situations humble and willing to learn as opposed to going into those situations with their ego on blast. Maybe that’s the secret to becoming great and it seems like you are the same way; willing to learn. What would you say separates Hollywood FLOSS from other emcees?

Hollywood FLOSS: I think the risk taking first and the creativity. Of course there is always going to be creative emcees. You have people like Atmosphere or Murs…whoever the creative person of the day is but a lot of people don’t take risks man. I’m an open book…I’m not afraid to say – I haven’t seen too many risk takers besides ODB where they would openly say something where you think, “Were they supposed to say that?” You hear ODB talks about having STD’s… are you supposed to even talk about that? So being a risk taker, I’m not afraid to have emotion; I’m a human being before I’m a rapper. You’ve got to have emotions to get arouse out of people. You can’t be afraid of making music that shows those emotions. Nobody can be a thug everyday [and] nobody can be a baller every day. Some days, I’m broke [and] some days I have money from a paycheck. You have to take risks and you’ve got to be creative…you can’t just say you’re balling. Say it in a creative way. If people are going to remember Hollywood FLOSS, they are going to remember me as someone who tries to create his own lane and be a risk taker. I don’t want to be the fourth Drake…I want to be the first Hollywood FLOSS and that’s the approach I want to take with my music.

Jeremiah: That’s what’s up. I read in your bio about some situations with your family. How does that reflect in your music?

Hollywood FLOSS: That goes to show you that I have stories… there’s a layer there. My cousin shot himself but he is also the reason I’m in this music game. So it may be me searching, or trying to fill that void with music, using music like, I need to pick up music because you didn’t succeed in it but you died…you know that type of thing. My relationship with my dad is… we’ve almost been best friends my whole life until I started doing music. I never thought that he agreed with me doing music but it was something that I felt like I had to do. That also reflects in my music like man, “Why doesn’t he accept me doing music?” Well maybe he does but he just doesn’t want to show it.

Your family situations have to come out in your music in some kind of way or you’re not being true to yourself. You can’t deliver the best art if you can’t talk about your family to me. That goes for acting, [and] comedians. The best material comes from what you know, your family, [and] what you came from. When I look at Richard Pryor or Kevin Hart or whoever the comedian is and they are talking about their family, I’m like man, that’s so true. It’s also…it’s like a defense mechanism when I’m getting it off my chest. When I write and I’m talking about my family, it’s issues that are happening and I’m getting it off my chest.

Jeremiah: Yeah you’re right. You see that a lot with comedians but also great emcees. When they are talking about real life situations, the listener can feel it and identify with it as opposed to the fake talk rappers.

Hollywood FLOSS: You’re right. When Kanye came out after his mom died with those songs about his mom I was like, “Man, I really feel that.” My mom is still living but I understand where he is coming from or I can relate. Jay-Z… when he talks about having an unborn son on Watch The Throne, you can relate to that.

Jeremiah: Definitely. Some great points there. What can we expect from you in the near future?

Hollywood FLOSS: I’m gonna do Experiment III, I’m working on that, and an EP. For those that don’t know, Experiment III is where I do thirty songs then I send them out to blogs to A&R the project. What that means is when I do those thirty songs, I send them out to each and every blog and they get to shape the Hollywood FLOSS mixtape – the blogger becomes the A&R. They’re already the new A&R anyways so why not let them get hands on where they get to pick ten songs and see how hard it is to make an album and please fans. In the project, I’ll do club songs, I’ll do conscious songs, I’ll do just straight Hip Hop songs, and I’ll do like five of each and leave it up to the fans and bloggers to really carve out the project. So yeah, I’m doing Experiment Part III and the EP. The EP is not done; it’s just a lot of tracks and I want to get the best collection of tracks together.

Jeremiah: Very interesting concept and marketing strategy you have with Experiment III. How did that come about?

Hollywood FLOSS: I think I care about my music first of all. I want it to be heard and when you want something to be heard, you don’t treat the bloggers like a number. I don’t care what blog posts my music. If you were the first person to post my stuff, I’m faithful to you; I’m loyal to you. You know, I have people like Cal from RockTheDub and Kevin Nottingham… the sites that have been down with me for almost two years now. I understand that it’s cool to be on XXL, but XXL wasn’t there from the beginning. It took somebody before them to recognize a talent. So you have to stay loyal and build off that. When you’re loyal, people are more helpful, at least in my experience, and your fan base grows because marketing comes easy by being loyal. Then they help you plan it out and give you feedback too. Most people don’t have a press release and hope they get on 2DopeBoyz because of traffic but little do they know 2DopeBoyz might have the new Jeezy right above you so who are the readers going to look at…Jeezy or you? Let’s be honest, the sites like KevinNottingham.com and RockTheDub.com cater to content, [and] people go there for content, where the sites like 2DopeBoyz might go for the traffic. You have to pick your poison.

Jeremiah: Dope man, dope. Any final thoughts or words my man?

Hollywood FLOSS: I just want to say man, I’ve had a blast doing this music and please check the music. Check me out on Twitter @HollywoodFLOSS [and] also check out HollywoodFLOSS.com. If there is anybody out there looking to endorse, if you’re looking to market some clothing or whatever it may be, get at me at HollywoodFLOSS@gmail.com.

J. NiCS Speaks On The Life Cycle Of Hip Hop, Growing Up In Miami And Why Southern Cats Ain’t Slow

D. Craig — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:00:29 +0000

J. NiCS has been on his grind, to say the least. The Miami rapper dropped his first EP in 2010, a project with producer Numonics earlier this year, and just released his latest mixtape, Southern Niggas Ain’t Slow: The Tribute. In the midst of his most recent project, NICS is already working on his next album Southern Niggas Ain’t Slow: The Product, which is slated for an early 2012 release.

I had the opportunity to chop it up with NiCS about his musical influences in his early years, the life cycle of Hip Hop as a genre, and why he feels the need to explain [to the world] that Southern cats ain’t slow.

DC: So who is J. NiCS for those who aren’t familiar?

J. NiCS: Who is J. NiCS? I mean, I’m not your traditional “artist” that was brought up learning how to play the piano or something. I just always had a love for words. So, my love for words has always made it natural for me to put words together the way I do and that’s what got me into rap. Other than that, I look at myself as a regular person (laughs). I mean, that’s what I am. I’m not the guy that thinks he’s a superstar or “I’m all this” or “all that…” When I say something, I make sure it’s always genuine and it’s what I want to say. I make the music that I make not because I’m trying to impress somebody or anything… I make it because that’s the kind of music I like to hear. So, J. NiCS is just a regular guy but the whole Polar Bear Mack thing is because I love women (mutual laughter)… Like… I love ‘em. I always want ‘em around. When they’re not around, I’m hoping they’re around. When they are around, it’s… where I want to take them (mutual laughter).

DC: Alright cool. So you said your path into music wasn’t necessarily a “traditional” one. How did you get into making music and Hip Hop in general?

J. NiCS: I started strictly as a fan. When I was growing up in elementary or whatever, I was just always really good with words, you know what I’m saying? I guess that was something I was just born with…I’ve always have a knack for words. When I was in school, I would always excel in English and language arts, you know? Before I wrote rhymes as a kid, I used to write stories. I used to think of all sorts of things…like, if there was a cartoon that I would have wanted… I couldn’t really draw, so I just had to write everything down as soon as possible so I could keep that imagery in my mind. From there, just becoming a fan of Hip Hop… like, Biggie was my first favorite rapper ever. His style was so raw…it was so cool to me that he’d get on the mic and just be like, “Yo, fuck that!” (Mutual laughter) You know what I mean? Like, that was so cool to me… he just didn’t care, he had that swagger. At the same time, he was a big dude and I was always a chubby cat too… but he still had steez! He was a big dude like, “Yeah, I’m fat – nigga what?! I still got yo’ bitch!” He just had so much confidence and style.

DC: Who were some of your other musical influences?

J. NiCS: After Biggie, I got into Jay-Z for kinda the same reason. They just had that confidence about ‘em, like when they’d get on the mic or get on a track, it was so dope to me because they were able to be so street and so poetic at the same time. That’s something I’ve always admired, especially from my perspective as a writer…not even writing rhymes, just writing stories. The way they were spitting, it was almost like it came out of a book. Later on as I got older and got out of my shell, I got more into the southern style. I remember rolling dice at the back of the class with my homies or whatever and I made them a tape of some of my favorite tracks because I was always the nigga that knew about music. Back then, I’d be driving with my Walkman (laughs). That’s how long ago this was. I’d be driving with my Walkman, playing a tape or whatever and in class my homies would be like, “Yo, what you driving’ to?” And I just had tapes that I made with songs from Scarface and other artists, you know… I used to make little mixtapes. And as I got older and just living life down here, I was really heavy on OutKast, Goodie Mob, Cool Breeze, Eightball & MJG, UGK, you know… it was more than I just listened to their music. I lived by their music and died by their music. The stuff they were saying was so real… like, I took so much from that music. Like, “My balls and my word” – for real – I don’t break that for nobody! You know, that’s something Scarface said in a rhyme but it was like scripture… like the Bible to me, you know?

DC: Yeah man, as a southern cat myself being from Texas, I definitely see where you’re coming from.

J. NiCS: Word.

DC: Speaking of your music influences, you have a line on your track “Last Time” off the Rizla project where you say something along the lines of, “Listening to GZA”. Are you a Wu-Tang fan?

J. NiCS: Yeah man! I fucks with Wu-Tang. GZA especially, just because his word play was so unique. GZA and Inspectah Deck were two of my favorites. Their rhymes were so slick, it could easily fly over ya’ head, but like I said earlier, they were tiptoeing’ that line of being so street and so poetic. Their whole group did it so well. I loved it. And I remember times when I’d be working shitty ass jobs in a warehouse somewhere and I’d be catching a bus to go make minimum wage, working my ass off… but in my headphones, I’m playing GZA. Know what I’m saying’? Like I’d have Liquid Swords playing to get in the zone to go in there and deal with that bullshit. That music was real motivating for me… I’d just be like, “Fuck it! I’m finna come in here and get on this job… but I’m listening’ to GZA right now. I don’t even care what’s going’ on, I’m in this world and shit.”

DC: So to backtrack, you said you began to come out of your shell and what not… what was it like growing up in Miami? Did that environment influence your music?

J. NiCS: Yeah. Like, Miami has always been a different kind of place as far as the vibe and what not. The drugs [have] always been a big thing down here. Like some places, you have to be “In the hood,” like literally the worst part of town to see cats just selling drugs on the corner. But Miami isn’t like that. It’s so common that anybody can sell drugs down here. It’s just a prominent thing down here…that it’s something that you get into. You know, you wanna make a couple of dollars real quick, you don’t even have to be a “drug dealer.” You’d just go on and get it, boom, boom, boom, make some money. I’d never say I was a thug… like I say in a lot of my music, I was never a thug in the sense that I’d be like, “Yeah, what?! Let’s go!” I wasn’t ready to fight the world or whatever…it was just hard to stay in one place. I always wanted to do my own thing. I was never a person that just wanted to follow… I always wanted to do my own shit. Like when I was in school, I stayed to myself a lot because I was in my own vibe. I wasn’t coming in there to learn from the teacher and I’m not tryna’ disrupt anybody else anyway, so I was just to myself and in my own vibe writing my rhymes. But then once I got out of school, if you have that mentality you get into the real world and have to be a man… there wasn’t no school around, know what I’m saying? It was a different type of game. It’s easy to take that wrong path and be in the drug game. I remember at one point it was really crazy down here in Miami with the guns. The gun violence down here is crazy. I remember having a choppa was so common that if you were in the street and hanging around certain people, you could get one so easily. You could buy one for like $500. (Laughs) And you could easily make $500. I lost friends to gun violence. That’s the unfortunate side of being down here. But still, the city is so beautiful. It’s strange, you got the beautiful city but you also got this “wild west” type of mentality and activity. You had all that with a beautiful backdrop… that’s basically what Miami is, or at least what it was for a long period of time. It’s such a hustler’s city.

DC: It seems like some of that is translated through your latest project, The Tribute. Could you tell us a little bit about it?

J. NiCS: I’m really surprised with the response it’s been getting. When I put it out, I expected for it to get more of a response specifically from just the South. You know, because it’s called Southern Niggas Ain’t Slow: The Tribute. But when it came out, I got a lot of love from different regions. From the South, East Coast, West Coast… and it’s such a humbling feeling to me because at the end of the day, I was influenced not just by the South. I mean the South had such a big impact on my music, especially because I’ve lived here my whole life – I was born and raised in Miami. But I listened to so many wide ranges of artists and have favorite artists from so many different regions. So to put out a project like The Tribute and for it to get so much love and respect from other regions, it’s… man, it’s like a dream. I never thought I’d be able to do something like that.

DC: So, why S.N.A.S.? Why that name, specifically?

J. NiCS: The name itself came from a line off a Nas album.

DC: Yeah, “Get Down.”

J. NiCS: Yeah, exactly. When I heard that song and I heard him say that, “Southern niggas ain’t slow, nigga tried to play me…”

DC: I remember when I heard that line, “Get Down” became one of my favorite Nas tracks.

(Mutual laughter)

J. NiCS: Yeah man, I remember there was a time when I first started rapping that a lot of cats felt like I had an “up-north” type style… well, I kinda did. I look at it like this, the younger you are when you start rapping and developing your craft, you’re gonna mimic a lot of what you were inspired by. So when I first started rapping, I kind of sounded like Biggie. I used to listen to Big and Jay all the time so my style kind of had an East coast flavor to it. Niggas thought I was from New York and I was like, “Nah, I’m from Miami, I’m from Dade County. I was born and raised here!” (Laughs) In Miami, a lot of the music was really club-based or party-based and my style didn’t fit into that mold. You know, I’d write songs or whatever and there wouldn’t be no hook; it’d just be a long ass verse and that’d be it. I’d just be spitting. So anytime that I’d be freestyling or say something crazy, cats would think I was from New York or something and I’d have to be like, “Nah”… I’m just well rounded. So yeah, Southern Niggas Ain’t Slow is basically… yeah, I’m a South nigga, but I also have a different type of flow. Because on the outside, when people look at the South or our music, they look at it as something that has a “lack of” intelligence or a “lack of” things that make a good MC. For a long time, the South had to really fight to be respected as artists. On the project, I have a track called Swangin’ where I said, “Scarface gave me hope when he got five mics.” That was when Face got five mics in The Source for The Fix and I remember how I felt seeing that because before that they’d only give people like Nas five mics. Only top-tier artists really got five mics and other than Outkast, nobody from the South really did. I was so happy when I seen Scarface get [that] because his music was always so dope because his flow and the shit that he was saying was so deep. He had so many lines that were just so hard-hitting and would resonate with you long after you’d turn the song off. The Fix was definitely an album that had that. It made me feel like there was hope for me, that I wouldn’t always be looked at like, “Oh, you a South nigga that sound like you from New York.” I knew it was possible for me to show people that there was a message in my music and I have something to say, but I can have fun at the same time and it’s gonna be respected.

DC: Definitely. And you got The Product coming out in early 2012. Could you tell us something about that?

J. NiCS: Yeah, The Product is the second installment of Southern Niggas Ain’t Slow. Southern Niggas Ain’t Slow is like the theme and The Tribute is me going over classic southern instrumentals and rare southern tracks that people may have never even heard. You know, that’s why it’s called The Tribute… I’m paying homage to those tracks. I’m not trying to say I’m similar or even like those artists, or that I can make the type of music they make. It’s just that they influenced me so much that I wanted to put a new feeling or flavor on a classic record. The Product is all original production. That’s why it’s “the product,” because I’m a product of what you hear on The Tribute.

DC: Cool. So, you dropped The Stimulus Package last year, Rizla earlier this year, and now The Tribute. You’ve got The Product coming out soon… it seems like you have a good work ethic and stay real busy. What’s the next step from here and what are your end goals?

J. NiCS: Wow, that’s a good question… I’ve never been asked that before. I guess you can say to come in and make really good music [and] to put my mark on Hip Hop history. Hip Hop itself is still such a young form of music. We kind of forget that. Right now, Hip Hop is just now seeing “older” rappers. If you look at other genres of music, they’ve had older artists come and go and years. Hip Hop is so young that it’s just starting to see its artists be in their 40’s or 50’s. The thing that keeps the other forms of music going is that you have artists that come and go. They have their time in the game and then new artists and styles form from the previous generation. I just wanna play my part in that whole cycle. I wanna leave my mark on the game until I’m out and I’m retired, then somebody else can come in who was influenced by my generation’s music. Maybe somebody will start rapping’ because of my music, the same way I was influenced by Scarface or Jay-Z.

DC: I think that’s a great outlook. You haven’t been putting out projects for too long, but what’s been the most exciting moment of your career thus far?

J. NiCS: The most exciting moment of my career? Let’s see… I’d have to say SXSW this past year. That was a huge thing for me. Same thing with A3C. Being able to do both of those things this year were highlights of my life because I remember last year I wasn’t invited to go. Not being a part of it sucked because I wanted to be there so bad. I told myself that I wanted it so bad that there was no way I wouldn’t be a part of it next year. And when this year rolled around, I was able to accomplish both of those things. And to be a Miami artist… like, Miami doesn’t have a market that’s always looked at for Hip Hop. There’s a lot of other genres of music and Miami gets it popping, but Hip Hop doesn’t get too much of a shine. It gets overlooked a lot of times. I just told myself I was gonna work hard, make my music real and truthful, and make it undeniable with love and passion so it would connect with people. I wanted to go there, do that, and bring some shine to the city. Being able to rock at SXSW and A3C, which is something artists from Miami don’t really get to do, that was really big for me.

DC: Who is somebody you really want to work with? Any other rappers or producers?

J. NiCS: Definitely. A lot of the classic producers. I would love to work with Mr. Lee who produced “From the South.” 9^th Wonder – I think he’s a dope producer. I think Pharrell is great… his style is always so fresh and organic to me. Rapper wise, I’d definitely like to work with Freddie Gibbs. I would love to do a record with Scarface. I’d also like to work with Trick Daddy.

DC: So you’re dropping The Product in 2012…are there any other projects you’re working on or planning to work on?

J. NiCS: I’m just really focusing on The Product. One thing I really believe in is quality over quantity, know what I mean?

DC: Absolutely.

J. NiCS: Some people put out so many mixtapes or albums… but if you don’t put any passion or effort into one of them, it just falls on deaf ears in my opinion. I’m just focusing on The Product and getting that to sound exactly how I want. Other than that, I wanna do more shows. I did that a bit this year, but I wanna do more traveling in the next couple of months. I wanna go everywhere. There’s a lot of places my music has touched that I haven’t been able to perform at, so I wanna go out there and show those people some love.

DC: To wrap up, any last words or anything you want your fans to know?

J. NiCS: Man, I just want my fans to know that the music that I make is really to live your life to. I don’t make music to promote any specific thing like violence or drug use. I’m just showing people that… this is life. That’s exactly what life is, the good and the bad. That’s what my music is… my music is life. With my music, you may get a message on one song and on another, you might wanna shake yo’ ass (laughter). That’s exactly what life is… you got both sides.

DC: Cool man. I appreciate you taking the time out to have this interview. On a personal note, I’ve been listening to you for about a year now and I’m a fan. I look forward to hearing what you’ve got planned for the future.

J. NiCS: Thanks man, I know KevinNottingham.com has been showing love. I remember last year, y’all gave me a spot in the Top 10 EPs of the year or something when The Stimulus Package came out. That was the first time I had ever received attention like that. If y’all ever have anything going on, I’m down for all of that. Whatever KevinNottingham.com is doing, I support it.

Talks on the Etymology and Dynamics of a Duo with Idle Warship

Daniella Kohavy — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 20:00:12 +0000

It was 11:00pm on a Saturday night in New York City, and Res and Talib Kweli of Idle Warship were getting ready for a photo shoot. They had their crew preparing the backdrops and wardrobes in a hotel room of the stunningly bohemian-gothic Grammercy Park Hotel. It was also about to be my birthday in the next hour, so needless to say, talking to them about their long-awaited debut album, Habits Of The Heart, was a blast. The album has gotten many people curious and ready to hear a full-length project from these two. Take a look at what Idle Warship had to say about years of collaborations with each other, the album’s theme, their opinions on social networking, and Res’ dabble in rapping.

Daniella: Where’d you come up with the name Idle Warship?

Res: That’s a good question. He [Talib Kweli] called me and said, “How about Idle Warship?” and I was like, “Idle like I-d-o-l? Worship like W-o-r or W-a-r?” I-d-l-e? [To Talib Kweli], where did you come up with “idle”?

Talib Kweli: I think because the first songs were poppy and dance leaning’. We were dealing with the idea of celebrity worship and that these people are idols. So we started playing around with the spelling. The English language is so beautiful that you can have a word spelled differently; you say it the same way but it completely changes the meaning. And there are so many different images and meanings of a warship that’s sitting at the dock of a bay, idle. The idea of something so powerful that has all this weaponry and can go out and represent a nation, but it’s being idle…

Res: It’s just sitting there doing nothing.

Talib Kweli: Yeah and then it became–that’s what we are as people. We have the power of a warship, but there are a lot of things that just keep us idle.

Daniella: That’s an interesting concept. It sort of fascinates me when a Hip Hop emcee joins forces with a singer. You guys have collaborated a lot over the years but when and why did you actually decide to come together and make an album?

Res: At first we decided to make a mixtape and put together all the songs we did together that never came out. So we added songs but they actually sounded completely different than the songs we did in the past. And then it just kept growing.

Talib Kweli: I think that I ‘m in love with Res’ voice and the quality of her voice. For the type of music I do, it just feels right and it fits. We were blessed to share the same management at the beginning of our careers so it made a lot of sense. So we definitely got to know each other, but musically it makes a lot of sense. There’s always a place on any project that I do for Res so the idea of Idle Warship being me and her was just natural.

Daniella: Makes sense for sure. It’s also been a long road in completing the album since your single, “Black Snake Moan” in 2008. What do you think were some of the reasons it took so long?

Talib Kweli: I think it’s organic. One, we have to get together in the right situation. The situation we have right now is still very much an indie situation. It’s Blacksmith. We’re calling all the shots on it. This is our blood, sweat, and tears, and our passion invested in it. Now is the time in our careers, I think, for Idle Warship to have a project for people to hear. For four years, we’ve been telling people what Idle Warship is. If you come to a show, you might get it. But until we have a project, people don’t really get it. We put out “Party Robot” with Mick Boogie for free on the Internet, and I’m pretty proud of that project. And on that project, there were tracks we didn’t own. We were singing over other people’s tracks, from Common to Far East Movement, so we were rocking on those tracks. But this is actually the Idle Warship sound as opposed to a project we’re laying out for people to know that we’re serious.

Daniella: Now digging deeper into your upcoming album, Habits Of The Heart, what would you say this album is about?

Res: At first, the premise of the album was about a girl going to Hollywood trying to make it from a small town and getting turned out. The album’s not about that now, but that’s how it started out. Now, I think it’s more about having a good time. We were going to the studio making songs that we don’t usually make or talking about things we don’t usually talk about. You know, not trying to dumb it down, but there’s definitely another perspective too. You know, there are artists that come out all the time and they are very “I am this way.” I am gangster or I’m an alternative punk kid. Or I’m a this or a that. And no person is like that all the time. The kids from Blink 182 are not jumping around acting like suburban kids all the time.

Talib Kweli: Running around the streets naked…

Res: [Laughs] yeah, they’re into politics too. So I think that this project is another side to both of us that people don’t get to see or don’t even think exists. At the time, I just got off a tour with Gnarls Barkley and I was in the clubs all the time. And Kweli goes out, you know, he’s not just this revolutionary rapper. He goes out and has a good time too. I think that energy and those two sides of us just came together and made fun records that we would hear in a club. It’s actually fun to do the shows because the music is upbeat. I think just that energy alone makes it different and that’s not what we usually do on our records. So we experimented more here and went as far left as we wanted.

Talib Kweli: It started out with the music telling the story because of the tracks we picked. We wrote songs on there but there are other songwriters on the project with us too. The story came together as the story of young women being turned out by fame or turned out by big cities. So it follows the story from a woman’s perspective, may I be so bold to say. I’m on the album and very much involved with it. But it’s really from a female perspective and I play an observational character or someone who’s just taking notes and every once in awhile, I’m participating in this woman’s life. We could never make music that is empty and doesn’t say anything. So the music is fun, but when you really dig into it, there is more. You know, there’s a song by Oddysey and it’s called “Inside Out” which is one of my favorite songs in the world. It’s a story of a woman who keeps going to the clubs but she’s too old to be going to the clubs. And she gets with this dude but then she sees him leaving with all the younger girls, which is the same sort of story like Copacabana. So these are upbeat songs but when you really listen to them, they’re telling real stories. That’s what this record is about.

Daniella: There are a lot of heartfelt tracks as well on the album.

Res: Yeah, you might be floating through life all happy, going to the clubs but at the end of the day, you are always dealing with real issues and relationships go up and down.

Daniella: Did you guys pretty much agree on the rhythms and decide what sound would go where? Was it easy?

Res: Yeah I think it was easy. I’ve never been in a group with another person before. We get along period. We get along a lot as far as what we like musically and sound-wise. That part is easy as far as what you think is a good song or what instrument we like more or less. Or what do you think about this verse?’ So that part is easy. Or what instrument we like more or less. We’re in sync with that. I think visually, we probably differ.

Daniella: I love the concept for the track “System Addict.” It’s awesome that it embraces an almost creepiness of social networking. How has social networking been for you two? Do you find there’s an added charm or do you try to step away sometimes?

Res: I’m 50/50 on it. The right thing to say is how much I love it. I do love it sometimes, it does help me connect with fans, it does help them know what I’m doing and it keeps me in the loop of things. But it also has the dark side of it where you could feel attacked. You’re being scrutinized and you’re alienated. You feel like sometimes, you don’t want to give or you want to throw something out there but not feel the repercussions of it. So I have a love/hate relationship with social media. You know, I had someone comment on my website in the comment section and they were shitting on everyone – they shitted on the audience, they shitted on the show, the event-throwers, everybody. But it’s like, for every one of those, it’s five years of positive ones. It’s kind of crazy because social media really makes people think that everyone’s opinion matters just because they could voice it.

Talib Kweli: Whether or not they have qualified opinions.

Res: Yeah it’s weird—everyone feels entitled. In a way, they’re saying things because there’s no repercussion for it. You’re just throwing it out there into the black hole. You’re really not expecting to see the person that you’re dropping the bomb on or that you’re going to walk in a room and see them. [To Kweli] How do you like it?

Talib Kweli: I’m very analog as a person. I’ve harnessed social media to help what I’m doing. Even my relationship with KevinNottingham.com and other websites have been very supportive of my career but they’ve also been critical of me. But a site like this, I still fuck with, because it comes from a place that’s concerned about the culture. You know, I read stuff that said Kevin Nottingham was like ‘Damn, I didn’t like that song or what Kweli did’ but that’s over years of ‘I like this song, I like that song, I like this song’ So it’s like you get the truth about where people’s hearts and minds are. But the truth is ugly.

Res: Yeah, sometimes you get the truth for the moment. You get the emotion and reactions. Sometimes you don’t think before you tweet.

Talib Kweli: Right, that’s why you have to be understanding of it. You know it’s a fine line because we had an issue with a show today. When you agree to do a show, everyone agrees that they have to provide a certain amount of equipment. And they kept telling me we don’t have that equipment. For a week I’d been telling them ‘You need to get the equipment.’ We’re not talking about green M&Ms here either. We’re just talking about our band being able to plug in and play just to hear themselves. And they’re like, we’re not going to get it. So I tried to use social media as a way to stop the tide from being like, oh Idle Warship just didn’t show up. Once you pull that string though, the whole sweater unravels. Now you find yourself addressing people individually. They’re trying to make it sound like we’re being devious. So it becomes something you have to harness properly. I didn’t want them to think we were doing a half-show or just not doing the show. So I couldn’t ignore it.

Daniella: I hear you on that. So Mr. Kweli, do you ever break it down in the shower and sing your heart out?

Talib Kweli: You know what, I used to when I was a teenager. I haven’t done that in a long time. [Laughs]

Daniella: Res, do you bust out freestyles?

Res: I do all the time.

Talib Kweli: Yeah! You know what? That’s the back-story that’s getting lost in all of this. When we originally did “Steady”, – and that’s why I’m singing on “Steady” and you’re rapping on it. Really, the whole idea of Idle was [to Res] I’m singing and you’re rapping.

Res: Yeah, he lives in LA and NY and I was in LA at the time doing Idle Warship songs. And I would be at the studio – which was someone’s apartment, like in their closet – and they’d say, okay, we’re going to send it to him [Talib] after I would do a rap and I’d be like, fuck. You think it’s good? [Laughs] This is a real rapper I’m sending this to! He really raps, he’s good. [Laughs] I’m not really a rapper so I would do my little raps and I couldn’t believe I was sending this it to him. Sending this to a real rapper. I was super self-conscious.

Daniella: Awesome! So are y’all going on tour?

Talib Kweli: Yeah, we’ve toured before and we’re looking forward to touring again. We’re doing spot dates now but that’s what dropping the album is for. So that we can tour.

Res: Yeah, we like to perform.

Talib Kweli: That’s what this is about – so we can perform songs.

Daniella: What can we expect from the shows?

Res: The songs are really upbeat. We do like 600 songs in a set because Kweli set lists are 30 songs long [Laughs]. He’s like, every song that we ever though about doing or that we haven’t done yet, let’s do it. In an hour. And I have to sing all of it [Laughs].

Talib Kweli: The shows are crazy. The shows are great because if someone’s an Idle Warship fan, it’s because they’ve seen the show. If they heard the music, they’d be like, Res and Kweli are doing something really cool and dope. Or they’re like Kweli and Res are selling out and fucking up.

Res: They don’t include me in that one.

Talib Kweli: They say that about me. Definitely. But, if they see a show, they’ll be come a fan, without a doubt.

Res: So yes, the show is good and fun. And it’s a full band, drums, keys, guitar, bass and Kweli and I. You know, we’ve played a lot together so it’s definitely a strong unit. Sometimes it becomes improv and of course we have our set that we love to do. We incorporate some covers. It’s a seamless show. No tape running. High energy and upbeat. And the crowd is into it.

M.O.P. Speaks On Sparta, Their Love For Scarface And Why You Won’t See Them At Any Brooklyn Nets Games

Uptown Bobby — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 17:00:43 +0000

‘’Realness’’ is always a trending topic in the world of Hip Hop. Rappers from Atlanta to Albany are constantly trying to prove their ‘’realness’’ by random acts of toughness. But I dare you to find an act ‘’realer’’ than the Brownsville natives Billy Danze and Lil’ Fame of M.O.P. No gimmicks, or games, M.O.P. has built a legacy out of being raw with pure unadulterated authenticity. And in this interview, the ‘’Godfathers of Hardcore Hip Hop’’ discuss their new album, Sparta, and how the album’s exclusive production from Germany producers The Snowgoons is going to give you the best M.O.P you’ve ever heard.

Uptown: How did you guys meet the Snowgoons and why did you guys let them produce the entire album?

Billy Danze: Well, that happened with the owner of the label. He called me up personally and asked me would we be up with doing a project with the Snowgoons. I didn’t know much about them at the time. I heard a few songs. So we decided it to give it a shot. They sent us like 100 tracks. The hardest thing about this album was to pick tracks out of 100, because they sent a lot of great tracks. Personally, I think we pulled something great off.

Uptown: Why the name Sparta?

Billy: Because we fighters dog!

Lil’ Fame: We fight for what we believe in, know what I mean?

Billy: If you pay attention to M.O.P, we’ve always been out of the box from what other people do. So, it was like everyone was against us when we were in our own lane. Like, them 300 cats. We always been fighters, and we still fighting to this day

Uptown: M.O.P. is known for ‘’Hardcore Hip Hop.”’ Would you say Hip Hop has gotten soft?

Fame: Hip Hop took a turn and went in such a way that I aint familiar with the block that it turned on. I grew up on a lot of music; dope is dope. But nowadays, everybody is at home making music on their little computers…ain’t nobody digging through crates anymore. Ain’t nobody coming up with any new ideas. It’s all the same fucking bullshit. That’s the problem.

Billy: It’s just, how do you mimic a gimmick and think that it’s going to last? If you go to a party and do the same dance for six fucking hours, that means that something is wrong with the music. Artists back in the day would feed off each other. That’s not happening right now…at least to me.

Uptown: How would you two describe the state of New York Hip-hop?

Fame: I feel New York lost its place as being leaders. I mean back in the day, New York word of mouth was the shit for everything. I remember when they had record pools and all the DJ’s would come to New York, it would be New York’s ‘’say-so’’ on whether the shit was hot or not. And aint nothing wrong with folks having their own opinions nowadays, but in my day, New York was the leaders. Like, New York lost its identity. New York doesn’t know what to do right now besides be their fucking selves.

Uptown: Well, with you guys being leaders, are there any new rappers out now that you guys would like to work with?

Fame: (Laughs) It’s a couple cats that I like but I can’t call any off hand.

Billy: I can barely tolerate these motherfuckers.

Fame: Really, there’s a couple of cats that’s finally getting shine that I would work with. Like Royce 5’9… he’s getting shine and I love that. One or two new cat’s I would fuck with.

Billy: I don’t fuck with them new niggas. But, this is how M.O.P. has always felt…it doesn’t matter what era of this industry you come from, if you’re dope, you’re dope. We never chased behind who was selling the most records or who was the most popular because to us, that don’t matter.

Uptown: Are there any artists out there that y’all like in particular?

Fame: You know something? I can like a nigga album, but when I meet him in person, I don’t like ‘em. At the Source awards some years ago, we finally meet Scarface. We love Scarface. Man, this nigga walked up on us singing our shit. I could’ve had a heart attack.

Billy: We love Scarface. He spit’s that real shit. When ‘Face raps, it’s like he’s preaching. I remember a while ago, niggas were talking about who’s the king of the South, blah, blah. Nigga, Scarface is the King of the South; print that. Ain’t nobody down there fucking with Face, man.

Uptown: Wow. I will. Are you two fans of Southern Hip Hop?

Fame: It’s another nigga after Face that I like.

Billy: Mr. Mike?

Fame: Yeah, Mr. Mike. We listen to every fucking thing.

Billy: Big Mike was dope too. Devin The Dude is sick as a motherfucker. Devin’s a beast, man!

Uptown: Really? That’s refreshing to hear. As a fan of Devin the Dude and M.O.P, could we get Devin The Dude to sing a few hooks on your next project?

Billy: We can get him to go back and sing hooks on every other M.O.P album. (Laughs)

Uptown: October 30 marked the nine-year anniversary of Jam Master Jay’s death. With you all being native sons of Brooklyn, do you guys have any fond memories of Jay?

Fame: I remember stealing tokens to go get a pair of Adidas to go see Run DMC movies.

Billy: Damn, how many tokens did you steal, Fame?! (Laughs)

Fame: Back then, it was a pack, so I would get a month’s worth of tokens in a sock and go get some Adidias. I remember that shit clear as day.

Billy: I remember seeing Jay once coming out the diner around the corner from my crib. I was walking in the diner and he was in the back. People were like, ‘’Oh, Billy blah, blah, blah,’’ and I saw him in the back. Folks probably thought I was on some bullshit because I was walking right past people speaking to me… I’m trying to meet Jam Master Jay! I walked up to him and he was just a good, humble dude, but you could tell he was a street dude, too. I know a lot of dudes from his hood and they can vouch on how he was a down ass dude. I never heard about any trouble, though. And as far as the actual murder case, I can’t speak on that because I don’t know what’s going on. But, hats off to Run, D and Russell for bringing him to the light and not just showing him off as a DJ, but how great of a person he was.

Uptown: Your former labelmate Jay-Z, has had his hand in getting Brooklyn a team. Did you to ever think you would live to see another major sports team in Brooklyn?

Billy: Nah, I didn’t think I would get to see another team in Brooklyn. But, where their putting that stadium, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but somebody is gonna get the shit robbed out of them. They know they aint got no business fucking around in that ghetto. You can’t put all that money in a place where niggas are starving and not expect shit to pop off. It’s like, you’re gonna come over here and wave your big bag of money around and tell me I can’t have it? Nah, aint gonna happen, B. I hope it works out, but you will not see me attending any games and that’s all I’m gonna say about that.

Uptown: Wait, so we’ll never see M.O.P. wearing any Brooklyn Nets memorabilia?

Billy: We’ll wear hats.

Fame: I’ll wear the shit out of a Brooklyn Nets hat.

Billy: Nine times out of ten, you might see Fame there because that’s his area, but me? Nah, son.

Fame: I agree that it’s a good thing, but you can’t put all of that money in the hood and not expect niggas to snatch it. Don’t expect all that good stuff to happen without any bad, though.

Uptown: In Hip Hop, do you think our community focuses too much on the age of an artist at a certain point?

Fame: I mean, you got Rock and Roll motherfuckers in their 60’s still doing it. It’s all about how good your music is. But, don’t be talking shit about how you on the corner and you’re not.

Billy: As far as age goes, are you talking about the music or the culture? If we’re talking about talent, then age doesn’t matter. It’s dudes that got some age on them that can spit some shit! Praise my man Big Daddy Kane, praise G-Rap, praise Rakim. You find me a mother fucker that’s in the game right now that can out spit anyone of them! If I ever win a lyricist of the year award, I’m breaking that motherfucker in four pieces: ‘’Here’s yours Rakim; Here’s yours Kane; Here’s yours G-Rap; Here’s yours Scarface.” So age doesn’t mean anything; if you’re dope, you’re dope.

Uptown: That’s pretty insightful. What are the biggest misconceptions people have about M.O.P?

Billy: Niggas think we’re animals… straight up. They think that we’re animals, like we can’t have a good conversation or anything: women, dudes, everybody. I actually had a nigga walk up to me and say , ‘’Yo, I didn’t know y’all were this cool. I’ve been wanting to talk to y’all forever but I thought y’all were gonna slap the shit out of me.’’ Like, people really say shit like that.

Fame: Man, we’re just regular niggas. Motherfuckers thinking we ain’t got no self control.

Billy: That’s Fame, man. Fame gotta stop rapping like that. (Laughs) Stop acting like that in public Fame!

Fame: I’ll simmer. (Laughs).

Uptown: Lastly, what can fans of M.O.P. expect for the remainder of 2011, and the beginning of 2012?

Billy: This year we’ve done a lot. We got Sparta in November. Fame’s solo, Fame and the Glory in March. At the end of November, we’re going into the studio to record the next M.O.P album. So by next year you’ll have: Fame and the Glory, Behind Gates — then the next M.O.P. album. That’s not necessarily in that order, but that’s what you can expect from M.O.P. in the soon-to-be future.

Fame: Bottom line is, when there’s a demand for M.O.P, that’s what’s most important. I was recording a solo album and it was more important to do this album [Sparta]. Nothing works without M.O.P, bottom line. You gotta take care of home first, know what I mean?

A.Dd+ Speaks On Success, Representing Dallas And Working With Black Milk

D. Craig — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:45:58 +0000

A.Dd+ made their way onto the scene earlier this year when they dropped what the Dallas Observer deemed as possibly the best Hip Hop album that Dallas has ever released. The duo’s debut album, When Pigs Fly, has garnered national attention and put them in the position to work with the likes of underground favorites like Black Milk. Still, not all is peaches and cream for the southern pair.

I had the opportunity to chop it up with my fellow Dallas-natives about what seems like overnight success, what it’s like being from a city without much representation and their plans moving forward.

DC: So who is A.Dd+? What are y’all about and what should we be thinking when we hear the name?

Paris: A.Dd+ is… a two-man group. The short one is Paris Pershun, that’s me.

Slim: And I’m the tall one, Slim Gravy.

Paris: And shit, truthfully, what people should expect from us is just groundbreaking music. We come from Dallas where the music scene is, you know, minimal. I’m not gonna shit on nobody, but you know, nobody really thinks of good ass Hip Hop when Dallas is brought up. Basically we came and changed that.

DC: Already. I’m sure y’all get this question a lot, but how did you get the name?

Slim: It’s pretty simple… his name is Arrias and they used to call me “D.D.” We just put it together like A.D.D. and the plus sign, that’s basically what it is.

DC: Alrig….

Slim: NAH, nah, nah nah, hol’ up, one second… (Mutual laughter) So let me tell you why that plus sign is there because a lot of people be like, “Why is there a plus sign?” And it’s simply because A.D.D. spells “add” and if you were to try and type in our names somewhere or something, there’d be a whole bunch of different stuff that’d come up. The plus sign just separates us from the rest of the world.

DC: Alright, cool. Who were some of your influences when you were coming up? Was there anyone who really inspired you to start rapping?

Paris: Um, I was mostly inspired by Jay-Z and Outkast. Those were like my two biggest influences.

Slim: I could say my biggest influences are UGK or Lupe Fiasco. Jay-Z and Outkast as well, a lot of people…

Paris: Yeah, but I mean I’m influenced by damn near anybody, truthfully.

DC: Y’all just released, When Pigs Fly. Could you tell me a little bit about the creative process and how the album was culminated?

Paris: We was basically like going back and forth with each other, like not really knowing what route we wanted to go with and shit. We were looking to tag team with Picnic [Tyme], then he shaped the sound for us, the sound we were really looking for. Then that shit just came out complete… he was like the perfect piece we needed to make it happen.

Slim: Yeah, especially for the sound because we don’t really have an actual “sound,” you know, we can flip it so many different ways.

DC: How long did the album take to complete?

Paris: We initially started that hoe around October of 2009. We was just basically going through the motions, getting’ beats from random producers, doing random songs and shit. Like 90% of those songs didn’t even make the final cut. We actually didn’t even finish that hoe until about January of 2011.

DC: When Pigs Fly attracted a lot of attention and seemed to really push you guys to that next level, becoming somewhat of an underground sensation in what seemed like overnight. Would y’all agree?

Slim: Yeah, I agree with it. Like all that attention, we weren’t expecting it. I mean, we thought it was gonna be a dope CD that people were gonna like. We were actually just calling it a mixtape…

Paris: Yeah, I still call it a mixtape.

Slim: It was really unexpected for me.

Paris: I mean, I was… I can’t say I knew that shit was gonna happen… but like, the exposure that it did get was surprising as hell. The recognition that it got was extremely surprising.

DC: Yeah, it seems like the album really opened up some opportunities for y’all. Y’all released a track not long after the album called “Getting Far” and in it, y’all address how your recent success has really been a humbling experience. Could y’all go into a little more depth as to what you guys mean by that?

Slim: So long… it’s really humbling cause of the fact that we get all this praise and exposure, and we go out and people look at us in a certain way, you know what I’m saying… but at the end of the day… we have to go home and deal with those every day life situations.

Paris: Hell yeah, like reality hits quick. Like I still sleep on my muhfuckin’ momma’s couch, know what I’m saying?

DC: Yeah.

Paris: And my car is still wrecked, I haven’t even got that shit fixed, so (mutual laughter). So like, it’s cool that we get all that attention and recognition but I just try to let muhfuckas know like, “Dude, I’m still struggling and I’m like the same dude you are.”

DC: It’s almost like y’all lead two different lives and are stuck in the middle somewhere.

Paris: In a sense, that’s true.

DC: Like y’all were saying’ before, up until this point, there really hasn’t been anyone that’s repped Dallas on a national level. Pookie and Lucci made some regional strides, but other than them, there hasn’t really been any sort of presence.

Slim: You got Dorrough…

Paris: Well I wouldn’t say there’s like “no” presence. Maybe not the “right” presence or the “universal” presence… you may be right. But you do have Dorrough, you have a couple people.

DC: Yeah, sure, you got The Gator Main, Badu obviously…

Paris: Well you can’t even say Badu, she’s on some other shit. She’s like, way past that shit. (mutual laughter)

DC: Exactly. What’s it like being the first cats out of Dallas? You guys are arguably the face of the scene right now.

Slim: See, you look at it like we’re the face of Dallas but we’re the ones actually doing it so we don’t see it like everybody else, know what I’m saying? Like, I don’t feel like we’re the face of Dallas ‘cause there’s other people out there that are from Dallas and doing more stuff than us. I mean…they put on for the city. Like I said, Dorrough – I’d say he’s the face of the city right now.

Paris: But at the same time, we represent Dallas in a different light. I would actually say it’s a better light too. We actually give that universal appeal to Dallas Hip Hop and it makes muhfuckas wonder like, “Damn, is there some mo’ shit like that?” So we kind of open the door even wider for other muhfuckas.

Slim: Yeah, cause Dallas is really two-sided. Like, where we at right now… yeah I could say we’re the face of that end. But on a commercial end… yeah, Dorrough got that. (Everyone laughs)

Paris: Like, in some neighborhoods muhfuckas would only be talking about us… and in other neighborhoods you’d probably hear about other people.

DC: Well one of y’all said in “Insomniac Dreaming” that you’re trying to put Dallas on the map, so is that a responsibility y’all are taking on and embracing?

Paris: That’s the main objective.

Slim: Yeah, because nobody from Dallas has put Dallas on the map in a respectful light…

Paris: Yeah, on the Hip Hop tip… and we feel like we’re in the perfect position and it’s the perfect time to make that happen.

Slim: Hip Hop been around since when? That’s crazy… ain’t been nobody from Dallas that put it on in a good way (Mutual laughs). I think it’s cool we’re getting that recognition.

DC: Speaking of “Insomniac Dreaming”, how did y’all go about getting a beat from Black Milk?

Slim: Basically just through building relationships with other people, which led us to meeting Black Milk.

Paris: Then we flew out for a couple days, we were in the studio with him and knocked out five songs.

Slim: Yeah.

DC: Five songs with Black Milk?

Paris: Yeah, we’re actually still sitting on like four other songs produced by Black Milk.

DC: Are y’all gonna put those tracks out individually or are they going on your new project?

Paris: One might make it as a loosie, but one is for sure the intro for our next project.

DC: What’s the project?

Paris: Well, the title of this project is going to be the plus sign in silence (+). So far we’ve got production from S1, he’s produced for Kanye and Jay-Z. We also have our producer, Picnic, and a couple of Black Milk tracks. It’ll be out sometime early to mid next year… we don’t have a definite date.

DC: Who is somebody in that rap game that each of you would like to collaborate with?

Paris: That’s easy. Mine would be either Kendrick [Lamar], [Big] K.R.I.T. or Ab-Soul.

Slim: Yeah, I’d say…. them three people. I wonder if Ab-Soul is weird as hell… I don’t know why. I fucks with ‘em. (laughs)

DC: Alright, well is there anything you’d like to put out there or tell your fans?

Slim: Yeah, follow us on twitter. @GravySlim

Paris: Follow me at @ADdPlus

Slim: I got a question for you, though…

DC: What’s up?

Slim: How’d you find out about us?

DC: Well, I’m from Dallas so I try to keep my ear to the scene. And my older brother actually told me about y’all too. I think you actually know him Slim, his name is James.

Slim: Jay Clutch?

DC: Yeah.

Slim: Wait, were you the one that wrote the review for KevinNottingham.com?

DC: Yeah, that’s what this interview is for. (Everyone laughs)

Slim: Word.

The Many Shades Of Ledisi

Erin Smith — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 19:00:21 +0000

Laughter, love, and Liberation are three words that can try to illustrate justice to the talented songbird Ledisi. Enjoy her colorful character as she enlightens us on her favorite musical era, how important the element of love is, and her newfound freedom within her music.

Erin: How is Ledisi on this fine day?

Ledisi: I’m good! I’m excited! I’m headed to rehearsal for my headlining tour. So things are great! I love Chicago, and it’s a great venue that I’m getting ready to perform at.

Erin: How exciting! To me your music has an old school felt but a twist of new age to it. So I’m curious to know if you could re-live any era of music which one would it be and why?

Ledisi: If I had to go back it would be the mo-town era of music because it was fun and uplifting and it reminds me of soda pop, and people having house parties and things like that. And I just love that whole energy, I love the clothing and the whole caliber of music, and the musicians, it was a new fresh energy I love it. And the 30’s as well that was another great era as well, but the sixties really for me.

Erin: Those were some amazing eras. In your music everything seems to come back full circle to love. How important is the element of love in your music?

Ledisi: Well it’s in my life, I do music naturally it’s not a planned out thing. It’s part of breathing for me. Love is a strong element in my life, everything we do is rooted around love, we are born because of love, we are looking for it, giving it, receiving it, yearning for it. It always comes back to love. Everything does so I sing about it, write about it, all the different forms of it so yes it’s true. Its truth to me, we all want to be heard and we all want to be loved. It’s those two things.

Erin: I definitely agree. You shed a lot of light on your past struggles but you also do speak very positive about where you are now as an artist and a person, and where you are headed. Your song “Bravo” is a good example of this. How important do you think positive self proclamation is when you’re creating?

Ledisi: I didn’t write that song “Bravo” I heard it. My tour manager told me they had I had a song that they had that was for someone else. I heard it and I was said this is MY song, I must sing this, it feels like me. I even started to sing the song and where it says “Same Ledisi, but she aint walking she’s flying,” and that choked me up so bad in the studio I just started crying. I call it my Michael Jackson moment, where I just started crying in the studio. (Laughter) And everyone was like “Is she alright?” It relates to me so heavily, because you have this new energy that you want to express and you want people to see hear it and feel it. The younger generation automatically goes to that song, and they go “Man this song right here,” and it has something to do with the way I’m expressing it and the lyrics. The timing of this project is just perfect I’m at the happiest time in my life where I’m comfortable being Ledisi, and it’s just radiating out. I love the response, and I think it’s very important to shed light on positivity; we have a lot going on in the world right now. I’m surprised people are coming to shows still you know? Making time to buy a ticket, and still be able to afford it. And if not they need it, so when they buy my albums, or come out to the shows I want to make sure they leave with something, so that it inspires the rest of the world. It’s much bigger than music for me, its life. And that’s what I sing about, it’s like what Marvin Gaye said “Music is life.”

Erin: That’s beautiful and I definitely agree. In Your new album Pieces of Me, you actually did show the world who Ledisi is from so many different angles. How freeing has that been for you?

Ledisi: It’s awesome! To be able to sing a song called “Shut Up,” and a song called “Hate Me” and then be vulnerable and sing “Miss you now”, and talk about getting to someone. It’s great! All of those songs are fun, and thanking the fans and the people around me for letting me shine. And then to just go to a totally sexy song and sing with Jaheim?? Ooh! (Mutual laughter) Come on! It doesn’t get any better. This is really cool, and I can’t wait to see what’s next. I’ve never been so excited about a project, because of the happy medium where there’s the mixture of old school and new school together, and you have the whole family fighting over one c.d. That’s really cool, I love that. It places me somewhere in the middle where I can please ears of different audiences. I love the freedom in the songs and expressing myself, it’s me. I’m celebrating my whole walk, and wiggle, and I love it.

Erin: (chuckle) I can imagine! What can we look forward to from the ever-progressing Ledisi?

Ledisi: Well I know I can say what I’m comfortable speaking of because I like keeping the element of surprise. We don’t have it enough. I don’t like calling things until they come forth for me. I’m going to exercise my voice as an author I have a book deal with Time Warner and Essence, and I’m putting out a book next year .It’s kind of like a memoir but an inspirational -affirmation book. It’s a whole bunch of things rolled into one. I’m looking forward to people seeing that side of me as a writer, and I’m enjoying that process. There’s also a lot more great music that I’d like to express with people I want to work with, and hopefully that will happen. Right now I’m just focused on giving Pieces of Me the success it deserves. The whole process of this headlining tour has been amazing, and I’m looking forward to seeing all the different places, and finally headlining a show because I’ve never done that before and I’m enjoying the rehearsal the music, and the lighting. So I hope that people continue to support me and I hope that I can continue to create a body of work that I want to leave knowing that I feel good about.

Erin: Well it’s been amazing watching you grow, and I know your live show is going to be fantastic!

Ledisi: Yea you got to come girl! Don’t miss it. You better come or you’re going to’ be mad, and they are going to talk about you! (Mutual laughter) And you’re going to be like “DANG I should have gone to that show!” I’m going to give my all,I’ve never done a show like this before, and those outfits girl? You better get you some of that! (Mutual Laughter)